BOB MULLIGAN: AN INTERVIEW WITH OPA MEMBER — JANE RIDDER–PATRICK
Bob Mulligan —
Astrologer, Author,
creator of The Astrology Company™,
and past President of OPA
INTERVIEW
Jane Ridder-Patrick —
Astrologer, physician and historian, her
strong point – medical astrology. She
lives and works in Edinburgh, Scotland
Bob Mulligan and Jane Ridder-Patrick converse about medical astrology and its
role in the life of Jane, about the future of astrology and its importance for contemporary world culture.
- What in your personal history prepared you for life as an astrologer?
- Do you plan on writing more on this subject?
When I was 14, Jung's autobiography, Memories,
Dreams, Reflections, fell/was pushed out of a library shelf
onto my foot. I read it and realized that I had found my
vocatio n: I wanted to understand people, their motivations
and the meanings of our lives. Following that revelation I
focused on getting into medical school with the intention
of becoming a psychiatrist but fortunately after two years
of studying there 'life' [transiting Saturn sq MC ruler, Pluto
conj Mercury, Saturn sextile Jupiter, Neptune sq Saturn]
intervened and got me out of what would have been for
me a blind alley as it didn't include astrology. I am now doing the essence of what my 14-year old self recognized she
wanted.
Yes, indeed! I've got several ideas bubbling away.
Watch this space ... But as a historian I'd also like to
do something on the astrological cycles of history.
- How did you first start doing astrology?
By 1982 I was a pharmacist but felt unsatisfied, so I
started to train as a medical herbalist. During the training I
met someone who did a short interpretation of my chart. I
was hooked and started to read up on astrology voraciously. I was living in Germany at the time in a one-room
apartment with a husband and two young children so used
to get up in the middle of the night to read in the lavatory.
Within six months I was practising all I could and people
were even insisting on giving me money for it!
- What got you interested in Medical Astrology?
- Who was the most important influence on your thinking?
Astrologically, Liz Greene without a doubt, and Rob
Hand. Otherwise, Jung. Assagioli, Joseph Campbell
and the transpersonal and process work psychotherapy movements.
- Do you earn your living doing sessions with clients? Is your work
primarily medical astrology or do you also do more general type of
astrology work?
I earn my living doing a wide variety of things –
mainly involving astrology. Client sessions do provide
a substantial part of my income, now that I've given
up working as a locum pharmacist. I also write a column for a Sunday newspaper. My books bring in a
small amount too – but every little helps! About 70%
of my client work until recently has been psychological
astrology. I was only doing a limited amount of medical astrology while I was working on my History PhD,
as there is a lot of extra preparatory work involved in
medical charts but, now that the PhD is done, I'm able
to take on much more of that kind of work, which is
challenging and deeply satisfying, and I'm also starting
to teach classes again.
With my medical and herbal background and my interest - Are there many practicing astrologers in Scotland?
in health it was a natural combination to work with.
Not so many, but Scotland is a small country –
- How does the astrological community in Scotland differ from the population about 5 million – and I'd say the practicommunity in England?
tioner numbers reflect that.
I'm not sure. Scotland is a much smaller country than - Has your exposure to other cultures (through travel and living
England.
abroad) altered your method for reading charts?
Meeting astrologers – mainly at conferences – who
- Your Book "A Handbook of Medical Astrology" was first published in
1990, and supplied a real update of traditional medical astrology infor- use astrology in a wide variety of ways has been excitmation. What inspired you to write this work?
ing, as has reading their books. Seeing basic chart factors from a different angle is often so stimulating – for
I was asked by an agent friend to submit a proposal for
instance, I remember a wonderful lecture by Donna
a book on health for a series which never got off the
van Toen on the MC–IC axis that just threw a whole
ground. My proposal included a curriculum vitae where I
new light on those areas, and I could give you a whole
mentioned my work in astrology and in medicine and when list of aha! moments like that I’ve had in lectures by
the same publisher decided to produce a series of astrolo- great speakers. I’m not sure I’ve radically altered my
gy books they invited me to write a volume of medical as- basic method of chart reading, but it’s certainly gone
trology. This later morphed into the Penguin/Arkana series through a great many fine tunings over the years
edited by Howard Sasportas and included books by Liz thanks to the insights I’ve gained from other astroloGreene, Melanie Reinhart, Erin Sullivan etc.
gers, and also from the feedback of clients.
КАРЬЕРА АСТРОЛОГА | 4 2013
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