One of the longtime astrologers I used for many years, a beautiful soul, and well known celeb in that small world, by the name of Karen Pavlus, passed on a few years ago. I miss her. She wasn’t just “great at what she did”, but she was also a good person, caring and kind hearted. Because I tend to believe that a chart reading is only as good as the person doing the reading, I have not had my progress chart pulled or read since 2007. Karen was very good at what she did. Uncanny really. Knew things that were spot on that someone could only know IF someone else told them about it… But she saw these things in the charts. She’d ask me out of the blue, “You’re working on some project that has to do with writing, perhaps a new book, along with three Virgos…Do you know what I’m talking about?” And I’d respond, “Uh… Yeah… I’m writing a book right now with three different friends who are all Virgos! How do you know that?!” She’d just exhale and laugh and reply, “Well it’s not rocket science honey. I can see it right here in your chart…” Things like that… There’s just no explaining it away. It’s a valid science, or art, or whatever one wants to label it.

Now of course, I may tend to believe this more than the average person, simply because I was raised around this kind of thing since I was born. My whole family was into it, probably for hundreds or even thousands of years. It’s only in the last 100 years that humanity has steered away from regularly using and considering astrology as a viable science; once that split came about between astrology and astronomy. Which was a good thing. To be sure. But it doesn’t necessarily negate the validity of astrology. It just separates them into two different camps. One focuses on examining the universe as a whole, looking for the latest “truths” that can further our understanding of the universe and everything in it; and one focuses on how the movement of certain celestial bodies in the sky affect us and everything else around us.

As a kid I remember reading and flipping through books by people such as Edgar Cayce, Linda Goodman, Ruth Montgomery, Nostradamus and numerous others since before I could walk. All of these so-called paranormal and supernatural books intrigued me to no end. It was as if two distinct worlds existed: the mainstream world out THERE… what we see on TV and read in magazines and hear about in school, and this other secret world that I was reading about in these books, where people could read minds and see the future and channel spirits. The two worlds didn’t seem to connect in any way. The mainstream world didn’t seem to know anything about this other supernatural world that existed. But the supernatural world seemed to know everything about the mainstream world. People had been predicting events to come for thousands of years. Some people knew this. Most people didn’t.

My grandparents had psychics on retainer, the same way one keeps an accountant or an attorney on retainer. Whenever someone in the family would get sick, or get into any kind of trouble or turmoil, my grandfather would tell my grandmother, “Deary get Ruby on the phone.” Ruby was one of my grandparents’ primary long-time psychics. They’d speak with her and dig into the situation a little bit, usually not needing to say anything more than “Can you see what’s happening with Sister?” Sister is what they used to call my mom. And sure enough Ruby would then begin to just explain exactly what was happening in her life as if she was living with us for months; she knew what was happening, she knew why it was happening; and she could usually see the various possibilities for its outcome. It was always mind-boggling to me that these women possessed this skill. To be fair, a little later in life I met many others, some of whom were men. So it isn’t necessarily a gender thing.

Needless to say, because of these experiences early on, I have always had a strong belief in our potential to have these abilities. Since those days, I have spoken to countless psychics. Some are great. Some are average. And some just aren’t any good at all. Usually you can tell how good one is simply by how easy or hard it is to get an appointment with them. A good one, like John Edward or Hans Christian King, is very hard to get an appointment with. They may have waiting lists that go out a full year just to speak with them for an hour. The good ones always do. (And yes, if you’re more in the public eye, it is usually easier to get yourself an appointment slipped in. That’s just how it is. One of the perks of living life publicly as opposed to privately I assume. Why I’m really not sure. Money certainly never guides their decision making process. None of them seem the least bit concerned with money. I think it’s nothing more than just intrigue frankly. They’re as intrigued to speak with us as we are to speak with them… Sometimes. Sometimes they don’t seem to give a s*t. Which i respect too.)

