3 Lessons I’ve Learned in 3 Years of Being an Astrologer

Bianca Smith July 22, 2024

At least once or twice a year I feel like I want to stop doing consultations. Because I don’t know enough.

Astrology is one of the most challenging practices I have studied in my life. More challenging than:

  • Studying neuroscience
  • Dancing for 12 hours a day
  • Writing a thesis on improvisation

Why? Two reasons:

  1. Studying astrology feels like a thorn in my side. There’s always more to learn. I’m constantly wondering if I know it well enough to share confidently.
  2. Similar to yoga and dance, I feel the weight of the responsibility of sharing astrology with people and doing it well (Capricorn rising, hello, how are ya?!).

Last year, I met with an incredible, very seasoned astrologer. I told him about my struggle. He reminded me that astrology is God’s writing in the stars and anyone who has the ability to read it has a responsibility to share what it says with others.

He also told me I will never know it all. That’s the beauty of it. It assures our humanity. We can’t ever be God.

The most important thing he told me, which sticks with me to this day, is this:

“Whatever you tell them is extraordinarily useful and helpful. That’s the nature of Astrology. And your responsibility is to just do it right. Just do what you’ve been trained to do. That’s thousands of years of knowledge.”

Here are three things I’ve learned to help me keep going and honor my responsibility:

1. Be where you are.

I can’t rush the wisdom that comes from experience and practice. I can’t expect myself to be an expert astrologer immediately and I still know more than enough to contribute.

I’ve made some mistakes along the way, especially in the beginning as I was
working on synthesizing the information. I’ve had to learn to forgive myself for it. I accept that people are getting this version of me and what I know now. Which means giving myself grace for being new… Because the only way to not be new is to keep going.

I can’t be at year 20 in year 3. And that’s okay (freaking out silently still…).

2. Share what you can.

Speaking of things that are okay… I don’t know everything… and that’s okay (or is it… LOL). But honestly, sometimes I have to say, “I’m sorry but I cannot answer that.”

Anyone can ask anything about their life and receive guidance from the chart. So I make no mistake about where the limitation lies… it’s with me, not with the tool.

At first I wasn’t okay with that. I felt like I had to all of a sudden be able to give people all these answers to their life questions because I studied astrology.

Now, I feel more at peace as I grow more confident in my foundational knowledge and allow myself to trust in exactly what I was trained to do.
It feels both humbling and empowering to receive messages like this:

“I am sitting here amazed by how spot-on you were with everything You’ve left me with lots to think about and a fresh outlook on some of the things I had been worrying over. I appreciate you so much! Looking forward to the next session!”

3. Learn what you will.

I’ve learned that insecurity arises because I feel a lack of knowledge in a specific area. So I turn to my resources as a comfort and a guide. Especially in times where I feel like I need to stop because I know “nothing” (can anyone relate?).

A lot of my learning is about Re-learning. Re-reading the books I read at Kepler. Reviewing the courses I took.

I repeatedly go back to The Astrology Podcast episodes about foundational
concepts like the signs, the houses, the planets and the aspects. I sit in relationship with my chart, to witness and reflect on how it shows up in my
life. I work to develop true relationships with these ideas so they become more embodied.

As a choreographer, I work with affirmations in my creative process to meet fear of the unknown in performance. One of my favorites is, “I am in a constant state of learning.”

Isn’t it so true though? We are all in a constant state of learning. One of the biggest takeaways for me has been recognizing that I can be both: learning and contributing.

Permission to be both, granted. If you have any doubts about your own brilliance, I wish that for you, too.

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