ADVICE TO THE NEW CONSULTING ASTROLOGER

Preventing burnout and growing a successful practice       

November 2024

copyright © 2024 by Judith Hill

OK. So you have started your practice! Congratulations, that’s a big step!  However, you notice some issues. Maybe you are experiencing burnout, or perhaps were already financially “burned” by a no-show client, again. Having run a successful practice for decades, I’ve been all through it. It’s time to share some tips for new astrologers opening shop, or about to! Those who take heed will avoid the pitfalls and mishaps that will come, and believe me, they will. And, you will better enjoy your work, and your clients. Most of all, you will become a more confident and professional astrologer.

First, what does you client want, and need? In my experience, they want information and assistance with choices. Many seek hope and comfort. However, they also want boundaries, and to know they are in good hands. Often an astrological consultation is a new experience for them. Some of my suggestions are designed for the psychological, emotional, and physical comfort of your client. Other suggestions are included specifically for your personal benefit: to avoid energetic chaos, Vital Force burnout, and financial loss!

1) Never read beyond 90 min. Why?  Because you will become burned out!

Managing Vital Force ‘Burn out’ is the foremost problem of beginning consulting astrologers.

Inform your client at booking that the appointment is either 60 or 90 min. Have a clock on the table. Thirty minutes prior to session ends, inform your client that they have thirty minutes left. Do they have any further questions?  At five minutes to end time, inform your client that their reading is closing in five minutes.

Most new practitioners have trouble ending the reading at this point! All too often, the client reveals their biggest issue exactly as you are attempting to close the session. Sometimes a client just stays seated.  Should this occur, you will need to decide what to do. Should you continue the reading? Or end the reading?  There are exceptions, but in most cases, you need to be firm with your boundaries. Stand up. Politely end the reading. You can suggest a second session at a later time. In most cases, do not keep reading past time. That extra ten minutes will morph into an additional hour (or more) in almost every case. Now, you are ‘burned out’!

2) Always take breaks between readings. Unless you are reading at a party or fair, avoid “back to back” readings. Why? There is no better way to get ‘burned out’! Your Vital Force is a real thing! Vital Force depletion is a serious health concern, both mentally and physically. But worse, you will suffer from psychic indigestion. Do you think I jest? Psychic indigestion is a very real, uncomfortable and confusing phenomenon. It is important to clear your psychic palate between each reading! I suggest a solid hour between major readings.  However, should you be a delicate Cancer or Pisces type, (or very psychically porous), then ninety minutes should be sufficient clearance. See point 3.

3) Pamper and renew yourself between readings.  To reiterate, it is wise to plan at least 60 minutes “rest and recharge” between long readings. Sorry, I know you don’t like to hear that. However, if you are a delicate flower type, this is a necessity. Why? If you don’t, you will gradually exhaust yourself or even take on too much of your client’s energy - or worse, their problems. Yes, “problem transference” is a real phenomenon. You don’t wish to absorb an unwanted depression or physical health issue! And, you don’t have to, if you mind your own energy output.

Before and between readings, it is important to shake off the dust and renew your Vital Force.  Have a snack. Exercise. Have some fresh air. Remove the chart of the previous appointment from the reading room. Have a candle burning in a safe location. If a client has particularly disturbing issues, you might use some aromatherapy to “clear the air” and sweeten your mental palate between readings. This leads us to our next essential caveat: 

4) Read a few good books on psychic self-protection. Would a deep-sea diver have no knowledge of the denizens of the deep? You need to be educated in the occasional and rare psychic issues involved in astrological consultation, and how to protect yourself.

5) Have a dedicated reading room space. If you live in a tiny apartment, this can be created with a screen. Make sure you chair is in the “Power Seat”. Let nobody sit in, or use, your power seat, ever. It’s your power seat!   

6) Do not permit client attachment or addiction (to you). Like any other professional, keep your personal boundaries.  It is not good practice to keep readings going, days after they are done. Some astrologers offer three questions afterward, etc. However, a reading-continuance policy becomes nearly endless gratis work for you, resulting in your eventual ‘burn out’. If this occurs, you will grow disenchanted with chart reading.

Most clients fully understand when you state: “please ask your questions during the reading…and if post reading you have further questions, we can set an appointment at a reduced follow-up rate”.   Or, specify that you will answer a certain set number of questions within their reading.

