By the way...half a lifetime ago

On this day in 1994, I began my astrological studies.

Rosicrucian Ephemeris purchased at Esoterica Books in New Paltz, NY on March 10, 1994. This is the book that tells astrologers where the planets are.

Good evening from New York,

One other bit for today. On this day in 1994, I commenced my formal study of astrology. So, that’s officially half a lifetime of daily devotion to this ancient art form. I knew enough to know that I was coming out of my Saturn return, and that this would be a good time to start.

On that day, I had my deposition taken by the Attorney General’s trial division; I had sued the State of New York in federal court for interfering with my coverage of an electrical accident and contamination incident. The administration of the badly contaminated state college campus had declared me “persona non grata,” and I replied with a federal summons and complaint. (Read coverage in The New York Times.)

At about 5 pm that afternoon I walked from the president’s office (where the depositions were taking place) across the campus into town. At Esoterica Books, I purchased my first ephemeris, a book that tells you the placements of the planets for any day of the century.

Astrology the Way I Do it is a Spiritual Art

For years prior, I was involved in spiritual practice and training (spanning from attending Quaker meeting through working with A Course in Miracles, and reading authors such as Alan Watts).

I was aware of astrology because at my first job as a reporter, the editor of the gritty Republican newspaper where I worked, The Echoes-Sentinel, was Flo Higgins, a professional astrologer who owned a New Age bookstore. From Flo, I acquired a deck of tarot cards and a set of runes and learned how to read them.

The office astrology calendar hung over my desk. I often wondered what it was about, meditating on it whilst writing about the Sewerage Authority and the Township Committee.

Newspapers and astrology have always been intertwined in my life…

…such as when I Discovered the Patric Walker Horoscope

But it was the Patric Walker horoscope in The New York Post that got my attention around 1992 or so, and I started reading it every day.

Suddenly, astrology had a voice, and it was speaking to me. My intent on the day I acquired my first ephemeris was to figure out how, exactly, Patric did it; how he could write something so articulate, yet tucked in the back of a tabloid newspaper, offering little messages in 50 words — using only the placements of the planets as his source.

I could not have imagined that nine years later, I would begin writing in the same newspapers where Patric wrote, including the Daily Mirror and the Daily Mail. Later, I was the last non-syndicated columnist to write for the New York Daily News.

I’m one of the very last horoscope writers to rise to success in the print medium, now working 99% in digital. There are very few jobs for daily horoscope writers, and writing seven columns a week is more than nearly any writer can handle. You need to have a lot to say.

(I still never miss the Post horoscope, written by Patric’s student and successor, Sally Brompton. I still learn something about astrology every day from reading her.)

I’ve corrected the link.

Two Resources for You

This page contains the beginning of an astrological autobiography called My Life as a Horoscope Writer. Also, around 2011, I published an e-Book called Light Bridge, which chronicles my time at Miracle Manor (and the Harmonic Convergence) through “the end of the Mayan calendar” (the 25-year span).

Thanks to all who have followed my work since the early days in Free Time, Chronogram, and Radio Woodstock.

It’s good to be with you, wherever you may be in the world, in the future or in your state of mind.

With love,

Here’s what’s in that book.

Autobiographical Note