It’s Written In The Stars
I’m an astrology skeptic. On occasion, usually after a drink with friends, I have had my chart done or cards read. These readings have largely told me what I already know…I am strong and determined. Fiery and self-reliant.
But the Vedic Astrology reading I recently received from Kari Field was much more detailed - and scarily accurate when it came to specific times and corresponding events in my life.
Full disclosure, Kari is YogaCity NYC’s resident Vedic Astrologer. Cynthia Kling, YCNYC’s Editor, added her column to our bi-weekly rotation about a year ago. When it runs, it is always one of our most popular pieces.
So despite my initial resistance, and with Cynthia’s prodding, I made an appointment with Kari on her website. I was asked to write down the date and place of my birth and also the specific time. Later, Kari told me that a couple of hours can make a big difference in the reading and so she likes her clients to check their birth certificates and confirm the time with their mothers, if they can, because those certificates are often filled out hours after your debut into this world.
Then Kari sent me a screen shot of my astrological chart. Numbers and letters…lines and circles…that meant nothing to me.
Kari lives on the West Coast and so we did the reading over the phone. When we began, she said all these columns and digits were a “blueprint to this life.” It didn’t tell the specifics of my past and future but rather it pointed to my tendencies and the general path my life has undertaken. Kari was careful to tell me that this reading is “not a fixed destiny, there is freedom of choice.”
It seems that although I’m a Taurus in Western astrology, I’m a Scorpio in Vedic astrology. Kari tells me that using planets, rather than a sun sign, gives a different perspective on a person. As a Scorpio I’m courageous…with lots of Pitta. Mars rules me and that means I'm determined, forceful, self-reliant and excitable - no surprise there.
She says however, my moon sign is more reflective of my soul. It’s how I feel, my emotions. Seems this gets a little hairier as I am a Leo ruled by Venus. I’m fertile and creative with a deep seated desire for love and commitment. On the negative side, these tendencies can sometimes slow me down and clog me up. All true!
Kari and I have never met or spoken before so she doesn’t know I have been married for more than three decades and have two twenty something daughters. She says I should have children and she nails within 6 months the time my chart indicates I should have gotten married and had children. She also says that the chart indicates I should have made the most money during those years…she is spot on…nailing my over 20 years as a publishing executive.
I seem to be in a different phase of my life now, she says. Now I can have a spiritually enriching career. I am more in alignment on a moral level and can expand. Uncanny, as the chart indicates the time Rahu entered my spiritual house. It coincides within a couple of months of when I took my first yoga class. It also indicates a deepening of my spiritual side vs. the material world. I look at the numbers on my screen. When I began to teach yoga is indicated there and so is the time we started creating YogaCity NYC.
I am beginning to get a little nervous, this is eerily on point. Kari indicates that now I am “in my dharma.” And, I will be under Rahu and Jupiter for the rest of my life. She says that because I was born near a lunar eclipse, moon phases have a deep effect on my psyche. And, I am always in a push/pull when it comes to my spiritual life and my career. I will always be looking for new answers to big questions. I will wander to foreign lands. I will search for different Gurus and will try everything. I will be searching for inclusiveness through my writing, I will keep challenging authority and breaking taboos.
Before our hour session ends we briefly discuss the end of my life. I am not scared of the inevitability of dying and she tells me some dates that might portend ill health. She suggests that I be careful around eclipses and says that these are particularly feisty times for me.
After hanging up the phone I stare at the chart in front of me. What made no sense 60 minutes ago holds real meaning now. It’s still difficult for me to get my head around how my birthdate, time and place can create life patterns that are now playing out. Kari indicated that I am never 100% satisfied and that I will always look at two sides of a situation. Seems my reaction to this reading is written in the stars.
-Brette Popper
