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From dreamstime.com 'I love astrology'." border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e5551268ac88340120a61cf6cc970c " src="http://aquaest.typepad.com/.a/6a00e5551268ac88340120a61cf6cc970c-800wi" style="border: 2px solid #00007f;" title="Image showing an astrological chart. From dreamstime.com 'I love astrology'."></img></a> <div style="text-align: justify;">Astrology provides a framework for imagining a profound intimacy between ourselves and our environment. It envisions an ecological cosmos, a cosmos which 'speaks' through symbol and metaphor. The same structuring principles and processes at work in the natural world are also at work in us, allowing us to see form and movement in our lives as metaphorically reflected in the movements of the sky. p. xvi <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Astrological-Imagination-Where-Psyche-Cosmos/dp/0595531083" target="_blank">The Astrological Imagination: Where Psyche and Cosmos Meet</a>, by Brad Hiljanen Kochunas. When Astrology meets Spa, some interesting things can happen. This post is an exploratory account of such an encounter. There is a serious intent, however: I'm worried about what is happening to our souls and I'm worried about what that's doing to our spas. In August, I attended the <a href="http://www.isarastrology.com/" target="_blank">International Society for Astrological Research</a> (ISAR) <a href="http://www.isar2009.com" target="_blank" title="Astrology's Value to Society: Astrology's Response to Media, Science, Religion and Academia , August 20 - August 23, 2009 ">conference in Chicago</a> with my partner astrologer <a href="http://joelandwehr.typepad.com/astropoetics/about-joe-landwehr.html" target="_blank">Joe Landwehr</a> who was a speaking on the topic 'Why Astrology is Not a Science'. It's a topic that interests me since a similar dilemma (science or not) is faced by alternative health practitioners, many of whom find work and some recognition and validation in spas. Astrology is not a common offering in spas. Where it is, the presentation likely does not do service to the depth and scope of this imaginal art (see 'On the Internet' below). As with so much else in our culture, this may reflect our attitudes both towards ourselves and our place on the planet. </div> <div style="text-align: justify;">Joe sees Astrology as a poetic language of soul (you can read more about his distinction between this approach and traditional astrology <a href="http://joelandwehr.typepad.com/astropoetics/what-is-astropoetics.html" target="_blank">here</a>). Any language can be used to communicate something silly or something more profound, depending on who is using the language. Astrology's ongoing struggle for respect reveals that it is often its own worst enemy. Where astrology appears silly or superficial, the problem lies not with astrology itself but with how some astrologers choose to present astrology to those who have not explored its potential. We can say the same of the spa world and how that is presented that to the public. There were many talks at the ISAR conference that interested me, in particular those concerned with the specialties known as psychological astrology and medical astrology. In the conference vocational track, <a href="http://www.susiecox.com/" target="_blank">Susie Cox</a> - who has worked as a consultant astrologer at <a href="http://www.canyonranchtucson.com/our_services/#PTP_090605_01134825_A2CU1" target="_blank">Canyon Ranch Health Resort</a> in Tucson, Arizona, for 28 years - spoke on 'Presenting Astrology at Health Spas and Resorts'. The talk description said Susie would be looking at ways that astrology can demonstrate its value to society through service industries such as spas, and sharing her ideas about astrology in the spa world. Unfortunately, she confined her survey of astrology in the spa world to the <a href="http://www.concierge.com/cntraveler/articles/500570" target="_blank">Top 6 Conde Naste Destination US Spas for 2009</a>, which is, to be fair, her realm. This is my attempt to extend and elaborate that viewpoint. I should add that I am a novice student of astrology (<a href="http://joelandwehr.typepad.com/astropoetics" target="_blank">Astropoetics</a>) under the tutelage of my partner whose approach resonates very much with that of his friend and colleague Brad Kochunas (quoted above and throughout). Both see astrology as an art that speaks the poetic or imaginal language of soul; both take it far below the surface in their eloquent writings and in their counseling sessions. I find this view of astrology to be quite philosophically aligned with that of Vision Spa Retreat (tagline 'Soulful and Sustainable'). But the perspective of soul, like the question of what is sustainable, is not something that can be neatly defined and regulated for. And neither concept is fortune-making. Instead, they both require us to develop a deeper understanding of lack and limitation, and of the underside or underbelly of life. The levity and leisure in our lives 'In an effort to increase the levity and leisure in our lives we have neglected the gravity of our existence.' wrote Brad Kochunas, in an article called 'Returning the Soul to Astrology' (part of a fascinating collection of essays on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Astrological-Imagination-Where-Psyche-Cosmos/dp/0595531083" target="_blank">The Astrological Imagination</a>, p. 26; quite readable for those new to astrology). I think this same statement could be applied to current trends