Because of the nature of my job, I have been very lucky to have connected with and become friends with some of the most well-known or “famous” psychics, mediums, channelers, working today. Hans Christian King, Micki Dahne, John Edward, Echo Bodine et al….. they’re all wonderful people. And very gifted. I have just recently gotten to know Steven Forest — who seems like a very nice person. Very real, down to earth, sincere and kind-hearted. To me, each of these beautiful people proves that there is more to this so-called phenomenon than pure luck or chance. We just have not yet discovered the scientific mechanism(s) at play that make it work. There is a “something” there that renders it totally plausible that what they do is measurably verifiable, that it isn’t just a fluke. Luckily there are numerous scientific organizations around the world now that are attempting to pin down exactly what is scientifically happening inside these gifted people that makes it possible for them to do these incredible things. ( See Noetic Institute or Dr. Rupert Sheldrake to name just two off the top of my head…) It’s only a matter of time before we understand the science behind it as well as we do the inner-workings of the atom or why the universe is expanding. Once it’s verified by science, then I believe even hardcore mainstreamers, skeptics and rationalists will succumb and start acknowledging that it’s no more “supernatural” than gravity or magnetism is.

After a while one begins to understand full well the difference between a “psychic” and an astrologer… I actually tend to trust the readings of good astrologers more than “psychics”. The primary reason why is two-fold: number one, psychics tend to read minds. They have mastered the art of accessing and using our Intuitive Mode of Consciousness. We ALL have access to this viewpoint — the viewpoint of Intuitive Mode. But not many of us can access it easily. Doing so enables them to both read minds AND see the future, some of them at least. So the reading is going to be influenced by whatever the person they are doing the reading for is thinking, feeling, afraid of or hoping for at the time. This isn’t a foolproof system. In fact, it’s far from it. The reading can be too compromised because of this. Another factor is that psychics tend to have a real problem with “time”; they can SEE what’s going to happen, but they can’t tell WHEN it is…. they “see” or “feel” or see visions of different things, different events… but it’s difficult for them to ascertain WHEN these things are going to actually HAPPEN. They may be telling you about something that is going to happen ten years from now… Not very helpful in the here-now. And sometimes they might even be “seeing” something that has already happened. Helpful if you still have something to integrate about that event and need more clarity on it, but not very helpful if you’re looking for insight into things in the here-now.

Still another reason is because astrologers if they’re GOOD, JUST read the charts. They don’t add anything from their own personal perspective. They just practice the science of reading the charts. Psychics cannot help but add their own ideas and feelings… So the reading is also going to be limited to that. Astrologers tend to give the same reading over and over again regarding the same time period because they’re again, just reading a chart. Why should the information change? It shouldn’t. But a psychic I have noticed might give a completely different reading regarding the same time period a day or two later… Why? Because again they are reading the mind of the person, as opposed to just reading a chart. Sticking to the science.

Of course a good astrologer is only as good as their chart reading capabilities are. And that’s key. That’s the difference between one who is good and one who is GREAT. Experience seems to play a really important role in it. And so too does even a slight gift in terms of being able to tap into that Intuitive Mode of Consciousness. Being able to tap into the mind of the person even just a little seems to really help. But not enough where they are reading your mind. Then you might as well be speaking with a psychic. Psychics tend to care too much or at least pay attention too much to what the person on the other end wants or hopes for or fears. These things should NOT play a role in a good reading. After all, we are speaking to them precisely because we want to get OUT of our own heads and get some objective third-party feedback from another. I’ve found that a great astrologer is just as difficult to find as a good doctor or anything else. There are tens of thousands of them out there (hundreds of thousands perhaps?). But the good ones really stand out. Unfortunately 90% (perhaps higher…?) of them are average at best. Karen, the one I mention above, was fantastic. That’s why I haven’t spoken to one since she died. Just haven’t had the time to do the research necessary to find another really good one. (Until these last couple of weeks that is. Which is what compelled me to write this post… More on that later…)

But what about free will? Aren’t we capable of creating our own experiences through our beliefs? Yes, of course we are. (As a sidenote, even this idea is foreign to most people. Tell them that it is THEY who are creating all of their experiences based on what they BELIEVE and most will tell you that you’re crazy. That’s taking way too much responsibility for most people. But let us assume that for this post, we take it for granted that each of us is creating our lives, all of the experiences in our lives, based on our beliefs…) So how can astrology have any credence whatsoever if we are creating our lives and have “free will”? THAT’s the quandary isn’t it?  I personally DO give more credit to free will, good decision making, healthy actions and mental/emotional/spiritual state than any influence that celestial bodies may exert on our day to day lives.  I still believe that these celestial influences CAN at the very least give us insight into various “possibilities”… things that MAY or MAY NOT happen to us… But it is WE who make that decision.

