My journey into personal transformation began in 1989 while attending a grueling workshop facilitated by Dr. Phil McGraw, who later became known as TV’s Dr. Phil. This segmented 14-day journey into transformation through self-awareness involved many breakthroughs, enabled by a variety of workshop modules and intense processes involving my full emotional presence and active participation.
The work at this well-structured and highly supportive seminar proved to be emotionally trying, difficult and painful, while also being powerfully transformative and WONDERFUL. This enlightening experience launched my quest into attempting to gain a deeper and broader insight into myself, as well as human psychology as a whole.
Witnessing the change and healing that was possible after courageous and honest self-inventory, not only in me, but in other attendees, some who had suffered unthinkable, torturous abuses and tragedy, awakened in me a newfound perception about life. It introduced me to the notion that each and every one of us “perfectly imperfect” humans has the ability to more consciously direct our lives using our free will to better create the relationships, careers, and life situations that more accurately reflect our personal desires and aims.
Did the completion of this life-changing, paradigm-shifting work with Dr. Phil mean that life thereafter would be free of all challenge, painful events, struggle, and ego-deflating experiences? Absolutely not! I, like most of us, can at times get off track, and I am still very much a work in progress. However, the language of astrology has proven to be a valuable tool in allowing me to see just where I went off track and more importantly, what steps I can take to get back on track.
As a teen, I found astrology fascinating, despite the fact that my experience with it was very limited. Unfortunately, the only exposure I had to it was the “sun sign astrology” articles presented in my monthly magazines. The articles divided all of earth’s population into only 12 categories or signs. This process minimized and reduced the art, language, and vastness of astrology to a mere novelty. Nevertheless, it was my introduction and enough to get me interested.
After moving to Southern California in 1998, I began a formal study of traditional predictive, event-oriented astrology. While I found this aspect of astrology to be informative and most often accurate, it felt as though something was missing. What was it?
Remembering what Dr. Phil told me in 1989 when he said, “You can’t heal what you don’t acknowledge”, I then in 2000, began to explore astrology as a tool for deeper self-awareness. This led me to begin to expand my astrological studies into evolutionary, humanistic, and psychological astrology. It is in these applications of astrology that I discovered how an astrology chart can be utilized to reveal unconscious thought structures and beliefs. Becoming aware of, and acknowledging these often unhealthy beliefs enables us to reframe our thinking and begin to replace them with healthier, more desirable, internal patterning so to experience greater ease and happiness in our external lives via the relationships and situations we encounter. Once these often unhealthy, unconscious beliefs are brought into conscious awareness then the individual can begin to discard and replace them with healthier and more desirable thought patterns and beliefs. As a home organic vegetable, herb and fruit gardener, I am routinely required to locate the often unseen, undesirable, mangled “nasty little weed” root structures that lie down below the soil’s surface. Once these undesirable embedded weed roots are located and removed I am then free to consciously choose the seeds that will grow the flowers, fruits and vegetables I desire. My gardening is a great metaphor for the type of astrology I practice. Does this the routine weeding of my garden mean that it will forever stay in bloom and perfectly weed free…No. It requires attention and maintenance. Our lives have cycles of growth, rest, beginnings and endings just like Nature and gardens.
Once More Awareness Occurs
For me, astrology has proven to be a highly effective x-ray machine of the psyche. Psyche is from the Greek word meaning “soul”. The word psychology means study of the soul. Astrology can be used to uncover and reveal the internal tapes and programs that we as individuals have running. Many of these internal tapes and programs operate below our conscious awareness. Once the individual becomes aware of the undesirable tapes and programs they have running, they then can experience greater empowerment and the ability to more consciously direct the free will towards healthier beliefs, thoughts, actions, and behaviors.
Is astrology a quick fix, magic bullet? Can an astrology consultation offer a simplistic answer to heal your mind, body, and soul? Will an astrology consultation help you to instantly “manifest all your desires”, in some kind of “Alice in Wonderland”, new age, bliss bunny fashion? No; this is not at all what it’s about. It’s about further growth and healing through increased self-awareness.
It seems as though some of life’s challenges and lessons are experiences the soul must experience. Just like the oyster who gets a sharp, painful and irritating piece of sand in his tender insides and responds by excreting layer upon layer of a milky substance that hardens to become a beautiful pearl, we too at times go through painful events, difficult circumstances, and dis-ease to discover just how strong we really are and through the pain, just like the oyster, we create and birth something of value, beauty, and wonder. As we courageously explore and accept “all” of our perfect imperfections life becomes more peaceful and the potential of our life further blossoms.