in the spa world (less so to the growing retreat movement). Until a couple of years ago, my impression of astrology was based on the trivial magazine sun-sign columns. My introduction to its value as a philosophical system has been profoundly life-expanding. At the <a href="http://www.isar2009.com" target="_blank">ISAR conference</a>, I saw that astrology addresses many areas of human experience with specialties in medical, vocational, locational, spiritual, predictive, and psychological astrology. Some astrologers would like to call it a science, a few won't. </div><div class="blockquote" style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: justify;">[T]he very nature of any therapeutic intervention ... is not scientific. It is a participatory interaction between two conscious human beings, using whatever modality – be it astrology, psychotherapy or medicine – as a point of departure for an exchange, the outcome of which is not predictable or controllable by science. Astrologers have a set of tools to enhance the participatory experience, and direct it toward a set of outcomes tailored with exquisite precision to the needs of a specific client – but only if it is used in a non-scientific way that permits a free, intuitive exploration of astrological symbolism within the context of a dialogue between two conscious, creative, and rather protean beings, working together toward understanding and perspective. Joe Landwehr, from his ISAR talk 'Why Astrology is not a Science' </div><div style="text-align: justify;">We live in a culture of heroic extremes, from the soullessness of science to the illusionary new age. We are manipulated by both because of our fear of what Jung called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_%28psychology%29" target="_blank">Shadow</a> and our longing for Light. Perhaps we are drawn to spas because archetypally these are the places we go to in order to face or deny our 'shadows'. Likewise, astrologically spas are described by the elusive qualities of the element Water, especially the sign Pisces, the planet Neptune, and the 12th House (more on this later). In the top echelons of the spa world, it appears popular to put astrology under the heading of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaphysics" target="_blank" title="Read a definition of this term on Wikipedia.">Metaphysics</a> and call its practitioners Metaphysicians. Maybe this title gives it a certain grandness, something similar to a physician but with an exotic tone. Under the same category come psychics, mediums, intuitives, numerologists, graphologists, tarot readers, color therapists, crystal energy workers, and so on. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaphysics" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a> notes that: Before the development of modern science, scientific questions were addressed as a part of metaphysics known as 'natural philosophy'; the term 'science' itself meant 'knowledge' of epistemological origin. The scientific method, however, made natural philosophy an empirical and experimental activity unlike the rest of philosophy, and by the end of the eighteenth century it had begun to be called 'science' in order to distinguish it from philosophy. Thereafter, metaphysics became the philosophical enquiry of a non-empirical character into the nature of existence. or in the new spa language ... Canyon Ranch, Tucson: Metaphysical Department - 'Inner wisdom helps you on your journey to personal growth. Metaphysical consultations are fun and offer intriguing pathways to self-awareness.' I have nothing against any of the above practices, except where they are thinly veiled forms of entertainment masquerading as medicine. And I admit that my impression so far has been that that is what's often on offer. What is particularly interesting, and to me informative, is that these services may be increasing in their popularity. I'm curious to understand why. First, a little on the astrological worldview. Restoring meaning, beauty and mystery to our lives Astrology for an individual is based on the key tool, a natal chart. But charts can be drawn up for places, events, animals, all manner of things occurring in space and time. There is my birth chart, my 'progressed new moon' chart for an astrologically significant life-phase, a chart for the launching of this website, a chart for my first spa-retreat venture, and one for that partnership. From each chart, meaning can be gleaned. While some struggle to demonstrate that astrology is not trivial or superstitious but a verifiable science (my partner Joe explains why this is not possible), others (like Joe and Brad) also see astrology as valuable - not as a science but as a language of the imagination that provides a means to restore meaning, beauty and mystery to our lives. For them it truly is a language of soul. It is this kind of restoration of mystery and meaning, of soul, that I believe might also help us to see the natural world not as a resource but as a home in which we have a place. But what about spas? Spas, to my mind, have the potential to be a special kind of home - a sanctuary (read more about the 'father of spa' Asclepius <a href="http://www.visionsparetreat.com/asclepius-the-god-of-spas.html" target="_blank">here</a>). Astrologically, they're linked with the 12th House, along with hospitals, monasteries, retreats, and curiously enough prisons. These are all places we go to heal voluntarily (or to be held involuntarily) when we've been deemed sick in body, mind or spirit. For the most part, our culture considers all these kinds of sickness to be unwelcome. They are something we want to be rid of or to have remedied and rehabilitated. But as <a href="http://www.careofthesoul.net/" target="_blank">Thomas Moore</a> writes, soul is not sanitary - it is wild and untamed and that is another curious characteristic of 12th House (read a <a href="http://www.visionsparetreat.com/2009/04/harbin-hot-springs.html" target="_blank" title="Thomas Moore quoted in paragraph 8 on the word 'hospital'.">related reference</a> here). Here's a little taste of the generic astrology that comes up in a Google search for 'astrology, spas'. This is the one-size-fits-all approach that mass-marketed businesses thrives upon. 