All in the Family

My younger sister and I hatched this plan to surprise my parents with my visit to Michigan.

Now, before I go any further, there are a few things you need to know about my family that may not have been picked up on social media posts.

1. I'm working class all the way. I know, I know you thought I made so much money as a teacher, astrologer and author that I was not only rolling in the Benjamins (Benjamin Franklins that is--$5 bills/notes) but that I came from a classy background. Not so! I'm the daughter of a lorry driver, the recipient of a grant from the fresh air fund so I could go to university and someone who always has to be reminded not to wipe her mouth on the back of her hand. Oh and I put my elbows on the counter and always drop my neatly pressed napkin on the floor because I don't sit up straight at the dinner table in restaurants. Come to think of it, I also have the reputation for nicking pens from hotels--although I do this mainly to give to my forgetful pupils. "Would you like a pen from the Grand Canyon, one from NYC or LA?" I'll ask them. The pens that I manage to hold on to for the longest time are the ones the kids never choose to use, lol. Anyway, watch your pens around me!

2. I'm mixed race. My dad is from a European background and my mom is a full-blooded, card-carrying band member of the Saugeen Indian Reservation (we're Ojibwa to save you googling it). I've spent all my life explaining how this song both describes and doesn't come close to describing my life as a half breed: 

Just suffice to say it's been an interesting life but I don't ride around on horses in my underwear. Although someone did once ask me about that!

3. In an effort to escape the stigma of being a half breed, I moved to England. And made the problem a whole lot worse, innit?

4. Despite all the flying I do, I really hate it. To get me on a plane usually involves an hour or so in the bar--with my elbows on the counter.

5. For the flight to Michigan from Seattle, my west coast friends made an alternative suggestion to the pub. I don't want to give too much away but here's a hint:

Best flight ever!

6. My family can't keep secrets! It was decided that surprising both parents might lead to the demise of one or both of them so my mom was informed I was on my way.

At Seatac airport when my mom asked on Facebook (on my public wall) what time my flight was, I got a fit of the giggles. In fact, I was giggling so much I was a little worried I wouldn't be allowed on the flight. Someone actually asked me if I was OK (where was the Seattle Freeze I wondered again?). Which of course only made me giggle more. I was giggling so much, I also set my sister in Detroit off via Messenger--so much so that she had to pull over so she could take her eyes of the road and throw her head back and laugh properly.

Fortunately after a nap on the plane, I was in a frame of mind for the landing, the luggage re-claim and another round of waiting in a strange place to be picked up. I'm happy to say there were no problems and I found my family without incident.

As a Cancerian, no matter how things might appear otherwise on social media, I'm a pretty private person. I have my life on the stage and off the stage. Nonetheless, the Moon in Leo in me can't help but boast about a few things.

My dad was surprised and he nearly jumped out of skin when he saw me. Mission Accomplished.

After three beautiful daughters, my sister is finally going to fulfil her Freudian mission to produce a penis: my nephew is due on the Autumn Equinox! None of us feel boy babies are better than girl babies but we can't help but celebrate the fact that this boy is going to get a good solid dose of Girl Power!

I got to see lots of family and friends including my cousins from the reservation, one of my oldest and dearest friends Chris and the totally divine, utterly gorgeous Barbara Payton who I am delighted to announce is coming to India! Here we are together in Port Huron. Clearly her gorgeousness almost rubbed off on me:

Although my eyes never really left London (another terrorist attack left me feeling pretty shocked and I nearly beat up a preacher I had to tolerate the following morning) I left Port Huron filled with memories and family love. Sure there were a few things I didn't quite manage (Sorry Kalamazoo crew--we'll get it right next year!) but it was perfect down time and I'm so grateful for all the love, the challenges, the lessons. I was particularly glad to be reminded that the women in my family are bad MFs.

I sign this blog post off with a photo of me as a baby with my Ojibwa grandmother and great-grandmother. The tales they could tell would make your hair stand on end. So just to remind me when I think the going is getting tough:

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 yearly 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.

Seattle Freeze?

A funny thing happened on the way to NORWAC. . .

