Today I’m going to share a conversation I had with a wonderful woman I’ve had the distinct pleasure of working with occasionally over the past several years. Cynthia Hill, Ph.D. is a longtime psychotherapist and astrologer living in Salt Lake City, Utah. The combination of her soul-centered astrology and her psychological expertise is a dynamic and alchemical combination that can help reveal an individual’s deep psychological issues quickly and insightfully.
We sat down over tea and dark chocolate at the Full Moon in February to converse about what the tools of astrology have to offer us today…
You practice this interesting combination of psychotherapy and astrology, tell us about how you came to offer these gifts together.
I got my PhD in 1974 in clinical psychology in Cincinnati, and did traditional Jungian and Freudian therapy for years – for individuals and groups. Then I went to Santa Fe for a whole new consciousness and exploration into new thought. I moved in with a well known medical astrologer and I just knew it, that I was meant to be an astrologer, I mean. It was in my blueprint, in my cellular memory. We started writing articles together, combining astrology and psychology. It was then that I reconnected with my grandmother, who I hadn’t known before. At the time she was a well known astrologer writing for the New York Times. She was FDR’s astrologer, in fact! So I realized my calling came through her line, the legacy of the feminine, of the grandmothers.
Could you explain a bit more about what astrology means to you?
Astrology is the study of the stars. Some people see it as a science, others as an art, or both. The way I see it, it’s not a spiritual practice – it’s a tool to be used. When we’re struggling and suffering and we’re looking for insight, looking for answers, astrology offers us a very practical approach. Astrology can also show chemical imbalances that we might be programmed for, those aspects that you came in to work on. My primary purpose in using astrology is in helping people grow and transform, to ease their suffering and help them see who they really are.
Can you tell us what’s going on for the planet these days in astrological terms?
For the next year there are major transpersonal planets (the outer planets) in a square tension aspect with themselves. Everybody is feeling the squeeze to transform themselves and make major changes in how they think about things, the way they look at the world, where they want to broaden their lives and expand their consciousness. But it’s a tension aspect, so there’s a lot of explosiveness out there, and fear and anxiety. It’s all coming form the fact that institutions, as well as our own psychological, mental, and physical structures are having to change to accommodate the new. It’s a time of great tension in the body and mind. People need to know that it’s happening, everything is opening and changing. It’s hard without a sense of that container, people get hyper and explosive. It’s a heavy process for the next year, looking to the sky can help us figure out how to move through it all.
Even people who know nothing about astrology probably know what their “sign” is. But what they may not know is that it’s their Sun Sign, where the Sun was relative the Earth in the zodiac when they were born. Many don’t even realize that they have a Moon Sign too, as well as for all the other planets. Can you tell us more about that?
The sun sign has been glamorized, it’s not really useful without the rest. The Sun sign is what we’re learning this life time, it’s the focus of our ego, our creative expression, how we want to be in the world. The deeper factor is the Moon, and that’s the most important thing to me in the chart. It represents the habitual emotional reactions to life that are constellated in this lifetime that one might be really working on to grow out of and transform. It is the feminine, the foundation of our being. It says: what are my conditioned, emotional responses and reactions to things that are actually subconscious.
When you work with someone, you ask for the date and time of their birth to create a birth chart to reference in your sessions. So what is a birth chart and how do you use it?
A birth chart is the study of where the planets in our solar system and the stars in our universe were at the moment of our birth. It is an outer representation of an inner constellation, a moment in time in the evolution of one’s self and the universe. A birth chart is a tool for self knowledge, self-exploration, and self healing. Everything that’s in a birth chart, from my perspective, was orchestrated by the soul before birth. The moment you enter into this world, there’s an imprint of the zeitgeist that you came into: your family, your physical, mental, and cellular strengths, all of that. I use a birth chart to really work on specific issues that are going on and discovering where their origin is in karmic history and cellular memory. You can get so much done using the birth chart as a tool, as a mirror, to discover the soul’s intent and purpose in this lifetime. It will show the strengths and the weakness and challenges in this lifetime, and the tools that are innate in every person to deal with these challenges. Astrology offers a way to grow spiritually, emotionally, and psychologically to integrate what I call soul and psyche. Everyone has within them the ways to deal with everything they’re faced with, it’s a matter of discovering aspects of your own self that you didn’t realize were already within you.
So there are lots of places online where people can get a birth chart for free or for a small fee. Why would someone be compelled to have a session with you when there are so many free resources available?
When I work with someone it’s a psycho-spiritual event for both of us – and unless you’re well versed in the complexities of the relationships that exist among the planets and stars, you can spend a lot of time – years even – seeking out those answers. The difference comes really in the support and the relational dynamic. When we work together, you come away with a sense of someone else knowing what you’re going though and why. Someone who can explain it, who can help put it into the perspective of your larger life. Especially when it comes to the major transformational and evolutionary moments in your life. Most people come in when they have something going on, something that frightens them. And as a psychologist, I offer a mirror, as well as a compassionate container. I encourage people with practical support, giving them permission to act on something that they’re feeling inside anyway.
If people want to connect with you and get a taste of the psycho-spiritual experience you’re talking about, how would they go about doing that?
I want people to have a place to get some direction and consciousness that doesn’t cost and arm and a leg. So I offer intoductory 20 minute readings for just $25. In person is best, but we can do them over the phone as well. All you’ll need is your birth date and time.
And if they’re ready for some significant guidance and support?
Someone can go to therapy for years and years, but I’ve found that by adding in the astrology, it doesn’t take nearly as long to make a significant difference in someone’s life. For some people, all they need is one session, where we spend an hour and a half exploring the birth chart. In that time we can build a relationship and connected exchange on an intimate level. If they want or feel the need to continue, we do 1 hour sessions after that – with a maximum of 6 – because that’s all it takes. I record our sessions so you can listen to them again and again if you’d like to be reminded of what we discussed. I offer my services to individuals, couples even families – it’s amazing what we can discover when we look at all your charts together. I’m also going to be offering some group courses in the near future for those who want to delve into learning about astrology in a collective setting.
Soul and Psyche: soul-centered astrology with Cynthia Hill, Ph.D.
Call to schedule an introductory 20 minute reading for just $25 or an hour and a half to explore your birth and/or have a medical astrology consultation for $150. Please have your birth date and time ready. Cynthia as of yet hasn’t ventured into the online world… though rumor has it she’ll be joining us soon! In the meantime, you can reach her at 801.293.0484 (Mountain Time).