'The best way to analyze the natal horoscope for matters of psychology and motivation, as well as therapeutic preferences', it says, 'is to use the 12-letter astrological alphabet devised by astrologer Zipporah Dobyns.' [<a href="http://www.greekmedicine.net/medical_astrology/Astrology_and_Client_Counseling.html" target="_blank">Web link to quoted material.</a>] '[The medical astrologer then] formulates his counseling and motivational approach and his therapeutic recommendations for the client.' And comes up with the following for the 12th House. </div><div class="blockquote" style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: justify;">Pisces - Neptune - Twelfth House Often a codependent, addictive personality in need of emotional healing. Prone to excess, overindulgence, profligate behavior. Self victimization or self sabotage. Can place an almost religious, blind faith in the doctor or therapist, often having unrealistic or supernatural expectations. Will often be vague or confused in relating medical history, getting the facts straight. Needs to develop will power in following through with therapy. Basically good-natured, tolerant, compassionate, forgiving. Can be very sensitive to the effects of foods, drugs, medicines, herbs. Therapies: Alcoholics Anonymous and twelve step programs, subtle energetic therapies, hypnotherapy, counseling and psychotherapy, foot reflexology, lymphatic detoxification, homeopathy, thalassotherapy (sea bathing) </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> Since my Sun, along with Uranus conjunct Mercury, lie in the 12th house, I'm a contender. So, already you'll know something about my darkest secrets! (You'd do better to look a lot more closely at my chart, and how I've responded to life.) 'Houses' in astrology (12 of them) can be seen as psychological and environmental contexts in which human experience and behavior are situated. The 12th House describes, for example, the realm of dreams, intuitions, the unconscious, and surrender. As mentioned earlier, apart from certain human institutions, it represents the untamed wilderness or where we go to connect with our true nature (our soul). The 12th House also reflects, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Astrological-Imagination-Where-Psyche-Cosmos/dp/0595531083" target="_blank">writes Brad Kochunas</a>, 'personal and collective experiences in which there has been unfinished business, experiences we tend not to show or know well, experiences that are generally disdained, ridiculed or deemed irrelevant'. (Brad is a highly experienced mental health professional who works with prison inmates - prisons if you remember are also 12th House places.) However, as hinted above for my case, the 12th House is experienced differently by each of us, depending upon the sign on the cusp (at the beginning of) the 12th House, any planets we have in the 12th House, where the ruler of the 12th House sits in the chart and the aspects to it, and the consciousness that we bring to these factors. Thus one-size does not fit all, and a true understanding of your 12th hHuse (or anything in your chart) cannot be obtained simply by reading a definition of the 12th House, taken out of context. The same applies to working with individuals in any context, including that of spa. Whatever the setting, whatever the treatment, its effectiveness will be uniquely influenced by the individuals involved. What is really going on in spas? Many people go to spas to relax but also to regenerate, recover, or rediscover parts of themselves that feel unattended or lost. Spas seem to call us to the rest we all need at the end of one cycle and before another begins - which is where the 12th House lies in the circle of a chart. As for any 12th House setting, this rest requires a process of incubation and waiting, brooding and mulling, letting soul stir in its own cauldron. Directly opposed the 12th House on a zodiac chart is the 6th House - described by the element Earth, the sign Virgo, and the planet Mercury. The 6th House provides ballast for the 12th, being much more grounded and disciplined. It's related to self-purification, rituals, habits, attitudes to work; where 12th House is wild and untamed, the 6th House is tamed or domesticated. For me, this 12th-6th House opposition describes quite well one of the inherent tensions of spa culture and culture in general. Will our nature be wild or tamed? Will our healing be contained and sanitized or allowed to sit in its own chaos for however long that takes? The grand father of spas, <a href="http://www.visionsparetreat.com/asclepius-the-god-of-spas.html" target="_blank" title="Read more on this blog about Asclepius ...">Asclepius</a>, apparently offered sanctuary to those who needed healing that respected this tension. We're a long way from that balance now. Instead, we seem to be looking for (or purveying) the quick fixes, the easily digested information, the neatly packaged options. We're hoping (or claiming) that this can all be done in a fabulous all-inclusive weekend. We believe (or make-believe) that if we get the formula right, we'll be rich and beautiful and happy ever after. Who is going to point out that the emperor has no clothes? Who is going to dare to serve, not profit? Psychological astrology (the realm Joe Landwehr and Brad Kochunas are immersed in) is concerned with the psyche or soul. It sees an individual's natal chart as an imaginal map that is not used to predict concrete life events or to provide solutions to the problems of living but rather to ask the person whose chart it is to discover for themselves the deepest meaning to their life and their place in the cosmos. 