I have studied astrology for over 20 years and spoken with friends, clients and students about how they found astrology and what they experienced when they did. What they all have in common is that there was some type of crisis that caused them to seek answers that might not be explained by the usual answers given by religion or even by ordinary psychology. As a student of Sher Astrology and a teacher myself, I’d like to share my personal experiences that led me to astrology, and specifically to the more spiritual aspects of it.
Growing up I didn’t fit in with the athletic crowd; I didn’t fit in with the academics; I didn’t fit in with the theater group. I was very much a loner and didn’t know where I belonged. I was in chorus for a while because I enjoyed singing although I couldn’t read a lick of music. But even that didn’t last long. It’s not that I didn’t have any friends at all but I didn’t have a bunch that I hung out with regularly like you often hear about. I was always afraid that if I had a party at my house no one would show up because for the most part hardly any one did. It wasn’t until my 20-year high school reunion that I even realized that people knew I existed. I wouldn’t say I was a lonely kid. Because truth be told, when I really thought about these different groups and be involved, I actually wasn’t interested.
I was an observant and contemplative person and was more interested in understanding human nature and what it meant to be here. I was disturbed by the way humans treated one another. I seemed to notice so much pain, sadness and anger in the world which made me question what was the point of being here when we treated one another so horrifically. This even made me fit in less because I had an experience and was flooded with a Love that transcended anything that could be put into words. But it informed me that I am that. It was so incongruent with what I saw around me. My family didn’t have any ties to the religious community. Even when I did go to church to get some sense of it (for some reason my parents were on a kick at one point and sent my sister and me to Sunday school for a while), I knew I didn’t fit in there either. I immediately saw the hypocrisy where once people left the sanctity of the building called a church, they went right back to treating one another as they did Monday through Saturday.
For more than half my life whether I was conscious of it or not I was on a path to discover what it means to be human and what does it mean to even exist and how do I fit into all of this. Befuddled, I knew the Church couldn’t help me from what I saw already and while I might have wondered if there was something wrong with me at times, I somehow knew that Therapy couldn’t provide the answers I was looking for. I feels as though I was in an existential crisis for most of my life. When I was around 20 an older neighbor who was interested in astrology asked me for my birthdate and where I was born (I didn’t have my time of birth nor did I know how to get it) and for my birthday, she handed me a tape cassette of an astrology reading she had someone do for me. I was fascinated by what I heard because some things resonated deep within. I was shocked that someone with such little information to go on could tell me things about myself that rang true and she hadn’t even met me. For the first time in my life, I felt a hint of comfort and even relief that I was cosmically seen, although I didn’t have those words for it at the time. None the less a seed was planted. It would be another 20+ years before I was again introduced to astrology. But this time I would begin to study and learn about it in earnest. I found that astrology was the very thing I was looking for that would help me discover answers to the questions I mentioned above and to better understand that spiritual download I had experienced when I was a young child. There is a quote by Rumi:
You are the universe in ecstatic motion. Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself. What you seek is seeking you.
I was never one that wanted to change the world, however, I always find comfort in the last sentence of this quote “What you seek is seeking you.” because it answers the question for me of why it might take a while for us to meet the person(s) or be in the right place at the right time for us to be ready to receive the next level of guidance on our path. The same is true for that which is seeking us. When that which is seeking us is ready there is a convergence. Astrology has shown me that there is a cosmic corresponding need and the part I play in fulfilling that need. This type of astrology is transpersonal in nature. It informed me that I’ve always belonged and in a way that is so much bigger than I could ever have imagined. Each and every one of us fulfills a cosmic need that we may not understand at first. If you allow yourself to be led and follow the breadcrumbs along the way that need will reveal itself. If you are seeking to understand your place in the great cosmos Transpersonal astrology may be what helps you discover what you are being called for and how you can consciously fulfill that need.
Carol Pilkington
Transpersonal Astrologer
https://www.sherastrology.com/about/associates/carol-pilkington-spiritual-counselor-teacher/
Thank you for sharing your story Dorene. I appreciate your support and sentiments. Yes, it has been an amazing journey and I’m deeply grateful for where and to whom I’ve been led for the depth of teaching I have and continue to receive.
Carol, I also am an astrologer with about 50 years in the craft. My school years seemed similar to yours in many ways, too. I was an only child, raised by early 20th century parents. I was shy, nonathletic, and happiest in the library exploring Books. I was a voracious reader. I discovered astrology, as a young teen, and was fascinated by it. I wanted to find someone who could teach astrology. This did not happen till I was 23. My ‘teacher,’ was 80, at that time, and proud that she was one of the last disciples, as she described, of Evangeline Adams. I had no idea who that was, but was soon to find out. And so my journey and fascination with astrology began, and continues. I am a double Scorpio with Sag rising. Nadine, my teacher,, told me, “Ah yes, you are a natural occultist, with a wicked sense of humor. That will be both your undoing and your salvation. Fast-forward, I am still exploring the inner mysteries of astrology, as know you are. I loved the quote of Rumi’s you added, . You are a seeker, a wise woman, who found astrology, which opened you up to a whole other world, known to only the ancient adepts. What an amazing ride, I know you are having still. I am with you! Love and light, Dorene
Thank you so much Anita, so happy you resonated with it.
Dearest Carol, loved your article! It is quite
Dearest Carol I loved your article because you described so well your feelings of not belonging to the mainstream society around you and finally finding your spiritual community. It was the same for me until I discovered the practice of Yoga and also the study of Astrology!! There is no question that the awesome poem of Rami is TRUE!! a hug and thanks to you!!