In conversation: Shelley von Strunckel and Frank C. Clifford
And then sometimes I will say to a client…
like for instance let’s say about money:
someone’s got Neptune in the 2nd house.
I will say – let’s say this is someone who’s
a short, dark-haired person: “You ain’t
never going to be a tall blonde and you
ain’t never going to be good with money,
so let’s just have you learn how to get
you a good accountant and not to choose
someone you can rescue and help,” - which
would be the Neptune part - “but you’re
going to go ask an earth sign”. Right, so
that takes it as it is and makes the client
responsible, and also re-contextualises
it. And I think it’s fair enough to say to
some people: “In this incarnation you did
not sign up to be interested in money or
actually to be very good at it, but you need
to be responsible for it and I’m giving you
a formula for being responsible for it
however you’re going to go do it”. There’s
that approach as well. It’s not destiny in
the sense of “this is your destiny” but it’s
just like, “you’re also not going to turn
into a blonde unless you make a lot of
effort”.
FC: That reminds me of electional
astrology. I could set up a chart for
the best possible moment to me to
apply to the NBA (National Basketball
Association), but I’m never going to be a
seven-foot-tall basketball player. It’s just
not going to happen.
themselves. I now think of our birth
chart as like our pair of eyes – how we
view the world, what we expect to see.
Our birth chart is our personal lens, and
as astrologers we are carrying a mirror
and asking the person, “Instead of just
looking out of your eyes, look back at
how you see, approach and interact with
the world; look at who you are and see
yourself”.
distance. Now that’s the thing. That could
be a problem in my makeup which I have
to address. I’m sure Shelley might want to
examine that.
SvS: Well, yes. And there’s another funny
thing about astrology. When people
criticise I say, “Oh you didn’t like the
column – when was the last time you
read it?’ They may reply: “I don’t read it”.
“But then you would know a lot about it,
wouldn’t you?” It’s like: really, get a life.
VO: Do you get a lot of feedback from the
columns and things that you do? Do you
get readers saying they want something
from you or they wish to complain to you?
VO: So, what gets you both up in the
morning as an astrologer? It’s not just the
astrology but the desire to help others?
But then how do you do it? You teach a
great deal for instance.
SvS: No, I get such amazing feedback
usually in person, not written.
FC: As an Aries man, there’s only one
thing that’s up in the morning before I
am.
SvS: No, that they find it rewarding, that
they enjoy it. The lovely thing about the
Sunday Times column is that people,
families, and couples – they all read it to
each other on a Sunday morning. That’s
really heart-warming to me. Also, the
Sunday Times is aware of it, and along
with the sub-editors there, we go over the
column so it’s easy to read aloud – where
the dashes go, things like that. There’s
fantastic feedback – but the weird thing is
people who are themselves adults telling
me, “I grew up with my parents reading
it”.
VO: [Laughs]. I don’t know what you
mean!
FC: Oh, I misunderstood the question.
SvS: [Mock admonishing] At least you
had the decency to blush.
FC: You were saying? I just segued into
something quite different there.
VO: You did! Sabotage it’s called. I’m
just saying that what gets you up in the
morning as an astrologer. For me it’s the
desire to… I love analysing people at a
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Sep/Oct 2015 The Astrological Journal
In conversation: Shelley von Strunckel and Frank C. Clifford
VO: That you’re wonderful? That you’re
dreadful?
VO: Have you had anything like that,
Frank?
FC: When I wrote Sun-sign co [[