'In our culture we have lost the fantasy of the healing power of beauty and tend toward engaging only the medical fantasy. Astrology is simply a way of imagining the world differently, an alternative model for understanding human reality. Practiced imaginatively, its subject matter is soulmaking', writes Brad (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Astrological-Imagination-Where-Psyche-Cosmos/dp/0595531083" target="_blank">p. 27</a>). Spas have this potential - inspiring places of beauty, mystery, fantasy. Yet - in grasping for medical credibility (Medi-Spa) or building megalithic manors, for example - that soulful quality is often lost. Brad Kochunas again, 'Americans tend toward expansive growth-oriented, manic, Jupiterian lifestyles and leave no place for Saturnine melancholia. In an effort to increase the levity and leisure in our lives we have neglected the gravity of our existence' (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Astrological-Imagination-Where-Psyche-Cosmos/dp/0595531083" target="_blank">p. 25-6</a>). [Although I am focusing on the 12th House here, I'd like to add that the notion of spa as a place to go to regenerate and recover can also be understood as a 4th House experience. The 4th House can denote sanctuary or refuge, as well as home. Likewise, any further astrological study of spa where its links with the element water are recognized (unfortunately some in spa do not subscribe to this connection) would consider the watery zodiac signs or Cancer and Scorpio, the planets Moon and Pluto and the 8th House.] When soul is lost by a culture Let's return to Susie Cox's talk, and the Conde Naste Top scoring Destination Spas (all US) for<a href="http://www.concierge.com/cntraveler/articles/500570" target="_blank"> 2009</a>: </div><div class="blockquote" style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: justify;">Canyon Ranch, Lenox, Massachusetts Lake Austin Spa Resort, Texas Red Mountain Spa, Utah Miraval, Tucson, Arizona Canyon Ranch, Tucson, Arizona Ten Thousand Waves, Sante Fe, New Mexico </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> Of these grand spas, three (both the <a href="http://www.canyonranchtucson.com/our_services/#PTP_090605_01134825_A2CU1" target="_blank">Canyon Ranch</a> venues and <a href="http://www.miravalresort.com/ProgramHomePage.aspx" target="_blank">Miraval</a>) offer astrology. Susie established it at the first two a long time ago now but Miraval's appointment of astrologer <a href="http://www.sisk-consulting.com/carolyn/" target="_blank">Carolyn Crawford</a> is more recent. Susie consults at Canyon Ranch, Tucson, which has 300 rooms and is a high-end venue. Its focus, she noted, is on body and mind with less attention to spirit. The tagline ''The Power of Possibility' says it all. Canyon Ranch's Arizona neighbor <a href="http://www.miravalresort.com/" target="_blank">Miraval</a> (118 rooms), on the other hand, offers a more meditative atmosphere, perhaps more conducive to things spiritual. There's an important distinction to make here between spiritual and soulful, both words that are much used and sometimes misused (or misrepresented) in the business of spa and health. Though perhaps marketing meets us exactly where our dreams are. <blockquote>'When soul is lost by a culture there is nothing to connect mind and body, no middle ground to keep these realms attached and thereby we suffer the untethered elevation of spirit and the degradation of matter as reflected in the deterioration of the environment, the despising of the body, shoddy materialism, the oppression of women, and substance abuse.' Brad Kochunas, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Astrological-Imagination-Where-Psyche-Cosmos/dp/0595531083" target="_blank">p. 26-7</a>. </blockquote> At the start of her talk, Susie made a humorous comment about an encounter in the rest room. She had overheard two hotel guests (not conference participants) speculating that the woman in flowing robes and crystal jewelry who had just left the rest room was no doubt 'the astrologer'. Meanwhile, Susie was power-dressed and proud of her more conventional appearance. How can we go beyond our stereotypes, to identify genuine authenticity, whether in the world of astrology or that of spa? The light (and quick) or the dark (and slow) <a href="http://www.susiecox.com/" target="_blank">Susie Cox</a> has been a professional astrologer for over 37 years, and her clients include an A-List of international celebrities and business leaders. The highest service rate in the spa is around $300. That's what Susie's 50-minute astrology readings cost, and as an independent contractor she earns more than 50% of this. 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Vision Spa Retreat: Reflections on spa, soul, and the role of water

