Astrology Charts for Children - A useful parenting tool

by Robert Wilkinson

The topic of today's article was suggested by a long term fan who had her daughter's chart done back when she was born, and besides finding it amazingly accurate in terms of personality traits, was helped along the years by the insights it gave as to the best way to deal with the different developmental stages her daughter went through. This is another dimension of astrology's usefulness in showing us times and seasons of change, and how best to go with the flow that is natural and productive in those moments, however long or short they may be.

Most people believe astrology to be a predictive art/science, definitively proclaiming certain dramatic events in life. However, having made many accurate predictions over the years, I believe it is more useful to regard the craft in terms of cycles of development and what traits are best cultivated at key points in life, and which traits are best done away with if we are to grow out of useless or nonproductive behavior patterns. While it might be very glamorous to predict that someone will meet their "true love" at such and such a point in time, it is ultimately more useful to know what traits one should be developing to take best advantage of those "fateful" days. I know of many who wasted precious time waiting for a specific day when "something would happen," only to be disappointed that either nothing of note happened, or what happened was a difficult experience rather than a pleasant one.

I believe that we shape the events of our lives by the choices we make, what we say yes to, what we say no to, what we choose to learn, and what we choose not to learn. These set the "cause and effect" cycles into motion more definitively than any prediction any astrologer or psychic could make. That's why my focus has always been on character development, and which skills and strengths need to be developed at given points in life. These potential skills and strengths can be seen in the birth charts of adults and children alike.

Over the years I have pointed out many things in the charts of children that do, in fact, develop as they grow up. In the charts of children, the planets work the way they do in the charts of adults, with the added dimension of the Sun stuff usually works out through the father, and the Moon stuff through the mother. Remember, the planets in our charts are people in our lives. In a child's chart, most of life is lived within the parameters of the family system. Though this changes as a child grows up, the early patterns are still brought forth by the various progressions and transits the child goes through, usually worked out in the lives of the adults around them. Still, they have their own unique character traits, which often confounds parents. The answer to "Where did they learn that?" is often found in the uniqueness of the child's chart and how it differs from others in the family.

Knowing your child's birth chart and cycles can help you understand when they will be going through a hard time, or responding to a collective pattern not of their own volition. It can indicate where the blind spots are, assisting parents to teach coping skills, rendering the deficiency less of a problem than it might be if neglected. The chart shows when a child needs to assert themselves to increase their self-esteem, and when they need to mature as gracefully as possible. We can know whether they should act, or not, and how. We can know whether they are in a phase of learning quickly, or more slowly, and whether it is more beneficial for them to move into new areas of knowledge, or reflect on what they've already been learning. The chart shows potential times of crisis, disease, imbalances, and when critical points of change will occur. This can help parents know why something is happening, and what they can do about it. It certainly can help to give parents a running start in dealing with future conditions.

The chart shows the natural progression of the body and its cycles, the feelings and their cycles, and the mental tendencies and their cycles. If we learn about future challenge points and begin to find ways to deal with difficult tendencies yet to show themselves, we often are in a position to avert more serious consequences, and at best actually steer the child toward their higher nature. This in turn can help us to feel more adequate in greeting our own challenges, and not get blindsided by events, since we can reasonably anticipate when a time of challenge is about to present itself. If nothing else, astrology makes parenting less stressful through helping us understand why our child is the way they are, and why they are or are not responding as we would like or expect. We can know their inner nature, their strengths and what they need to overcome, and the timing on when their important changes are to come down. In that, we can learn a lot about our own lives, our challenges and strengths, and how to be the best we are able given the circumstances.

© Copyright 2006 Robert Wilkinson. Last update: 8/27/2006; 10:53:04 AM.