I've done enough travelling to be pretty good at it. Despite having Saturn in Pisces, I've managed to hold on to my passport, bank card and laptop (I could lose everything else and not be that bothered--that'll be Venus in Gemini for you). I'm also pleased to say I can master the public transport system of any city (except in India!) and I like to use buses and trains to get to know the local residents. I'm pretty friendly and easy going and I like to chat to people about their city. So imagine my alarm when I was warned by a life long Seattle resident of something called "Seattle Freeze". Apparently, people in Seattle just suddenly shut you down without warning or reason.

"Gosh," I said to my short term travelling companion. "Really?" I was a bit jet lagged as well as a little nervous as I was due to lecture a few hours later. I just couldn't imagine such a thing.

"Oh yes," she said. "Everything seems OK at first and then. . ." She shrugged, looked out the window and didn't say another word.

Blimey, I thought. Am I getting the Seattle Freeze? I was seriously worried. How would I cope if people ignored me?

But the good news is "Seattle Freeze" seemed to be a one off occurrence and I found the residents of Seattle and the area around Seattle to be absolutely beautiful. A couple days after the conference when most of the out of town astrologers left Seattle, I was trying to break a hundred dollar bill by buying a bottle of diet coke to get change for the bus. The cashier was adorably apologetic and told me she just didn't have enough cash in her register. I thanked her anyway and left the diet coke behind.

"Excuse me!" someone called as I opened the door. "I'll get that for you!" I have never been the recipient of a "pay it forward" gesture but I was really touched. London needs to get into this!

But I still had the problem of not having change for the bus. So the next place I went to had a massive line of people. So I joined the line, fully intending to wait for my turn.

"Excuse me," (yeah, polite or what?) said someone at the front of the line. "You can come up here if you only have one or two things to buy."

"Oh I couldn't possibly jump the queue," I responded before remembering to speak American (travelling hazard). Everyone was looking at me and smiling and motioning for me to go to the front of the line. So with enough change to avoid spending $100 on a one way bus fare, I resumed my mission of finding Rick Levine on the other side of Seattle.

So you know how I said "I can master the public transport system of any city (except in India!)" Well I normally do very well. Except when there's a fight on the bus (what happened to this Seattle Freeze? I wondered). After a few punches were exchanged, everyone jumped up and got off the bus to leave these two to it. Even the driver got out of the bus.

Which meant I was in the middle of a big city without knowing where I was or how to get to where I wanted to go. I checked my watch and it was at this point, I realised I was trembling a little more than I should have been.

Oh no, I thought. Not now.

People who have never suffered (there is no other word) from an anxiety attack just don't understand how debilitating these attacks are. I've had them off and on since I was a young adult and have taken quite a few courses of cognitive behaviour therapy to keep them under control. Usually I can talk myself down fairly quickly by reminding myself there is no imminent danger. But the thing was there was quite a ding dong of a fight happening not too far away from me, I was running late and I was lost. Remember how Harry Potter described an encounter with the Dementors as feeling as if nothing would ever be good again? Well that's exactly how I felt--of course it's totally irrational but that's the beast of anxiety attacks.

I was a wreck. 

I wanted to lock myself away in a dark room until the Dementors went away. Luckily, I did manage to calm myself down enough to figure out alternative arrangements to get to where I wanted to go. I was still a little shaky but I could cope. So I got on another bus--and wouldn't you know it Seattle has this massive underground bus system so we spent a lot of time in tunnels.

Tunnels. On a bus. It seemed totally crazy to me--what would happen if a fight broke out now? Just as I was working my way towards another anxiety attack, the bus got stuck.

In the tunnel.

"Driver, I need to get off,"  I was shaking and sweating and I wasn't confident my lunch was going to stay where it was.

"Can't let you off here," she said as she tried for the millionth time to manoeuvre the bus out of its tight position.

"I think I need some fresh air," I managed to groan. "I feel faint." You would think a Londoner would have been better prepared for such emergencies.

Thankfully this very nice (and handsome I noticed) man came to my rescue with a bottle of Gatorade, a warm smile and a comforting manner. I could almost forget I was several hundred feet underground with people I didn't know, in a strange city and really running late. And with no way to communicate with Rick who must have been waiting for me impatiently (there's no such thing as a patient Aries).

