I’ve heard of people going into counseling or psychoanalysis as a profession because they desperately needed to fix something within themselves. It’s not surprising that one would feel they might come across the answers and solutions to their pain through the myriad of studies and texts on the topic.

Astrology also attracts people looking for answers within and about themselves, about their current lives, and often what the future holds for them. There is a lot of floundering in the beginning of the astrology education, amazement at how astrology can pinpoint certain childhood issues, personality quirks, and strength of character. It’s a fascinating process how learning astrology can be such a powerful tonic to our psychological aches and pains. In fact, I think the best way to study astrology is through purging your soul. If you choose to fight or resist the process, that part of the astrology lesson may always allude you.

I signed up for the Noel Tyl Master’s Degree Certification Course in Astrology this year. Earlier I had done a lot of studying on my own through tome after tome on planets in various signs and houses, on the Moon’s nodes, and the aspects between the planets. I’ve been to many talks on various branches of astrology, and I was entertained by the bickering between the various schools of thought on which planet is the correct ruler of Aquarius or Scorpio. There is a lot of eagerness around understanding a person’s quick tongue because of Mars in Aries, or the emotional needs of a person with the Moon in Pisces. When I’d share that Mercury is in Gemini in my chart, I get the “Ah, that explains why you love to write!” My Aquarian Moon explains why I need to help others, while simultaneously needing emotional detachment. It’s always an eye-opener to discover these astrological details, and put some understanding to the behavior of many of the people we know.

This year, however, it struck me how useless much of that information really is. I already know I love writing. I know I’m talkative, and I know I’m not entirely comfortable with emotions. Ok, I’m not really comfortable at all. Knowing all of this is reflected through Mercury and the Moon is interesting, but not helpful in isolation. I already know what I like, what I fear, and much of what I need. And anyone who knows me well can tell me these things about myself without knowing a thing about astrology. What I discovered this year is that in studying astrology we can learn things about ourselves that we didn’t know, that we need to know. It reveals much when set against the real life we are living.

In the process of learning astrology, especially if you have a particularly good teacher, you’re going to hit speed bumps, emotional hiccups that will stop you short in the process. It’s inevitable. And while learning astrology may rattle the skeletons out of your closet, and uncover the time bombs in your psychological basement, astrology can also be just the tonic you need to purge and move on. But it’s not an easy transition from blissful ignorance to sudden or even hazy awareness. It’s a process of discovery, and until you are able to set your own demons at ease, you can hardly help others.

It’s a wonderful and amazing process to unearth the confusion lying deep within. As Noel said in this last seminar, “Those are not tears of pain, but of recognition.” This resonated deeply with me, and is oh, so true. As I move through the learning process in this course, I take a few tentative steps forward, and then a large step back as childhood hurts and fears bubble to the surface to be set free, as tenacious hang-ups are gradually cut loose, and as old irrelevant beliefs are shown the light of present day circumstances.

The purging process is not an easy one, but I am certain that if I don’t deal with the issues as they arise, I will not understand the astrology that helps to reveal them. I don’t expect to have demons exorcised with every lesson, but I’m open to the possibility that I will come across a few more as I progress. Can I hope to be a completely new slate by the time I get to the end? Probably not entirely, but it’s amazing what learning astrology has done for me so far, how much it has helped me understand my needs, where they came from, and how I can find ways to honor them.

I’ve gotten more out of my astrology lessons this year than I ever expected or hoped. I was one of those people who entered into astrology in the hope of better understanding myself, and learning astrology has been just the tonic I needed for that, but it’s also been so much more. I’m also able to understand others in new ways I never thought possible. I can be more compassionate when seeing how a horoscope reflects the life being lived. I can see the myriad of ways we can help others using astrology as a tool, but even more importantly learning the astrology helps develop us into people who can see the person behind the horoscope, and not just the horoscope. The astrologer can only benefit others by seeing past the horoscope to the human being.

Learning astrology is a process that becomes a tonic for the astrologer. It’s not the astrology itself but how we assimilate what we learn about the all important human needs and nature. As Noel says, “It’s not about this and that, about Venus squared Saturn . . . It’s about the life being lived.” We can understood that truly only if we take note of our own lives being lived and make the concerted effort of deeper understanding and healing.

~Dana Nourie