As strange as it may sound astrologers are often confronted by clients who believe that astrologers are “gifted”, and as this is seen as Divine inspiration, it is felt that astrologers should not charge for their services. While many astrologers are gifted in their craft, as many people are in any profession, the traits of humility and perseverance are prerequisites to becoming a student of astrology, being gifted is not.

The premise on which astrology of The Tradition is based is that there is always an element of Divine grace, but as we all know, God helps those who help themselves. Astrologers are professionals who are consulted by people to do a job, and as with anyone, they get paid for the work generated. Money is not a dirty word and to expect professional astrologers to generate work with no reward for their investment of time (and years of study) is foolish to say the least. AORTA recommends that astrologers implement a fee structure which is not only market related, but which is also based on their level of skill and experience, and that the fee structure is transparent. Anyone running a business, immaterial of the product being sold, is required to have sound business ethics and principles in place in order to serve their clients effectively, as well as to be successful.

Clients who feel that the astrology service should be offered to them at no charge need to ask themselves why they in turn are paid for the work they do. Qualified astrologers who do not charge for their services or who charge rates well below the market related fee structures, should consider that unless they take themselves and their skills seriously, their clients will not. These attitudes towards fees by both clients and astrologers alike, undermine the craft of astrology and taint it with the same brush as did Parliament in the United Kingdom when the Vagrancy Act of 1824 was implemented.