Anyway, we finally got out of the damn tunnel, I finally found where to get the next bus and was able to tell Rick I was on my way. And I can't tell you how happy I was to see Julija's smiling face when I got to my destination! 

With all of us together at last, it was time to get to some local wineries (they grow grapes in Seattle? Oh yes they do!) and do some wine tasting. I remained quite badly shaken up and it took some time to calm down but of course, the wine and laughter helped enormously.

Here's us before. . .

And after. . .

We also had a marvellous meal together that was just out of this world (and thank the Great Goddess Rick dropped me off to my hotel afterwards!!). I don't know what turns the attention of the Dementors to my direction but I was very grateful they released me so I could enjoy this wonderful evening with my friends. I"d like to be able say I have control over them but that isn't how this game is played at all: the second I claim to have any sort of power over them is just inviting them to show I don't.

It was a great honour to have been invited to Rick's the next day (this time I was collected by the marvellous Gemini Brett who was blissfully unaware of my earlier meltdown) for an evening of hanging out with Seattle astrologers and to watch Rick in action for his regular gig. Always a pleasure to watch a master in action. And how awesome to realise the next time Julija, me and Rick will be together is in India!!

And oh yes, I got to sit in the wizard's chair. . .

I really enjoyed my time in Seattle. It always makes me happy to cover expenses and plus have time to hang out with other astrologers. I don't like fights on buses but hey, that shit happens all the time in London too.

More news in my June 2017 Newsletter.

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.

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.

The Road Less Travelled

Whether it's getting on a plane in the middle of a hurricane, drinking a noxious liquid otherwise known as "port" to be polite (actually it was delicious--they just don't know how to transport it to the UK so it doesn't taste like antifreeze) or teaching adolescents for 12 years before realising the life of a supply teacher was where it's at, I've just never been known to take the easy route.

My watch says "2am" but my body knows it's not break time yet!!

Today I am on a 24-hour odyssey on a Greyhound bus to get to Seattle from San Francisco. I'm halfway through, my butt is numb but I have enough Combos and iced tea (it's OK, I can cope!) to see me through the apocalypse so I'm pretty happy. Oh and I have wifi!! I could do this for a few days ;)

I also watched Venus rise as the morning star followed by a spectacular sunrise. At the moment I'm travelling through Salinas County, the very area my former GCSE English pupils used to think was a place John Steinbeck made up. The highway cuts through huge areas of conifers, mountains and rivers. I can almost see George and Lenny hiding in a brook or hear the clink of horseshoes near the bunkhouse.

I love road trips but living in London really does mean it is too expensive to have a car--even if I could get a place to park one. So between naps, I'm putting the finishing touches on my lecture for NORWAC, answering emails (great goddess where do they all come from?) and just enjoying scenery I don't get to enjoy in London: an upside down big dipper, tiny farmhouses in the middle of nowhere, a sunrise so vivid it looked like someone dabbed bright red lipstick on the top of the mountain ranges and of course, there's nothing like meeting real Americans in the middle of nowhere.

Oh I had Taco Bell's egg quesadillas with diablo sauce for breakfast!

I could have taken a plane to Seattle but that wouldn't have been as interesting! So when I arrive looking a little bleary-eyed, you'll know it's because I didn't want to miss a thing on my way to the conference.

Last shout out for my lecture tomorrow (I think tomorrow is Friday):

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.

Blowing It Up

It has long been noted that astrology lacks true integration. It isn't that people are working against each other, it's just that the northern hemisphere seems to keep to itself and the southern hemisphere seems to keep to itself too. And certainly there has been very little interface between East and West. Distance can be a problem. And the older astrologers' lack of engagement with social media means the gap between older and younger astrologers is widening with every technological advance.

