By John Townley, January 2015

One of the main usages of modern astrology has been in character analysis – whether it’s your simple Sun-sign characteristics or the more complicated implications of prominent planets, absent elements, a grand cross or trine, and the like. But like the weather, everybody talks about it, but nobody does anything about it.

That’s partly because most astrologers assume that whatever it is, you’re stuck with it from birth, and the best thing you can do is cope as best you can, once you’re aware of it. But if what we proposed in The Horoscope Trap is really true, as we believe, you’re not stuck with all of it (and much of what you are stuck with isn’t in the horoscope to begin with), and there’s a lot you can do, particularly if you start early.

To review the concept: much of what’s unavoidable in your life, from genetics (they’re pre-conception) to sex and sexual orientation (decided during gestation, pre-birth), even your culture and location, is all in place well before you take your first breath and you even have a natal horoscope. What the horoscope itself marks is your beginning as a separate, independent, recursive system, the pattern of which is then continually shaped and reinforced by repeating transits and progressions, beginning right after birth.

  
The natal chart depicts the rhythm of coming transits and progressions, and the expectations and habits they create.

If that’s the case, then right after birth is when you should start doing something to handle that horoscope pattern, as the longer it continues to accrete reinforcement unabated, the harder its habits acquired through transit and progressions alone will be to address and if necessary redirect. It’s kind of like character molding, except the basic mold is already there, but the result is not (and never really is) completely set, so the inner soul/artist always has a say in how the final work comes out. And since you’re in no condition as a baby to consciously do that, it means it’s up to your parents to get wise to the situation and get in there and take a knowing, helping hand.

So, parents, go look at your kids’ horoscopes. There you will see the initial map that outlines the recurring patterns of transits and progressions which after a few repetitions will become their self-fulfilling expectations and what is mistaken for character by others and by themselves. That can be for good or ill, depending upon the natal chart. In an evenly-spread splash horoscope with easy aspects, where a difficult transit is usually followed by a good one to make up for it, you have a relaxed and confident child and, eventually, adult. In charts that experience clusters of bad transits or transits to difficult planets in difficult aspect, you’ll find children (and then adults) that hit the deck at the first sign of trouble because they rightly expect more to come. Kids born with clusters of outer planets and Saturn or Mars are a prime example, which actually fall into discrete, observable sets,  such as those in the years when bundle charts predominated. There are regular rhythms to be found here, across generations, but your best bet is to just look at the specifics of the individual chart.

   
A well-begun horoscope may be half done, but a little  guidance along the way can make for an unexpectedly fine finish...

Historically, in the days of high infant and child mortaility,astrologers traditionally had dire predictions for those with Saturn (for instance) close to the Sun, because such a child will experience either the transit of Saturn to natal Sun or progressed Sun to natal Saturn early in life with possibly debilitating results. Even past early perils, whenever the natal Sun gets transited by anything, Saturn gets a tweak as well, meaning that even good, reinforcing news (Sun) is mixed with restrictions (Saturn) more or less permanently. Such children are very serious about life, because they’re used to it being serious about them, where no good deed goes unpunished (to quote Oscar Wilde, himself with Saturn at the MC and square Asc, so even good publicity could mean ill fame, even physical confinement).

So if your kids have chart trouble, what to do? You can’t stop the repeating transits, but you can be specifically supportive when they happen, so keep your eye out for when the difficult planets and aspects are being tweaked – by the Moon each month, by the Sun each year, by middle and outer planets as they bear, by the progressed Moon and planets as they move along. Start early, as your efforts will be helpful and appreciated even before language begins. A little comfort goes a long way, and it’s cumulative.

     
Like ruts in an ancient Roman road or a scenic country lane, transits dig life-long furrows that can use help to step away from...

And remember, you’re not preventing anything – your children’s transits will still wear down traffic marks like the ruts of an old Roman road (the same as yours have done to you), but a little helping hand, especially when a turn in (or off of) the road is necessary will be greatly appreciated. And, your noticing and easing their wear points makes your kids better aware of them, too, as it’s ultimately their problem and responsibility to cope with them later on. The earlier they know what they’re dealing with, the easier it will be to handle as time goes on. To quote Italian poet Cesare Pavese,  "Living is like working out a long addition sum, and if you make a mistake in the first two totals you will never find the right answer."

All of this should just come naturally to a parent, one supposes, without running your children's life by astrology. But let’s face it, it’s not that easy, which is why there is such a huge market for child-rearing advice, from the Boomers’ Benjamin Spock to the Millennials’ Tiger Mom. When you’re trying to keep things steady down here below, it’s a big help to look up above to some of the rhythms that are shaping your children, then do the best to help them see themselves inside and beyond that ever-accreting natal mold. That’s the most that can be asked of any parent, and the greatest gift for any child…

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