for the first telephone astrology lines; she sold the ... was taught by eminent
astrologer, Dane Rudhyar. .... Astrological Study of Psychological Complexes for
a.
astrology
for s e p t e m b e r
ASTRO-COACH Nicki Michaels was tutored by Dane Rudhyar, one of the most influential astrologers of all time. She was thrust into the limelight in the late 80s when she discovered she'd been computing astrological calculations for President Reagan's astrologer, Joan Quigley BY MARION WILLIAMSON
N
icki Michaels' life reads like an astrological Who's Who. Sitting in her tranquil San Francisco office with its framed photographs of groundbreaking astrologers, past and present, I knew there would be stories to tell. She's a columnist for The Mountain Astrologer; she worked for the first telephone astrology lines; she sold the world's first astrological computer; she ‘crunched' data for Presidential astrologer, Joan Quigley, and she
1974 Convention. It turns out the event was fatefully linked to the mysterious advert, “I remember the conference because it cost $18 dollars just to go to the talks - that was so much money for me at the time. There were 3,000 people attending and it was the first time I'd been around astrologers. One of them wanted to see my chart. She took a look and said, ‘My South node is conjunct your Saturn. My astrology teacher says this means I owe you something from a past life.' I asked her who her teacher was and she told me it was Mark “I became very close friends with Rudhyar. He and that I should buy his book became my mentor and my friend until his death in 1985. Robertson Transit of Saturn. Fast-forward to the He was an extremely bright and hardworking man” interview…" Michaels arrived at the interview was taught by eminent astrologer, Dane Rudhyar. The already suspicious of the mysterious organisation only thing I was worried about was that I hadn't based in the centre of San Francisco. “There was this brought enough tape for my dictaphone. really messy desk and a guy in a suit…he looked like Michaels was relaxed and happy and, luckily for CIA. But he told me I'd been chosen to go into this me, she appeared to be in a chatty mood. The training class and that it was part of a new business. I California sun streamed through the window causing scanned his desk trying to figure out what it was all her excitable little dog to fall asleep in my lap as about and I saw a piece of paper with Mark Michaels took me back some 30 years to September Robertson's details on it. Someone knocked the door 1974, the month Michaels began her professional just then and stuck their head in, apologised for career. She was in her early 20s when she spotted an having interrupted, and left - it was Mark Robertson. I advert in the local paper. It read: ‘Counsellors. We asked the suit what he had to do with the course and need people with astrological or counselling he said, ‘That's who'll be training you'." background, experience not required - will train TELEPHONING THE STARS qualified persons. Good pay and working conditions. Two hundred and fifty people answered the advert to Send letter of experience and complete birth date to join Astro Phone, the world's first astrological Human Potential Research at…' Intrigued and already interested in astrology, Michaels sent off her details. telephone consultancy. To determine who had what it In the month between the time she replied to the would take to make good counsellors, the applicants ad and was invited for an interview, Michaels were divided it into two piles: one for those with attended The American Federation of Astrologers counselling experience and the other for applicants
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with astrological knowledge. “They wanted to train half and half and eventually picked 20 from each pile whose astrology charts suggested they would be good at the job. They didn't know if the people without the astrology could learn it in three weeks, and needless to say they couldn't. So when Mark taught the classes, instead of using the symbols for the planets he used ‘Sa' for Saturn ‘Su' for Sun, etc.” Astro Phone needed people that would be good at giving concise information in a short time period. The phone lines were expensive - $9.95 for the first ten minutes then a dollar a minute after that, $60 an hour in 1974 - that equates to about $250 an hour today. Remembering, Michaels said, “They needed people that could be quick, logical and get to the heart of the chart in ten minutes. Clients would call Astro Phone, toll free, with their birth details and would be given an appointment sometime in the following 24 hours. It took so long because back then we had no computers to calculate the charts - these were all compiled and sent over by an outside agency.” Michaels trained for four hours a night, five nights a week, for three weeks, followed by written and verbal tests. Michaels expressed a doubt that many current astrology phone services would be so thorough. Michaels worked at Astro Phone for a year and a half and had over 625 clients. “That's how I got started," she said brightly.
