Astrology provides a framework for imagining a profound intimacy between ourselves and our environment. It envisions an ecological cosmos, a cosmos which 'speaks' through symbol and metaphor. The same structuring principles and processes at work in the natural world are also at work in us, allowing us to see form and movement in our lives as metaphorically reflected in the movements of the sky. p. xvi The Astrological Imagination: Where Psyche and Cosmos Meet, by Brad Hiljanen Kochunas.
When Astrology meets Spa, some interesting things can happen. This post is an exploratory account of such an encounter. There is a serious intent, however: I'm worried about what is happening to our souls and I'm worried about what that's doing to our spas.
In August, I attended the International Society for Astrological Research (ISAR) conference in Chicago with my partner astrologer Joe Landwehr who was a speaking on the topic 'Why Astrology is Not a Science'. It's a topic that interests me since a similar dilemma (science or not) is faced by alternative health practitioners, many of whom find work and some recognition and validation in spas.
Astrology is not a common offering in spas. Where it is, the presentation likely does not do service to the depth and scope of this imaginal art (see 'On the Internet' below). As with so much else in our culture, this may reflect our attitudes both towards ourselves and our place on the planet.
When Astrology meets Spa, some interesting things can happen. This post is an exploratory account of such an encounter. There is a serious intent, however: I'm worried about what is happening to our souls and I'm worried about what that's doing to our spas.
In August, I attended the International Society for Astrological Research (ISAR) conference in Chicago with my partner astrologer Joe Landwehr who was a speaking on the topic 'Why Astrology is Not a Science'. It's a topic that interests me since a similar dilemma (science or not) is faced by alternative health practitioners, many of whom find work and some recognition and validation in spas.
Astrology is not a common offering in spas. Where it is, the presentation likely does not do service to the depth and scope of this imaginal art (see 'On the Internet' below). As with so much else in our culture, this may reflect our attitudes both towards ourselves and our place on the planet.
Joe sees Astrology as a poetic language of soul (you can read more about his distinction between this approach and traditional astrology here). Any language can be used to communicate something silly or something more profound, depending on who is using the language.
Astrology's ongoing struggle for respect reveals that it is often its own worst enemy. Where astrology appears silly or superficial, the problem lies not with astrology itself but with how some astrologers choose to present astrology to those who have not explored its potential. We can say the same of the spa world and how that is presented that to the public.
There were many talks at the ISAR conference that interested me, in particular those concerned with the specialties known as psychological astrology and medical astrology. In the conference vocational track, Susie Cox - who has worked as a consultant astrologer at Canyon Ranch Health Resort in Tucson, Arizona, for 28 years - spoke on 'Presenting Astrology at Health Spas and Resorts'.
The talk description said Susie would be looking at ways that astrology can demonstrate its value to society through service industries such as spas, and sharing her ideas about astrology in the spa world. Unfortunately, she confined her survey of astrology in the spa world to the Top 6 Conde Naste Destination US Spas for 2009, which is, to be fair, her realm. This is my attempt to extend and elaborate that viewpoint.
I should add that I am a novice student of astrology (Astropoetics) under the tutelage of my partner whose approach resonates very much with that of his friend and colleague Brad Kochunas (quoted above and throughout). Both see astrology as an art that speaks the poetic or imaginal language of soul; both take it far below the surface in their eloquent writings and in their counseling sessions.
I find this view of astrology to be quite philosophically aligned with that of Vision Spa Retreat (tagline 'Soulful and Sustainable'). But the perspective of soul, like the question of what is sustainable, is not something that can be neatly defined and regulated for. And neither concept is fortune-making. Instead, they both require us to develop a deeper understanding of lack and limitation, and of the underside or underbelly of life.
The levity and leisure in our lives
'In an effort to increase the levity and leisure in our lives we have neglected the gravity of our existence.' wrote Brad Kochunas, in an article called 'Returning the Soul to Astrology' (part of a fascinating collection of essays on The Astrological Imagination, p. 26; quite readable for those new to astrology). I think this same statement could be applied to current trends in the spa world (less so to the growing retreat movement).
Until a couple of years ago, my impression of astrology was based on the trivial magazine sun-sign columns. My introduction to its value as a philosophical system has been profoundly life-expanding. At the ISAR conference, I saw that astrology addresses many areas of human experience with specialties in medical, vocational, locational, spiritual, predictive, and psychological astrology. Some astrologers would like to call it a science, a few won't.
