Spiros Philippas - A S T R O L O G E R

A modern, professional astrological practice using the ancient symbolism and wisdom of astrology to address the client’s current needs and queries

Welcome to my Facebook page. The next few paragraphs provide a short introduction to what astrology is, my approach to it and the services that I offer, followed by a short biographical note. Please feel free to get in touch if you wish to enquire further about my services or have any other queries.

Astrology - What is it?

Astrology is a coherent body of knowledge that has systematically attempted to examine how the positions of the planets and their angular relationships co-relate with the human affairs, both on an individual and a collective level. It has developed over thousand of years of painstaking empirical observation and sprang out of the need to understand life in relation to a wider context and to attune human activity with a wider cosmic pattern.

The philosophical tenets of astrology lie in the Western Hermetic Tradition which suggests that everything is in perfect unity , all life is one, best summed up in the dictum “As above so below, as within so without”. Put simply, the microcosm and the macrocosm are not but reflections of the same reality or essence, differing only in measure. It is on this theoretical assumption – backed up with sufficient empirical evidence over the centuries – that astrology operates, and the position of the planets in the zodiac along with their angular relationships tend to reflect, co-relate or simply concur with events on Earth (rather than cause them as it is erroneously assumed, though the influence of the Sun and Moon on Earth has been well documented).

Astrology essentially provides us with a language to understand qualitatively what most of us seem to acknowledge intuitively: i) that every moment has its own distinct qualities, differing from any other moment in time ii) for everything there is a season and that specific periods of time seem to favour our engagement with certain aspect of our lives or our setting out on a new project /course of action, and iii) everything that is born in time takes the characteristics of that moment. It, then, looks at the movement of the planets and their respective qualitative correspondences in order to bring these three realisations down to our level of understanding.

A definition of astrology that I particularly cherish, especially as it relates to forecasting, comes from Bernadette Brady’s book Predictive Astrology in which she compares astrology with a road map: just as the road map allows us to see what the journey is going to be like from one geographical point to another, the difficult twists and turns along the way and where the next shelter and provisions can be found, so astrology provides us with a time map enabling us to assess what our sojourn from here to tomorrow, one year etc is going to be like.

At the heart of astrology is the profound – though oft missed - realisation that everything is in constant motion and change and that our lives, just like anything that exists in nature, are not static but we emerge, culminate and decline. Astrology teaches us to keep ourselves open to this process of constant change, attuning to it by keeping our hearts and minds open (and often our bodies will follow); eventually everything will pass, everything will come to pass and what may feel like difficult today may cease to be some so days, months or years later. This is perhaps where astrology’s greatest contribution to human life lays, a contribution as relevant to us today as ever before.


My Approach

My approach to astrology is multi-layered and I see the birth chart as reflecting the internal, subjective way in which a person is likely to experience, appreciate and relate to life as well as indicating the external structures or forms through which this inner orientation is likely to find manifestation. Viewed from this perspective I consider the astrological chart to be a map of our unique contribution to life, the symbolic threshold where our inner and outer reality meet, and our personalized set of guidelines for fine-tuning those two levels of reality so that the former is an accurate reflection of the other and vice versa; all with the ultimate aim for a fulfilling and rich life, in whichever way each one of us aspires this to be.

On the fate-versus-free-will debate, an issue core to the astrological reasoning and as old as humanity itself, I tend to follow the middle way: I see free will as the capacity for a wide range of choices exercised within the parameters set by our genetic make-up and the familial, sociological, cultural, topographical conditions of the environment we were born in, and which loosely constitute our fate since they cannot be (easily) changed. I believe that the birth chart reflects on some level our personal portion of fate and the following example may help to illuminate this point: if, say, you are born on 16th January, then you have the Sun in Capricorn and this is your fate insofar as you cannot be Cancer or Libra; still, how you decide to manifest the potential of that Sun in Capricorn placement is down to your individual choice and there are infinite avenues through which this could be achieved.

Above all my approach to astrology is imbued with a sense of awe about anything living and I am forever impressed and surprised by the infinite ways we human beings learn and grow or fail to do so. This level of enthusiasm and commitment to understanding are qualities that I bring into my readings while simultaneously communicating the essence of the astrological chart in a simple, concise and down to earth way. Through my consultations, I attempt to give you some practical input which will hopefully assist you in your decision-making process in relation to your initial query or will enable you to see your life and reflect on it from a wider standpoint. Although astrology is unlikely to provide the answers to every single question you may have (after all being human involves dealing with a certain amount of uncertainty), it can still help you formulate the questions that are relevant to your circumstances and the particularities of your essence and this is, perhaps, not a small gain.


About Me

Greek by origin and foreign by choice, I moved to the UK in 2002. I have been involved in astrology since 2004, taking classes with the Faculty of Astrological Studies (http://www. astrology.org. uk /) from 2005 to 2009. In 2008, I gained my FAS Certificate, being awarded at the same time the Faculty’s Scholarship Award for outstanding performance in all the Certificate papers. That was also the year when, after much intense study and personal reflection on the astrological symbolism and the place of astrology in modern life, I started working as a consulting astrologer. I have published articles in the Mountain Astrologer and the Faculty’s student magazine as well as given talks for the Astrological Lodge. In June 2011, I passed my Intermediate Exam with Merit and I am currently working towards my professional qualification with the Faculty. Alongside my studies I also maintain a budding astrological practice seeing clients both in the UK and occasionally Greece, and I have increasingly started offering consultations over the phone or Skype, too.

For more information, please check my personal website: http://www. spirosphilippas.com/

P h o t o s taken by poet, artist and friend Steven Pottle. http://www. stevenpottle. co. uk)