To Know & To Do

Knowing something can be relatively easy, perhaps as simple as memorizing a series of facts. Doing something with that information is a little different.

I know Paris is in France. I can look at maps and consult reference material if I wish to verify what I know… but getting to Paris from where I live (NYC) takes work. I have to decide how to get there (plane or boat across the Atlantic Ocean). I have to save money. I have to get a passport and visa. I have to figure out where I can afford to stay and then make all the arrangements via phone or e-mail. And then I have to put in the travel time, too.

Now when some other people decide they want to go to Paris, they may have the wherewithal and freedom to pack a bag, grab a cab to the airport and be in Paris half a day later. Others need to wait until they have the money and/or the available time-off from their responsibilities. But in any possible scenario, choices need to be made, plans set up, action taken.

The same applies to understanding and working with your astrology chart. A good astrology reading will give an overall view of yourself. It’s kind of like getting a map to your personality. And that’s it. You still need to plot your course and take action.

And this is how we cope best with the so-called “difficult” parts of our natal charts.

Personal example: I have Venus opposite Uranus in my chart. Venus (relationships) is opposing Uranus (chaos, the unexpected, the offbeat). This indicates I have a talent for upsetting and/or disrupting people, and they can do the same to me. (Oppositions usually involve other people.) For years, before understanding astrology, I was an annoying friend, someone you could rely on to say the wrong thing at the wrong time, to pull the rug out from under you, and be the bull in the china shop. I liked to refer to myself as iconoclastic. It was the only way I could explain my behavior. Somehow, I still had friends.

And then I got my chart read and I began to try and get a handle on my so-called “difficult” behavior, and began to learn to accept myself as I am. And now that I was aware of the nature of one of my “difficult” traits, I tried to find better ways to manifest it. And I learned to find ways to challenge and upset people in a loving way. As it turns out, being an astrologer, giving readings and counseling people are all ways to upset them and challenge them (fulfilling the “needs” of my personality) in a loving way. And I also learned to accept I will attract people who challenge and upset me, too… so instead of fighting back or putting up a wall, I try to understand that they are in my life to do exactly what they are doing. They are not the enemy.

The point is, there are always better ways to manifest the so-called “difficult” aspects and traits evident in your chart and personality. It starts with knowing what they are, and then taking action to steer them with the other skills and abilities you have, to get a handle on them, and not let them misfire randomly.

I know. Easier said then done. But if you don’t take some form of action, nothing will change.