The Benefits of Astrology Chart Reading

Hey T,
I am glad you asked me about Karen. I am often asked for referrals for astrological chart readers and the like, (perhaps the nature of the industry I am in? Or the circles I tend to travel in?) and even more often asked my general opinion of the whole paradigm, as if one persons opinion whether positive or negative might confirm their own ideas concerning the matter. Which is of course, what we do.... though it really doesn’t do much in the end but usually give them more evidence to support a belief that they themselves already hold.

But nonetheless, I am more than happy to refer you to Ms. Pavlus because I believe she is very, very good, I think you have nothing to lose, much to gain, and I'm sure she doesn’t mind as long as I keep it to good friends.

When you call, let her know you were referred by Fishy. So she knows who you are and why you are calling her and how you got her information. She is very well-known but now semi-retired and only does one or two readings per week so she is going to wonder how you got her name and number. It may take a week or two to get an appointment but it is very much worth it.

From a testimonial perspective I can offer you this: approximating, throughout my life I have had at least one hundred or more “readings” with psychics, chi gong masters, tarot card readers, Vedic astrologers, Chinese astrologers, mystics, gurus, shamans, past life readers or regression therapists, clairvoyants, mediums, channelers, palm readers, akashic-records/soul readers, and astrologers. At the least a hundred or more. ESP, or “the sixth sense” is a subject that I have always been fascinated by since I was a young child. But I no longer believe that “astrology” in its pure form – as in reading one’s natal birth chart – falls into this category. I now see it more as a science altogether on its own.

I have had readings at one time or another with any and all of the “big names” and the most “famous names” from here to Timbuktu over the last twenty-five years. Since money was never an object, and at the most it was always just putting your name on a waiting list, I was always willing to wait, and as a diehard “seeker” I was determined to find and discover the absolute BEST of them out there. Not only was I interested in what they might have to say to me or teach me or what guidance they might hold for my own personal life, I also considered it all part of my ongoing research into the whole paradigm as a whole.

At the least it satisfied for me a deep yearning for the “truth” – if there is such a thing -- and a fascination to learn more about that whole world of “the sixth sense” as well; and at the same time I felt that at some point down the road I will be able to accumulate all of my different notes of all of these readings into book form and create a book that details some of the conclusions I have come to understand about this work. There is no need to go into all that here.

Suffice it to say that out of all the “astrology chart readers” that I have ever spoken to, Ms. Pavlus is by far one of the best in the world today. She is not psychic, nor does she claim to be. Which I actually like. (many of them claim to be) What this means is that she uses her 40+ years of experience and the skills she has gathered to simply be very good at “reading charts.” Which is a real science and takes years to master to be good. Especially when speaking to someone such as myself who already is very well-versed in my own Natal Chart and knows just about everything there is to know about it already.

So if someone isn't good, I can tell within the fist five minutes or so. And sometimes just due to how busy I am, I have been known to cut them off and say “Thank you. I think that answers my questions. Thank you so much for your time...” But I simply just don't have the time to waste if I can tell the person just isn't excellent at it. Ms. Pavlus is absolutely excellent at reading charts. She will never bullshit you. She will never tell you something just because she thinks “that's what you want to hear.” And she will never hold back on telling you something that may not be such good news. She just tells it like it is. Which is her job and if she really cares about the client, and about her own reputation which at this point is sterling, that is exactly what she should do.


Give her a call and tell her you have NEVER had a reading done before. So she will need to run a “natal chart” for you. You will need to give her the exact time you were born, the date, and the exact place. This means the chart of exactly what the stars and planets looked like when you were born so you can understand who you are better. This goes way beyond your “horoscope sign.” It is much much deeper.

And then ask her also to run what is called a “progressive chart” = that is what the stars and planets look like today and how they are affecting you, because remember – after all this time that has passed, everything has SLOWLY moved in the universe just a little so things look different now than they did back when we were born.