Astrology's ongoing struggle for respect reveals that it is often its own worst enemy. Where astrology appears silly or superficial, the problem lies not with astrology itself but with how some astrologers choose to present astrology to those who have not explored its potential. We can say the same of the spa world and how that is presented that to the public.
There were many talks at the ISAR conference that interested me, in particular those concerned with the specialties known as psychological astrology and medical astrology. In the conference vocational track, Susie Cox - who has worked as a consultant astrologer at Canyon Ranch Health Resort in Tucson, Arizona, for 28 years - spoke on 'Presenting Astrology at Health Spas and Resorts'.
The talk description said Susie would be looking at ways that astrology can demonstrate its value to society through service industries such as spas, and sharing her ideas about astrology in the spa world. Unfortunately, she confined her survey of astrology in the spa world to the Top 6 Conde Naste Destination US Spas for 2009, which is, to be fair, her realm. This is my attempt to extend and elaborate that viewpoint.
I should add that I am a novice student of astrology (Astropoetics) under the tutelage of my partner whose approach resonates very much with that of his friend and colleague Brad Kochunas (quoted above and throughout). Both see astrology as an art that speaks the poetic or imaginal language of soul; both take it far below the surface in their eloquent writings and in their counseling sessions.
I find this view of astrology to be quite philosophically aligned with that of Vision Spa Retreat (tagline 'Soulful and Sustainable'). But the perspective of soul, like the question of what is sustainable, is not something that can be neatly defined and regulated for. And neither concept is fortune-making. Instead, they both require us to develop a deeper understanding of lack and limitation, and of the underside or underbelly of life.
The levity and leisure in our lives
'In an effort to increase the levity and leisure in our lives we have neglected the gravity of our existence.' wrote Brad Kochunas, in an article called 'Returning the Soul to Astrology' (part of a fascinating collection of essays on The Astrological Imagination, p. 26; quite readable for those new to astrology). I think this same statement could be applied to current trends in the spa world (less so to the growing retreat movement).
Until a couple of years ago, my impression of astrology was based on the trivial magazine sun-sign columns. My introduction to its value as a philosophical system has been profoundly life-expanding. At the ISAR conference, I saw that astrology addresses many areas of human experience with specialties in medical, vocational, locational, spiritual, predictive, and psychological astrology. Some astrologers would like to call it a science, a few won't.
[T]he very nature of any therapeutic intervention ... is not scientific. It is a participatory interaction between two conscious human beings, using whatever modality – be it astrology, psychotherapy or medicine – as a point of departure for an exchange, the outcome of which is not predictable or controllable by science. Astrologers have a set of tools to enhance the participatory experience, and direct it toward a set of outcomes tailored with exquisite precision to the needs of a specific client – but only if it is used in a non-scientific way that permits a free, intuitive exploration of astrological symbolism within the context of a dialogue between two conscious, creative, and rather protean beings, working together toward understanding and perspective. Joe Landwehr, from his ISAR talk 'Why Astrology is not a Science'
We live in a culture of heroic extremes, from the soullessness of science to the illusionary new age. We are manipulated by both because of our fear of what Jung called Shadow and our longing for Light. Perhaps we are drawn to spas because archetypally these are the places we go to in order to face or deny our 'shadows'. Likewise, astrologically spas are described by the elusive qualities of the element Water, especially the sign Pisces, the planet Neptune, and the 12th House (more on this later).
In the top echelons of the spa world, it appears popular to put astrology under the heading of Metaphysics and call its practitioners Metaphysicians. Maybe this title gives it a certain grandness, something similar to a physician but with an exotic tone. Under the same category come psychics, mediums, intuitives, numerologists, graphologists, tarot readers, color therapists, crystal energy workers, and so on.
Wikipedia notes that: Before the development of modern science, scientific questions were addressed as a part of metaphysics known as 'natural philosophy'; the term 'science' itself meant 'knowledge' of epistemological origin. The scientific method, however, made natural philosophy an empirical and experimental activity unlike the rest of philosophy, and by the end of the eighteenth century it had begun to be called 'science' in order to distinguish it from philosophy. Thereafter, metaphysics became the philosophical enquiry of a non-empirical character into the nature of existence.
or in the new spa language ...
Canyon Ranch, Tucson: Metaphysical Department - 'Inner wisdom helps you on your journey to personal growth. Metaphysical consultations are fun and offer intriguing pathways to self-awareness.'
