—Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking-Glass

Are you a believer in impossible things? Is mapping the future from the alignment of the stars one of those impossible things? Many people – from professionals to grandmothers - think not and are seeking spiritual guidance from the skies.

Astrology isn’t only for the rich and famous. It isn’t only found in California either. This writer sought out and found a very reputable astrologer in the heart of New Cumberland.

“Astrology is really the master esoteric science”, said Cathy Harner, an astrologer affiliated with The Inner Connection in New Cumberland. “It’s different than other metaphysical paths in that it takes precise mathematical calculation to create this map of your life. It is in essence a blueprint.”

According to a Gallup poll, the science of the stars has as many as 29% of American adults as believers. That’s not surprising considering it’s the world’s oldest science. Since the beginning of time, philosophers have studied it and people have wondered aloud about the meaning of their star signs. Nancy Reagan, former First Lady, used an astrologer to plan her life and that of her husband, Ronald. She drew a lot of criticism for seeking guidance from an astrologer. While many people criticize astrology as being the “devil’s work” or a bad thing, Harner considers herself a spiritual counselor. She says, “I always operate by telling people that they are in mastery of their way. I try to tell people that they can exercise their consciousness to understand it as a lesson and how they can achieve growth.”

For many people, an astrologer can make a positive difference in their lives. During the time I spent with Ms. Harner, she was able to relate many times where intuition and the stars played a positive role in determining the outcome of a situation. Specifically, she spoke of a woman with extreme marital problems who was having a “transit movement of the planet”, based on her astrological map. The marriage was deemed unrepairable and was on the verge of divorce. Because of where the stars and planets were for her and because of an expected movement in the planets, Harner advised her to continue her marriage and to be assured that even if it seemed hopeless, it wasn’t. Against the advice of family and friends, this woman was steadfast in her commitment and waited it out. “Instead of sitting around crushed and disempowered,” Harner said, “she looked at the issues in her marriage. They are back together today and doing very well. I believe that astrology gave her the encouragement not to give up.” In essence, she used her free will to transform her life based upon the information she was given during a series of counseling sessions with Harner.

Some people look at astrologers as being able to tell the future. Of course, that is not the case. If it were, we would be able to prevent wars, plane crashes and other disasters. It was explained that when an astrologer sees a calamity or severe illness or even death, she explains that there is a potential for this and counsels people about what steps to take to transform the outcome. What actions an individual takes based upon information revealed by an astrologer is a free will choice, thus the astrologer can never predict the future. She can, however, give people the tools to help them go into a situation with all available information.

In the past 20 or 30 years, people have been openly on a psychic quest searching for answers to unknown entities. Depictions and characterizations of angels are everywhere. The boardwalks at the beach are lined with women dressed in fortune telling garb promising to reveal what life holds for the future. Curiosity prompts many rational people to spend money – and lots of it – on psychic hotlines.

According to Harner, people need to be wary of gypsies or fortunetellers who reveal horrible tragedy and then offer to “reverse” the tragedy with a spell in exchange for money. She says that there are truly bad people out to take advantage of people in need and further stressed that a reputable astrologer will never turn away a soul in need because of a lack of money. “There are times when I have foreseen financial devastation in a person’s life and have not charged them for my service. In exchange for my session fee, I would ask that they do a good deed for another person.”

If you would like to learn more about astrology, you can check out a book entitled The Only Astrology Book You’ll Ever Need by Joanna Martine Woolfolk. It is a simple A-B-C guide to understanding the basics of astrology and provides simple astrological calculations to learn more about your health, the sun signs in love, the influence of the planets in your destiny and how to identify trends and opportunities.

For those with internet access that wish to obtain a free astrological map of their life, a cool website to visit is Awarenet at http://www.awarenet.com/.