Hi Minderwiz, good question!
I don't have a specific goal of being a professional astrologer. The idea is appealing, but I have a job which takes up much of my time, and therefore I couldn't think of being an astrologer on a full-time basis. However, I could envision myself doing it on a part-time basis, on weekends and/or offering services on the internet. Realistically, though, I don't know how many clients I would get this way, since I don't really have the time to do the kind of marketing of oneself I would imagine would be necessary. So I guess I would have to say my goals aren't professional, although I'm not ruling that out as an option for the future. I'd be perfectly happy to remain on an amateur basis if that's what works out.
My real goal is to learn. I've found that astrology is a field where, I think, it really is helpful to follow a particular course of study. I'm sure there are lots of people who can learn from books only, but I'm starting to think I'm not one of them. In my experience with Tarot, I've found myself drifting from one approach to another, from one book to another, from one deck to another, never really sticking with one long enough to learn anything. Partly I think this is due to the nature of Tarot, where there is much less of a specific tradition to follow or a body of knowledge to learn. In Western Astrology there's many different varieties of approach but I think most of these approaches (perhaps with the exception of the Uranian stuff) have the basics in common, unlike Tarot where there really isn't this kind of tradition, everybody pretty much goes their own way. Nevertheless, if I had found a way to stick with one approach and one deck for a few years, I would probably be much farther along with the Tarot than I am now.
With Astrology, I find myself starting to do the same thing. Even beginning basic books have some differences in how they define meanings, and I find myself starting to wonder whether I should use this definition or that one, and I get so bogged down in this that I don't progress much. I think for the sake of learning, and also to challenge myself to get beyond this trait (perhaps my Sun in Libra has something to do with it
), I need to have a particular author/school who I can stick with. I want to sit down with one teacher/approach and have them take me through the whole thing, even if it takes me years! I don't want to have to decide between different approaches, at least while I'm learning. After I'm done with that, I can certainly investigate other authors/approaches, but at least I will have managed to finally absorb something instead of just waffling around.
The reason I'm looking at professional-type courses is that I want to learn something in-depth. Maybe this is only an ego thing, but even if it ends up only being a hobby, I want to be able to say to myself and to others that I've spent a considerable amount of time and energy to learn something and I've succeeded in at least internalizing the basics (expertise, I would imagine, comes only with experience in dealing with many people and their charts). An introductory-type course would probably give me more superficial knowledge I could get for myself from books; but I want something more than that.
I'm in a rather fortunate position; although I have a heavy work schedule, I also have complete freedom in my free time. I don't have children, I have a lover who likes the idea of my studying astrology, and I'm not in a social environment which would inhibit me. I feel like I'd like to use these opportunities and really learn something in-depth. I feel like I have an unused potential, and I'd like to follow it and see how far it takes me. If I reach the point of being able to counsel others, or to teach others, so much the better; but if not, at least I will have made an effort.
And besides, to follow a particular course for two to four years sounds like a great deal of fun! Not that it won't be difficult, but I think it could be really enjoyable to challenge myself mentally a little.
I'm not used to talking so much about myself!
Right now I'm leaning away from the Mulligan course. While it looks attractive, he doesn't provide much info on what the course entails or his style of teaching, nor does he provide any student testimonials. I'm looking more now at either the Carole Devine course or the Canopus course (
www.panplanet.com). Devine goes into detail on her site about what the course covers, and provides lots of student testimonials. Canopus does the same, and at Canopus they really seem very much oriented toward serving the students, which is appealing.
By the way, I found some good answers to some of the philophical objections I had raised in the other thread, in a book called "Astrology in the Year Zero." It's a great book which I'd recommend to anyone, it really covers a lot of ground about different aspects of the current astrological scene, particularly in the UK.
-- Lee