I have nothing against any of the above practices, except where they are thinly veiled forms of entertainment masquerading as medicine. And I admit that my impression so far has been that that is what's often on offer. What is particularly interesting, and to me informative, is that these services may be increasing in their popularity. I'm curious to understand why. First, a little on the astrological worldview.
Restoring meaning, beauty and mystery to our lives
Astrology for an individual is based on the key tool, a natal chart. But charts can be drawn up for places, events, animals, all manner of things occurring in space and time. There is my birth chart, my 'progressed new moon' chart for an astrologically significant life-phase, a chart for the launching of this website, a chart for my first spa-retreat venture, and one for that partnership. From each chart, meaning can be gleaned.
While some struggle to demonstrate that astrology is not trivial or superstitious but a verifiable science (my partner Joe explains why this is not possible), others (like Joe and Brad) also see astrology as valuable - not as a science but as a language of the imagination that provides a means to restore meaning, beauty and mystery to our lives. For them it truly is a language of soul.
It is this kind of restoration of mystery and meaning, of soul, that I believe might also help us to see the natural world not as a resource but as a home in which we have a place. But what about spas? Spas, to my mind, have the potential to be a special kind of home - a sanctuary (read more about the 'father of spa' Asclepius here). Astrologically, they're linked with the 12th House, along with hospitals, monasteries, retreats, and curiously enough prisons.
These are all places we go to heal voluntarily (or to be held involuntarily) when we've been deemed sick in body, mind or spirit. For the most part, our culture considers all these kinds of sickness to be unwelcome. They are something we want to be rid of or to have remedied and rehabilitated. But as Thomas Moore writes, soul is not sanitary - it is wild and untamed and that is another curious characteristic of 12th House (read a related reference here).
Here's a little taste of the generic astrology that comes up in a Google search for 'astrology, spas'. This is the one-size-fits-all approach that mass-marketed businesses thrives upon. 'The best way to analyze the natal horoscope for matters of psychology and motivation, as well as therapeutic preferences', it says, 'is to use the 12-letter astrological alphabet devised by astrologer Zipporah Dobyns.' [Web link to quoted material.]
'[The medical astrologer then] formulates his counseling and motivational approach and his therapeutic recommendations for the client.' And comes up with the following for the 12th House.
In the top echelons of the spa world, it appears popular to put astrology under the heading of Metaphysics and call its practitioners Metaphysicians. Maybe this title gives it a certain grandness, something similar to a physician but with an exotic tone. Under the same category come psychics, mediums, intuitives, numerologists, graphologists, tarot readers, color therapists, crystal energy workers, and so on.
Wikipedia notes that: Before the development of modern science, scientific questions were addressed as a part of metaphysics known as 'natural philosophy'; the term 'science' itself meant 'knowledge' of epistemological origin. The scientific method, however, made natural philosophy an empirical and experimental activity unlike the rest of philosophy, and by the end of the eighteenth century it had begun to be called 'science' in order to distinguish it from philosophy. Thereafter, metaphysics became the philosophical enquiry of a non-empirical character into the nature of existence.
or in the new spa language ...
Canyon Ranch, Tucson: Metaphysical Department - 'Inner wisdom helps you on your journey to personal growth. Metaphysical consultations are fun and offer intriguing pathways to self-awareness.'
I have nothing against any of the above practices, except where they are thinly veiled forms of entertainment masquerading as medicine. And I admit that my impression so far has been that that is what's often on offer. What is particularly interesting, and to me informative, is that these services may be increasing in their popularity. I'm curious to understand why. First, a little on the astrological worldview.
Restoring meaning, beauty and mystery to our lives
Astrology for an individual is based on the key tool, a natal chart. But charts can be drawn up for places, events, animals, all manner of things occurring in space and time. There is my birth chart, my 'progressed new moon' chart for an astrologically significant life-phase, a chart for the launching of this website, a chart for my first spa-retreat venture, and one for that partnership. From each chart, meaning can be gleaned.
While some struggle to demonstrate that astrology is not trivial or superstitious but a verifiable science (my partner Joe explains why this is not possible), others (like Joe and Brad) also see astrology as valuable - not as a science but as a language of the imagination that provides a means to restore meaning, beauty and mystery to our lives. For them it truly is a language of soul.
