Astrology
Just as a map is a tool for navigating the landscape of the earth, astrology is a tool for navigating the landscape of our purpose within the interconnected cosmos. It reminds you of what, on some level, you already know — the deeper currents of meaning and purpose that run beneath the surface of your life, connecting the personal to the universal.
How astrology works is a question that deserves a thoughtful answer — and the honest answer is that we don’t really know. There are various explanations which depend, in part, on how you understand the nature of reality itself. From a religious worldview, astrology can be understood as a systematic language for engaging with spiritual forces that most traditions have their own names for. From a spiritual-but-not-religious perspective, it offers a symbolic language that recognizes synchronicity as a function of our cosmic interconnectedness with nature. For those drawn to psychological frameworks, modern astrology offers a remarkably precise vocabulary for understanding personality, the archetypical nature of the soul, and the evolutionary patterns that shape our lives.
My own worldview is most closely aligned with what is known as an integral perspective — a framework that brings together science, spirituality, psychology, and evolution into a coherent way of understanding reality as neither purely physical nor purely spiritual, but both. What I find most compelling about astrology through this lens is that it explains the mechanics of how the interior and exterior dimensions of life are interconnected, and involve both the individual and the collective. It is, in that sense, one of the most ancient integral tools first discovered by humans.
At its deepest level, I understand astrology to work not through causation, but through synchronistic correlation — the idea that what was happening with the planets at the moment of our birth is meaningfully connected to who we are and what unfolds throughout our lives. When that connection is seen clearly — when a chart illuminates something that was previously unnamed — the experience can be profound. It brings a sense of love, meaning, dignity, and what I can only describe as cosmic safety. It can shift the lens through which we see our own story in ways that make it possible to live more fully, and more purposefully.
For a deeper exploration of how astrology works across different philosophical worldviews, including the scientific skeptic’s perspective, I plan to publish something soon!
Third Stage Astrology
Of all the astrological traditions I have studied and worked with, none has shaped my practice more fundamentally than Third Stage Astrology — a unique system of evolutionary astrology developed by Taina Ketola, whose work, though not yet widely known in the larger astrological community, carries a profound simplicity and depth that I have rarely encountered elsewhere.
Third Stage Astrology is built on a compelling premise: that our Sun sign corresponds not just to our personality, but to our path of soul development across many lifetimes. Each sign has three stages of development, each lasting several lifetimes, and the personality in any given lifetime is shaped by the underlying stage the soul has reached. The system is non-fatalistic — it doesn’t tell you what will happen, or what you are limited to. Instead, it illuminates the deeper story of who you are becoming, bringing a sense of dignity and beauty to even the most difficult aspects of your experience. It provides what so many other systems miss: a way of understanding ourselves and each other that truly honors what we are here to accomplish.
I first encountered Taina’s work in 2005, when I read her book Sun Signs: A Portrait of the Soul. I had been a connoisseur of self-help literature since my teens, but nothing had prepared me for what I found in those pages. I read it in tears — not of sadness, but of recognition. It gave me language for emotional currents I had carried my whole life without being able to name. In particular, reading the three stages of my own Sun sign (Aries) was a life-changing experience, and gave birth to my own fascination with astrology.
I later came to understand this more fully through my own chart. My Sun is conjunct Chiron in Aries — a placement that speaks directly to the wound of questioning one’s own existence, marked by deep uncertainty about whether one has the right to take up space, to assert, to be. Where other modalities had either trivialized this struggle or told me to simply choose a different story, Third Stage Astrology validated it in a way that honored the real depth of the Aries journey. It helped me understand why others couldn’t always understand — and it gave me a framework for working with the wound rather than against it. What I can say from more than twenty years of consciously walking this path is something I believe applies to all of us: it is impossible to fail at evolution. Life meets us in each moment with exactly what we need in order to see what needs to be seen, feel what needs to be felt, and grow into the fullness of our evolutionary purpose.
In my practice, Third Stage Astrology functions as a foundation — a backdrop of the soul’s story through which every other astrological technique is applied. It provides the deeper evolutionary context that gives detail and nuance their meaning. During the years when I was coaching professionally but had not yet come out publicly as an astrologer, I used Third Stage Astrology quietly in the background of my client work — using it to understand the evolutionary purpose behind the goals clients brought to coaching, and to ask questions that helped them connect with the deeper meaning of what they were working toward. It was, and continues to be, remarkably accurate and illuminating.
I met Taina for the first time in 2008, and have been studying with her as well as helping her with her mission ever since. For a deeper introduction to this system, I warmly recommend Taina’s YouTube series on Third Stage Astrology, as well as her school and community for those who want to study it further.
