In this week’s ‘Expedition to Soul’ podcast TSE founder and Head Magic Maker, Sara was joined by Sisters Enchanted community member Nicole Koehlmoos from Arcane Astrology to answer some questions and bust some myths about all things astrological.
As well as spreading her wings as an astrology reader, Nichole travels across the country, moving every three months or so with her partner, a traveling surgical technologist. This means Nicole gets to take her astrological offerings to festivals around the US which she finds super fun.
Astrology was one of the first things Nicole dipped her toes into when she first got into magic and witchery. She explains,
“When I was still a child living at home and all of this stuff started piquing my interest, it was easy to follow the moon phases and things like that and make that part of my practice because I didn’t need anything else. All I needed was the sky.”
Nicole’s Answer to Three Common Astrological Myths and Misconceptions
1. Astrology is too Complicated
Astrology is an esoteric science, combining facts and rules with intuitive reading. As such, we often find our astrology students and community members get a bit overwhelmed with the sheer amount of information to explore and understand as they peel back the layers of astrology and dive deeper into the universe.
Nicole’s secret is to learn astrology gradually and when you start to feel overwhelmed then back off a little, practise and solidify what you know before moving on and learning more.
“You need to take it bite-sized at a time or you are going to get overwhelmed because it’s a lifelong learning.”
Astrology can be just as overwhelming for those receiving a reading, especially if you try to digest your entire birth chart in one session!
Nicole explains,
“I like to think of astrology as being for everybody as just finding the size of information for you. My readings go from a 20 reading just on your Sun Sign so you can really understand what that means for you and understand all the nuances, all the way up to readings on just three to four planets. And then you can move on to a full reading of your entire birth chart and bring it all together holistically.’
She advises,
“Start with just one little bite, this one little thing so that you can feel comfortable with it because the start of astrology is your Sun, Moon and Rising, your core personality really. So if you start there, you can start building on that information as you learn more.”
- Astrology Focuses on all the Bad
Another characteristic of Nicole’s astrology readings is that she likes to focus primarily on the blessings in the chart, helping people to find their strengths first so they can address the challenges within the framework of the tools they have to overcome them.
Nicole offers a ‘Life Quest Reading’ to explore where you started, where you’re going to end up in this life and the twists and turns that might happen through there. She reflects,
“It’s a lot of fun because you can really see some of the challenges that they’ll have. I did one where I saw somebody might want to travel but they felt like family obligations were holding them back. And they said, “Yes, that’s true.” And they were very surprised you could see those nuances in life in astrology. You can see actual challenges and the strengths you can use to overcome them.”
3. No-one Needs Astrology Reader Anymore. It’s all Online for Free!
Many people think it possible these days to ‘DIY a birth chart’ by getting a free chart online then googling all the pieces. Nicole believes this is setting yourself up for failure because you’re not going to understand how all the different parts of the chart intersect and how those impacts on the meaning.
“If you’re Googling it, all you’re getting is Google keywords, not an intuitive, interactive conversation about what your birth chart means for you.”
For example,
Pluto in House Five
Pluto in often condensed to a taboo planet of death, sex, and taxes. The fifth house is all about children and your inner child so a ‘off the shelf’ or ‘keyword’ reading may come up with telling you are a dark person and depressed all the time because your inner spark is in the planet of death! But another way of looking at it is you’re going to help a lot of children transform because Pluto’s also about transformation. You’re going to be able to help them rise up, see things in a new perspective and give them that hope. That would be another interpretation. But that’s not what you’re going to get from Google.
‘Google astrology’ tends to focus a lot on the negatives because people tend to be driven by negatives such as ‘what’s wrong with me? What did I do wrong?’ in their search terms.
When we and everyone around us are having a crazy day we often ask ‘what is going on in the sky this day!?’ But who asks the same when everyone is having a super positive time?
How to Prepare for an Astrology Reading
If you’re looking for a reading, try to find one that speaks to you. Don’t get one just because it’s the only astrologer that you know of and these are the readings that they have. There are so many astrologers out there and we all have our own perspectives, our own way of looking at things and reading things. Find the one that speaks to you and sounds right for you because there’s no point in paying for a reading if you’re either going to be overwhelmed or you don’t feel like the person’s going to be a good fit.
If Nicole’s readings speak to you, you can find her and book a reading at arcaneastrology.com
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