It is this kind of restoration of mystery and meaning, of soul, that I believe might also help us to see the natural world not as a resource but as a home in which we have a place. But what about spas? Spas, to my mind, have the potential to be a special kind of home - a sanctuary (read more about the 'father of spa' Asclepius here). Astrologically, they're linked with the 12th House, along with hospitals, monasteries, retreats, and curiously enough prisons.
These are all places we go to heal voluntarily (or to be held involuntarily) when we've been deemed sick in body, mind or spirit. For the most part, our culture considers all these kinds of sickness to be unwelcome. They are something we want to be rid of or to have remedied and rehabilitated. But as Thomas Moore writes, soul is not sanitary - it is wild and untamed and that is another curious characteristic of 12th House (read a related reference here).
Here's a little taste of the generic astrology that comes up in a Google search for 'astrology, spas'. This is the one-size-fits-all approach that mass-marketed businesses thrives upon. 'The best way to analyze the natal horoscope for matters of psychology and motivation, as well as therapeutic preferences', it says, 'is to use the 12-letter astrological alphabet devised by astrologer Zipporah Dobyns.' [Web link to quoted material.]
'[The medical astrologer then] formulates his counseling and motivational approach and his therapeutic recommendations for the client.' And comes up with the following for the 12th House.
Pisces - Neptune - Twelfth House
Often a codependent, addictive personality in need of emotional healing. Prone to excess, overindulgence, profligate behavior. Self victimization or self sabotage. Can place an almost religious, blind faith in the doctor or therapist, often having unrealistic or supernatural expectations. Will often be vague or confused in relating medical history, getting the facts straight. Needs to develop will power in following through with therapy. Basically good-natured, tolerant, compassionate, forgiving. Can be very sensitive to the effects of foods, drugs, medicines, herbs.
Therapies: Alcoholics Anonymous and twelve step programs, subtle energetic therapies, hypnotherapy, counseling and psychotherapy, foot reflexology, lymphatic detoxification, homeopathy, thalassotherapy (sea bathing)
Often a codependent, addictive personality in need of emotional healing. Prone to excess, overindulgence, profligate behavior. Self victimization or self sabotage. Can place an almost religious, blind faith in the doctor or therapist, often having unrealistic or supernatural expectations. Will often be vague or confused in relating medical history, getting the facts straight. Needs to develop will power in following through with therapy. Basically good-natured, tolerant, compassionate, forgiving. Can be very sensitive to the effects of foods, drugs, medicines, herbs.
Therapies: Alcoholics Anonymous and twelve step programs, subtle energetic therapies, hypnotherapy, counseling and psychotherapy, foot reflexology, lymphatic detoxification, homeopathy, thalassotherapy (sea bathing)
Since my Sun, along with Uranus conjunct Mercury, lie in the 12th house, I'm a contender. So, already you'll know something about my darkest secrets! (You'd do better to look a lot more closely at my chart, and how I've responded to life.)
'Houses' in astrology (12 of them) can be seen as psychological and environmental contexts in which human experience and behavior are situated. The 12th House describes, for example, the realm of dreams, intuitions, the unconscious, and surrender. As mentioned earlier, apart from certain human institutions, it represents the untamed wilderness or where we go to connect with our true nature (our soul).
The 12th House also reflects, writes Brad Kochunas, 'personal and collective experiences in which there has been unfinished business, experiences we tend not to show or know well, experiences that are generally disdained, ridiculed or deemed irrelevant'. (Brad is a highly experienced mental health professional who works with prison inmates - prisons if you remember are also 12th House places.)
However, as hinted above for my case, the 12th House is experienced differently by each of us, depending upon the sign on the cusp (at the beginning of) the 12th House, any planets we have in the 12th House, where the ruler of the 12th House sits in the chart and the aspects to it, and the consciousness that we bring to these factors.
Thus one-size does not fit all, and a true understanding of your 12th hHuse (or anything in your chart) cannot be obtained simply by reading a definition of the 12th House, taken out of context. The same applies to working with individuals in any context, including that of spa. Whatever the setting, whatever the treatment, its effectiveness will be uniquely influenced by the individuals involved.
What is really going on in spas?
Many people go to spas to relax but also to regenerate, recover, or rediscover parts of themselves that feel unattended or lost. Spas seem to call us to the rest we all need at the end of one cycle and before another begins - which is where the 12th House lies in the circle of a chart. As for any 12th House setting, this rest requires a process of incubation and waiting, brooding and mulling, letting soul stir in its own cauldron.
