I've been studying astrology since I was 12.
The year was 1976. I had a mood ring. My best friend had a Ouija board. We were listening to Elton John and Queen. My 7th grade boyfriend lent me his book on astrology. Something went "Zing!" in my brain, and it wasn't the boyfriend.
Sadly, he drifted (as 12-year-old's will), but I kept astrology. I would listen to the birthday announcements over the school PA system, and secretly scribble down all the names. At home, I'd get out my astrology books and try to decide if my classmates fit their signs. I read everything I could about natal chart interpretation - and in my small town New England library, there wasn't much.
I tried to dump astrology over the years. It's not an easy thing to embrace in our right-brained world, and it's made more difficult by the public relations disaster that astrology has become. The daily newspaper horoscope professes to tell the fortunes of everyone in 2 lines or less - entertaining, perhaps, but not worth the paper it's printed on. Sorry to burst the bubble.
I graduated from Smith College, then went to China to teach English. Important influences there were learning about acupuncture and feng shui, (aha - another culture that recognized the value in unseen, hard-to-quantify energies). Also big was visiting Tibet - home to a culture that accepts reincarnation as given.
I'm a lawyer - went to law school at Northwestern University, and got a masters in environmental law at Vermont Law School. Astrology was NOT the path anyone expected me to take. But for me, astrology represents a search for wisdom, balance and deepened self-understanding. What brings us joy? Pain? What is our true path? If we've strayed from it, why? How do we get back to it? How can we move more easily through struggles that have burdened us for our whole lives? How can we more fully embrace our gifts?
I'm a mixture of right and left brain. Believe it or not, astrology and law make use of the same part of the brain. Like lawyers, astrologers take a huge complex of information and apply it precisely to one person and her unique situation. I LOVE astrology. I love helping people to see themselves in a different way, using the deeply inspiring language and endlessly rich symbolism of the natal chart.
It is always an honor to read the signs of a person's chart. I am grateful to everyone who has trusted me with this sacred and intensely personal task.
Carole Gaudet, Complete Astrologer
Astrology And Tarot For The Upper Valley And Beyond
Photo credits: Thanks to Irene Roxanne Tejaratchi for "Blue Angel"; and to Vicky Grubb for "Tampella Vintage Fabric".
