How Astrology Inspires our Special Holidays

One of the great teachers of astrology, Isabel M. Hickey, taught us that “A birth chart is like an orchestra, filled with many people playing instruments.” So whether we are students of astrology, everyday users of astrology, or professional astrologers, our job is to learn to hear how the Sun, Moon, and each individual planet combine to make the “music of the spheres” that guides us through each day of our lives.

Hickey saw astrology as a cosmic science and believed that this music came from an energy exchange among the planets and signs and ourselves, as the recipients of the energy. Many astrologers feel that the horoscope chart should speak for itself, and we should listen to what it says, rather than have preconceived notions of what we will see once the planets are in place in the chart. It is always better to listen to the chart, rather than to prejudge it based on a few isolated elements such as Sun signs.

Hickey was born, according to her, on August 19, 1903, at 12:30 p.m. EST in Brookline, Massachusetts, and she left us on June 17, 1980, at 8:15 a.m. EDT, in Watertown, Massachusetts. The Sun on that day was in Gemini, the sign she referred to as the “butterfly” of the zodiac. Her best-known book is titled, of course, It is still in print, and still studied eagerly by people wanting to learn the facts about the art of astrology. She had a Leo Sun sign, but possessed a preponderance of Water signs that included the placements for Mars,