Directly opposed the 12th House on a zodiac chart is the 6th House - described by the element Earth, the sign Virgo, and the planet Mercury. The 6th House provides ballast for the 12th, being much more grounded and disciplined. It's related to self-purification, rituals, habits, attitudes to work; where 12th House is wild and untamed, the 6th House is tamed or domesticated.
For me, this 12th-6th House opposition describes quite well one of the inherent tensions of spa culture and culture in general. Will our nature be wild or tamed? Will our healing be contained and sanitized or allowed to sit in its own chaos for however long that takes? The grand father of spas, Asclepius, apparently offered sanctuary to those who needed healing that respected this tension. We're a long way from that balance now.
Instead, we seem to be looking for (or purveying) the quick fixes, the easily digested information, the neatly packaged options. We're hoping (or claiming) that this can all be done in a fabulous all-inclusive weekend. We believe (or make-believe) that if we get the formula right, we'll be rich and beautiful and happy ever after. Who is going to point out that the emperor has no clothes? Who is going to dare to serve, not profit?
Psychological astrology (the realm Joe Landwehr and Brad Kochunas are immersed in) is concerned with the psyche or soul. It sees an individual's natal chart as an imaginal map that is not used to predict concrete life events or to provide solutions to the problems of living but rather to ask the person whose chart it is to discover for themselves the deepest meaning to their life and their place in the cosmos.
'In our culture we have lost the fantasy of the healing power of beauty and tend toward engaging only the medical fantasy. Astrology is simply a way of imagining the world differently, an alternative model for understanding human reality. Practiced imaginatively, its subject matter is soulmaking', writes Brad (p. 27). Spas have this potential - inspiring places of beauty, mystery, fantasy.
Yet - in grasping for medical credibility (Medi-Spa) or building megalithic manors, for example - that soulful quality is often lost. Brad Kochunas again, 'Americans tend toward expansive growth-oriented, manic, Jupiterian lifestyles and leave no place for Saturnine melancholia. In an effort to increase the levity and leisure in our lives we have neglected the gravity of our existence' (p. 25-6).
[Although I am focusing on the 12th House here, I'd like to add that the notion of spa as a place to go to regenerate and recover can also be understood as a 4th House experience. The 4th House can denote sanctuary or refuge, as well as home. Likewise, any further astrological study of spa where its links with the element water are recognized (unfortunately some in spa do not subscribe to this connection) would consider the watery zodiac signs or Cancer and Scorpio, the planets Moon and Pluto and the 8th House.]
When soul is lost by a culture
Let's return to Susie Cox's talk, and the Conde Naste Top scoring Destination Spas (all US) for 2009:
Canyon Ranch, Lenox, Massachusetts
Lake Austin Spa Resort, Texas
Red Mountain Spa, Utah
Miraval, Tucson, Arizona
Canyon Ranch, Tucson, Arizona
Ten Thousand Waves, Sante Fe, New Mexico
Lake Austin Spa Resort, Texas
Red Mountain Spa, Utah
Miraval, Tucson, Arizona
Canyon Ranch, Tucson, Arizona
Ten Thousand Waves, Sante Fe, New Mexico
Of these grand spas, three (both the Canyon Ranch venues and Miraval) offer astrology. Susie established it at the first two a long time ago now but Miraval's appointment of astrologer Carolyn Crawford is more recent. Susie consults at Canyon Ranch, Tucson, which has 300 rooms and is a high-end venue. Its focus, she noted, is on body and mind with less attention to spirit. The tagline ''The Power of Possibility' says it all.
Canyon Ranch's Arizona neighbor Miraval (118 rooms), on the other hand, offers a more meditative atmosphere, perhaps more conducive to things spiritual. There's an important distinction to make here between spiritual and soulful, both words that are much used and sometimes misused (or misrepresented) in the business of spa and health. Though perhaps marketing meets us exactly where our dreams are.
'When soul is lost by a culture there is nothing to connect mind and body, no middle ground to keep these realms attached and thereby we suffer the untethered elevation of spirit and the degradation of matter as reflected in the deterioration of the environment, the despising of the body, shoddy materialism, the oppression of women, and substance abuse.' Brad Kochunas, p. 26-7.
At the start of her talk, Susie made a humorous comment about an encounter in the rest room. She had overheard two hotel guests (not conference participants) speculating that the woman in flowing robes and crystal jewelry who had just left the rest room was no doubt 'the astrologer'. Meanwhile, Susie was power-dressed and proud of her more conventional appearance.
