In the past couple of years, I’ve delved into a deep study of astrology.

This was a realm of knowledge that I had previously dismissed, as I thought it to be mere superstition or “conspiracy”. How easy it is to dismiss whatever doesn’t fit into our own personal belief system. Especially nowadays, with so many things politically charged, and attention spans so short.

It seems to be that through a lived experience that runs counter to, or does not actually fit within one’s beliefs, it sparks the thought of “wait a second, that isn’t what I thought to be true, or at least isn’t what others were saying to be true”.

For example, racism is a very energized subject currently. As a kid, I heard my paternal grandfather and uncles make jokes and complaints about black people (my Dad thankfully never participated in this). I never found their jokes funny, and knew that they were egregiously wrong with their beliefs about black people. I enjoyed playing basketball in my driveway with a black friend next door, and my lived experience ran totally counter to what they expressed. As an adult now, I still often play basketball with a diverse group of friends and many times am the only white person.

Another example – when I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Costa Rica from 2006 – 2008, I began to have digestive issues and lost a lot of weight. I intuited that I had a parasite infection. So I saw the nurse, and she said I do not have parasites, and to eat more fruits and vegetables (I was already eating plenty). But, I trusted what she said. She was the official Peace Corps nurse on staff, after all, and who was I to question her? However, when I got back to the U.S. after my service, I still had digestive issues and could not gain any weight. I began to look more pale. So I saw many doctors about this, including Gastroenterologists. I had blood and stool tests done to check for parasites. I even had a colonoscopy done. They all came back negative. So I was given pharmaceutical medications for irritable bowel syndrome. I distinctly remember questioning one of the doctor’s who prescribed me a medication, and his indignant resentment that I, who am not a doctor, had the nerve to question him. I was starting to feel desperate, and looked sickly. No one could help me, it seemed. The medical system that I trusted in and never thought to question, was not working for me. My lived experience at that time was running counter to my beliefs about health and medicine. Thankfully, my mother-in-law recommended that I see a Naturopath who she learned about. As a sort of last resort, I made an appointment. This Naturopath did a simple non-invasive muscle testing and said, yes, I do have parasites, and even pinpointed the specific species of parasite. To most people, her testing would have looked like “hokey pokey”. She gave me a nutritional herbal supplement to take to kill the parasites. So I did. And over the course of the next few weeks, about 30 long tapeworms passed out of me. It was then that I began to question everything that I thought to be true about conventional western medicine (and the inextricably connected system of money we operate in).

Anyways, when I began to read more about astrology a couple of years ago, I found the teachings and interpretations about one’s natal chart to be very accurate with my own life and personality. Then when I looked at other’s natal charts (my wife, kids, etc.), I also found the concepts to be very accurate. While by no means am I an expert, I’ve enjoyed learning more and more about astrology since then.

As an Artist, I am naturally drawn to paint my interests! So I’ve started a series of zodiac sign paintings. With my other art projects going on, it will probably take me at least a year to paint all 12 zodiac signs, but over the course of this time, I’ll post brief articles about each zodiac sign and its corresponding artwork, starting with Pisces tomorrow.