Why see an astrologer for a natal chart session when you can just get information about your birth chart free online?

I recently had someone contact me and ask the following:

“Do you think a Natal Chart summary by yourself will shed further light on what I already know about my sun, moon, rising sign, etc.? I just want to know that I’m going to take something new, interesting or refreshing from it… $160 is not cheap.”

Okay. Where to start?

1. Chart Rectification.

As you can probably tell based on my website, I’m big on chart rectification. If your birth time is out by just four minutes (not uncommon), it can make a difference of an entire year in prediction. I am one of the few astrologers who include a thorough rectification in my price which can be quite time-consuming. Then, once I am confident that I have your time down to the second, I spend further time analyzing your chart and making notes before I see you. We spend a solid hour together just on the natal chart. At this risk of sounding defensive, if I add up the hours I spend on your chart and our time together, the hourly rate is well below what any sensible astrologer would charge. I have actually had consultants tell me to charge the $160 and then add a further rectification fee charge on top of that. But I won’t do that because I want to keep my natal chart sessions affordable for new clients.

2. While very helpful for those learning the components of astrology, automatically-generated reports or online information about astrology remain lifeless without the experienced hand of an astrologer.

You might know what your Ascendant is, your Sun, your Moon, your Mercury… maybe all your planets. You might even have a basic understanding of houses. You might have dabbled in aspects, but it’s doubtful you have a firm grasp on them, and they are absolutely pivotal in chart analysis. Let’s say, though, that you are really rare, that you have spent years studying on your own, and you have a basic understanding of most of the components of astrology. Putting them all together is a different beast. A good quality experienced astrologer can take all those various pieces lying on the table, assemble them, and create a moving, living, breathing integrated person. Without the astrologer’s hard-earned ability to prioritize and synthesize the pieces of your chart, it remains a lifeless collection of parts. The adept astrologer integrates these pieces into a whole that makes sense—contradictions and compensations included.

3. There is no substitute for experience.

This is a cliché for good reason. When we are young and fresh out of school, we might think we know a lot. We have learned the latest and greatest techniques for doing our craft. We might have excelled at learning opportunities in school. We get our first big jobs out of school and think we will show up day one and blow everyone away. This is rarely the case. I’ve heard that some MBA program directors are telling their students to go out into the “real world” after their undergraduate degree, get some experience, and then come back to do their MBAs after a few years of working. Even after studying astrology for years and feeling very confident in my knowledge, I feel like I really didn’t know astrology until I began to sit down with clients and start teaching classes. When you sit down with an experienced astrologer, you are also sitting down with all the clients the astrologer has had over the years who have taught the astrologer the spectrum of real-life manifestations of astrological theory. There’s book smart and street smart; experienced astrologers have both. Why wouldn’t you want to tap into this incredible wisdom?

4. There is no replacement for human interaction.

What saddens me the most about the way the world is changing is the movement away from genuine human interaction. You might read a lot of self-help books and know yourself very well. And then you have an appointment with a psychologist who says something to you that you have read perhaps before in books, but having this stranger speak these words to you has a profound impact. It resonates with you at a level that no amount of self-study can reach. And, similarly, you may say something to this person in this safe, objective space, that you have perhaps never said out loud before. I have had many experiences like this in my life—on both sides of the table—and I am so grateful for them.

5. You need to step outside of yourself.

Even the most self-aware of us have our blind spots. We need others to provide a mirror to us. You know when you hear your voice recorded for the first time and you are surprised (or even slightly horrified) at the way it sounds? Astrology is that recording… it’s seeing and hearing your words, your voice—the entirety of you—the way the world sees and hears you. Who wouldn’t want that perspective? It’s a game-changer for many people.

I think this question in general speaks to a larger movement in society of people, particularly younger generations, not necessarily seeing the value in paying for certain services anymore.

This has become an epidemic, frankly, in the music industry, where songwriters and artists can no longer count on even a basic income from having their music played. I recently received a royalty cheque for $10.75 from having my album played hundreds upon hundreds of times all over the world. You’ve probably heard about this: A few years ago, the songwriter of the number one song in 78 countries “All About that Bass” earned only $5,679 with 178 million Spotify streams. That means he only made $31.90 for every 1 million Spotify streams. I don’t want to go too far down the rabbit hole of music, but I think as a society, we need to revisit the value of paying quality artists, entrepreneurs, designers, freelancers and the like what they deserve.

I haven’t even mentioned the incredible insights predictive astrology can give you—saving that for another post—and have instead focused just on the birth chart.

Your birth chart is so special. It’s your fingerprint. It’s your psycho-spiritual DNA if you will. I hope this post helps explain the value an astrologer brings to the table.