How can we go beyond our stereotypes, to identify genuine authenticity, whether in the world of astrology or that of spa?
The light (and quick) or the dark (and slow)
Susie Cox has been a professional astrologer for over 37 years, and her clients include an A-List of international celebrities and business leaders. The highest service rate in the spa is around $300. That's what Susie's 50-minute astrology readings cost, and as an independent contractor she earns more than 50% of this. For me, her business acumen was far more impressive than her description of services rendered.
Yet, Susie reports that 40% of her spa clients return on their next visit, and 30% call her privately later. She can claim to have cast 42 000 charts in the course of her career. What also impressed me was that last year the department of Behavioral Health at Canyon Ranch, Tucson, showed such a significant decline in numbers of clients that it judiciously changed its name to Life Management. Metaphysics bookings, meanwhile, were up.
Susie insists that people (or at least her clients) don't want to be analyzed or to face the darker sides of life but rather to be uplifted. 'Astrology should be positive', she said brightly, and in the spa context she emphasized that it ought to be entertainment, not therapy. She assured her audience of career astrologers looking to diversify that this didn't mean 'dumbing down' her presentation; 'I get very deep' she added.
For most first-timers she'll summarize their chart reading in one potent sentence. Like a 17-syllable haiku (not Susie's analogy), perhaps it is possible to distill a great deal in those punchlines. For the circumstances and clients, this is perhaps what is sought. But does it have lasting satisfaction for them or send them away with something they can mull over and elaborate over the course of a lifetime of experience? (a main theme of Astropoetics)
'Working with charts in this (soul) way is a slow process ... many clients lost to the modern fantasy of more and better will not have time for it, they want the quick answers, the sure bets, the minimal effort, but life is an alchemical process and with enough attentiveness and imagination we see that change and transformation occur of their own accord.' Brad Kochunas, p. 29
'At Canyon Ranch, we believe that when you have the information and tools, you can improve the quality of your life. Our Health Packages, which can be added to any stay at Canyon Ranch health resort in Lenox, are sets of integrated services that are specially selected to focus on a specific health concern or personal goal.'
'An astrology that moves forward focused upon self-mastery, personal growth, problem solving, prediction, control, providing answers to life's problems, and simplifying our lives is an astrology which often neglects the longing of soul for attachment, complexity, repetition, otherness, meandering, and depth. It is an astrology used as one more weapon in an arsenal of the heroic ego in its move away from a soulful life.' Brad Kochunas, p. 27
Abandoning the heroic perspective
Returning soul to astrology (or spa) requires us to abandon this heroic perspective. Instead, astrology could provide a map of our inner landscape that is not used to predict concrete life events or to provide solutions to the problems of living but rather to lead us toward a life deeply enriched and satisfying. This might very well sound heinous to a society/ spa/ health/ industry bent on progress, betterment, improvement, and growth.
'We [Americans] are by no means materialists as some would clamor, but rather spiritists having little or no appreciation for the material world .... There is little appreciation for the real thing or for the time it takes to create and cultivate the real thing. This is the plight of the puer nation, the eternally youthful qualities of which are limitless possibility, high flying spirit.' Brad Kochunas, p. 26
Can we convince ourselves (or be convinced) that expensive tubs of cream are age-defying? How would we feel if we knew our spa therapist had been on a training course to learn 'how to provoke desire-to-buy emotions'? Is it possible that they and we are strangers desperately colluding in the substitute dream of being served, nurtured and healed by our own families and communities, and of knowing where we belong.
'[S]oul's absence denotes a loss of depth, meaning and attachment. In a society driven by disposable consumerism, we have lost a deep understanding of lack, of doing without, of making do, of abstinence, celibacy, solitude, restraint, and limitation. We move restlessly about, disposing of dwellings, vehicles, relationships, possessions, changing our beliefs, families and lifestyles as easily as changing undergarments, pursuing a fantasy of growth and progress.' Brad Kochunas, pp. 25-26
Or is there something hidden in these fantasies that can be owned, brought to light, dug up out of the depths of our 12th House longings? Perhaps clues lie in the glaring disparities between sun-sign (generic) astrology and the complex (highly individual) psychological insights that the likes of C.J. Jung and Dane Rudyar have gleaned from the stars. Or the deceptively simplistic new-age statement: 'healing is a process, not an event'.
If we really understood that, as a map of our inner landscape, our own natal chart is fathomless, would we dare look into that soul-well or run away?
