Western astrology (natal, horary, psychological)

Domain XIV · Western esoteric, divinatory & new spiritual movements

What it is

Astrology is a divinatory and symbolic system, not a psychotherapy. A natal chart (genethlialogy) is calculated for the date, time and place of birth and is read as a description of character and of life timing. Horary astrology casts a chart for the moment a question is asked and judges the answer…

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Astrology itself is a consulting practice, not a staged treatment. The Faculty's counselling training describes two formats: a single consultation and ongoing astrological counselling; its introductory course centres on managing single-session work, including boundaries, and all trainees were in their own therapy and in weekly supervision. No source gives session counts for therapy with clients who use astrology.…
• How change happens, in practitioners' terms. The Faculty's counselling training uses the chart as a tool to explore what the client brings rather than as a fixed reading; its character description becomes therapeutic only when the practitioner bridges it to the client's inner experience, and planetary cycles are framed as periods of change that can be met as opportunities for growth. For Rudhyar the aim is less to…

Evidence status, as the guide reports it

• Evidence status (one line). In Carlson's double-blind test (Nature, 5 December 1985) astrologers matched charts to personality profiles at chance level, and Dean and Kelly's 2003 review of more than forty controlled studies found astrologers performed no better than chance.

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• Does it use a device, heat, cold, water or a physical procedure? Has a medical professional checked that it is safe for you?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• Fragmented care; agree what is shared. Working when the client has coherent support.
• Labels that excuse harm or blame the child. Working when the family accepts assessment.
• Shame on noticing dependence; go gently. Working when the client describes the reader as one adviser among others.
• Fatalism feeding hopelessness; check for suicidal thinking. Working when the client holds belief and agency together.
• The client feeling rejected; say clearly that the topic remains welcome. Working when the request turns into exploration.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.