Astrology –regardless of HOW it works…(my guess is that it has something to do with gravity, the gravitational influence that celestial bodies exert on us — physically emotionally and mentally, just as the moon’s gravitational force exerts an influence on the earth’s ocean tides…) — has an uncanny ability to tell us WHO we are and who we are NOT. If one can get their hands on a good reading of their Natal Chart and get to know themselves early on, they can then begin to focus on making the most use of their strengths and as on minimizing their possible weaknesses. After a few years, overcoming one’s innate weaknesses or challenges, one is what is known as “evolved”. If a person has knowledge of their own Natal Chart and has spent considerable time perfecting themselves, overcoming weaknesses and challenges and temptations, they are called “evolved” in the world of astrology. “Unevolved” if they have yet to explore this data. Some people of course don’t need to learn about such things from astrology; they just become aware of it from an early age and decide from then on to not fall prey to being tempted by these potential weaknesses. Thus a person can be “evolved” in the world of astrology withOUT having to be familiar with their Natal Chart or even know what “sign” they are. Self improvement IS after all self improvement. And it doesn’t matter how one gets there.

But in terms of real enlightenment, really “BEING THERE”, it certainly helps to have it all laid out in front of you. Strengths, weaknesses, temptations, fears, tendencies, skills, gifts, talents, all the various possibilities of what makes you YOU. We can then be very deliberate about changing what it is that we DON”T like about ourselves and improving aspects of ourselves that we do like or think are fabulous. True Superhero stuff. One doesn’t talk to an astrologer in order to be told what’s GOING to happen. One talks to an astrologer in order to find out what MIGHT happen. Potentialities. Free Will is still at play. Perhaps it’s the strongest force in the universe. The Will. Astrology just helps gives us insight into what our various strengths and weaknesses are AND into timing. As it is said, there is a time for sowing, a time for reaping, a time for every season under heaven. Imagine being able to KNOW when the BEST time for such and such might be. We have all heard plenty of stories about someone being warned that between one date and another that there is a high likelihood of them being in some kind of accident, so they are extra careful during that period and sure enough they “almost get into an accident” but because they were careful, they are okay; they survive.

[Of course there is a question begged here as to just WHAT caused the accident…. Was it “written in the stars” and the astrologer just happened to “see it” and hence it happened just as they predicted? Or did it only transpire because the person was told about it and then created it because the worm had already been implanted in their mind? That’s one that has boggled philosophers since time began. Since almost everyone in the world gets into one or more accidents in their life, regardless of whether or not they ever speak with an astrologer or not, I would tend to lean towards believing that the astrologer just “saw” that it was potentiating at that specific time and the person was able to avoid it due to knowing about it beforehand. But that’s just me. Like most things in this life, it’s probably a healthy combination of both possibilities that contributes to this phenomenon.]

We have to remember that regardless of how accurate an astrological reading IS for someone, it is still THEY who determine WHO they are and what happens to them. My own personal belief is that the more information we have to work with, the better it is for us. If I am told that I “have an uncanny gift of communication and I thrive in the public” and I’m spending most of my time alone working on repairing car engines, I’m probably not making the best use of my time or innate abilities. Or vice versa. Chances are if I switched to doing something more involved with the communication and the public I would just generally feel better, be happier, and through that I would in turn help more people just from being happier. This to me is really the key to it all. We already know that there is no better way to feel good than to be in service. But we’ve also learned that there is no better way to be in service than when we feel good and are happy.

[As a footnote, I do NOT believe that a person can do a very good job at reading their OWN charts — UNLESS they literally do that for a living and have mastered the art and skill of it. (And even then, it would seem to me that there still might be some “dissonance” in the reading one might give themselves simply because it would be very difficult for anyone to be completely objective when reading their own chart. How can we help but infuse our own personal desires, hopes, dreams, fears, resistances, fantasies and other real and imagined ideas and feelings into the reading…?) Hence I have never bothered to take the time to focus on trying to “master” astrological chart reading myself, but instead I leave it to others who specialize in it. But that’s just me.]