Would we be happy with a cosmologist who tells us our lives are as stunningly beautiful as the cosmetologist we just came from exclaimed our newly scrubbed faces to be ... when we know this is not how we feel or see ourselves; when they said the same to the person before us?
I'm not saying that there is no value in enjoying being entertained and appreciated. What does concern me, is the market mentality that is so insidiously encroaching upon the inner and outer landscapes we once experienced as sacred. As an imaginal art, astrology (like other healing arts) has the capacity to move us beyond ourselves and to challenge us to create and discover meaning in our lives.
But this is not something someone can simplify, beautify, package up with pretty ribbons, and sell to us as a media-inspired dream. No amount of couching our pain in abundance affirmations, or masking our boredom with guided wilderness experiences; or putting green logos and grand oak trees on our websites, or selling sacred rituals - is going to help us to get in touch with our souls or to save the planet.
Making a leap of consciousness
Astrology describes beautifully the metaphoric or archetypal journey of maturation that, as individuals and as a culture, we make around the zodiac chart from the 1st House (personality expression and an internal source of motivation to take one’s place within the environment) to the 12th House (self-transcendence and sacrifice). Crossing from the 9th House (aspiration, search for meaning) into the 10th House (social values, career) requires a significant leap of consciousness.
With this leap, we are losing personal control and realizing we must adapt to the larger reality upon which we depend. If we do that well, in the 11th House we'll develop a social conscience and be ready to play our part in addressing social concerns. By the time we arrive at the 12th House, our lives will either be full of hidden enemies and dangerous dreams, or we'll be able to resonate with and respond to the collective unconscious.
How many of us who love spas or whose working lives have attracted us to spas are 12th House folk? (Brad Kochunas has compared the natal charts of prisoners and those who work with them, and found some remarkable similarities between them.) The difference lies not in what we've been given but in what we choose to do with it.
That's another key point about the non-generic astrology you won't read in the magazines - it expresses our individuality and our choices, and it asks us to take responsibility for how we are going to live our lives, for what we are going to make of them. No-one else can do that for us, though we can be given opportunities and time and support in following this very challenging path of self-discovery.
At the same ISAR 2009 conference, astrologer Maurice Fernandez, speaking on 'Vocational Orientation in the Birth Chart', discussed how the 12th House can provide interesting insights into the challenge of vocational choice - that of merging personal creativity with collective needs. My affinity for spa, especially as a tool for personal and social transformation, and my renegade approach, was made rather obvious by his analysis.
The personal, professional, and relational insights I've gained from astrology in my 2 years' experience of it have been extraordinary. It is not possible nor appropriate to go into that here because, unlike the generic astrology many will be familiar with, there is no adequate way to simplify its many-faceted view of a person or a situation or an option. There are some good guides but your own study is best.
Speaking of guides: at ISAR, medical astrologer Jane Ridder-Patrick presented her work in progress of accompanying people through sometimes very difficult health crises. In a talk entitled 'The Expert Patient', she described people who are taking an active role in managing their own health, a group that is becoming increasingly accepted and welcomed by health-care professionals.
Astrology, she said, is an outstanding tool for facilitating self-knowledge about the inter-relatedness of mind and body which could have important positive economic and research implications. She used a variety of intriguing case-studies to show how everyone can become an expert patient or stay as healthy as possible. Astrology encourages client-centered, rather than therapist-centered, interpretation of an illness or issue.
That last statement is key. It puts someone firmly in control of their own life. It makes them an active participant rather than a passive receiver. It also helps each of us to see how what we do affects not only our own life but the lives of others and the state of our planet. In the spa world, there is the increasingly 'Expert Spa-Goer' who knows what they expect to feel and who is on the look-out for green-washing.
The price of selling soul-water
Whether, we're talking about spas or hospitals or hospices (all 12th House places in astrological terms) the same leap from personal to collective consciousness is always required. If we attempt to sell what should never be sold - soul or water - it will fail badly. Jung had a favorite story about the price of selling soul=water, that is beautifully told in the 'Introduction' to Robert A. Johnson's book 'Owning Your Own Shadow'.
Water has often been used as a symbol for the deepest spiritual nourishment of humanity. It is flowing in our time in history, as always, for the well is faithful to its mission; but it flows in some odd places. It has often ceased to flow in its accustomed sites and turned up in some surprising locations. But, thank God, the water is still there. Robert A. Johnson, p. ix
I'm worried about what is happening to our souls, I'm worried about what that's doing to our spas, and I'm worried about the way we treat water. I think all three (soul, spa, water) are irrevocable linked. I want to ask all who work in spas to stop and make a leap of consciousness, to ask themselves if the fantasy they are subscribing to, or reinforcing, is really of value to the world.
