My Journey with Astrology
It was at a birthday party years ago when a friend gifted me an astrology reading that expanded my perspective about my own identity, life’s calling & ultimately changed the course of my life. Since then I have been enchanted by, and in courtship with, the fine art of astrological divination. I have looked at & followed hundreds of charts, and continue to be fascinated by the amazing, profound & complex ways that the Starry Heavens become embodied in the human experience & psyche down here on Earth.
I have studied several types of astrology over the years (Western & Vedic) & have a great appreciation for the Jungian/Depth psychology-influenced branch of the discipline, as well as how the art & science of astrology relates to the deep-rooted worlds of mythology & ancient human culture. Once I discovered Vedic astrology (also known as Jyotish in sanskrit: “the science of light’), I have been primarily focused on using the systems & techniques of ancient India because they are extremely sophisticated, complex, subtle, & accurate.
“My practice is wellness & spiritually-oriented, as well as grounded & pragmatically supportive. My sessions are candid & sensitively address my client’s inquiries with a clarity of depth, soulfulness of the imagination, & practical integration in mind.”
The way I perceive every human being is as a celestial mirror, an entire pantheon of divine forces, an embodied temple of the many celestial gods & goddesses; each with currents of their own past-life karmas & ancestral energies, all conversing and relating to make up a human person. What astrology does so well, is give us a detailed map into the exquisite intricacy & evolution of this process and how it personally manifests in each of our unique stories and experiences of life.
For thousands upon thousands of years human beings did not compartmentalize astrology away from psychology, ritual, spiritual practice, healing arts & myth. Like many things, this neglect & disassociation is a recent & tragic experience that has had unfortunate & untold consequences on how we experience & behold the living world, our human cultures & our personal lives. My astrology practice is part and parcel of my gifts & the offering I bring to the table of abundance, meaning & well being.
I consider astrology to be a divination practice and healing art, and an astrology session to be a blessing that goes both ways. My experience in giving readings is that I receive the intimacy & gift of getting acquainted with another person, their personalized celestial map and the uniqueness of their human experience. Each of these relationships is another window to the world-soul, and gifts me the opportunity to understand life with more nuance, subtly, texture, meaning, beauty & depth. So much gratitude to you for sharing the many layers of yourself!
Personal Bio
I was born days after a solar eclipse in the constellation of Gemini, while Taurus was ascending on the eastern horizon. My childhood was spent playing in the creeks & hillsides of the Allegheny Plateau of southern West Virginia, where my family still resides. While I didn’t seriously discover astrology till my Saturn Return, I was enthusiastic about the science of the night sky & astronomy in my younger years.
While studying liberal arts at Shepherd College, I was elected to the city council of Shepherdstown, WV & became the youngest elected official in the history of West Virginia. After graduating from college & the time spent in public office I moved to New Zealand where I began to study temperate climate permaculture, sustainable farming, & agroforestry. Moving back to the States was a bit of a culture-shock after living in “Middle Earth,” and fortunately I discovered the hinterlands of Asheville in Western North Carolina.
Since then I have been living my dream life in the Blue Ridge mountains, nestled in an eclectic and amazing community of homesteaders, healers, & artists, with my wonderful partner & daughter. I live and teach at a homestead/school (Wild Abundance) dedicated to empowering & supporting people on their journey towards becoming more sustainable, practically-skilled & harmonious companions to their local human & more-than-human communities. We live a healthy & humble life-path that is very grounded in the patterns of our natural surroundings, and are passionate about helping others do the important work of developing the tools to live an authentic place-based life that cultivates belonging & relates well with the rest of the natural world.
“I consider astrology to be a divination practice and healing art, and an astrology session to be a blessing that goes both ways. And Vedic astrology is particularly sophisticated, technically elaborate and very nuanced, which produces beautifully accurate and meaningful results.”
The other passions that nurture my life are the healing arts & contemplative meditation practices, writing poetry & prose, oral story-telling, naturalist studies, and studying the world of myth, cosmos & cultural history. I am also a professional hypnotherapist & breathwork practitioner, and if desired, I integrate those disciplines with my astrology practice. These passions & skillsets intersect well with my astrology practice, which is healing, wellness & spiritually-oriented, as well as grounded & pragmatically supportive. My sessions are candid & sensitively address my client’s inquiries with a clarity of depth, soulfulness of the imagination, & practical integration in mind.