astrology is ambient, like the Latin meaning of the word : it is all around

Astrology is vast. Housed within this broad term are many cultures’ systems and variants. A multitude of methods, approaches, and schools exist.

Astrology is as diverse as the earth’s inhabitants and it has been utilized in some way as long as we have been here. We look to stars and cycles to see patterns and meaning. It is a symbolic language, a starry logos. We see correlations, confluence, and synchronicity, as above so below. We ask questions.

astro logia   a telling of the stars 

You may have noticed there has been a massive astrological renaissance underway. It is an incredible time to be a student of astrology. Many translations of ancient texts have been published over the last few decades. And we have, for the first time in history, an abundance of teachings coming from the source of our various traditions. I believe interpreting and applying this knowledge in skillful and responsible ways is our task at hand. 

I’ve been a nearly lifelong student of astrology. I am interested in its origins, as well as its metamorphosis. My approach is eclectic, integrative, nonlinear and structured —lunar perhaps, while honoring a solar axis. I’m a poly and punk astrologer. Which means I practice many forms and don’t subscribe to hierarchies or hegemonies. I love tradition, but am very wary of dogmatic, essentialist, colonial, or supremacist thinking. I draw on and learn from many cultural traditions and innovations (e.g. visual, Uranian and symmetrical, Hellenistic, Persian, Jyotish, BaZi, Chinese astrologies, harmonics, newly found objects, different zodiacs, lunar mansions, etc.), and I find it all works.

I am recentering poetics and the imaginal in my work, and have unplugged from stodgy, damning traditional judgments and a limited view of rules in astrology.

🜄 water  🜂 fire 🜃 earth  🜁 air

some technical specifics:

I use the seven visible planets as zodiac sign rulers. I do not subscribe to the very recent notion of modern rulerships: that the outer planets Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto rule the signs Aquarius, Pisces, and Scorpio. Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn have been doing just fine as the sign rulers of Scorpio, Pisces, and Aquarius for at least two thousand years. Most importantly, there is an elegant symmetry to the original sequence of rulership that is totally lost when you hand over domain to the trans-Saturnian outer planets. While some associative similarities may exist between outer planets and their proposed sign relationships, I think it is a disservice to limit these transpersonal bodies—to encapsulate or trap their meaning in a single zodiac sign feels forced, trivial, linear, and mechanistic.

I think you can read a chart with only the seven traditional (visible) planets. Many modern astrologers get hung up on outer planets. You can always derive a tremendous amount of information from just the visible planets (the wanderers) ― especially via planetary configurations, house placements, rulership, reception, and so on. After establishing structure with these essential bodies, moving on to the outer bodies (including asteroids) makes sense as they offer quite specific additional information. 

I use a blended house system. Like the astrologer Morinus, I use Whole Sign Houses along with a Quadrant system. Whether a planet is "advancing" or "retreating" around the actual angles is a critical phenomenon that should not be overlooked. When a planet is rising, setting, culminating, or anti-culminating it is a physical / visual reality that helps to determine a planet's terrestrial strength and quality. I sometimes use the Porphyry house system, as 2nd century astrologer Vettius Valens mentions using for specific techniques in his Anthology, and I experiment with intermediate house cusps as sensitive points in other Quadrant systems, like Placidus, Regiomontanus, Campanus, etc.

I use niche approaches. I incorporate munakara (“contention”), antiscia (symmetries of light/time), and temperament in my work. They are important facets of delineation.

I use techniques from Jyotish (Indian astrology). Though I employ these using the tropical zodiac. Jyotish is remarkable for supplementary timing and divisional charts—which can convey specifics around career, relationship, children, wealth, etc. It also offers additional assessments of planetary strength, e.g. Dig Bala for directional strength, etc.

I use midpoints, the 360 and 90 degree dials, planetary pictures (lots), and other symmetrical (Uranian and Cosmobiological) tools and methods. This is atop a traditional Hellenistic, Persian, Early Medieval, and Indian perspective. 

• Note: the Lots (commonly called the Arabic Parts, i.e. the Part of Fortune) are one major unifying component between systems and astrologies throughout time. Lots are older than Hellenistic astrology, probably Babylonian or Egyptian in origin, and utilizing them was of chief importance to Hellenistic and Persian astrologers. Modern astrologers, too, due in large part to the lunation cycle work of Dane Rudhyar, employ the Lot of Fortune and often the Lot of Spirit. The Lot of Fortune in fact offers an alternate Ascendant (according to Valens). Lots are planetary pictures―an important feature of Symmetrical astrology—and express planetary phase relationships. These sensitive, symmetrical points are potent and mysterious, to me they marry astrological thought through the ages and feel timeless.

I work with essential dignity as a framework but do not place huge emphasis on it. I see many practitioners limiting their judgements to essential dignity alone, and I find this can be damaging and not wholly accurate. I like to see how dignity might influence planetary interchanges through reception, rulership and management, aspects, and temperament. Dignity must not be over-personalized. Damning judgments can cause real harm, people may internalize these judgments.

I work with triplicity, trigon lords, bounds, circumambulations, firdaria, declination, parans, phasis, heliacal risings and settings, planetary stations, and more. :)

On occasion I work with asteroids and the Transneptunians (TNPs): Cupido, Hades, Kronos and company. From my viewpoint, they are not imperative but add embellishment and nuance, and can eerily describe the nature or quality of a character and situations. Outer planets are like asteroids.

I find the twelve-letter astrological alphabet to be far too simplistic and frankly misleading (Aries = Mars = 1st House, Taurus = Venus = 2nd House, etc.) For a deeper understanding of the signs, houses, planets, and meanings associated, it is best to begin with the Thema Mundi. This hypothetical chart of the world is an exquisitely beautiful teaching tool. You might also consider the symmetry in the sign-based decanates of the zodiac—reinforcing the significance of the seven planetary rulers.

Recommended:
Articles
Seven Stars Astrology
Vettius Valens, Anthologies
Claudius Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos
Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra
Planetary Joys and the Origins of the Significations of the Houses —Chris Brennan
Books
Astrology & the Authentic Self by Demetra George
The Combination of Stellar Influences by Reinhold Ebertin
The Houses: Temples of the Sky by Deborah Houlding (also see articles on Skyscript)
Introductions to Traditional Astrology and Traditional Astrology for Today: An Introduction by Benjamin Dykes, PhD

Important Notice: Astrological consultations, coaching, and business coaching services are strictly educational, philosophical, and consultative in nature. These services are provided outside of the healthcare system by Kate Petty dba Ambient Astrology. They do not constitute psychotherapy, clinical counseling, or mental health treatment. If you are experiencing a mental health crisis or require clinical treatment, please seek a licensed healthcare provider in your local area.