Sleepless Nights in Seattle

Not even a 24-hour bus ride could ensure I could catch up on my sleep the night before my lecture for the Northwest Astrological Conference (NORWAC). After congratulating myself for getting to my hotel destination--all the way from San Francisco--without resorting to an Uber, once I got to my hotel, I tossed and turned all night in an unfamiliar bed and missed the purrs of my furry children. And, wouldn't you know it, I also woke up early. I think it was the first time I sincerely worried about falling asleep half way through my own lecture.

But jet lag, being as it is, meant I was totally ravenous at 8 am local time (4pm BST) and needed to get myself registered at the conference and grab some breakfast or dinner (or whatever meal we're going to call it). That's not to say there weren't a few lucky distractions. It's always wonderful to meet up with old friend at conferences but also to (finally) meet people you have only heard about on social media.

Step forward the lovely Steven Forrest. I was just heading out of the hotel to enjoy the sunshine when I heard Steven say (to someone else): "Oh this is Alex? No, you're not Alex."

I piped up from behind and said (I told you I get a little silly when I'm overly tired): "No, I'M Alex,"

Steven turned to me and said: "Ah yes, you're Alex!" Steven and his assistant Tony Howard have always been so wonderfully supportive of my work and I was so happy to be able to meet them in person. We celebrated (along with the lovely other Alex--who came to my lecture!) with sushi and good conversation. NORWAC was off with a bang.

Perfect post-lecture company

Fortunately, I managed to remain conscious (if one can call it that) and delivered my first lecture to a full room at NORWAC. Lecturing at the same time as me was my astro brother Sam Reynolds, astro papa Rob Hand so I was particularly delighted that I wasn't lecturing to an empty room. And I sold all the books I had brought with me! In fact, I've never had so many compliments, offers of support, queries about my next book and just general, all round gratitude for coming to an astrology conference. I was totally bowled over by the sheer number of people who knew about my work even though they didn't come to my lecture.

After the lecture, of course, I just wanted to peel myself off of the ceiling and chill. As I was again headed out the door to make a sneaky getaway, I was stopped by a large entourage around Sam who enveloped me in their fold and dragged me off to The Cheesecake Factory with them. I'm pretty out of the loop when it comes to American cuisine (although I will go so far as to say it's a vast improvement on the British fare) but somehow when you're surrounded by contagious energy, the food just doesn't matter. What a meal, what company and how wonderful to be with my astro brother again. Special shout-out to my Facebook friend Jeanette Ponder and new friends Mecca, Monique, Chartreuse, and Janelle.

On our way to the Banquet

Cosmic Intelligence Agents from around the world

The tag line of NORWAC is "where you won't get lost in the crowd" and I have to concur that the NORWAC crowd is super friendly and eager to engage. Everywhere I turned, there were other astrologers who wanted to talk to me (or I wanted to talk to them) and it just seemed everyone treasured their time together.

On Saturday, after spending a relaxing day catching up with friends, it was time to head to the banquet. Now a banquet--or indeed a conference--shouldn't be about the food. It should be about the company, right? And as someone who eats school dinners on a regular basis, I'm hardly a qualified food critic but if I'm going to pay 50-100 times more for a banquet dinner than a school dinner then dammit, I want something that doesn't look or taste like one (fortunately this is a rare occurrence). So I always give conference bonus points when hotels get the food right. A round of applause to the Doubletree Suites of Tukwila Washington!

One of the people I couldn't wait to catch up with was my Australian buddy Julia Simas, Control Agent 12 of the Cosmic Intelligence Agency whom I've haven't seen since ISAR back in October. There was a lot of laughter, a bit of naughtiness but generally, it was a time of giggling, scheming and catching up. I am in awe of Julia's networking skills, her shrewd judgement of character (she does't just let anyone become an agent. And boy, do I pay attention now when she calls someone out--a true rarity but nonetheless a proven accuracy as far as I'm concerned) and business acumen as well as her ability to get everything done. I consider it a great honour to be a part of CIA and I credit Julija for inspiring me to do important secret agent work.

