Astrology Reading Philosophy 

I have been doing readings professionally for many years and I really enjoy it. Helping a person connect to the deeper mysteries of the universe and themselves is a great thing to be doing for a living. I have many favorable testimonials and a thriving practice to show for it. 

But it might surprise you to know that I do not accept all clients. When you call me or email me for a reading, I am screening you as much as you are screening me. Not because I am a hard person to deal with, but because an astrology reading is a sacred transmission and I want to make sure we are on the same page about it. I am careful to make sure that you know what you are getting and are ready for an honest and empowering look at your life. 

There are a few situations that are red flags for me. When I sense them I generally will not do the reading at that time. The "You work For Me" scenario and the "Emergency, Life and Death" scenario are the most obvious. 

I am careful with the "You work for me" scenario because I many times the person will feel as though my job is to tell them what they want to hear rather than what I see. These things are different. In fact many times I have to tell people things that may not feel so good, but I strive to be gentle about those things. Everyone calls me with a problem and ask me to help them solve it.

Not suprisingly, much of the time I am going to talk about what YOU need to do better/blindspots you might not see, etc. You are creating our own reality - and astrology shows the deep habits and patterns you are in. If you are not open to it, the session will not go well. I could take your money and tell you what you want to hear, but that is not in keeping with my ethic and not what you are looking for. I think the "You Work For Me" idea comes from our service -oriented  philosophy. There is a sort of "I am not paying you to tell me this is my fault",.. point of view.   

I am careful when someone is in an Emergency/Panic/Life and Death situation that they think an astrology reading is going to solve. In general I think a person needs to be more calm before astrology can be effective. 

As a general rule, If I sense the "My Entire Happiness Depends on This Reading" / "EMERGENCY" kind of pressure, I will advise against reading - at least with me. When this happens I feel there is too much pressure for some "result" to just let what is,... exist. Usually, when people come to me in this state of mind, the reading does not go well. Again, I could just act like a counselor and reflect things back to them, etc - like thereapist - and i think in that situation people actually want and need a counselor not an astrologer. 

But since they trust astrology, they want to know that "everything will be alright" according to the stars.. and in fact it will - it always will be alright. The problem is, when we are in that hyper state of mind, the idea of "what is alright" becomes more and more narrow. I may not be able to tell you what you want to hear.   

In general, i just want you to know these things and maybe have them be points of reflection for you. Ask yourself what you really want from an astrologer. Are you asking me to "make everything better" (according to what you want), or do you really just want an objective look at your life. 

I am not saying either is wrong. We need different things at different times. You may be callin g for a reading, thinking you "want the truth" (everyone says this BTW) - but actually you want to hear things will be OK. In that case I can tell you that things will always be OK - but you may need a different service now - or not. You decide. But now I have at least laid out the issue.

Predictions and Ethics

I make predictions with every reading. They are very accurate and I am happy to do so. But I do it in an open ended way. I will never spring unasked for and painful predictions on a client. I have heard many nighmare scenarois where in the middle of a reading an astrologer proclaims "Your daughter is going to die in five years", or something else uncalled for and shocking. There is a lot of arrogance and ego with some astrologers to do this sort of thing.

I am also very careful not to go down the road of things that are just titillating and hard to connect. Things like "removing curses, predicting people's death",  and other things that are sometimes talked about in Vedic Astrology. 

I can always see why things are happening and I base what I think will happen (if pressed by the client to do so) based on that.

I come from an "astrology positive" point of view. Meaning, the universe is our divine mother, opening up all of the possibilities and lessons so we can grow. Just because a person is suffering now or will be soon, I do not see it as bad. When i discuss an  upcoming Saturn/Moon transit (for example) I do not assume it will be bad (as many Vedic astrologers would say). "Bad" is a value judgement I don't have. In the case of a Saturn/Moon conjunction (called Sade Sati) it will shatter our emotional illusions and the things we were clinging to that we thought would keep us safe and connected.

Is that bad? Well, you may say so, but I do not. It is liberating, yet illusions shattering is often painful. The things we are hanging onto in this way are keeping us immature and childish. Sade Sati is to end that. So in this case i will discuss the exact things a person is clinging to - how it is hurting them - how they can avoid trouble that would hurt worse, etc. It may also literally mean that their mother will die (we will all face it).

If they ask me / hammer away at me to make that prediction, I will. If they fearfully continue on that tack, pressuring me to give them remedies that can help them "save thier mother",. etc. I will likely tell them that i don't think that will work (to illustrate the "Emergency/Life and death scenario). Instead I hope to connect them to why they are so fearful. However, withing this structure we can make tangible prediction about when is a good time to do things (Muhurta) and other things to help people in crisis. 

In general I speak from a perspective of understanding the root source of our mistakes and problems so we can illuminate those dark corners in our mind and soul and make better choices in the future. If a person does not want to speak from that empowered perspective, they should probably look elsewhere for a reading.  You might be surprised, but not everyone wants to do that kind of work.  

Remedies and Their Use

In general, what I have seen is Remedies Give WISDOM not necessarily Good RESULTS . But make no mistake about it, astrological remedies work - whether we know it or not. Pujas and mantras are especially effective at connecting with the etheric realm of our karma. But thinking that wearing a gem or getting a puja is going to solve the problem of our karma is silly. A puja can help you avoid a difficult situation, but learning the wisdom of the Planet is still your karmic job and no puja will make it happen for you.

Mantras are the great remedy and you do not have to wait to get a reading from me or anyone else to start saying them. In fact, if you are thinking of getting a reading from me now - wait and start saying "Om Namaah Sivaaya" everyday for a week - a few hundred times and then see how you feel. Youmight change your mind. 

I am not just looking to make as much money as I can with readings. I consider them a sacred transmission. I show up in a sacred space and I expect another to also show up with that intention.

Final Thoughts

I hope nothing on this page sounded judgmental or harsh. I do not judge people as wrong if they want an astrologer to be more of a counselor or prediction machine. I do quite a lot f that, but I am primarily interested in connecting  - it is just not the way I prefer to work.

I am putting this page here to prepare and inform people about how I work and to let you know whether or not it is a good fit right now.

I hope that outlining my "Reading Philosophy" like this will:
1. Save us both a lot of time in case it is not a good fit for you.
2. Better prepare you for what will be in store.
3. Help you clarify exactly what you are looking for in an astrologer, or in life. I have had many people tell me after reading this page that it made them want to get a reading with me a lot more, by helping them put these tricky questions into a better perspective.

best wishes,
Sam