The natal chart tells you who you are, as you were born, tells you your strengths, which gives you strength and courage and confidence because it confirms what you intuitively know about your self already but maybe are just afraid to fully acknowledge... and the natal chart also tells you your weaknesses or your challenges – which is also very helpful because again it confirms for you negative aspects about yourself that you may be aware of but might be in denial of... so she can help you with tips on how to OVERCOME those challenges or weaknesses. And trust me, we ALL have both strengths and weaknesses when we are born.

But there is a term for this: It is called “evolved.” Such as a person if they have not yet “evolved their natal chart” will have “the tendency to be too self critical” perhaps. You see how perfect that is? In other words, you have the power to evolve OUT of the strengths and weaknesses you were born with... it is YOUR choice. A reading might say something like “This person if fully evolved out of the negative characteristics of their natal birth chart could be very powerful in the way of speaking the truth and bringing fairness and justice to all matters around them.” Or it might be something as simple as “If fully evolved, this person could be an excellent doctor, or very good working with children, or working in the field of engineering.”

I'm just making these examples up... but it is a very powerful way to self-discovery, and then to self-development, which then leads to self-empowerment. It is the foundation where you start from in order to really become a master of your universe and use the best of what you were born with, totally maximize your natural born gifts; and then to deliberately attempt to discreate, “release,” or just say “stop” to your negative attributes.

Hence – self-discovery, then development as you work on yourself, and then empowerment as you become more and more powerful – which really just means more “in tune with” or “in the flow of your real self” and more self-aware and more able to harness your true gifts, and then eventually total self-evolvement.” Meaning that you have fully “evolved out of your natal birth chart” and you are a fully living breathing Buddha walking the earth and deliberately making the world a better place for all. That is the goal.

Powerful stuff if you open up to it and use it. What I mean by open up to it is this: whether you are open to it or not – that will not change your chart, nor will it change your reading. But it could change how you act based on what you are told. If you just take it with a grain of salt and don't do much with it because you are skeptical, well I'm a great example of that. I took all the good stuff and let it boost my ego and felt great about it all, but I didn't take seriously the warnings of potential harmful things about to happen to me that were right there in my chart – as clear as light in the nighttime sky – because honestly I wasn't too sure how seriously to take the stuff. I didn't realize that “do this or DON'T do this RIGHT NOW” really meant that.

In other words, do exactly what they say because they are actually seeing something that is real in that chart. So I learned the hard way from not heeding the advice of a very famous and respected reader. I would be in a much different place in my life right now had I listened to her advice from my 2005 reading with Karen. But I didn't, and well, I learned the hard way.

In general, the beauty is that you don't actually have to do anything in the way of study or learning - other than work at transcending your weaknesses and maximizing your strengths and heeding warnings or taking advantage of potential big wins that they might see in your future. If you speak with a really good astrologer, someone who is older and has decades of experience reading charts and really approaches it from a scientific place (this woman is 64 so she has about 40 years of experience), then you don't need to study and learn all this stuff. It’s just not necessary, because truly it is an overwhelmingly complicated science and field of study and that isn't everyone’s thing – to learn about all these things... But this IS THIER specialty. This is what they do. And if they're good, they're usually damn good at it. And Karen Pavlus is one of the best I've ever spoken to.

If you really listen, and take some notes, and then listen to the tape that she sends to you afterwards a few times, you will start to open up to the realness of the things she is saying that you might intuitively feel are accurate appraisals of who you are. And then from there, what I did personally, and recommend to others is that you take a highlighter and highlight all of the things she points to that are “potentially negative characteristics” of your “self.” Or simply make a list of them. This takes self-awareness, self-honesty, courage, and integrity. It isn't easy to admit to ourselves or to anyone our weaknesses. Then use whatever tools you have at your disposal in order to try to rid yourself of these negative character flaws. That could mean telling yourself “from this point forward I will stay very vigilant and look for moments when I find myself doing X. Then I will acknowledge that I am doing it, catch myself doing it, and then deliberately stop doing it. In time, as with any habit, you will begin to notice that you no longer are prone to it.