undergraduate course based on Rudhyar's textbook, The Astrological Study of Psychological Complexes for a number of years." In 1975 Michaels visited a bookshop where Rudhyar was giving a talk. “I became very close friends with Rudhyar - and his wife, too. He became my mentor and my friend until his death in 1985. He was an extremely bright and hardworking man - he wrote every day everything in longhand and worked until he could no longer continue. Rudhyar's main identity was that of a philosopher and composer. Music he wrote in the early 1900s is still played at new music concerts. He felt that
Nicki Michaels and companion in her San Francisco garden
MEETING RUDHYAR Michaels had been at Astro Phone little over a year when she was looking through a local San Francisco magazine and saw an advert for a university where you could develop your degree in a specific field of interest. “I got into an undergraduate degree in astro-psychology that I developed myself. If you didn't have classes in your major - clearly they wouldn't have in mine they gave you back a third of your tuition so you could develop your subject area. So I signed up for every astrology class going. I also taught a 12-week
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astrology ➔❙ Who was Dane Rudhyar? Dane Rudhyar (1895-1985) is considered by many to be the greatest astrologer of our time. He was an accomplished composer and came to astrology through an interest in Oriental music and philosophy. He brought a spiritual approach to astrology and, as with so many great thinkers, was way ahead of his time. His legacy is a vast storehouse of astrological wisdom for generations to come. For further information on Rudhyar and free online copies of all his works visit: www.khaldea.com astrology was a wonderful language in which to frame his philosophy that came from the theosophists. He knew Alice Bailey and his book, The Astrology of Personality, was dedicated to her. On a personal level he was a human being and he was getting old. There was human Rudhyar and teacher Rudhyar." In the early 80s Michaels talked Rudhyar into putting on a RITA (Rudhyar Institute for Transpersonal Activity) conference. It was held at a beautiful retreat centre and Rudhyar liked that so much, that for his 90th birthday he wanted another one. He begged Michaels to put it together. It turned out to be the last public talk he ever gave.
for s e p t e m b e r astronomical calculations for astrologers. It was something that would revolutionise the way astrologers work. It cost $3000 and would compute astrology charts in a fraction of the time it takes to do them by hand. “It was incredible to be able to calculate so accurately, I was the only person in town with an astrology computer! I became the Northern California sales representative for the machine and one of the people I was trying to sell it to was called Joan Quigley. I spent a lot of time with her she didn't actually want to buy the computer but we had an arrangement where I would supply her with astrological data. I did her calculations from 1981 - 1988. I fed through hundreds of charts for her, thinking she must be doing a research project or writing a book on political astrology”. In 1988, Donald Regan, former Whitehouse Chief of Staff, revealed his disagreements with Nancy Reagan in his book For the Record: From Wall Street to Washington and included claims that Nancy's personal astrologer, Joan Quigley, helped steer the President's decisions. Michaels remembered the excitement the story caused, “Oh my god, when the story broke that Reagan had an astrologer, I was getting calls from People Magazine and Newsweek, I could not believe what was going on. It was on the cover of Time magazine. I was on CNN!"
Nancy Reagan
LIFE COACHING Michaels learned early in her career that clients appreciate a no-nonsense approach HOSTAGE CRISIS to their astrological consultations. “What I New Year's Eve is a busy time when you're learned from my time at Astro Phone was an astrologer - everyone wants to know to speak in plain English. I could talk to you predictions for the coming months. about your chart with no jargon. Mark December 31st, 1980 was no exception for Robertson taught me that the client should Michaels. She was approached by a TV get some really useful information so that station for predictions concerning big new when they walk away from the consultation stories. For 1980 going into 1981 the Iran they can apply it to their life. I really enjoy hostage crisis was hitting the headlines helping people in that way - giving them and Michaels was asked when they would really practical, useful stuff." be released. “I knew Jim Lewis, who lived One of Michaels' clients suggested that in the San Francisco area - the guy that she become a life coach. She took on a started Astro Cartography (a branch of training program and found that she astrology specialising in using maps and absolutely loved it. relocation charts). I studied the maps for “As an astrologer, people usually come Joan Quigley’s revelations to see you when there's a turning point or a Tehran and Washington DC and looked at the upcoming lunations. At the end of challenge in their lives - you advise then January for that year I noticed certain planetary lines and a lot of the time you don't get to see how things going right through Washington and Tehran and thought turned out until the next big change when they're back for that looked interesting - and there was a lunation that more guidance. There's not a whole lot of interaction with indicated a window of opportunity, so that's what I told the client. But the thing I love about coaching is that I can the press. In 24 hours of that lunation the hostages were help someone identify what he or she needs to change released. But do you think they showed me on the next and discuss how they're going to go about it. As an year's show getting the prediction right? No of course astrologer I have to come up with the answers but as a they didn't - that's why I decided not to do that again. But coach the client comes up with the solutions. It's very I called up Jim Lewis to say his map had been on TV nice for me to see results!" ■ and he hired me to become a staff astrologer for Astro Cartography! I used to produce four-page, typewritten interpretations for four different locations. I did over 400 of those in little over a year, all on a rickety old To contact Nicki Michaels write to her at: typewriter. It was great experience." PO Box 31477, San Francisco, California CA 94131 or email:
[email protected] REAGAN REVELATION web: www.SFCoach.com In 1977 Michaels opened an astrological centre. One day
➔❙ Further Information
two guys walked in with the first microprocessor that did
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