Stephen Arroyo

Person-to-Person Astrology: Energy Factors in Love, Sex and Compatibility

Stephen Arroyo is the author of best selling ‘Astrology, Karma and Transformation’, and ‘Relationships and Life Cycles’, as well as five other books that have been translated into more than twenty languages.

Arroyo sees everyone as an energetic combination of Earth, Air, Water and Fire. Knowing the elemental makeup of yourself and others gives you insight into your own unconscious biases as well as the unconscious biases of those you relate to.

This is one of the ways that Astrology is truly transformative. By taking the time and through your own personal life experience of absorbing and mastering these concepts, you can see past your own elemental behavior, and make sense of the elemental behavior of those with whom you interact. The birth chart not only describes a persons’ elemental makeup, but also a persons’ inner experiences and motivations, as well as the truly amazing array of different types of consciousness that the infinite variety of human personalities can exhibit. Arroyo points out that there is nothing simple about the cosmic range of variety exhibited by people’s make-up and therefore self-expression. However, the birth chart is a map that can make transformation in relationships possible by assisting navigation through this huge universe of unknowns, assumptions, fears and possibilities.

Further, Arroyo suggests becoming conversant in your own energy makeup as a wonderful boon to adopting a healthier lifestyle in the very areas you are most challenged. Should a person lack a particular element, it becomes far more crucial for that person to compensate by consciously adding that element. Say a person lacks the earth element, building something tangible and long lasting with ones’ own hands, so to speak, that is also valued by society, would be both most challenging and most important and valuable to that person. Or lacking the water element requires a conscious relationship with family, blood or otherwise, where unconditional acceptance is the given. Interaction with actual water and the highly charged emotional areas of intimacy, as well as time spent alone may be most challenging but most helpful in developing soul and a relationship with water. A lack of air suggests the greatest challenge is more openness and curiosity needs to be encouraged, more equality in relationships and more time devoted to study and thoughtful conversations will ultimately help balance out the personality. A lack of fire’s greatest challenges would require taking risks and throwing oneself passionately into new ventures without forethought, so as not to cripple in advance, potential new discoveries. Exercise is crucial as it helps build fire and burn off life sucking negativity.

Along with the wonderful potential for transformation in relationships with knowledge of the elements, it is also true that there just may not be sufficient energetic compatibility to sustain a workable connection with another. Our energy fields either produce a net gain, or loss, overall and recognizing this can allow for a way to gracefully reduce the potential fall out and misunderstanding when relationships do not work.

Arroyo thinks sex is so emphasized these days because we are so cut off from nature, thus it is the only function that still connects us to our animal instincts. We are in a reverse Victorian era, where there is still tremendous ignorance and lack of self-knowledge, but confused behavior is acted out rather than suppressed. This is exactly where astrology is badly needed in these times.

Arroyo explores the history of astrology and the great minds that have studied it, as well as those who decry it who have no clue regarding what it is about. He addresses why a person should take it seriously, that managers and CEO’s often quietly use astrology to understand and/or hire staff. However don’t expect most influential people to admit to using astrology, given the current climate of ignorance. But it is often astrologers themselves who shoot themselves in the foot by offering up more than they, or possibly astrology, can deliver. However this has not stopped other areas of forecasting, such as weather, stocks, politicians etc from continuing to forecast. In fact the art of forecasting weather is more and more accurate, but without practicing the art of forecasting, this would not be the case.

Arroyo explains that with an ideal you have perfection in mind, but not necessarily with any real life or vitality. With polarity you have conflict, but you also have energy flow and potential. This is the beauty of relationships, that they are not ideal, thus they have life and soul, and the ability to transform both parties. Arroyo brings a wealth of personal experience and training in a variety of modalities, both traditional and non-traditional, exposing everyone to a side they may be less conversant in. Arroyo is grounded in academia as well as more cutting edge bodies of knowledge sourced in humanistic astrologer Dane Rudhyar and Dr Randolph Stone of Polarity Therapy, to name only two.

Arroyo has always strived to use as few words as possible and deliver work that is as easy to assimilate as possible. In this spirit, this book focuses on introducing people to the most easily accessible and quickly usable parts of astrology for understanding relationships. The Moon, Venus and Mars are key to describing the relational sides of an individual, and Arroyo goes into depths to explain each planet in each of the twelve signs and four elements. Remarkably, along with the simplicity of language and delivery of Arroyos’ message, are also deep truths and esoteric profundities.

This book has a practical base, Arroyo is drawing on 25 years of further study since his last series of astrology books were written, also he quotes from a broad range of interviews with people to add further insight into how each of the archetypal planets and signs manifest in real people and real relationships. The book includes charts to allow beginners to estimate the ascendant, Moon, Mars, and Venus at birth for themselves and others.

This is a very small description of what Arroyo offers in his latest volume, a keeper on the library shelves of both novice and seasoned astrologers, and a wonderful reference for further study and practical application.

Reviewed by Carol Cilliers
carolcilliers.com