I started my astrology practice in 1998. Back then there was no Zoom, no Skype, no internet (at least not in the easily accessible and useable form of today) and no way to do one-to-one readings for clients other than face to face or via telephone. Some astrologers would record themselves reading a chart in isolation, but those were few and far between.

The only other way to make money as an astrologer was to teach (again, largely limited to face to face), or to write books, columns or articles for newspapers or magazines.

The teaching and writing opportunities were few, so, in essence, if you didn’t do face to face readings you didn’t have a business.

Fast forward to 2026. We have the internet with its infinite possibilities. We have social media which has brought astrology, and many other spiritual and alternative practices into mainstream consciousness. And we have a whole new generation of astrologers, born and raised online, to whom living and working on the internet is as natural as breathing.

The downside of this evolution is that social media rewards us for brevity. Creators are encouraged to post content that is fed to the audience in dopamine-inducing bite-sized pieces. Many astrologers have resorted to “cookbook” interpretations of planets, signs, houses, aspects, transits, eclipses and Moon cycles just to fit this model and garner a following on social media. And still others make single, sometimes outrageous comments about a particular placement or transit, again just to increase engagement.

None of this is conducive to either good astrology, or helping people.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m on Instagram and Facebook and understand the marketing power of these and other social media platforms. But as soon as I had the idea to write this article, and the shape of it took form, I made a vow to never again post a “cookbook” interpretation of a transit, eclipse or planetary placement on social media. Because even though this type of content increases engagement, it does not sit well with my integrity as an astrologer, nor does it align with my aim to be more intentional with my work and what I am creating.

Why You Should Have a 1:1 Astrology Reading

As an astrologer, I find 1:1 readings to be the very best way to help my clients. That’s the bottom line. I have all this knowledge, a bagful of experience, a healthy dose of intuition and years of continued study, all of which is distilled into a 75-minute session with someone I have never met.

And that excites me.

I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve stumbled across a new insight, either astrological or spiritual, and that very thing becomes the crux of the next reading I do. In moments like that I simply smile, send a ‘thank you’ to the universe and carry on. I am, after all, only a vessel for this stuff. It doesn’t come from me, it comes through me.

But enough about me. Why should you part with your hard-earned money and invest in a 1:1 astrological consultation? Here are my top 5 reasons to have a 1:1 astrology reading:

1. The Conversation

There is one thing missing from any written report, post on Instagram, even your favourite book on astrology.

You. You are missing.

Your lived experience is every bit as important as the chart itself. It provides context to the energies on display in the chart, as well as the choices you’ve made throughout the course of your life. Entering into a conversation with a skilled astrologer is akin to having a session with a good counsellor. Long gone are the days when astrologers were expected to be fortune tellers or mind readers. The conversation you have with your astrologer will benefit you, and your reading, by providing both data and context.

In return your astrologer will hone in on the purpose of your visit much more efficiently. You will get answers to your questions, insight into areas that may have hitherto been hidden, and it may even crack open a pattern that’s been holding you back or dragging you down.

Without a conversation, both you and the astrologer could get lost in the endless possibilities arising from the chart. Think of the baby boy who was born at the same time as Prince William, albeit down the road in a public hospital. One of those babies was born to be king. One wasn’t. Same chart, completely different life. Without the input of the client themselves, there’s no knowing which is which.

2. Meeting You Where You Are On Your Journey

Reading a chart for a 22-year old is totally different to reading a chart for a 52-year old.

Why?

Because the 22-year-old has only crossed one of the big astrological life markers (the first Uranus square). A reading at this age will be loaded with potential, because from so many perspectives, the life hasn’t been lived yet.

Meanwhile the 52-year old has done one Saturn return and is approaching their second, they’ve been through their Uranus opposition (aka mid-life crisis), their Pluto square and their Neptune square, and might still be navigating their Chiron return. In practical terms they’ve experienced much of what their chart has to offer and will be well-versed with their own psyche whether they realise it or not. And much of their personality and their behaviours will be well embedded. This on its own presents a totally different challenge to that presented by the 22-year old.

A skilled astrologer will meet you where you are on your life journey, and will understand the difference between reading for a 22-year old versus reading for a 52-year old. It helps if the astrologer themselves has at least been through their own Saturn return, because experience is the greatest teacher. And while every chart holds unrealised potentials, a serious astrologer will not separate the chart from the client. The 22-year old may already be fully realising their potential and need to be prepared for future bumps in the road, u-turns and detours, while the 52-year old may be having a reading because they feel as though they’ve missed the boat of their life.

The point here is that a 1:1 reading will take into account where you are on your life path, and not view your chart as an entity separate to you and your life. The value of that is a recognition of what you’ve done, what you’ve been through, what you’ve achieved and what you’ve missed, and how those things can be handled differently, maybe better, next time around.

3. You Get Answers To Your Specific Questions

I begin every consultation with the question, “How can I help?”

The truth is, I could spend literally hours telling you about every little thing in your chart. But as my psychologist says, “If you turn over every rock, you get to the end of your life and all you’ve done is turn over rocks”. I am not there to impress you with my vast knowledge, or dazzle you with astrological jargon, or wax lyrical about the upcoming Uranus transit. I am there to help you. Plain and simple.

No one comes to a consultation without a “why”. Something has triggered you; it could be curiosity, a trauma, a decision you need to make, or a crisis. The nature of that may be as plain as day in the chart, but it’s not my job to decide what is taking priority in your life right now.

