My Approach to and Feelings About Astrology
"Wait... What is Astrology, Though?"
Astrology is a complex, multi-layered system of beliefs about how the positions of the stars and planets affect humans on Earth. Astrology is thousands of years old and practiced all over the world.
There is some science to astrology's function, foundations and origin; after all, one looks at the actual positions of celestial bodies as part of the practice. Still, it is definitely different from the hard science of astronomy. They used to be one discipline, up till about the 14th century, when the science faction split away from the spirituality faction.
Here is a great essay from an astrology scholar* that answers this question and provides useful background.
Wikipedia calls astrology "divination" but I think that's bad-faith user editing, to be honest. You can learn more about my beliefs on "astrology as divination" here.
Why I Do This
In addition to growing up with a closeted-hippie mom who lit the fires of curiosity, my best friend's mother was a professional astrologer, so over the years I was blessed to receive lots of personal insight and broader academic perspective about modern astrology -- primarily, in the basics of natal analysis, transits, and simple electional astrology. This foundation was what launched me into studying astrology for myself. I also worked on a team that helped develop an astrological software product in the early 2010's -- which captured my intrigue around the broader notion of how to improve an ancient research process through modern technology.
Then, there are my "inquisitive placements." With a Moon and Jupiter in Aquarius, MC in Scorpio, Neptune/10th House in Sagittarius, and a grand air trine... I have to know. It's not optional. I am wired to dig into that which is ancient, mysterious and can't be easily explained -- especially if it pertains to the occult, the unseen, or anything which can make people feel happier and become more comfortable with their place in the universe.
How I Do This
Philosophically:
I don't see astrology as my profession (I have a boring day job!), but as an avocation. I consider myself a continuous student, because astrology is such a vast field of evolving study. I believe that astrology can help people make sense of the bigger, sometimes-scarier world around us, to find better ways to move through it and manage our place in it. Astrology can (and has) helped humans improve mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and physically.
In practice:
I would be considered a modern/Western astrologer (although I believe that Vedic and Chinese astrology are useful and valuable depending on one's belief system).
I utilize the Placidus house system. (more on that to come in a later post)
I believe the natal chart is the cornerstone upon which all astrological insight must subsequently be built.
I incorporate a lot of the concepts of evolutionary astrology into my analyses, specifically the foci on the soul's journey (although I don't place too much weight on digging into past lives).
I leave horary, mundane and medical astrology to others -- I don't have practical expertise and have not studied them enough to produce reports.
Similarly, I don't do too much with practices like locational astrology or astrocartography (they are cool and I'm intrigued, but again it's not where my experience lies).
I do not automate my analysis, for several reasons: lower accuracy; higher expense; not my business model; AI use isn't exactly ethical.
This is a polite way of saying: I review all charts "by hand, from scratch." I use very little software; and I do not use AI to generate reports. Now, I'm not so old-school that I'm using ephemeris books and a compass to draw the chart itself on paper or anything... but, yeah, once the chart is digitally rendered, from there I am compiling the analysis planet by planet. (I realize there are some great high-end astrology software products out there, created by experts and used by legitimate and credible professionals; they're just way out of my price range.)
In saying all this, I intend zero disrespect to anyone whose reports come from software, YouTube or AI/ChatGPT. I get it! It's certainly quicker! If I did this full-time, I would definitely invest in commercial astrology software to help me scale my time so I could get to the analysis part more quickly, and get more reports out to people.
Still, in my research and experience, AI models regularly make massive mistakes when it comes to complex astrology questions. They hallucinate a lot regarding angles, aspects, elements, dignities; they do not understand house rulers, or how opposing signs and planets affect each other on an aspect. In some of these arcane "soft science" areas of life, which have so much variable human element to them, AI is great at regurgitating info, but isn't anywhere close yet on the accurate synthesis.
My astrological work product is solely bespoke, multi-layered reports that are resonant and valuable for the specific individual. Since the AI models miss significant elements on complex reports so often, using them at all would require too much extra review and revision every time. In that scenario, AI makes my job harder, not easier. I would rather just do it right vs. do it over.
Mild rant: I also take issue with the improper absorption of intellectual property that has led to the ubiquity of AI astrologers. When a commercial AI model like ChatGPT or Copilot or Gemini or (ad infinitum), spits out an analysis on your placements, it's not doing any original work. The Fortune 100 parent company that owns the model is robotically scraping research and analysis off the internet which was performed painstakingly over years by humans -- without license, permission or attribution! -- then rewording it and giving it away, to QuickTok experts who turn around and sell it. (That's why I've moved much of my original content behind password protection.)
Again... if you are that person giving or receiving that kind of insight, you do you... but it doesn't pass the sniff test for me.
"What Kind of Astrology Can You Do for Me?"
Well, that depends on what you're seeking. But I'll always want to start with your natal chart, and then we can go from there. Here are some of the astrology analyses I provide, to give you some ideas.
* So far, everything I read at the Astrology by Jo blog resonates with me; definitely recommend, 10/10, no notes.