My First Steps into Astrology

I was introduced to the astrology chart through Russell Grant's Astrology Kit. He is my first teacher in those respects. I received the astro-pack from my mum and dad. The Astrology kit is easy to follow, but I messed  up the chart drawings quite a few times until I got it right. The planetary positions and finding the rising degree was difficult to work out at first, along with learning and drawing the astrological symbols. I persisted and finally completed a birth chart. I still have my Astrology Kit for sentimental reasons.

Russell Grant is well known astrologer in England, and is the author of various books, as well as writing newspaper columns. He has also created a Nintendo astrology game and has his own television show, so on this evidence, it appears the man is a mass marketing genius. Grant is an Aquarian and the ambassador of the Alzheimer's society and has poured a lot of his money into youth schemes, I played along the water bearer themes in that description..

Russell Grant is a  flamboyant astrologer he dresses and speaks colourfully. In Liz Greene's and Juliet Burk's "The Astrologer, the Counsellor and the Priest." The seminar takes a look back at the history of astrology, and how to conduct astrology counselling sessions and also covers the judgements of astrologers to other practitioners in the same field.

"Having an adoring group of acolytes at ones feet can be very pleasing to a swollen Jupiter, especially if they are sexually attractive and pay well and the astrologer who identifies with this role may have more in common with the pop star and the film actor than with the doctor and psychotherapists.

Astrology has its showy side. Its representatives invariably offend those Saturnian astrologers who want very badly to be seen as respectable by the scientific community, and who may have forgotten, beneath the weight of Promethean idealism and Chironian pain, that astrology can also be great fun.

At a European astrology conference some years ago, I overheard the organisers discussing whether or not a particular famous newspaper astrologer (who shall remain nameless, but who has a Sagittarian Ascendant with Jupiter conjunct the Sun in the 1st house) should be invited to speak at the next Congress. The decision to not invite her was unanimous. The reason? Because she was too glamorous and wore low cut dresses when presenting lectures.

In a similar vein, at an analytic congress, a male analyst of my acquaintance turned up in a bright yellow sports jacket, rather like the proverbial bird of paradise amongst chickens. A pair of elderly ladies of the sober, caring type could not refrain from pointing out that such garb was unsuitable for an analyst. Jupiter run amok can sometimes immerse us in sleaze. But all work and no Jupiter makes Jack, and the astrologer a very dull boy or girl indeed".