Written in the stars

            Yesterday morning, I subjected myself to a thirty-five minute commute, in ninety-degree weather, to the borough of Brooklyn. My sole purpose for this journey was for a meeting with an astrologer. My friend Erin suggested I see this woman she likes to do readings with every now and then. Being quite knowledgeable in the study of the stars and planets herself, her recommendation came in high regard, so I took it. I've always been curious about astrology myself, but unlike Erin, I lacked the discipline it took to actually sit down and study what all of those astrological signs and planet alignments mean. So, I decided to hire someone else to do the translations for me. However, I wanted to go through someone who didn't already know me personally, who could give me an objective opinion of the translations. The reason being, was because I've been wanting to make some sense of this anxiety I've been feeling about my desire to accomplishing all of my life's goals like I'm about to expire in the next ten months. What happened in the heavens on the day that I was born to have lead me to make such haste with everything, leave no stone unturned and feel as if no destination is too far for me to travel for understanding? Wouldn't any normal person feel like they have a lifetime to do all of these things and take the opportunity to do them when they eventually could? Why am I rushing around, like I'm about to miss a flight on a NASA spacecraft heading to Pluto for the next forty-seven years? Something is either amiss with me, or the alignment of those stars and planets have something to say that I just don't have the ears to hear.

            Because astrology is considered a pseudoscience, where it claims to present itself as scientific but forgets to follow the rules of the valid scientific method, it therefore lacks supporting evidence or credibility. However, even with it's vague interpretations and its exaggerated or unprovable claims, I still can't help but be intrigued by the study. I've always been drawn to the things that I don't understand anyway. Knowledge is like a present waving itself in front of my face, just waiting to be opened. There may be socks and unattractive underwear beneath the wrapping, but you never know what's inside unless you take the time to unwrap it.

            When I decided to have a meeting with Erin's astrologist, I was hoping she could do a reading for me in person. Normally, Katie communicates over the phone or through video communication, via Skype, due to how out of the way she lives from most of her clients. Luckily, I have a car and hoped that a face-to-face interaction would be all right with her. I'm not a fan of talking through technology and avoid it when I can. It just seems to lack that personal touch that you get from being in the same room with someone. As much as I love the written and spoken languages of the world, there is something that can be said about body language as well. Sometimes I find that the language of the body gives you much more information than mere words can say. Katie gladly accepted a personal visit from me, in comfort of her home. So, I dragged Erin with me on the trek to Brooklyn, just in case she turned out to be a raving lunatic who wanted to lock me in her basement for further study, while I grew ten inch nails, lost my skin pigmentation and starved to death. Better safe than sorry I say.

            When we got to Katie's neighborhood, I was pleasantly surprised at how quaint and suburban it was in that area. I've heard that there were nice spots in Brooklyn, where people pay top dollar for housing, but I had yet to actually behold these mystical places—until today. There they were, tree lined streets, large colonial houses standing side by side with their automatic car garages and manicured green lawns. Yup, they exist alright. After I parked the car we walked over to Katie's apartment complex, it took us a solid five minutes to locate the elevator in the left wing of the building. Wings—that's right, the building had a left wing and right wing—with an elevator! Once we got to her door, Katie was there to greet us after the first knock. I'm not quite sure what I was expecting her to look like, but in my mind I had visualized someone who looked similar to Professor Trelawney, the divinations teacher from Harry Potter. On the contrary, Katie was a normal looking, sweet tempered, young professional woman, with a really nice apartment. As a graphic designer by day and an astrologist by night, she had made a pleasant little life for herself in the core of the big apple.

            As charming as the surroundings were in her apartment, a part of me felt a little uneasy. For one thing, I had never had a professional reading of my astrological chart before, so I was a little on edge as to what I could find out, or really, have confirmed about the destiny of my life. Secondly, even though I had my good friend Erin with me, it's always awkward meeting new people and exposing intimate details about my life to a total stranger. Luckily, I was put right at ease by her extremely affectionate golden retriever, Harley. That admirable dog would not leave my side. He was as happy as could be sitting tall and proud next to me. He just stood there, staring straight into my eyes while resting one of his paws on my arm the whole time. It felt like he was a consoling parent trying to ease his scared child. Whenever I felt myself begin to falter with my words, there he was, an example of strength for me to draw from, and out spilled the sound of my voice. He knew it was in there somewhere. Katie didn't ask me too many questions anyway. The session was more of an explanation of how the alignment of the planets and stars might affect the person the moment they are first exposed to them at birth. I imagine that it might be similar to how the moon's gravitational pull could affect us when there is a full moon. Many grape and olive growers are known to harvest their crops according to the phase of the moon because they believe it plays a factor in the final flavor of the fruit. If this could be true about the moon, what could that also say about the stars and planets when we are plucked from our mother's wombs and left to ripen through time in our given environments?

            The chart that Katie had to guide her hypothesis from was called a natal chart. She had it drawn up from her resources according to the information I gave her of my exact time of birth and my location on earth. The chart looked something similar to a compass, with three circles like the layers of the earth, cut into twelve sectors like a pie. In the outer circle of the compass, in each of the twelve sectors, were the different astrological signs (stars) that most people are familiar with--Gemini, Scorpio, Cancer, etc. In the second layer below, was where the location of the moon and the planets closest to earth fell at the time of my birth, along with the nicks for measuring the degrees in angles that I'm still trying to understand. In the core of the compass, were the chronological numbers going counterclockwise that represented the twelve "houses" that depict the sorts of circumstances a person will have to deal with in this lifetime—challenges they will have set for themselves, so they may grow in personal understanding and awareness. In other words, depending on the planet and in which house they fall into, at the time, is where all information about a person lies. Supposedly, that one moment in time was supposed to define the rest of my life. However, the house I was interested in knowing more about was the twelfth house. This house describes the private and hidden side of a person's life. It delves into the subconscious mind, where dreams come from, where the past is revealed, and those who wish you harm or work against your interests hide in the dark recesses waiting to draw their swords. The twelfth house also relates to sorrow, disappointment, loss, solitude or confinement, hidden fears and worry. It's also known as the House of Self-Undoing. At the time that I sat with Katie and she was explaining my personality traits, the influences in my life and the things that have a positive and negative impact on me, I couldn't help but find myself lost in translation. For every word that I understood there were two or three that intertwined in the sentence that had me scratching my head. The astrological terminology went right over me. Even Hurley couldn't draw my focus, that big wise dog that he was. I sat there nodding my head and quipping my "uh huhs" with as much confidence as I could muster, but I knew I had some homework to do when I got home. So, I sucked in as much information as I could grasp at the time but last night I went to work making sense of that chart. Finally, it all clicked, and, not just that, it was all very precise. I was utterly impressed with how close everything was in accordance to my particular personality traits, my family history, influences and the way that I am able to express myself right down to my writing. However, the chart didn't reveal anything about my "undoing." The only two orbs that fell into the twelfth house at the moment I was born, was Saturn and the moon in Libra. I knew I loved that moon for a reason. What these symbols represent for me is that I desire harmony and balance in my life and drive now to work and waste no time postponing things for later. That hit home, but I'm still left to wonder why I feel as if I have an expiration date akin to a box of cheap wine. It looks like my search for understanding continues and so it's on to the next adventure.