Why should you, or a dentist, tutor, massage therapist, or anyone else, continue with unlimited free access time following a paid session? Only astrologers seem to have this expected of them!  Give your all and your best in a session, then close the session. This key is more important if you are reading for several people per day or week.

7) Don’t scare your client. Folks, I have witnessed several cases of people distraught, anxious or terrified because some fool predicted death, or a horrible calamity. Even if you think see this approaching, you must avoid frightening your client (unless they are a Scorpio type who prefers the unadulterated news straight from the bottle Lol).

Your words have power. Folks are very open at the table, and often invest too much authority in what their venerable astrologer (you) says. Therefore, do not accept that authority! Tell them you are not God, only a human being who is reading a chart, and that you can indeed err (as can anyone).  That being said, sometimes you do see a danger approaching. What do you do now?

Learn to rephrase an alert in a positive and useful way. Let us pretend that you think you see a health scare coming, perhaps in the lung region. The client is a heavy smoker.  Instead of blurting out “You will get lung cancer!”, position your words in a non-frightening manner such as: “this is a great year to dedicate to improving your lung health. This is a great time to stop smoking!” 

Life is full of happy and tragic events. However, your clients rarely want to know the tragic ones. My teacher, who was clairvoyant, imparted to me that he once studied a baby’s chart that showed childhood death by accident. “The boy is a daredevil”.  

“Did you tell the mother that?” I inquired. “Of course not!” He replied. “In this case, nothing can be done. Why rob this good lady of the enjoyment of her baby?”

Everyone will have their own approach to these situations - and you will encounter them!  It benefits a consulting astrologer to have some knowledge of how to handle real life situations. After all, you will do so all the time!

If you are squeamish with tears, or clumsy with calamity, there is another route for you!  You can always specialize in a purely practical branch of astrology - such as location, vocation, financial, astrology, or ‘electionals’ (date selection for important life events).

If you see something worrisome, first, look for three testimonies. Inexperienced astrologers are forever overweighing something they notice in a chart. “Wow! Jupiter is in your 2nd house - you will always be wealthy!”   When this is hardly true.  Follow the old rule, tried and true, - you must have three testimonies.

Another interpretive weighting caveat is to not lend our diminutives (asteroids, Chiron, Selma, etc.) the equal power, or ‘weight’ of Jupiter, Saturn and other major planets, or the Lunar Nodes. Diminutives may possibly add a precision touch of information to an issue, but they rarely provide same weight of emphasis in a life story - usually. And they work in much tighter orbs. Charts have become so cluttered with symbols all the same size! If you enjoy including diminutives in the same chart as your major planets and nodes - you might consider having a simple side chart at table printed out sans diminutives. This will allow you to quickly identify the large themes before going into the fine weave.

8) Learn to read a chart well. Memorize your rulerships, and your planet, house and sign significators, and significations.  What do they specifically rule?  What items, careers, people do they specifically indicate for this client?

I cannot tell you how many times someone calls me distraught returning from reading where everything, literally everything is blamed on a tiny ice planet-cometoid named Chiron.

Know your all time most difficult transits, and the best ones too!

Every month, I encounter both clients and students who believe the root of all evil to be some relatively minor transit event they have identified. Simultaneously, they completely miss the obvious explanation such as transit Saturn is now crossing their natal South Node, or perhaps their Progressed Moon is exactly conjunct Uranus. Or maybe a Mars-Saturn conjunction is occurring directly over their Ascendant degree!

So. The upshot is, know your significations, and how to correctly weigh the importance of aspects. Stop blaming everything on Chiron. He doesn’t deserve it.

9) Always look for three testimonies. Know how to really interpret weight a planetary aspect or transit. Before exclaiming “Mars is in your 7th house, you will always have violent partners!”

Well, maybe this means something else, or something good, as in perhaps the partner is a powerful leader or great athlete. You must glean the right gist of the interpretation from the rest of a chart!

This is a skill that may require many years crafting!

10) Reading Room Ambiance

Be conscious of the general look of the reading room, and its influence upon both you and your client.  What kind of clients do you have? What kind of clients do you wish to attract?  If you want to attract wealthy, professional, businesspeople, then “dress accordingly”. Not just yourself, but your office too.

If you read for all manner of people, then go neutral. Religious or political displays about your space may be offensive to one set of clients, or the other.

