Babs
Kirby is a writer, lecturer, astrologer and workshop leader.
She has 30 years experience as an integrative
psychotherapist and retired from her private practice in 2011.
Babs has
run workshops combining astrology and humanistic psychology extensively within
the UK and abroad and lectured at numerous international conferences.
The
lectures and workshops outlined below can be tailored to the specific needs of
a group or organisation.
Lectures
The
Stages and Ages of Life
This talk will look
at the way our natal charts are expressed over the various stages and ages in
life, from the potential shown for a baby to the process of reconciliation to
what has been in later life.
Creativity
This talk will
discuss the creative impulse or drive and examine the charts, progressions and
transits of some notable British artists and ceramicists, exploring how their
work expresses their chart and has evolved over the years. Grayson Perry,
Tracey Emin and Sutton Taylor will be among those discussed.
Journeying as
an Astrologer
This talk will
look at the path to individuation that we are all on and how being an
astrologer affects our journey.
The Enigma of the 12th House
Traditionally associated with misfortune, this house has a poor reputation. In
my talk I will look at the charts of those with planets in the 12th,
some of whom seem to be surviving quite well in public life, with a particular
focus on the life and work of the British artist Tracey Emin.
Complexes
In this lecture I explore how complexes come into being and how they develop
over time. Jung asserted that 'complexes behave like independent beings' and we
will look at how they operate, how they are signified astrologically and at
transits to these key planetary configurations.
A Psychotherapist’s Approach to Children’s Charts
I
will discuss how I work with children’s charts, which is always as part of a
synastry with the parents. The parents’ chart shows their capacity to
understand their child and my aim is to help them give their child space for
his or her individuality to grow and develop. This talk will be illustrated
with the charts of children and their parents.
The Astrology of Ambition
In this lecture I will talk about the astrology of ambition and will look
at some of the traditional significators associated with ambition, explore some
of the inner psychological dynamics associated with drive and look at some
charts with ambition in mind.
Ethical Dilemmas - Issues Facing the Consulting Astrologer
Many of us have an ethical code that we adhere to but do these go far enough or
are they too limiting? In this talk I will explore various ethical dilemmas
that we as astrologers encounter.
Survival Skills for the Professional Astrologer
Once you’re qualified and start seeing clients, it’s not necessarily plain
sailing. There are certain pitfalls to avoid along the way as we develop and
maintain a practise. In this talk I look at some of the issues the professional
astrologer is likely to encounter and the support supervision can provide.
What
Is This Thing Called Love?
In
the West, most relationships begin by falling in-love. And yet, with so many
relationships failing, it begs the question, what has gone wrong – why do
couples fall out of love? In this talk I explore the differences between
falling in-love and loving someone, as a separate individual. Venus and Mars,
as significators of love and sexuality, play an important part in how we
express love and what we need to feel loved. This will be discussed, along with
the parental images in the chart.
WORKSHOPS
A
Psychological Approach to Solar and Lunar Returns
This can be given as a Lecture or One Day Workshop
What
does the year ahead have in store? The Solar Return Chart is a unique
forecasting tool, giving a broad overview of the year ahead, highlighting areas
of potential growth. This workshop will offer guidelines on interpretation. We
will also look at the fine tuning for the year ahead that Lunar Returns offer
and touch on Mercury, Mars and Venus Returns.
Sub-Personalities
A One Day Workshop limited to 30 people
This is a day in which to explore the multi-various parts, which make up who
you are. In this experiential workshop, I use guided imagery to enable you to
discover your sub-personalities. Walt Whitman famously said “Do I contradict myself? Very well, then I contradict myself,
I am large, I contain multitudes.”
These contradictory parts are our sub-personalities, some of which operate in
co-operation with each other and some of which operate autonomously and
autocratically. We will explore ways to honour the needs of each and every
sub-personality and give them astrological significators. Please bring your
chart to this workshop.
Love and Sexuality - An Exploration of Venus and
Mars
A One
Day Workshop
Would you like to understand your love life better? Do you fall in love with
seemingly impossible people? Can you make the transition from being in love to
a long term fulfilling relationship? Venus and Mars represent the principles of
love and sexual attraction and in this workshop we will use an astrological
framework to examine some of the ways these principles manifest in
relationships. The workshop will be partly theoretical and partly experiential.
We will use guided imagery to explore your relationship to these principles and
then relate this back to the astrological significators in your birth chart.
Please bring your chart along.
Symbols - Guided Imagery and Astrological Principles
This can be given as a Lecture or One Day Workshop. If a Workshop it would be
limited to 30 people.
I would like to introduce this kind of work, which emerges out of my
background as a humanistic psychotherapist and an astrologer and is a synthesis
of two important strands of my personal development over the last 25 years.
This
workshop will be both theoretical and experiential. I will discuss experiential
astrology, its place in the larger scheme of things and what it has to offer
the student and professional astrologer. I will show how I evoke the
astrological principles through guided imagery and discuss the advantages both
therapeutic and didactic of working in this way. We will finish with a guided
imagery journey on the Sun's principle. This journey helps us to get in touch
with our spiritual core, our essence and is excellent to do when we need to
centre ourselves or when we have an important decision to make. Please bring
your chart to this workshop.
Symbolic Journeys – Guided Imagery of the Planetary Principles
A
Series of One Day Workshops, limited to 30 people
I
have written guided imagery journeys on the planetary principles and can offer
a one day workshop on each of the planets. These days are experiential and
enable participants to get in touch with how a particular planetary principle
operates within them. Please bring your chart to this workshop.
Pluto – God of the Underworld – A Guided Imagery Journey to Explore Pluto’s
Principle and Discover Our Own Buried Treasure.
This
is an example of the ten workshops on offer, see above.
In
this experiential workshop participants will be taken on a guided imagery
journey to explore their relationship to Pluto’s principle. Please bring your
birth chart to the workshop and be prepared to share it with others, as we will
be discussing your journeys in small groups and making astrological links back
to your chart. This workshop will be especially helpful to those experiencing
Pluto transits as well as those interested in a more direct understanding of
aspects in their natal chart to Pluto.
Counselling Skills for Astrologers
This can be a One Day workshop or more – I taught a two year course and can
adapt this to whatever is requested. The workshop is limited to 30
participants.
Many astrologers find themselves struggling when faced with a client in the
consulting room. Knowing ones astrology does not necessarily equip us to deal
with some of the dynamics we can encounter. These workshops will teach some
basic counselling skills and how to apply them when seeing astrology clients.
This is suitable for those who are already practising as astrologers. Much of
the workshop will be experiential. Please bring your own charts to this
workshop.