2
I think you'd do well at it. Your Asc is pretty close to the "astrologer's degree." If we take Mercury as the traditional ruler of astrology, you've got its sign Gemini on the MC, and Mercury is very strong in its own sign of Virgo. If we take Uranus as the modern ruler of astrology, it conjuncts benefic Jupiter, who is strong in its own sign of Sagittarius.

Of course, everybody's got faults that can torpedo even a highly suitable career; and you may need another job for income purposes. But your astro-credentials look good to me.

3
Hello Miguel,

You may find this old thread entitled 'Will I ever become a professional astrologer?' useful. Its starts off in the horary section but gets into a lot of natal issues.

http://skyscript.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=4672

Then there is the Astrologers degree thread. :D It get into lots of possible ways people might be suited for astrology.

http://skyscript.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1598

Mark
As thou conversest with the heavens, so instruct and inform thy minde according to the image of Divinity William Lilly

4
Why not ask a horary for this? Like: "would I succeed as a professional astrologer? / Would I be a good astrologer / earn my living with it / ...?"

Just meditate on the question in your own words, note the time, draw the chart, and be informed by the Heavens themselves...

Wishing you good luck,
Herman

http://www.hervaro.be

5
Hi, Mike.

I think that, to start with, you do have some strong indications of a possible mercurian/type profession in you chart which bodes rather well for someone interested in becoming an astrologer.
Virgo rising with an unafflicted ruler alone is a good 'starting point'. here we have Virgo on the Ascendant (analytical thinking, tactical approach, intellect, down to earth and constructive person etc.) with a well dignified Mercury (angular, exalted and in its own rulership). The latter applies to your 10th ruler as well since Mercury also rules the house of your professional life. This all looks very promising. Whilst the Virgo influence 'supplies' you with some very important qualities for an astrologer (critical thinking, seriousness etc.), Gemini on the MC describes a mercurian/type profession that includes creativity, eloquence, intense communication and possibly with many people, a dynamic profession etc. With Mercury inside Virgo we really are very near a sound description of an astrologer - a dynamic work with people that includes communication, possibly many changes or some other kind of 'instability', a job focused both onto people and onto some kind of precise or paper work, calculations, and a job that will most probably require constant learning (and potentially teaching), analytical skills, intense communication, sharp mind, wits and a good eye for details.
This placement of Mercury inside your 1st additionally strengthens the planet - it is angular in a good house and thus accidentally dignified (a good potential for the planet to express itself) but it is also possibly suggesting a solitary profession or the inclination towards one (1st house).

What I think you should take very seriously about this combination of influences though, is the retrograde motion of your Asc/MC ruler and its proximity to the Sun. I believe that it is very obvious as to how a retrograde Mercury presents itself and, if we 'translate' its motion into the words of symbolical meaning literally then, instead of an open-minded, straight-forward, eloquent and even chatty personality, we get a person with a tendency to turn his/her thoughts inwards, sort of speaking, ocasionaly a late talker,someone sceptical about his or her own mental or oratory skills and, sometimes, people who tend to choose a somewhat wrong and even bombastic style of expressing themselves in order to compensate their insecurity. Thinking too much, getting tangled up in details, being unable to express oneself in the desired way and especially perfectionism.
But, for what its worth, it is expected that a retrograde Mercury well dignified in Virgo and angular will suffer much less than if it were in another sign which makes me think that just keeping all this in mind can be of much help in your case - keeping the possible 'dangers' of this motion in mind in order to control them, compensate and avoid making unnecessary mistakes. For a strong mercurian personality such as yours, 'fighting against' this retrograde motion should be much easier than for most other people I think. A retrograde Mercury often feels much better when it doesn't have to express the thoughts verbally so, though your Mercury isn't terribly weak, you might want to consider using written communication with your clients whenever you can: nowadays it is a fairly common practice anyway. That could put you in that 'one step ahead position' that you sometimes need and give you enough time to put your thoughts into words and present them in a better form.
In terms of professional mistakes or dangers that this placement(s) might impose to you as an astrologer - you should make sure that your own practicality does not suffocate the flexibility needed for a good astrological analysis. You seem to be a very rational person which is very good and your analytical skills will be of great help to you and your clients only don't forget that astrology is not pure math and that it requires a good synthesis of symbolical elements into a comprehensible reading.

Another thing worth not only keeping in mind but also giving a closer examination is this proximity to the Sun . The sun is deeply affecting your ascendant, it is 8 degrees distant from your Ascendant / MC ruler and, though Mercury is somewhat immune to the sunbeams, in this particular case I think that it would be very smart to always keep its presence and influence in mind. The Sun burns i.e. it often reduces the quality of the planet exposed to its heat and, though we have a well dignified planet here that cannot be damaged easily, the influence of the house that this Sun rules seems to be very important and obvious even apart from this particular placement. The Sun rules your 12th house and its position inside your 1st announces a strong influence of this house onto your life and personality. The 12th is a house of isolation, solitude, subconsciousness etc (I picked just a few 'positive' meanings of this house, Im pretty sire you're familiar with its negative sides) and Leo/Sun is a sign/planet of the individuals and loners and, if this is suggesting that you feel much better alone than in company and if you like having a lot of time for your thoughts and deep introspection then I believe that this placement is actually supportive of the previously mentioned influence of ASc/Mc ruler inside the 1st and retrograde. A quite practice that favours slow and thorough approach, home office, a well balanced combination of personal meetings with clients and written communication with them could suite you well.
If, on the other hand, you think that this 12th house influence has some other obvious qualities then you should give them a good look and see as to how your goals should and can be adapted to your personal style and vice versa.
Another reason why I think that this sun and Leo are important comes from the fact that your 9th ruler (a very important house for astrologers: divination, philosophy, intense education, higher knowledge, spirituality, religiousness etc.) is placed exactly there- in Leo inside the 12th. That planet is also retrograde and conjunct the ruler of the 8th. This placement certainly has a strong influence onto your finances (Venus rules the 2nd as well and is retrograde, inside the 12th and conjunct the ruler of other peoples' money, debts, loans etc.) but I will have to skip that part now. What matters is that you need to try to meditate on this for a while and try to unravel this placement and its potential influence on your astrological practice. Is it your life style that will need to be finely adjusted?, is it your intense introspection?, perfectionism?, religious/spiritual/dogmatic beliefs and so on.

Flexibility is potentially another key-word in this case. Your Ascendant ruler is inside the 1st, your 10th ruler is inside the 1st, the natural significator of communication and astrologers is inside your 1st and retrograde (but strong), you have the Sun (individuality, proud attitude etc.) inside your 1st and a strong connection with the 12th...I believe that you get the picture: you might always want to keep in mind that others do not always understand our words and cannot read our minds and, as funny as it may sound, sometimes you might notice that you're just too eloquent for your collocutors.
Listening and keeping your mind and ears open for other peoples' thoughts and questions is just as important.


These are, of course, just details of a huge picture but I believe that the more attention you give them (and it should't be hard for an 'exalted mercury/type of person' such as you :D ) the more you will profit from this preparatory step. You have some great promises and the smartest thing to do now IMHO is to take all these tiny details seriously and prepare yourself for the future.

Good luck!