And when you ask your specific question, you will receive specific guidance. None of this, “read for your rising sign” generalised advice, or interpretations. If you’re having relationship problems I’ll look at your Venus by sign and house, any aspects to Venus, your 7^th house, the ruler of your 7^th house, any planets in the 7^th house, any planets in Libra, particularly Uranus and Pluto which bring in a karmic aspect and/or a potential for past trauma. And the whole time we’ll be having a conversation about your experiences in relationships, because even with everything I mentioned above about Venus and the 7^th house, there are still an endless array of possibilities. And the reality is, the relationship problem could be rooted in early life conditioning which brings in the Moon, the 4^th house, its ruler, etc. And on it goes.

Next time you read an Instagram post about relationships and you’re instructed to “read for your rising sign”, do me a favour and scroll past. You might as well look to the back of a chip packet for life advice. It would be just as useful.

4. A Truly Personalised Experience

Your birth chart is unique to you. It is a blueprint of the life you were born to live, a karmic roadmap to your soul’s past and it’s future intentions, a natal promise of what is possible for you in this life.

Have you ever heard of the Saturn return? The Pluto square? Neptune entering Aries? Mercury retrograde? Eclipse season? If you have a keen interest in astrology chances are you have heard of these things, and you may even have an understanding of what they mean in your chart.

Add the astrologer into the mix and your understanding hits a whole new level.

Let’s take the recent ingress of Neptune into Aries. There has been so much written and said about this on social media and in webinars and blog posts so I won’t go into the specifics of the transit itself. I will simply use it to highlight the value of a a 1:1 reading over a cookbook, or generalised interpretation.

Firstly, transits don’t happen in isolation. Neptune is in a static spot in your birth chart but after you were born it kept moving through the sky. Depending on your age, it may have already made a square aspect back to itself. Depending on where it is in your natal chart, it may have crossed an angle. It will certainly have made additional aspects to other planets and points in your chart.

So why is all this relevant?

You cannot, and should not, attempt to interpret a major planetary ingress in anyone’s chart without first looking at the natal condition of that planet, and then checking for any major aspects it’s made on its way from its natal placement to its current ingress into Aries. Some people (like me) may have particularly problematic, even karmic, issues with Neptune. Others may not feel Neptune transits at all. Most of us will be on a scale of 1 to 10 somewhere in the middle. Regardless, it’s not as simple as “If you have Scorpio rising, Neptune in Aries is in your sixth house and means this”. It is this level of detail–looking to the natal placement, the impact of previous Neptune transits, how previous Neptune sign changes have impacted you, and what other aspects Neptune is currently making–that raise the value of personalised readings over any other interaction with astrology. With a 1:1 reading you’ll get the truth about Neptune in Aries as it relates specifically to you. No need to look up the interpretation for your rising sign.

5. The Therapeutic Benefit

Not all astrologers are counsellors, and even fewer astrologers are therapists. But you don’t need your astrologer to be a trained therapist to receive a therapeutic benefit from a reading. If you walk away from the reading with new insight into a problem, or a resolution to a question you’ve had, or you feel unstuck after being blocked in some way, then the reading will have had a therapeutic benefit for you.

To this end, make sure you research the astrologer before booking a consultation with them. Some astrologers just love the sound of their own voice, and are more interested in dazzling you with their wisdom and knowledge than they are in actually helping you. Make sure you select an astrologer who matches your goal for the consultation. Some of you may want a brief rundown on all your planetary placements and a brief look at the nodes, before gobbling up the forecast on offer. That’s fine. Each to their own. But for me, astrologers who do that are like people who drive the Ferrari to Woolies to do the shopping.

It’s just a waste, isn’t it?

Why Should Astrologers Offer 1:1 Readings?

The trend, particularly on social media, is for astrologers to move away from 1:1 readings, and towards creating courses, running webinars (which they later turn into courses) and marketing an array of digital products. I don’t have an issue with astrologers doing this. They have a business to run after all.

What I do object to however, is the idea that astrologers do this so they don’t have to do 1:1 readings. As if 1:1 readings are the most time-consuming, energy-sapping way to make money in this industry.

Straight up, that’s just not true. If it is, they’re not doing it right.

But my concern is something far greater, particularly for those astrologers who prefer to write reports for clients, albeit hand-written, not the computer-generated kind, rather than do 1:1 readings. Because they are creating their product and doing their “reading” in an echo chamber. The only voice they hear is their own. And that is dangerous. And ultimately, they can still only give generalised advice, even if it is lifted directly from your birth chart.

I gain as much from every reading as my client does. Maybe more. Because I get to see the chart come to life. I get to see how it works in real time, with a real person animating it, making real decisions and reacting to the planetary influences within them. If you aim to truly help people through their birth charts and you’re not offering 1:1 readings, you’re selling yourself as short as you’re selling your clients.

Astrology is a sacred art and a reading is sacred space. It’s an alchemical interaction between two people with the birth chart and its infinite possibilities at the centre. That simply cannot be reproduced by any written report, particularly one that does not include the experience of the person who’s having their chart read.

So if you’re interested in your birth chart and its potential, want to know about your life or soul purpose, or have questions about relationships, career, finances, home life or anything else besides, consider booking a 1:1 session with an astrologer. It’s the best way to fast track you to the truth of your situation, and it provides the best methods to move beyond your blockages and solves problems one-to-one.

I offer 1:1 readings via Zoom, which I record and make available to you within one hour of your reading. I do evolutionary chart readings, addressing your chart at a soul level. I do general readings with a psychological approach. And I do draconic readings for those interested in their life and soul purpose. You can book a reading with me here.