But the Institute of Vedic Culture (IVC) astrology conference, organised by the Krishnamurti Institute of Astrology (KIA) and founded by Gopal Bhattacharjee, has been working towards bridging those gaps and in the past few years has been offering simply magical opportunities for astrologers to learn more about the very different approaches of Western (tropical zodiac) and Vedic (sidereal zodiac) astrology. As a research astrologer, I passionately believe we need to stand shoulder to shoulder to endure the slings and arrows of outrageous scepticism and to be in a position to offer a tactical offence (and if you don't believe the sceptics are ganging up on astrologers, then you need to read Robert Currey's brilliant account on the "guerrilla skeptics"). We can't do that if we don't understand each other or if we pretend our factions are more important than the bigger picture. So I am way more than a little excited to be a part of KIA's endeavour to bring together astrologers from 6 continents (we are searching for astrologers from Antarctica, lol), over 20 countries, together at a conference to be held 31st January - 4th February 2017 in beautiful, historical yet modern Kolkata India. So far we have over 70 international speakers plus many speakers from India, making it one of the biggest and certainly the most diverse astrology conference ever held.

As my friend and IVC speaker Sam Sadasiva Geppi says: "We are going to blow it up this year!!"

Oh yes we are. Yes WE are.

Personally, I am terrifically moved by the spirit of this conference.  I am moved by Gopal's vision and I will always be inspired by Richard Alwin Filder who was one of the first international speakers back in 2014. He had NO idea of what to expect but he must have liked it because he returned the next year in 2015 with a few more of us (Naomi Bennett, Michelle Gould, Sanjay Pandya, Agent 63 Ehsan Khazeni, myself and a few others). We all became very close friends and met in South Africa for the Astrology Restored Conference in Cape Town later that year where quite a few of us formed a veritable tribe of antipodean astrologers and then descended on KIA in early 2016 where we were joined by even more international astrologers such as Agent Dakini Laura Boomer Trent, who wanted to discover what they were missing out on.

So when Gopal made me Secretary General of KIA after the conference in 2016, I didn't reveal that I had a very secret weapon: I was Secret Agent 144 for the Cosmic Intelligence Agency, the largest social media group of astrologers on the internet. A brain child of Julija Simas (Agent 12), the CIA has over 1.4 million members on its Facebook page but the two groups, with integration being a bit iffy in the astrology world, had yet to meet.

I had met Julija earlier at ISAR 2014 and we got on like a proverbial house on fire. After the conference in India 2016, I went to Melbourne to hang out with other CIA secret agents, most notably Olga Morales. Here we are looking all secretive-like:

From l-r: Olga, me and Julija in Melbourne Australia

It was during this time that I began to hatch my secret plan to get more antipodean friends to the KIA conference (having also experienced the thriving astrological community in Cape Town): Julija and Olga were thrilled with the idea of coming to India. A CIA briefing was in the making.

But I still didn't reveal all of my plans.

At ISAR 2016, after a few miserable months in London (I had been travelling around the world for 5 months and found being back at home very difficult to get used to), I met up again with Julija and Ana Carrapichano (who organised the Astrology Restored Conference in South Africa along with Richard Fidler). 

l-r Agents Ana, 144 and 12

It was the perfect opportunity for us to put our heads together and with South American Agent 55 Vanessa Guazzelli Paim on board, we very nicely had 6 continents covered:

Agent 12: South America?
Agent 55: check
Agent 12: North America?
Agent 144: check
Agent 12: Europe?
Agent 144: check (in true Gemini rising style, Agent 144 keeps her two big feet in two separate continents)
Agent 12: South Africa? 
Agent Ana: check

Agent 12: Persia?

Agent 63: check

Agent 12: I got Australia covered

Agent 144: And Super Secret Honorary Agent Gopal has India covered (we're working on China and the Far East)

Agent 144 getting her brief from Agents 55 and 12

Agent 12: 144, we got a plan of action. You do the infiltrating. You got the connections.
Agent 144: Boss, I haven't even had me cup of tea yet

"I can't cope without me tea" --Agent 144

But there were thrills and attempts at papping us before we could hatch our plan fully! And quickly Agent 144 realised there were more important things in life than tea (a miracle in itself!).

Agent 144: OK, I got it. It's on like Donkey Kong. We assemble the finest astrologers for IVC. We get KIA and CIA to work together on IVC before I go MIA at the Kepler Conference!

