Jim Sher

I received my Master’s in Social Work from the University of Texas in 1972 followed by post-graduate training in Jungian theory and practice. I have had extensive social service experience in the fields of mental health, drug and alcohol treatment, domestic violence and child abuse. In 1978, I began working in private practice as a therapist and counselor, with an emphasis in individual, couples, and family counseling. 

The Beginnings of my Transformation

At first my practice was composed of traditional treatment modalities solely and I used group therapy as my primary technique. But as soon as I began studying astrology, I began to notice that it was a much more accurate tool at describing personality and behavioral patterns than any of the psychological tests in which I had been trained. Not only was astrology helpful in understanding a client and what they were going through, but it was also helpful in determining what kind of treatment approach  would be the most beneficial. I discovered that astrology can reveal the actual talents, proclivities, and abilities of a client as well as what they love to do and those things with which they have difficulty. This way of using astrology in my practice enabled me to develop special techniques for individuals, couples and families with problems they were having in most areas of their lives from the psychological to the vocational and much more. 

My metaphysical interests began due to  a combination of personal experiences I was having along with the research I was doing that combined astrology with the seminal works of Dr. Carl Jung. I began also to study many of the world’s religions with special emphasis in their esoteric traditions, including Gnosticism, Sufism, Kabbalah and Buddhism with specific attention given to the works of G.I. Gurdjieff, Alan Watts, and Jiddu Krishnmaurti. In addition I became very attracted to the Golden Dawn system of magick and invocation, which combined the Tree of Life, Tarot, numerology, astrology and the Hebrew alphabet into one integrated and holistic symbology. Added to this was an increasing love of ‘Sacred geometry’ as it helped me discover why the numbers mean what they do in numerology. These systems contributed to a greater understanding of how I might discover what the real ‘Soul needs’ of a person are as well as how to assist a person to transform so that those needs and abilities could be developed for their maximum potential. 

My love of teaching developed early in my career as I taught courses in social work and was a field instructor for graduate students enrolled in the Master’s program at the School of Social Work at Kansas University. My focus was always on how i could make education an interesting, motivating and transformative experience for my students. Gradually, I expanded my practice and teaching by adding components of my growing astrological knowledge with my therapeutic and educational training and experience. 

In 1998, I was fortunate to be asked to become the first Executive Director of Kepler College in Seattle, Washington, which is the first degree-granting college of astrology in the United States. I was instrumental in opening the College’s first office and in organizing a fundraising campaign that lead to its ability to accept students. I also assisted in the development of the curriculum for the Bachelor and Master’s program. When I arrived in Los Angeles in 1999 I became a teacher at the Carroll Righter Foundation and then began to develop my own classes so that I could teach from the philosophy that had been developing in me for oer 25 years. This led to the founding of the Sher Astrological institute which has been growing and now is open for four classes a week at the beginning, intermediate, and advanced levels of study. I have a thriving astrological counseling practice in Los Angeles that is international in scope. My clients include sports figures, business and financial professionals, celebrities as well as may alternative practitioners and psychologists. In 2008 I founded the Sher School of Wisdom in addition to the Astrological Institute. It provides Enlightenment Intensives designed to assist participants to experience their own true nature. For those wanting to continue their Work, special   to further a person’s transformational process while living successfully in the everyday world. The School of Wisdom has the purpose of enabling people to make an evolutionary leap in consciousness and to be able to translate that into one’s everyday livingness in the world. We welcome you to check out our Enlightenment Intensives and the School’s intention and philosophy at Sher School of Wisdom.