Fainting, Astrology, and the Magic of Synchronicity

A 17 year long career path I never could have imagined ✨

Synchronicity. Meaningful coincidence. Magic woven into everyday life. I have had many experiences of this and I’m guessing that you have, too. It’s the friend who texts us when we were just thinking of them. A phrase that begins coming up again and again as it’s much needed message sinks into your bones for the better.

Psychologist Carl Jung studied this phenomenon. Or maybe I should say gave credence to the unknown.

“The problem of synchronicity has puzzled me for a long time, ever since the middle twenties, when I was investigating the phenomena of the collective unconscious and kept on coming across connections which I simply could not explain as chance groupings or "runs." What I found were "coincidences" which were connected so meaningfully that their “chance" concurrence would represent a degree of improbability that would have to be expressed by an astronomical figure."

I, too, am fascinated by synchronicity, especially as it has shaped my working life so solidly.

When I was 18, I decided that I wanted to be a nurse. I honestly cannot tell you why other than it sounded noble and secure. Literally everyone else in my life wondered out loud to my face why I wasn’t exploring something creative. At the time, I was teaching myself Photoshop, adding code to my MySpace profile, and designing Livejournals and blogs and whatever else was popular back in the day. But I didn’t think I could make money from it and, in doubt, chalked it up as a hobby.

One month before I was about to begin my nursing degree at a private (ie: EXPENSIVE) school, my dad fell off his bicycle.

I was the only one home at the time. Probably working endlessly on my umpteenth MySpace theme but that’s beside the point. He yelled for me to come upstairs and help him clean up some blood on his forehead.

As a nurse to be, I was all “yes of course let me show you how medically minded I can be.” But 30 seconds in, I fainted. I had never ever in my entire life been affected by blood and this wasn’t even a lot. Just a cut.

When I came to, my dad said “so you want to be a nurse, huh” and changed my life forever.

In that moment, I knew I was on the wrong path. And by the next day, I was enrolled in a different (public! yay for saving a little!) school in a different state with a different major. Graphic design.

So do I think my dad somehow fell off his bike to reroute me?

One THOUSAND percent.

The next decade (and a little change) went relatively smooth from there. I graduated, started my own business, and haven’t regretted that shake up once.

As the years went on, however, I started to feel a little antsy and unsure of what that meant. And so in 2019, at an Akashic Records reading, I asked the intuitive I was meeting with for insight on my career.

Before I could finish my sentence, she interrupted me and said “astrology” with such authority that it stopped me in my tracks … much like my dad’s simple quip years earlier. I still have the recording and when I listen back, I can hear the absolute skepticism in my voice as I echoed “astrology?” back to her. Yes, I knew a little and enjoyed self discovery tools, but it was completely off my radar in terms of a career path.

I took that reading with a grain of salt, but began to see astrology pop up more and more in my everyday life, so I bought a few books and read at my leisure whenever it felt good.

Fast forward three years when a client randomly says “by the way I’m a Virgo sun, Aquarius moon, and Scorpio rising if that means anything to you.” Once again, I was stopped in my tracks because yes, it did mean something. I had studied enough to understand how those three energies could transform into visuals.

And so that project not only went off without a hitch, but it rejuvenated a sense of creativity within my soul that had been missing since that aforementioned Akashic Records reading. Things were clicking into place and it was then that I finally understood Rowan Made 2.0 involved astrology.

So I got more serious with my studies. It was 2022. I was about to have a kid and knew that on maternity leave, I would have time to read during contact naps. But I also wanted to learn from someone who had been around for awhile. None of the pop astrology stuff was resonating. I wanted to understand the deeper mechanics and marry it with thousands of years of collective behavioral observation.

In short, I needed a skilled and knowledgeable teacher. Someone who had been around the block. So I googled something like “well know astrologers reddit” hoping to stumble across the right fit.

First result. First response. The author wrote something like “I would only give these astrologers (insert names here) any attention. Forget everyone else.” Immediately, my eyes jumped to the name Steven Forrest. And if I’m being honest, it’s probably because his last name sounds earthy and I like the color green. Just super silly instincts, but instincts all the same.

After a quick google search, I watched a few videos of a 70-something year old long haired hippie who breathed poetry into his interpretations. This was my mentor and I knew it within seconds. Everything up until that point had only been introductory. Basic. 

It was time to go deep and fortunately, Steven had an online school. One that took YEARS and was based on decades of an in person apprenticeship program he ran, not just a “six week course to reading your chart” you see everywhere these days. This person was asking more of me and I wanted that. I wanted to speak the language fluently.

I am still early on in the journey, but am grateful every single day that I chose to pay attention to synchronicity. That even when confused, I looked and listened for the magic. I still don’t fully know where I’m going with astrology or what my relationship to it will be like another decade from now, but one thing is true and it’s been true all along.

It just feels right.

Happy thank you more please.

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PS. I would love to hear your own stories of synchronicity, big or small. Share them in the comments and let’s connect. :)

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