Relationship Readings: Modern vs. Traditional
I've just gone through a major revamp of my relationship readings and added two new ones, the Compatibility Reading and a Compete Relationship Reading which includes a Compatibility Reading plus a relationship horary reading.
I've got a lot of relationship readings, here's a guide about how to choose a relationship reading
Ok, let's discuss relationship readings a bit. I'd estimate that relationship readings make up at least 60-75% of my total readings. For the most part these are horary readings. Relationships make very good subjects for horaries because they are so emotionally significant and important, giving very "juicy" charts. Horary relationship readings are very accurate, I can only remember one or two clients that reported back that the horary was incorrect, while it's pretty routine to have clients say "oh, yeah, you were right on the money with that reading"
Of course accuracy can be problematic in a relationship reading when the answer is no. Many clients do appreciate a honest answer even when it goes against their deepest hopes, but there are a significant number that are unhappy. Part of the problem is that other practitioners of the mantic arts, ie our other fortune telling colleagues, tend to give vague, positive answers. Psychics are particularly prone to this, but so, not surprisingly, are modern astrologers. "They told me he loved me but there was a dark cloud over him" as opposed to "he's an unreliable commitment phobe who's taking advantage of you"
Again, part of the problem is the methodology that modern astrologers are using. First they are trying to do a specific, focused prediction with a broad, general vague tool, the natal chart. Since a natal chart is true for your whole life, ALL of your relationships are in it, how are you going to pull out one specific relationship? I'm rather skeptical that it is possible to do accurate timing from a natal chart. When I see someone repeatedly nail accurate timing of events from an unknown chart, as opposed to looking at a known, usually celebrity chart and 20/20 hindsight, then I become a believer. It may be just that contemporary traditional astrologers haven't mastered the technique, but I do suspect that the traditional natal timing technique itself may simple be inadequate, I'm open minded. In any case, even if you can accurate time a transit, primary direction, etc, relating to relationships, how do you know whether it involves the particular person the querent wants to know about?
Secondly, in addition to problems with the lack of accuracy of natal prediction, modern astrology is very much predicated on being relentlessly positive. This is appropriate in the social worker/psychologist setting that informs the approach of modern astrologers. A natal chart is, in fact, an excellent way to model someone's psychology. I have no doubt that if I were a social worker or psychologist that I would do a natal chart for every client as a way to understand and work with their psychological and emotional state. What I would not do, however, is say to them, "only about 1/3 of my patients improve through treatment" I would want them to be enthusiastic and would be positive and upbeat about their prospect in order to encourage them even if their chance of success was not 100%.
Another problem with modern astrology is that they have only one basic tool, the natal chart. This is like a carpenter that only has a hammer and tries to put in screws, plane wood and bore holes with their hammer. Other than natal timing a modern astrologer also tries to use chart comparison or synastry to predict the outcome of a relationship as if compatibility was determinative of relationship success. Now certainly compatibility is interesting and useful, but I make very clear with my readings that my Compatibility Reading is not the way to go if you want to know what will actually happen with a relationship. I used to joke that I was 100% compatible with Scarlett Johansson, but that hardly translates into having a relationship. Of course, there are plenty of "incompatible" people in relationships, after all opposites can attract and complement each other.
One of the things I really prize about traditional astrology is that it has a "full tool box" with lots of different techniques and methods, all useful. When we predict using traditional we always want to try to base our analysis on multiple factors, not just one. This is what makes traditional astrology so accurate.
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