A blog concerned with: Water consciousness for personal and planetary wellbeing. Associated with Visionary Spa Consultancy Service. Topics covered include: Trends in spa-retreat culture; Creating a spa-retreat center; Visiting a spa-retreat; Water in health and healing; Water in the environment. By Sara Firman.

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The bathing pool: rituals

Jan 2, 2010 9:11am

Recently, a dear friend wrote asking: 'Would you be able to advise how best to use the time when I go and spend a day in the hot baths in Budapest in order to relax, and detress the best? '...

New Year: Riding the waves of change

Jan 1, 2010 4:00am

January is a good time for looking backwards and forwards ... it's also a traditional opportunity to review and perhaps revise one's purpose. Putting together this New Year post for Vision Spa Retreat had me doing all these things. In the process, it clarified three missions that have evolved...

Three Wishes and Four Guiding Stars for Spa: A Dialog with Marion Schneider

Oct 27, 2009 1:35pm

Sara Firman of Vision Spa Retreat talks to her friend and colleague Marion Schneider of Toskana Therme, Bad Sulza, about Marion's 'three wishes' for spa. Sara also proposes 'four guiding stars' for the future of spa....

Managing for sustained success of spa

Oct 23, 2009 1:13pm

The new 2010 edition of International Standards of SpaExcellence(SM)2010 released this month addresses sustainability and the environment in a number of places. Julie Register, Managing Director at SpaQuality outlined them for Vision Spa Retreat....

Spa Finder Awards: Environmental Practices and Mineral Springs

Oct 15, 2009 10:47am

SpaFinder has just announced the winners of its Readers' Choice Awards in three areas - favorite spa by continent, favorite by region or country, and best in any of 27 categories - based on approximately 300,000 votes. The categories range from Best for Accommodations to Best for Yoga, and...

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Recession and Spas

Sep 24, 2009 8:48am

A look at what is happening in our culture in general, how this might relate to spa, and how we might respond - not in terms of surviving as businesses but rather in order to support cultural change and contribute to our survival on the planet. What is needed...

Growing for spas: a local enterprise

Jul 29, 2009 9:41am

This month, Vision Spa Retreat ventured into the local community with the article below which was extracted from the series of six related posts about spa products and the powerful potential they have for enabling sustainable spa culture....

Visions for Spa?

Jul 12, 2009 8:44am

Vision Spa Retreat take the first part of it's name seriously, though that's certainly an ongoing process of exploration. In fact, a friend recently commented that Sara 'seems to be trying to work something out' though this website and sharing. That's true! No definite answers or opinions...

Certificate of Sustainability for Salons and Spas from NAEFSS

Jul 11, 2009 8:18am

The National Association of Eco-Friendly Salons and Spas™ founded by Tamara Jercha recently launched it's Sustainability Certification proposal for US venues. The obvious focus on environmental issues, Tamara's credentials, a membership service, and a certification that is based around that look promising to Vision Spa Retreat....

Future Spa: Bringing concepts to life

Jun 30, 2009 9:42am

This new Forum hosted by Vision Spa Retreat is intended to inspire free-flowing dialog about some of the challenges of visioning and then manifesting a spa venue that can truly call itself 'eco'. To start us off, we're looking at what turns an inspired spa concept proposal into the...

Is there a basic philosophy all spas could accept regards water?

Jun 26, 2009 7:29am

Last month, the 2009 Global Spa Summit focused on 'The Power of Collaboration' was held at Victoria-Jungfrau Grand Hotel & Spa in Interlaken, Switzerland. Among the issues discussed at this year's Summit was Water - also a central focus for Vision Spa Retreat....