Agent 12: You got it 144! You got any other conferences you're going to?
Agent 144: Why yes indeed: there's Portugal in February 17
Agent 12: Anything else?
Agent 144: NORWAC
Agent 12: Anything else?
Agent 144: Well there's my tour of the US West Coast where I'll be visiting various branches of NCGR and the San Francisco Astrology Society. . .
Agent 12: Anything else?
Agent 144: Um, I'm at the Scottish Astrology Association in the autumn
Agent 12: Anything else?
Agent 144: Sheesh boss, ya trying to kill me?
Agent 12: It's a tough life as an agent. Where's your next article?
Agent 144: (stunned into silence)
Agent 12: Right, you know what to do

So at the Kepler Conference, the finest research astrologers had gathered and what a terrific opportunity to do some recruiting. Ditto for Portugal.

Northern Hemisphere Agent 144 and Southern Hemisphere Agent 55 showing da love

But wait, there's more!

Cosmic Intelligence Agency is delighted to report that at the NORWAC Conference in Seattle, Agent 12 (Julija) and Agent 144 (Me) will be re-united and both of us will be happy to answer any questions our North American friends might have about the conference in India. We'll have leaflets and, of course, our big mouths to help you decide if being a part of the biggest astrology conference on the planet is something you might like to invest in. After NORWAC, I'll be on a tour of the West Coast meeting various NCGR chapters and the San Francisco Astrology Society and again, will be very happy to share the vision of truly uniting astrologers together. We ask our astrologer friends, in particular those who are speaking at IVC, to engage with our various social media campaigns on Facebook and other platforms.

And with two of the biggest online astrology organisations (CIA, Southern Hemisphere and Western Astrology and KIA, Northern Hemisphere and Vedic) working together, you won't want to miss this opportunity: it's cutting edge stuff and what dreams are made of! 

So readers might be wondering how long Agent 144 has been deep, deep, deep undercover...

Agent 144 in saree, Kolkata India, 2015

Agent 144 with Agent 63, Cape Town 2015

Agents Dakini, Ana and 144 in sarees, Kolkata India 2016

Top secret CIA board meeting, ISAR 2016

Dr Dennis Harness with Agents 63 and 144 before the good doctor knew he would be headline speaker at IVC

Me and IVC Speaker Lynn Bell in Portugal

Hakan Kirkoglu Agent 40 at ISAR: totally oblivious!

Armand Diaz (Agent 17) with Agent 144 at ISAR: oblivious. Note 144's halo

Dr Glenn Perry, oblivious at The Kepler Conference (and promoting my book!!) and just look at 144's halo!

Kepler panel: Four confirmed speakers (and me)! Note the fertility of Dennis Harness' imagination and our star Will Morris!

Dr Will Morris and Kenneth Miller, speakers at IVC 2018, totally oblivious at The Kepler Conference!
 (square halos for 144 and Kenneth!)

Agent 144 photobombing the ISAR board looking like disaster girl but actually going for the "uh-huh, I'll be seeing you at IVC" look. Seven of them have confirmed as speakers at IVC ;)

So there, it's all out!

In all seriousness, it has been remarkable how so many unique and diverse astrologers are so thrilled to put energy in the IVC conference. If you'd like to be a part of this but aren't too sure what things will be like, you can read my account here. We now have the tour packages ready!

And if you do have to miss the spectacular event, the Nakshatra Barta, KIA's publication, will be available for purchase. Packed full of our researchers' finest articles, it will be distributed to 20,000 readers around the world. Never heard of Nakshatra Barta? We'll be putting that right. It's time for astrologers to find out what it's like to be treated like rock stars--and it could only happen in India. At least for now.

We're hoping to change that at IVC.

So put it in your calendar: IVC 31 January- 4 February 2018, Kolkata India!

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. Upcoming international events include Breaking Down the Borders, the Kepler Conference, Congresso Internacional de Astrologia (Portugal), Kepler College, the Mercury Internet School of Psychological Astrology, NORWAC and the San Francisco Astrology Society.  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.