Solar arc Neptune might be moving through a semi-square to your natal Mercury. Is that worth talking about? It definitely has meaning. But what if transiting Saturn is conjuncting your Sun at the same time? That Saturn event is whole orders of magnitude more significant. If you give them equal time, you’ve suffered a grievous loss of perspective. If you are working with a client and you have only an hour or two, you might have made a real blunder. It might have been wiser to forget that minor solar arc entirely and devote more time to the rich field of meaning symbolized by that epochal Saturn event.
In the practical world of astrology, these kinds of editorial judgment calls are critical. They must be made intelligently and strategically. No one can talk about “everything.” There simply isn’t enough time.
In his second book, The Changing Sky, Steven presented a model for sorting through the many possible planetary configurations that present themselves in a transits and progressions reading. This system, termed "The Four Nets," is applied to the jungle of astrological symbolism, each net catching creatures in descending orders of size. In the First Net, we see all the astrological biggies—major transits to the Sun, for example. By the time we get to the Third or Fourth Nets, we are looking at events we might safely ignore in a 90-minute reading—unless the earlier Nets have come up empty. This is a strategic, orderly, and effective method for organizing one’s approach to a transits/progressions analysis. It puts the necessary bridge between abstract, piecemeal theory and the realities of the counseling room. These skills mark the major distinction between a perpetual student of astrology and an effective, professional-level astrological counselor.
This audio download updates The Four Nets in the context of what Steven has learned since The Changing Sky was first published by Bantam Books in 1986.
Audio for instant download | 2 hrs. 12 min. | includes pdf slideshow | Also available as video download version
Preview this recording:
Presented by AstrologyUniversity.com.
