Professional astrologers get readings all the time. I get one every birthday. The reason is, there isn’t one way to practice astrology. Astrologers are birth doulas, death doulas, parents, teachers, kids, poets, financial advisors, dancers, doctors, nurses, and psychics.

There are astrologers who are also medical practitioners. There are astrologers who do relational counseling. There’s astrologers who do no counseling at all and, instead, use astrology to make art. There’s astrologers who help you understand what money is and help you plan things. There’s astrologers who give advice and there’s astrologers who don’t give advice.

So, professional astrologers get readings too. We are, perhaps, the industry’s most avid customer. The reason is, when you practice astrology seriously, you also become aware of your limitations. You become aware that you will never experience all of the uses of astrology and that neither should you expect yourself to.

Professional astrologers also get readings the same reason that therapists have therapists. It’s a good way for us to exchange information, to respect and support one another, and to process our own lives. No one owns a monopoly on astrology. This is obvious to anyone who is serious about astrology.

My colleagues get readings all the time. A lot of my clients are practicing astrologers too. Here are some things that I noticed about how practitioners of astrology get readings:

Astrologers know what we’re looking for when we book a reading

There isn’t some kind of standard astrological reading. This doesn’t exist. There are as many types of astrology as there are astrologers. Astrologers are usually going to be a bit more familiar with the other practitioners in their field than someone who doesn’t practice daily. When we book readings for ourselves, we have done our research and we have chosen someone for their practice.

Maybe we’re trying to get pregnant and we want to choose a time—there are astrologers who practice electional and medical astrology who are right for this. Maybe we’re having issues in relationships and we want to talk—there are astrologers out there who are relationship consultants. Maybe we are looking for more information about a particular placement in a particular house—believe it or not, there are astrologers out there who are most knowledgeable about certain houses than other astrologers.

If an astrologer does not practice the type of astrology that you need, for example, if you ask an astrologer who is most experienced in relationship counseling a medical question or a natal astrologer a synastry question, we will recommend other people to you. Ask us to do this! We know our field inside and out. We know exactly where to send you.

We make time in our schedule for the reading

Doing a reading and receiving a reading is very labor intensive. If you have a good astrologer, then you’re going to be doing the work of the reading. A good astrologer will not speak for the entire session as if they are in a video recording. A good astrologer will be asking you questions and expect that you come alive during the session.

Astrologers don’t cram a reading into the course of our work days when we get them. We treat the reading as a special space. I, personally, get readings on my birthday and I don’t work on the day that I get a reading. I take time off to do this because, if I’m already paying someone for their valuable labor, then I at least should respect myself in that space. If you’re getting mentally prepared for a meeting with your boss right after a reading, you’re not honoring your time.

One of the best pieces of advice for readings I’ve gotten came from Naimonu James, who suggested that we breathe with a client before and after a session. After I get readings, I just sit there for a while. I process what happened and what was talked about. This time is as valuable as the time that you spend with the astrologer.

We assert ourselves during the reading

It can be hard for someone who knows very little about astrology to do this. Do it anyway. Chances are, your astrologer doesn’t want to waste your time trying to guess what you want to talk about. The reading space is a space built from consent. That’s what distinguishes a healing space from more institutional spaces—it’s never used to coerce.

If an astrologer is talking about something that you feel not to be relevant to what you want to process, assert yourself. Your astrologer wants you to do this. They might try to guess what you want to talk about but it’s so much better when people make it explicit. We get so much deeper into things.

When other astrologers book with me, I’ve noticed that they will interrupt and take over the process to ensure that we talk about what they want to talk about during the session. I love it when people do this. I don’t want to talk about anything that you don’t want to talk about. I want my questions and our conversation to get deeper with your consent and initiative.

We take notes and we give ourselves homework after a session

Some astrologers will give you homework too but not all the time. But you can give yourself homework.

Astrology readings are not places where you solve your problems. You can only solve problems in the course of your own life. Astrology readings are where you learn what questions to ask and what patterns have been playing out. This means that the “work” of a session isn’t actually done after the session is completed.

I’ve seen things that astrologers tell me show up several months after the actual reading. This is why it’s so, so important to take notes about the things that you talked about. You will react to things differently and hear your own words differently after some time has passed. It’s very important to give yourself this time that you need to feel your chart come alive.

We do not share other people’s charts or placements

This is because the time that you spend with an astrologer is your time. When we talk about your parents, your lovers, and your friends in the session, we are not talking about the reality of these relationships with someone who we have just met. Relationships are fundamentally unpredictable and changing. Astrologers are not usually counselors trained to work with you on an ongoing basis, unless we are. We use the chart to talk about how you experience other people based on your patterns

The reason why astrologers don’t bring other people’s charts or placements with us is because we know that how that person experiences their own charts will never be something that we ever know. And we know that looking at our own charts is vastly more important in a reading.

There are exceptions to this. Most relationship astrologers will usually require that both people have done individual sessions before booking a relationship reading. During this time, both charts might be shared but only with the full consent of each client and with the intention of healing the relationship. Usually, both people will need to be in the room for this to take place.

Now, I’ve mentioned off hand in casual conversation “so and so is a Libra” or “this other person is a Pisces rising.” But I will never expect a professional astrologer to delineate someone who they have not worked with. So, I wouldn’t expect it in a reading either.