Next, you do the same thing with all of the different “potentially positive aspects of self” that she points out to you. This will give you tons of information about all the different gifts you came into the world with and it will help you to capitalize and maximize all of your various positive attributes. And trust me, though some of us are born “luckier” than others, we all have plenty of positive characteristics that we are born with and if told in advance, then you can really use these to your full advantage and to the full advantage of those around you. You will in essence, by getting to know yourself better, by becoming more self-aware, notice that a lot of “self-questioning” begins to dissipate, because you now are very clearly aware of “who you are.” At least in “this lifetime.”

A note from “higher self:” From the Higher Self or from the “all that is” perspective, yes, I agree that clearly these strengths and weaknesses, these positive or negative attributes of “self” are not “us, meaning not “me” or “you” – for what are “we” in reality if not mere reflections of “all-that-isness” or “the Divine” in an “organic spacesuit” if you will. Granted. And touché for catching that.

So with that in mind, when we refer to “self” in any discussion, let us remind ourselves, or better put, let us just assume that it is most likely and most often from the earthly plane of consciousness, and therefore we are not referring to “the whole self” but rather, the “self” that we incarnated with in this particular lifetime that just happens to exude certain characteristics on a regular basis that define “us.” Hence “self.” But again, not our “real self” nor our “whole self” nor our “soul” or “spirit” but simply just our most basic “earthly self” that happens to walk around representing “us” in this “lifetime.”

When we look at it this way, it is easier number one, to be able to look at “ourselves” a bit more objectively, meaning from “higher self” mode – and therefore be able to really become more self-aware. And from there, what the end result can be is that we are able to minimize or completely eliminate our potential weaknesses or challenges, maximize or fully utilize our natural born personal powers and strengths, (again, of this current life that we find ourselves incarnated in, not our whole selves) and in the end transcend our Natal Birth Chart entirely. In essence what we are really saying by that statement is complete transcendence; or enlightenment. Transcending to that place we might call “pure awareness” or “higher self” or “Buddhahood” or “Buddha consciousness” or even “someone who is in touch at all times with “the divine” or “all-that-isness.”

At the end of the day, when asked, that is the answer for why one might want to call on the services of an expert astrologer or chart reader. It isn't “tell me my future” as much as “tell me what you see in my chart,” let me check with my intuition and let me see if any of it feels accurate to me, and thank you for the confirmation. Then begin your work of setting about to become the absolute best “person” you can be, and a side-effect of that is that by simply “being” you make the world a better place all around you.


What they call “the progressive chart” is more along the lines of “what is happening now or what may tend to happen in the coming year as the planets, stars, and moon, continue to slowly move and cycle. This can also reap huge rewards in pointing out certain potentialities that may affect us or exert an affect on our lives. This is where some of the real perceived magic of astrological chart reading comes into play because if the reader is good they will literally “see” other people in your chart that are actual people in your life at that time. As was the case in both the readings I had from Karen in the last three years. It was astounding to hear her point out very specifically real people in my life to a tee jut because she “saw them in the chart” and also to hear her describe to me real life events that I was experiencing in present time just because, again, she “sees them in the chart.”

From this experience one can learn if one is on a good path or a potentially dangerous one, and all of it of course should be checked by just going inside and checking your intuition to see if it rings true. It is hard to deny when a reader asks you “who is the Pisces woman you are in business with who is trying to harm you?’ when you are indeed in the middle of a legal battle with a Pisces woman that you were formally in business with. (which was the case in my first reading with her three years ago.) Or as was the case with my reading last week “In the last six months three different Virgos came into your life and you are all now working on a project together in either books or publishing. Is this true?” And of course, for me it was true, and I almost fell out of my chair because it is still just so damn shocking when they nail it so accurately. That's how good a “good” astrologer can be. And that is the potential power of having them do your “progressive chart” as well. To see where you are now and where you might be headed.