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A: The things said in your report, are not simply pulled out of a magician's hat. Each of them pertains to a specific factor or configuration in your chart. Some of the things will easily resonate to you, perhaps because you are fully manifesting that particular aspect of your being. The things that don't seem to fit might be parts of yourself that you're not fully aware of, or are masked by other characteristics or repressed by childhood conditioning or trauma ~ or they may be potentials that still need to be developed or at least brought into consciousness.
Although the reports that we use do attempt a synthesis of your chart better than most, you'll still probably feel that each section of your computer report is written as if it were speaking about a whole person ~ something like ~ "You are a shy person, who generally feels more comfortable at home." Of course, this is actually a facet of your being, but the report is framed in such a way as to read as if it were talking about your whole self. Remember we are each of us more than the sum of our parts. Inevitably, computer reports talk about the parts. It is up to us to intuit, reflect, study and work with others to discover the whole.
And of course your report will contain some contradictions, but you probably do too! You could say that, to a great extent, we are the product of the contradictions within us. Who we are and who we become is shaped by how we respond to the many contradictory messages we get, not just from the world, but from our own complex inner self.
A: A computer report doesn't make clear the different weight of importance that needs to be given to the various factors in a chart. You really need an astrologer to help you get things into perspective and proper balance, but even alone there are things you can do to get value out of your report.
Realize that major importance needs to be given to the descriptions of your Sun, Moon and Rising or Ascendant signs. If your Sun, Moon or Ascendant don't resonate at all, then perhaps you might notice Saturn or Pluto in hard aspect to one or the other. This is why you need to pay attention to any major aspects, particularly conjunctions, squares and oppositions to the Sun, Moon and Ascendant. For example, Sagittarius rising will say that you are expansive and positive, but if you have Saturn or Pluto sitting on your ascendant, it will radically alter the meaning & expression of your rising sign.
Also, the energy balance page is important to note especially if you are very high or very low in a particular element ~ for instance if you have NO water at all or almost ALL earth or whatever. Next, put weight on major aspects involving Mercury, Venus and Mars. In our reports, all of this will be clear because each paragraph will have a heading that will say specifically what it is talking about.
Then, if you want more than the report offers, you can consult excellent books that will give a more in-depth psychological account of the factors spoken of in your report. Have a look at our Bibliography.
A: Reports are certainly one excellent way of focussing before you consult someone. You will then bring to the reading some familiarity with your chart and a sense of which factors resonate to you and which ones you simply cannot identify with at all. In astrology it is just as useful to know what doesn't fit, what you can't relate to. We are always incomplete and these 'misfit' factors will help you locate some areas that you might need to focus on. For instance if you're an Aries who can't get up in the morning, a Leo who can't get out there in public and shine or a Gemini who can't express herself, these are the very things that you need to look at.
An astrologer is the one who can help you figure out all the subtle and very personal manifestations of the complex symbols of your birthchart. The descriptions in a computer report cannot touch on those subtleties and can only give some likely possibilities of how a particular astrological configuration might manifest.
But all in all, we feel that our good quality reports (the very best we could find) are a fine starting place for investigation, a useful meditation, and definitely worth more than the paper they're printed on!
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