Me and Melanie. Note to self: LOSE the imp face!!

A lecturer I try never to miss is Melanie Reinhart, who I am very fortunate to count as a personal friend. She is compassionate, wise and I never fail to learn something when I attend her classes. And I wasn't disappointed at NORWAC. Melanie's topic was Nessus and couldn't resist the temptation to look at Nessus in my own chart: Nessus was in Gemini when I was born, conjunct my ascendant along with the recent New Moon with transiting Nessus in the 10th house. That's a lot of Nessus!! I couldn't wait to tell Melanie this, secretly wondering how she'd interpret something like this. Without hesitation, she said "Well that's all your work in revolutionising education!"

There are times when I'm just bowled over--and this was one of them. Melanie knows about my work? She doesn't even use social media. It was all a bit much for me to take in.

Me, Julija and Nicholas

My super secret prize for Psychopomp (the Jungian one) skills go to Nicholas Polimenakos. I met him at ISAR but fell in love with him at NORWAC! So helpful with a great sense of humour and just a manner I really enjoy. He clearly knew and loved both astrology and the area he lived in and he wanted everyone to know he knew where everything was and had connections everywhere. I love smiley men (even if there's a mischievous twinkle) and he makes far better imp faces than me. Oh and he reads my blogs so I love him even more. All 'round great guy. Definitely a keeper. I might have to add him as my astro brother too but most of all I just want him to know how much I appreciate him. The only real damper on this conference was learning Nick's car was broken into on the last night and he lost valuable tech items such as his phone, laptop and camera.

Here's hoping the insurance settlement is quick and that the person/s responsible experience the bitch that is karma sooner rather than later.

About the Astrologer

Alex Trenoweth was voted Best International Astrologer, 2015 for her dynamic presentation on her innovative and original research into Astrology and Education. Her book, "Growing Pains" is an exciting development in astrology as it combines classroom teaching experience, sound investigation and the potential to have a positive impact on struggling adolescents, parents, teachers and those who have been labelled "at risk". She writes the weekly and monthly horoscopes and other articles for the Cosmic Intelligence Agency, one of the largest astrological social media groups on the web and was also a speaker for the AstroSummit, a guest lecturer for the London School of Astrology and has spoken at several UK local astrology groups. Past international events include ISAR, State of the Art Astrology conference, the Kepler Conference, Congresso Internacional de Astrologia (Portugal), Kepler College, the Mercury Internet School of Psychological Astrology, Astrology Restored in Cape Town,  the International Academy of Astrology and NORWAC.  Upcoming events include San Diego, Las Vegas, the San Francisco Astrology Society and the Scottish Astrological Association.  Alex is also Vice Principal and Secretary General of International Affairs for the Krishnamurti Institute of Astrology and will will be taking up her residential post in India 2017. For queries, consultations or syndications, please contact Alex via www.alextrenoweth.com or leave a message in the comment section.

"Growing Pains" can be purchased in paperback or kindle format on Amazon or can be signed and posted directly to you by Alex.

About the New Book

There are two wolves fighting inside of me, the old story goes, one wolf is good and the other is evil. “But Grandfather,” asked the child, “Which one wins?” The Grandfather answered, “The wolf I feed.”

We might like to think that being good is a natural instinct. In fact, doing the right thing takes a conscious decision. Every day, we are met with temptation to get ahead at the expense of someone else, to get away with something we know is wrong or to cut corners if we think no one is watching.

Following on from her powerful book on astrology and Education, “Growing Pains”, Alex Trenoweth explores the benefits of using “the bad guy” of the solar system: Saturn. Often avoided and seldom understood, if we understand our own Saturn then we can help others to understand theirs. Using case studies of  highly successful people contrasted with convicted serial killers, Trenoweth deftly demonstrates the dire consequences of feeding the wrong wolf.