If you read for one set of people, dress the office decor accordingly.

Remember, some of your clients are coming for a respite. Many seek comfort and hope. The majority may have contacted you because they are in a stressful situation. Personally, I take the lead of natural health clinics by creating a peaceful, calming, non-scary, and neutral environment. Harmonious colors and smells are wonderful for your frazzled client.

Tip: Decades of readings have taught me that green is the best color for the tablecloth. Blue is second. Red is ill advised, being the color of war. This may be subconsciously too arousing for a reading and can preempt conflict.  I’ve also found that wood and stone tables are much nicer than reflective glass top tables of the kind where you can look down and see your shoes!

Some knowledge of Feng Shui and design will serve you very well!

11) Specialize. That is, after you have had several years of experience with basic readings. Specialization serves you nicely. There are at least seven major branches of astrology to choose from, and a myriad of subbranches. Your special genius will emerge over time, allowing you to know what branch of this science’s tree is “yours”.

12) Always request a deposit. Or full payment in advance. If you don’t, a substantial percentage of clients, and most of your friends too, may forget to pay, or forget about their reading entirely (after you prepared for hours and have set aside an evening for them); or whoops, forgot their wallet.

“A workman is worthy of his hire”, so goes the old adage. You are too!

Requesting full payment in advance keeps you fed, and in control of your reading process. The client also signals their full intent to show up.

13) Have good, clear, strong written policies. These should cover most items: payments and down payments; refunds; no-shows; cancellations; recording mishaps (are you willing to recreate an entire reading gratis because it failed to record?); correct birth data (are you willing to recreate an entire reading without recompense should you have been given wrong data?) ; audience option (do you allow others listening in on your reading, or do you feel this is a confidential affair?); phone issues; post reading questions (yes, or no).  To name a few. You will find your own needs to itemize.  For myself, I find it impossible to read a chart with barking dogs, screaming babies, or audible construction work. So, I ask my clients to position themselves in a quiet space for their own benefit.

Don’t feel hesitant have firm policies. Clients prefer to know the ropes, cleanly laid out for them.  Clearly stated policies are a courtesy to your client. Without them, your practice will become disorderly and bedeviled by all manner of Inconveniences and misunderstandings.

Send the policies prior to the appointment or post them on your website.

14) FEES:   Don’t Charge too much. Don’t charge too little.

Your fees depend in part on your social milieu, experience, local norms, plus the financial status of your clientele. Those who work for the wild public will serve the rich and poor alike. A mid-range or adjustable fee scale is best in this scenario. However, if you work for the wealthy upper crust, they will expect a high fee or feel insulted!  However, if you generously charge less than you “can”, (which I still do), don’t set the bar so low that you burn out.

However, if you charge too much, (just because you can) - you must ask yourself “why”? Do you really want that single mom to pay you her week’s salary for a reading?  Is your skill level really such as to command a superlative fee? Money ought never be the main reason for those imparting sacred star knowledge. Money should pay the bills, but never become the heart and incentive of this work! Respect and love for astrology, skill, knowledge, and a true concern for people constitute the ingredients of a great practice.

15) Knowing When & What To Decline

If you feel personally uncomfortable with a particular person requesting a reading from you, (or referred to you from a colleague), you have the right of decline. 

Should you feel unqualified to answer a specific concern, feel free to decline, or refer out.

It is helpful to maintain a list of trusty referrals for different sorts of requests. Your client trusts your judgement and referrals. Therefore, think twice before referring your client to another practitioner without consideration of that practitioner’s qualifications, experience and skill.

It is a disservice to your client to accept their specific query that requires a knowledge base that you may not in fact have accrued (e.g. real estate astrology, surgical elections or perhaps setting a marriage date). Leave this to the professionals until you really are one!

Warning: Accepting a client who openly expresses suicidal ideology can lead you into a world of trouble should you not be a licensed psychologist, and the client in fact, attempts or succeeds in carrying out their plans.

All this being said, enjoy your new career! Opening an astrological practice is courageous!

A courteous, orderly practice, run by an honest, caring, helpful and highly skilled astrologer can truly be a beacon of light for many, and perhaps one day, a small national treasure!

ASTROLOGICAL TUTORING SERVICES

Our esteemed Academy Tutor, Marcus Romano, can be reached at: https://www.hillromanoastrology.com