Under the Guidance of the Stars

"As above, so blow..." -- Kapler

Whom should we parents turn for guidance about how to guide our little ones? Well, at least part of it, I would say, the STARS, the planetary hints in astrology.

It's a huge topic. But basically, in astrology, similarities attract each other, not the opposites. If we pay a little attention, we would be amazed to find how many kids have birthdays in the same sign or same elements(fire, air, water and earth) with their parents. The same applies to spouses. People are brought together somehow by blood and/or by fate. What comes between them must be some astrological common ground to begin with. The more similarities they shares, the more smooth the relationship. But even in the best case scenario, conflicts exist. And they are challenges that you have to learn to overcome. There aren't any problem kids, only their relationship with their parents can be problematic to very various degrees. When the kids are still young, it's primarily the parents' job to make the adjustments.

Particularly the conflicts between the parents and the kids can be summed up in two related pairs:

1) the amount of protection and care the kid needs and s/he actually receives
2) the degree of freedom and space the kid needs and s/he actually receives

I came across a case where an over-protective mom (Aquarian Sun/Cancer Moon) turned an otherwise a good soldier (Aires Sun/Libra Moon) into a young man with not much of an edge according to her expectation. Things would have been so much better had she cared less (therefore interfered less) and been detached more from the son like the father (Libra Sun/Libra Moon). Too much protection and too little freedom here.

The opposite case is a couple, who are predominantly air/fire charged and have a bright, sensitive and watery Cancer/Pisces kid. I am worried that kid is going to be "encouraged" to be brave beyond his inborn capacity. Intention usually is very different from the result. The best kid, if there is any, is the one who has the best brought out in him.

Music prodigy Lang Lang's father was such a tyrant when he pushed him to practice piano. He even wrote a book about the whole process of how to create an international classic music icon with no less potential than Yo-Yo Ma. But look at Lang Lang's astrological set up, Gemini Sun/Pises Moon. Anyone with basic astrological knowledge knows that combination is all about music, or communication via music. If the father tried the same trick on another kid with a different astrological set up, he would have remained a mere tyrant.

Perceptive parents can observe their kids closely and adjust themselves along the way without astrological knowledge. Usually though, we so tend to think from our own perspectives, it's difficult not to be subjective. I hope people realize astrology would be such a helpful tool for reference and intervention. It helps to see from the kids' perspective and therefore try to bring out the best in them while you bring them up.