People are seeking meaning (remember Susie's comment about increases in Metaphysics clients) and ways to relieve the hurt in the world they see around them. Spas could be part of this but only if they stop commoditizing, branding and trivializing what might otherwise be a profound and valuable service.
Here's a final quote about the potential in astrological counseling. What if this client were a spa visitor?
'The client can see his or her own life movement paralleled metaphorically in the movements of nature. S/he can see that they have every right to be here. S/he belongs, is an integral expression of the natural world, and has certain responsibilities towards it as her/his progenitor. This fantasy can help ground and connect the client to both larger social and natural realities.' Brad Kochunas, p. 42
If you've read this far, you are probably another renegade spa person. I invite you to write to me and to join me in creating an alternative vision of spa. Comment below or email me directly.
On the Internet: Astrology at the Spas
The extracts below are presented as a sample selection of how astrology is currently being presented in the spa world. Some suggest little more than generic entertainment.
1. Star Pedicure: Astrological Spa Services: Pedicure Customized to Your Horoscope Sign
2. Zodiac Diva: Zodiac therapy column now featured online at Spa Magazine
3. SpaGazer: Astrological Calendar (click the oracle and discover the Astrospa Almanac)
Scottsdale, AZ: The Sanctuary Spa at Sanctuary on Camelback Mountain & The Centre for Well-Being at The Phoenician.
Tucson, AZ: Miraval and Canyon Ranch
3. SpaGazer: Astrological Calendar (click the oracle and discover the Astrospa Almanac)
ARIES - THE RAM4. Celestial Roadmap
Dates = 21 March - 20 April
Planet = Mars + Metal = Iron
Spa Stone = Diamond
Space research has identified Epsom Salts in proliferation on Mars. This is a time for broadening your horizons with saline immersion or a thalassotherapy. Take a friend to a tropical spa and indulge in a traditional Epsom Salts Water Cure, perhaps ending with a spa stone exchange?
Scottsdale, AZ: The Sanctuary Spa at Sanctuary on Camelback Mountain & The Centre for Well-Being at The Phoenician.
Tucson, AZ: Miraval and Canyon Ranch
Sedona, AZ: Mii amo
Mexico: Rio Caliente
[I'm sure there are other spas offering astrology that don't turn up in a Google Search - if you know of one, please do write in.]
Further astrological reading
Astropoetic School of Soul-Discovery (Joe Landwehr)
Further astrological reading
Astropoetic School of Soul-Discovery (Joe Landwehr)
Books
The Seven Gates of Soul: Joe Landwehr
The Astrological Imagination: Where Psyche and Cosmos Meet: Brad Kochunas
Astrology course online
Also by Sara Firman:
Beauty and Harmony: an interview with water advocate Barbara Harmony
Extract: Among her water assets, Barbara has the planet Venus in the sign Pisces in the Sixth House of her natal chart. Whatever your knowledge or view of astrology, this information provides a fitting watery storyline for the conversation she and I enjoyed about how spa culture might help build a community that is not only concerned with human wellbeing but is also more environmentally conscious (especially regards water).
Harbin Hot Springs: quintessential spa retreat
Extract: The word hospital, notes one of my favorite writers on soul, Thomas Moore, comes from hospis meaning both stranger and host and pito meaning lord or powerful one. It was interesting to go from this hosting place to the one that is Harbin. In both places, the people are mostly focused inward; in both places touch is valued. In Care of the Soul (p. 174), Moore asks what it would be like if hospitals cared for the soul in illness, as well as the body. Harbin takes care of the soul. You'll see all kinds of bodies - the conventionally beautiful and the less so - but most seem at home in their skins.
Water bridges a therapeutic gap: Joe Landwehr comments on the issue of research (On the website 'Aquapoetics: Creative Aquatic Bodywork')
An underground stream of spirituality: quoting Brad Kochunas (On the website 'Diving Deeper: Adventures Inspired by Water')
Disclaimer: The viewpoints expressed in this post are my own impressions and interpretations; there is no intention to imply that the people or organizations quoted or mentioned agree with or share these same views regards the nature of astrology and its application in spa settings.
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