Kepler College
Serious astrological study requires more than enthusiasm and self-directed reading. It requires rigorous engagement with the full breadth of the tradition — its history, its philosophy, its technical foundations, and its ethical dimensions. That is what drew me to Kepler College, and it is what continues to shape my development as a practicing astrologer.
Kepler College is the only institution in the Western Hemisphere offering accredited certificates and diplomas focused specifically on astrological studies. What sets it apart is not just its academic rigor, but the extraordinary range of its faculty — more than seventy practicing astrologers representing traditions from Hellenistic to modern, Western to Eastern, psychological to evolutionary. I chose Kepler precisely because I wanted the full spectrum of astrological education, not a narrow specialization in any single approach. Understanding where the tradition has come from, and how it has evolved across cultures and centuries, makes for a richer, more grounded, and more humble practitioner.
In 2025 I completed the Natal Fundamentals Certificate — a comprehensive grounding in the symbolism of Western natal astrology, covering the historical evolution of astrological thought, the synthesis and application of natal chart delineation, ethical issues in astrological practice, and an introduction to advanced techniques that can enrich interpretation. The program spans the full arc of the Western tradition, from Hellenistic foundations through to contemporary psychological approaches, and includes elements of Vedic and Sidereal astrology as well.
I am currently continuing my studies toward the Kepler Professional Diploma in Astrology (KPDA) — a 130-week program covering predictive techniques including transits, progressions, solar returns, and solar arcs, as well as synastry, mundane astrology, chart calculation, counselling skills, and astrological research. I am already well on my way to becoming a genuinely well-rounded, expert-level astrologer — one who can bring a broad and deep technical foundation to every consultation, and who is equipped to contribute meaningfully to the ongoing evolution of the field.
Autism & Astrology Research
One of the most meaningful intersections of my astrological and personal work is a research initiative I co-lead with Third Stage Astrology founder Taina Ketola, through the National Council for Geocosmic Research — one of the oldest and most respected astrological organizations in the world.
The Autism & Astrology Special Interest Research Group brings together a dedicated group of professional astrologers — many of whom are autistic themselves — to explore a question that has received surprisingly little serious attention in the astrological community: how can astrology genuinely help autistic people?
Most existing astrological research on autism has focused on identifying a single chart signature — a universal pattern that might indicate autism in a natal chart. While interesting, this approach offers limited practical value to autistic individuals themselves. Our research takes a fundamentally different direction. Rather than asking what does an autistic chart look like, we are asking what does astrology have to offer someone who is autistic — focusing on the specific ways different astrological traditions and techniques can support autistic people in understanding themselves, navigating their challenges, and developing their unique gifts.
The research is still in its early stages, and we are approaching it with both rigor and humility. Our current work involves developing a structured interview framework to gather both qualitative and quantitative data from autistic individuals — exploring everything from what helps with sensory difficulties and emotional regulation, to how evolutionary astrology can offer a broader, more dignifying perspective on the autistic experience. We are also investigating whether specific natal chart patterns correlate with particular autistic traits and strengths — not to reduce neurodiversity to a single signature, but to discover individualized astrological clues that can help each person navigate their own unique journey more effectively.
A secondary thread of our research — one that is personally close to my heart — is exploring how astrology can illuminate the evolutionary and spiritual purpose that neurodiversity serves in a given lifetime. This isn’t about explaining away difficulty or suggesting that being autistic is merely a lesson to be learned. It is about using the cosmic perspective that astrology uniquely offers to bring genuine dignity, meaning, and acceptance to an experience that our culture has too often pathologized.
If you are an autistic astrologer or an astrologer working with autistic clients and would like to join us, we warmly welcome your participation. Learn more about the Autism & Astrology SIRG →
TimePassages Software
Astrology has been a part of my professional life in more ways than one. Since 2022 I have served as lead developer at Astrograph Software, the team behind TimePassages — one of the most widely trusted astrology apps available today, used by beginners and seasoned professionals alike, including astrologers Rob Brezsny, Alan Oken, and Susan Miller.
In my role at Astrograph I am responsible for the core chart calculation code that powers TimePassages across all platforms. As a technical lead and contributing astrologer, I’m responsible for the planning and development of new features across our full suite of products — available on macOS, Windows, iPhone, Android, and the web.
Working on astrology software platforms has given me something unique: a deep, hands-on understanding of methods for chart calculation and its relationship to the physical astronomy that it is based upon. This has equipped me to bring versatility, precision and deep expertise directly into my astrological consultations.
My ongoing commitment to the advancement of technology for astrologers reflects something true about who I am: astrology is not a side interest or a second career. It is woven into my vocation in multiple dimensions — as a practitioner, as a student, as a researcher, and as someone who works every day on the tools that astrologers around the world depend on.
