A division of me. And a mini-announcement.

So, some things to know about me.

I’m a fan of Ben Goldacre. For those of you who don’t know, he’s a newspaper columnist who writes about the misrepresentation of science in the media. He would say that the real story of what is going on in the world, as described by science, is far cooler and more interesting than any woo-woo crap you can make up. I agree with him. And that suggests – doesn’t it? – that I have a pretty hard-line, science-only view of the world. Quite a lot of the time, I do.

But there’s another bit of me, too. The bit of me that thinks there’s something in this “spirituality” thing – as long as you can differentiate it from the pretty nonsense. (It’s hard, to do that, I point out.) The part that reckons there’s more in Heaven and Earth than is dreamed of in your philosophy, Horatio. The part that’s pretty sure that while science is awesome, there’s also a hell of a lot it simply hasn’t figured out yet.

So there’s a division here. A division of me. I’m part astronomer, part astrologer. And I think it’s worth mentioning that, because pretty soon you’ll be able to hire me for the astrology bit. And given what I’ve just said about science, that probably sounds pretty weird.

Right? Right.

A few years back, I met this awesome guy called Don Lecouteur and his slightly-different conception of astrology. It’s called Client-Centered Astrology, and as the name suggests, it’s all about focusing on the owner of the chart, and not on the posturing of the astrologer. When done right, it’s surprisingly bullshit-free, and low on the “pretty nonsense” that I’m trying to cut through, as a human being as well as an astrologer.

It’s not about predicting the future, folks. It’s not about telling you what colour socks you’re going to wear next Thursday or what you had for breakfast this morning. Or even whether you’ll get that job or buy that house.

It’s about self-discovery.

It’s about talking to your patterns.

It’s short of jargon and it doesn’t invent connections that aren’t there.

I’ve been fascinated by astrology my whole life, and when I started studying with Don, I found a discipline of astrology that sits pretty easily with my need for scientific accuracy as well as spiritual connection. I’m not done searching, of course. But I graduated Don’s course, and as I work my way through this sometimes-paralyzing depression thing, I’m getting ready to start reaching out.

I should point out that I’m in California right now. And that has a lot to do with this post – not the state itself, but the fact that I came here to do a class with (guess who?) Havi and the class was totally inspiring. And there will probably be more blog posts on that experience, pretty soon.

For now, though: in a few days, I’m going to be launching this thing as an actual business venture. A makeshift, let’s-see-what-happens kind of business venture, but a business venture all the same. Don’t worry, gentle readers – I’ll keep you posted.

How could I not?

Tagged as: astrological-ness, depression, ramblings from my head, stalking Havi Brooks