[C ONTINUED FROM P AGE 8]
to us helps our clients value our advice).
Truly creative astrologers, in the long march
to self understanding, are constantly reeval-
uating and interacting with their created
boundaries, rather than just reacting to
them. This creativity requires asking our-
selves some important questions in order to
deal authentically with basic fundamental
situations in our professional lives. Asking
the right questions is more important than
coming up with “correct” answers.
Just as Saturn rules fear and limitation it
also rules discipline and structure. Fear is
responsible for creating continuity through
the urge to be safe. This allows a founda-
tion for growth to develop. Limitation al-
lows us to set priorities. It is not possible to
do everything. The limits of time, money,
ability, energy, understanding, allows us to
determine what is most important. Bound-
aries are mental clarifiers. Thus, prioritizing
and discipline are necessary for us to de-
velop as people and to accomplish any task.
As important as structure is for any real
growth or development we often experience
structure as inherently a limit, a fear, a big
“No”. However, saying “no” to one thing, al-
lows us to say “yes” to something else. As
astrologers, it is the establishing of our pri-
orities that allows us to see clearly the
boundaries unique to our field.
By recognizing and dealing with bound-
aries creatively and correctly, we build and
defend the potency of the work with our
clients and help them inadvertently to value
and respect the astrological work and also
themselves. The dynamics of the as-
trologer/client relationship becomes a more
conscious tool of the astrologer. This allows
our relationship to our clients to have a
deeper and more meaningful impact on our
lives and the lives of our clients. The river
needs banks (boundaries) as well as water to
flow toward the sea. When boundaries and
substance are cor- [C ONTINUED ON P AGE 10]
O P A
rectly balanced, significant force is created
in the work, propelling us toward sustained
personal growth. Too many banks (bound-
aries) and the river is dammed up. Too
much water (contact) and the river over-
flows, the banks wash away, and the water
loses direction; the ocean is not reached by
the water. In the astrologer/client relation-
ship, the boundaries set by you, the as-
trologer, to restrict clients’ access to you,
helps maintain focus and direction so the
work has a deeper impact on their lives. You
set the banks of the river aiding the water
on its journey to the ocean. In the as-
trologer/client relationship, astrologers
carry most responsibility for setting and
maintaining the boundaries - because they
have greater power in establishing the con-
text of the relationship.
We can easily split boundaries into two
types; natural and created. Natural bound-
aries are objectively measurable. Examples of
natural boundaries are separations of time
and space i.e. two people living on different
continents or in differ-
ent centuries. Created
boundaries are subjec-
tive and not easily ex-
ternally
measured.
These are “rules of
thumb” or conventions
people use to facilitate
social interaction. Ex-
amples of created
boundaries would be
rights of property
ownership or rights to privacy. Laws, rules,
and principles of behavior are created bound-
aries. We can have as many of these types of
boundaries as we find useful. Time and Space
are natural boundaries. Conventions and
rules around their limitations are created
boundaries.
We have the responsibility to be reason-
The Organization for Professional Astrology
9
ably disciplined with time. This practice as-
sists our work to flow smoothly as clients
can then rely on our punctuality with start-
ing and concluding each session. How do
you deal with a late arriving client? Or,
someone refusing to let you conclude a ses-
sion in a timely manner? Experience itself
teaches us the practical procedures for han-
dling problems of time. And through our
experience, we come to understand why
time is such an important boundary. Ulti-
mately, we as astrologers render our services
by apparently selling our time. However,
even though time is the mechanism
through which we sell our services; we are
not selling our time, we are selling value.
Through our work we add something
meaningful to our client’s life. But, our time
is a necessary vehicle for the delivery of this
value, and time is a limited commodity.
How time is used becomes foundational to
our effectiveness. Time wasted is not re-
gained. Once time is invested, that time is
gone. You have a responsibility to make sure
that your time is used properly. When ei-
ther the client or astrologer is late for an
appointment, or wastes
each other’s time, they
throw the other person’s
day off schedule, which in
turn, inconveniences many
other people.
When clients waste your
time they are not only
stealing from you, they are
stealing from themselves.
The same is true for you as
an astrologer. When you
waste a client’s time you are stealing from
the two of you. This doesn’t mean that in a
search for greater economy of time you are
to be impolite, brash, or unnecessarily hur-
ried through each session. Just be aware
that time is limited and remains your most
valuable commodity.
At the begin-
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THE CAREER ASTROLOGER
SPRING 2013