“When I was in my second or third year of studying astrology with Rod Suskin in Cape Town, I thought a lot about what it would mean to predict the future, and if we should, and what the implications might be. I thought about how I would impart potential bad news, the kind of news that is not yet known to anyone. I guess I felt that I did not want to interfere with Destiny with a capital D. I think more or less along the same lines some 17 years later. These predictions were and are, part of my destiny too, as well as that of the women in front of me – they shaped my life.
I imagined that it would take me at least 20 years of dedicated hard work to be able to make a prediction that would come true. I thought I would have to make many mistakes before such a concrete prediction would come to pass. I actually prayed for such a prediction, I really wanted to predict something for someone that would be undeniably my “master stroke” as an astrologer; naive, I know, but this is something most junior astrologers think about…something that could only be attributed to astrology and possibly something good, so that I did not feel the consequence of responsibility for imparting bad news.
I never imagined I would make such a prediction before I had qualified. I predicted a pregnancy for a client, and when it came to pass, and it was accurate to the day of conception…I was simultaneously overjoyed and disappointed. I mean, where to from there? My career goals achieved before graduation. Little did I realise that this would be the focus of my astrological practice – fertility. It is perhaps ironic that our classes were held in an ante-natal clinic; the big bellied babes would leave and we would troop in and sit in their warm seats with graphic depictions of natural birth all over the walls, I guess it should have been a sign.
When I hear from a client who has given birth punctually according to my prediction, I get a little overwhelmed; it unnerves me, and thankfully it still does, even after all these years of practicing. It keeps me grounded. I cannot overstate the feeling of awe, for the incredible wisdom and divine nature of astrology, as well as a sense of grace and privilege for being able to participate in such spiritual midwifery. I am addicted to this sensation, I live and work for it.
To those detractors who say that astrology is merely dressed up psychic mediumship, I would like to reply… yes maybe the astrologer is psychic, but astrology is so wise and so powerful that anyone, I mean ANYONE can, with education and practice, become a professional astrologer. Astrology has a tradition, it has a system of rules that date back some 2000 years or more, and you cannot make it up. Interpretations vary among different astrologers, especially in culturally different practitioners, but if used consistently the system should still work for that specific astrologer.”