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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 4, 2002)
aniia/y 4 9009 I here’s something inherently magical about the new year— a clean slate not yet written upon, the impetus to create a better life or finally compose that song, drop 40 pounds or per haps visit Borneo. If you’re considering making changes this year, or if you’re just curious about what could he in store for you, why not consult someone skilled in the ancient art o f divination? Ready to peer into your future— or just offer insight into your personality and what motivates you— are numerologists, palmists, psychics, astrologers and tarot readers. Just Out profiles here some o f those seers who are members o f our community. O r if you’re the do-it-yourself type, you’ll find other resources to help you do your own prognosticating. ffleèi 'Some wizards '(and one saint) -• who coiiid tell you • • » Q ílú n a Green i i W t h a t ’s your sign?” isn’t a pickup line for astrologer W ! Barney Stein. Learning your sun sign is only the 1 beginning o f a natal chart, on which he plots the position o f the 00 planets, plus the sun and our w “ 39 02 m,-*3 moon at the moment o f your birth. 52 If all you’ve ever •>* ^ done is read your horoscope in the newspaper, you haven’t really experienced astrology. Know ing “ your sign” simply means knowing which o f the 12 signs o f the zodiac the sun was in at the time o f your birth— Taurus, for example. There is so 02 Ü4 3 much other information available that a skilled NATAL CHART astrologer could speak for days on the fascinating subject o f you! A s an astrology buff, I talk with Stein about transits and trines and applying aspects, but fear not the lingo. “O ne impor tant gift 1 have is to translate astrological information into actu al English, into real meaning and something you can use," he says. Astrology has been researched for millennia and dates hack as far as recorded history. T h e original astrologers were priests and scholars, active in the ancient cultures o f Babylonia, Egypt, Greece, China and the pre-Columbian Americas, to name a few. Stein has been studying the stars since the late ’80s. “ I can see the challenges a person has faced and will face," he explains. “O ften they’re coming to me at a time when they’re not so inspired about themselves." W hich is why Stein says astrology is a great tool to use for depression. “ I can say it will end in so many months because it’s based on these particular issues.” He also does what he calls life path readings. “ I look at a natal chart and find themes in one’s life, for whatever time frame needed.” For that type o f read ing Stein always records where the planets will be in the coming months (transits) and what math ematical relationships they will have to plane tary positions in your natal chart (aspects). T h e qualities associat ed with each planet, zodiac sign and each o f the 12 divisions o f your chart (houses) inform the nature o f the aspects. Basi cally, astrology is about the interac tion between planets and their placement in and movement through signs and houses. Your birth chart is simply a blueprint o f possibilities for your life; what you do with that informa tion is up to you. A s Stein says, “ I believe astrolo gy is a route to intuition.” Square aspects are ones that are sometimes labeled hard or difficult. Stein sees those challenges “ as a g ift.. .it’s the client’s opportu nity to see how he wants to deal with them.” He also stresses: “The planets don’t cause anything, astrological- ly speaking. They just correspond to situations, events and energies in our lives.” To use a well-known example, “ Mercury being retro grade only describes or corresponds to a regular cycle in human expe rience where the principle o f communi cation turns in on itself or is somehow askew... it doesn’t cause it.” As a pop quiz, I hand Stein my natal chart and the day’s transits for his review. He speaks first about a long- lasting transiting aspect that affects us all, a Satum-Pluto opposition that began last July and continues until May 2002. “T h e first thing I do is lœ k at where it falls in a person’s natal chart. The general meaning o f this opposition is truth telling and responsi ble communication,” he says, then goes on to detail what it means for me. He also focuses on my nodal axis, which reveals where I’ve been and where I’m going, karmically speaking. Another feature o f his work ventures beyond astrology into more spiritual territory, as he suggests a simple rit- * * o f intention I could do at the next new moon. Stein impresses me as a gentle, serious soul, and he seems well equipped for that sort o f advice as well. H e’s been a reiki master for 13 years, does transformational breath work, has done an “ intense Buddhist practice” and describes his own spirituality as eclectic. “ A t this time people want to know: H ow do I fit in the world? I have a perspective on how the world works, and I’m interested in empowering people to find their own paths,” he avows. Stein also brings an array o f life experiences to his practice. He was for many years a professional modem dancer in San Francisco and N ew York, he is an accomplished pianist who still performs and accom panies singers and dancers, and he’s a software developer and java programmer. W hich leads me to ask whether his natal chart shows a splay pattern, meaning his planets are spread out around the circle, not concentrated in one section. This can signify someone with a wide variety o f interests. H e indicates that’s true. Bingo! So does a gay astrologer find any thing in a chart indicating queemess? “ N o. I’ve heard theories about...indi cators o f gayness, hut really that pre supposes that being gay/lesbian/hisex- ual is ‘abnormal.’ I really don’t think that sexual orientation per se is repre sented in the birth chart, any more than hair, eye or skin color is,” he asserts. “ I think a more interesting issue is that o f transgendered experience in the birth chart,” Stein notes. “W h ile gender isn’t indicated in one’s chart, gender dysphoria can be. My sample o f this phenomenon is quite small...hut the message from astrology N.- to transgendered people is this: It’s normal for you to he transgendered. It’s not an indicator o f something wrong with you. It’s an expression o f who you are.” Besides exploring all the indicators sug gesting you might become a pop star— or a dog groomer— Stein can offer a wealth o f insight into relation ships by compar ing your chart with someone else’s. “That tells you how people will get together, and the compos ite chart tells you what they’ll do once they get there.” Although many books predict how various sun signs will relate (see sidebar), it’s really much more complicated and requires a profes sional to interpret. “These readings can he tremendously helpful for people— and sometimes more important for business partners than romantic partners, since com munication is often less compre hensive in a business context than in a personal one,” Stein notes. A 90-minute reading, which costs $100 on a sliding scale, includes casting your natal chart and a tape o f the session. Stein also does phone consultations for clients throughout the country. Find him at 503-349-4292 or bamey.stein@att.net.
