Wednesday, November 17, 2010

The Gift of Intuition

“Tell me how you did it!!” read the subject line of an email received yesterday from an Italian friend living in Bali.

I’d given Andrea an intuitive reading in India about nine months ago, and I'd foreseen that he’d be in a stable, new home for the long haul, as of this very month. Turns out, he signed a lease on his Balinese dream house on November 1, and this super skeptic was now totally impressed. Andrea was baffled as to how "I perfectly predicted his new home." And, of course, he has more questions! He wants to know when and where he will meet The Love of His Life. And he wants to know when he’ll start earning six figures per annum.

Fine with me, I say. I will consult the stars and cards and see what the Divine Mystery reveals for him. I can’t control when or whether the information will come available to him through me, but I can certainly check the cosmic weather report.

The Cosmic Weather

Astrology and tarot are the tools I use to access the power of intuition – that grand ability to grok the entire picture in one go.

Like Madeleine L’Engle’s Wrinkle in Time, linear time collapses upon itself in the space where the past is the present is the future – and some of us humans seem to be equipped to go there. It is the intuitive whole mind that can see beyond the seen. It is mysterious, and a gift.

Last weekend, I was conducting a career reading via Skype, and I kept seeing drinks – glasses of bubbly and wine. “Drinks!” I told her. “I keep seeing lots of drinks – fizzy, alcoholic beverages.” Turns out, the client was about to have a promising interview with a beverage industry magazine.

“How are you doing this??” the client asked. “Like, I know you use tarot cards and all that. But, I mean, HOW ARE YOU DOING THIS?”

Good question, I thought. That is a very good question. Perhaps one of the main reasons it works, is that I don’t question it.

I explained to my client that I’ve been highly intuitive my whole life. I began cultivating the gifts in my late teens, beginning with awareness of energy and that which lies beyond the seen. A psychic-healer aunt introduced me to the realm of tarot divination when I was seventeen, and I began studying the art and science of astrology in earnest at the age of twenty.

Over two decades of study and practice in mysticism and transpersonal psychology, the intuitive gifts increased. And, it appears that a dozen years of yoga asana and meditation served to further prepare this body-mind vehicle, culminating in a fundamental psychic awakening.

About six years ago, my third eye (the sixth chakra) stretched and grew and popped open- whoop there it is! There it was, my ajna chakra – wide awake like a big glowing bindi, looking around to see what it could see. And the divine marching orders were clear: You Must Read for Others, Young Woman. I couldn’t help myself anyway: I was a person-sized antenna, buzzing like a lightning bolt, naturally higher than a kite, and one of the only things that would peel me off the ceiling was to read for others.

I never “thought” about becoming an Intuitive. Like everything else that involves Grace and the Divine (which is, in fact, everything), it simply happened

How You Can Cultivate Your Own

One of the simplest ways to grow your own intuitive power is to make a commitment to listen to your insights – your hunches, your gut feelings – every single time, without fail.

Say you’re driving home from work, and out of nowhere, you get a flash about taking an alternate route. No real reason – but it feels like a pull. Your job is to do it – take the other street. You may not find out the reason why, but that’s OK. You’ve just given your intuition the message that you are listening, you are receiving the messages, and you are welcoming the insight. The intuition grows as a faculty as trust is deepened.

When I began this very practice over twenty years ago, I committed to listening NO MATTER WHAT. If my gut told me to stop in a shop and try on green sneakers, I’d do it. This is both a training period for your third eye – and an adventure.

The more you do it, the stronger the messages will be. It will, over time, become second nature. Your creative inclinations, whether you’re an artist, writer, or a project manager, will increase as you learn to sense the waves’ motions, and ride them. Understanding and heeding currents of energy is being intuitive – it’s a big part of what makes certain stock speculators ‘lucky.'

Intuition is a businesswoman's best friend.

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Tuesday, November 2, 2010

The Yoga of Astrology

The Yoga of Astrology helps you to come home to your Self.
There are no ‘bad’ parts of you. All is essential.

The word yoga comes from the Sanskrit yuj, meaning ‘to unite’ or ‘to integrate.’ How might this union apply to the realm of astrology? It’s quite simple, actually: a birth chart is a snapshot – the snapshot – of the heavens at the exact time, date, and place of your birth. It’s your unique cosmic picture. No two people, not even twins, have exactly the same chart. We are like snowflakes – absolute individuals. Your birth chart is a gift from the universe, a window to the soul.

Astrology is both an art and a science. It takes extreme care and technical skill to master the mathematics and analytics needed to properly interpret a birth chart. But technical prowess is only half the story.

An effective stargazer must also be a highly intuitive human, gifted with the heart and soul of seeing the picture in its entirety. In short, the best astrologers can see the UNION of the person with their highest Self. She will be able to explain in truly useful terms exactly how you can integrate body, mind, and soul as a whole.

Why do I offer the Yoga of Astrology as a service? Twenty years ago, I heeded an undeniable inner calling and took up the craft. For years following, I voraciously studied the art of the stars. I found the nuances of the language to come automatically to me – as if I was literally downloading it from the ethers. My favorite used bookstore couldn’t keep astrological texts on the shelf; I’d devour them so fast.

In fact, my own birth chart reveals a natural talent for stargazing: I’m a cosmic February Water Bearer with Sun conjunct both the Midheaven and the Moon’s North Node (points of profession and destiny), all in the sign of the Aquarius, whose ruler Uranus governs the field of astrology. (Click chart to enlarge.)

Quickly, I discovered I could help you by sharing my gift: I can see YOU as a whole being – a complete mandala of uniquely balanced components. You are already perfect, whole, and unified – you simply need someone to help you see it, and that’s the astrologer’s role. I can help you understand how the you of You fits into the larger Self of the Universe, revealing strengths, weak spots, points that can be played up and areas that call for your attention. Through transit analysis (my particular passion, being a future-oriented Aquarian), together we can help you make decisions and determine timing of events – what is likely to happen, when, and how.

The Yoga of Astrology helps you to come home to your Self. There are no ‘bad’ parts of you. All is essential.

In India, Ramesh Balsekar (1917-2009), my own advaita (non-duality) philosophy Teacher, held a firm view of astrology. Ramesh was noted for cutting through the crap with a sharp sword of truth, often harshly. When I first brought my work to his attention, I half-expected the renowned Jedi jnani-sage would toss astrology in the trash heap as a silly, useless concept.

On the contrary: Ramesh said, “Astrology itself is 100% accurate. How much of the gift an individual astrologer has been given, no one can know.” Later, when I brought up lingering questions as to whether practicing astrology for my clients was a beneficial use of my energy, he looked at me pointedly, eyes blazing with light, and commanded, “You can help a lot of people!”

I got it. My beloved Teacher wanted me to use my skills for the benefit of others. And out of respect and out of love, I offer the Yoga of Astrology to you.

Please email me, or simply click on the Astro-Intuitive link for more information on my offerings and prices.

Namaste,




When the British astronomer Sir Edmund Halley
supposedly spoke deprecatingly about
astrology to Sir Isaac Newton,
Newton said to have responded,
"I have studied the matter [astrology]. You, Sir, have not."