Contrary to its detractors concerted opinion, Astrology is not superstition. Superstition is more akin to: "If I break a mirror, I will have 7 years bad luck." or "If a bird flies into my house, someone will die." or "If I step on a sidewalk crack, I will break my mother's back." or "When It's Christmas and the weather is warm, it will be cold at Easter."

Those are superstitions. Astrology is not superstition. Not even close. Astrology is a language. It exists. Like Estonian or French. It just plain exists. Like hard boiled eggs or chutney. Now, for some, languages that they do not know and are unable to read or converse in, constitute a sort of threat. When we hear friends chatting in a language that we don't know and we are present, we almost automatically imagine that they are talking about us. This is a kind of natural paranoia. We cannot understand. So we feel threatened or left out and perhaps even targeted as a victim.

Astrology, like any language, does have to be learned in order to be used. That's why some people are astrologers and others have other learnd professions such as doctors. An astrologer might tell you that your Sun in Leo means that you tend to want to be in the spotlight, but if your rising sign is Pisces, that Leo need for the spotlight might be mitigated.

This sort of "diagnosis" is not unsimilar to when a Dr tells you that the lump on your arm looks like a cyst, but if the tests come out positive, it might be something more serious. He looks at the cystic physical evidence, but he also digs further to find out if it might be something more threatening.

Now the language of Astrology has been much squelched and derided by a sector of the population we refer to as "scientists" or , in any case, people who believe that science (another language) is the pathway to understanding every human ill - including mental, emotional and physical ailments - and to conquering and refining and owning whatever commodity is available to man. (Space flight for example or improved hard boiled eggs)

But squelching a language doesn't always put it out of existence. And Astrology has survived the giant squelch of science and remains a means of communication between peoples and a method of both diagnosing and better understanding the human condition. Astrology is not in competition with science. It's just there alongside it the way that TV is there alongside the Internet. The two media must co-exist. They cannot afford to be at war. The Internet will win. It's bigger. And younger. TV knows that the way that Astrology knows that it must coexist with science because if there was a war between them Science would win. It's bigger. And younger.

Nonetheless, there is wisdom in what is ancient. So Astrology continues to exist. Some people study it and are able to use it in their work and daily lives. Other people don't study it sufficiently to become astrologers. But they dabble and they enjoy dabbling. Other people (most people) consult astrologers. They are the clients or the patients or the consultees who come to people like me for advice and information about their astrological charts: Who am I? What should I do about my mother-in-law's interfering in my marriage? How can I get a divorce and keep my children? Why do I not have self-confidence? Where am I making my mistakes and why do I keep making them over and over again?

What some skeptical people (the Science-blinded or prejudiced) don't know is that the answers to all of those questions are sitting right there in peoples' astrological charts. Moreover, just because most people don't know how to read their charts and don't speak the language or know how to interpret the letters (symbols), doesn't mean the answers are not there. They are.

Astrology never lies. I have heard it tell me and my clients the truth over and over and over again, thousands of times. A client writes and asks me why she cannot seem to get a husband. She's young and beautiful and accomplished and owns her own home. Yet, she has nobody to share it with. What should she do?

I find out her birth date, time and place (sometimes she sends me a photo as well) and I do her chart. First thing I note is that she is more accomplished than she let on in her query letter. I know already that she is president of her own company. But she is also an Aries with Leo rising and she was born in a Rooster year. This woman is what my mother used to call "a tough cookie" and a multitalented cookie at that!

She doesn't bend easily. She is not soulful and won't listen to whining - even her own. She wants to be in the spotlight (Leo rising) and she is indeed in her own spotlight all the time. She's also a Rooster which is one of the most successfully non-flexible signs out there. Rigidity lurks in this woman's chart and has already done some damage to her private life.

But... I look further and...Eureka! This young woman has the Moon in Cancer. She is longing for a home and children and a man to share it with. But, because the Aries and the Rooster and the Leo ganged up and got a hold on her soul (Moon) when she was still very young, she followed them to her own multimillion dollar successful oblivion. She learned how NOT to share and she made her fortune by being ruthless and firm in her opinions. (Aries/Rooster w Leo rising)

It's gets better. I dig a bit deeper and what do I find? This woman has Venus in Scorpio!

NB: I know. I know. You just don't get it when we tell you that there's a planet in some sign or other about which you know less than zero. Why? Because we are speaking to you in a language which is foreign to you. And this time it is about YOU. But we are not trying to hide anyting. You can learn the language too. Nobody is stopping you.

So our young woman has Venus in Scorpio. This means for some astrologers( We are not all alike. Just like doctors... Get a second opinion) that she equates love with sex and mystery and passion. She is hunting for passion and she is only finding suits and ties and expensive trappings. Why?

Because here she is, the president of a thriving software company, owner of her own 3000 sq ft. house and two luxury cars, 35 years old and beautiful and she cannot find a husband - someone to love and be loved by and make a family and a life with.

So?

She's too strong by half. And she is moreover "attracted" to the wrong kind of suitor. She has always thought she needed "someone like me." A mensch. A boss person. A leader of men (and women). Balderdash! Two bosses in the same household? Ouch.

She needs either a steadying, long-suffering Ox or a lovely, langourous Snake or even a tempestuous Tiger - born in Gemini or Leo or perhaps Sagittarius because she has Mercury (her communication planet) in Sagittarius. And those guys she should be looking for are not necessarily world beaters. They might be teachers or poets or musicians or even weedy scientists who leave their brains in the laboratories when they come home at night. They should not be head honchos. She is the head honcho. She needs soul. So she should find someone with extra soul to share.

Need I say more? Astrology simply never lies!

Suzanne White 2006

P.S. Our heroine is now successfully married to a brilliant Gemini/Ox (a laid back communicator type) who writes books for a living. He cooks and helps with the kids. They have a nanny and household help. Madame goes to her job every morning after taking the children to school. Papa pipes and slippers into his office and hits the computer for a few hours before dressing and driving to the supermarket to do the family shopping. It worked! sw

Suzanne White " I like to count my readers among my friends."