Jennifer Freed, Ph.D.

I didn't have one moment where this became clear. As a child, I was highly sensitive. I saw things other people didn't see. I had empathy others didn't have. I spent time in darkness because of that. Then I received good therapy and did movement work. I bumbled along, but astrology came to me young. I don't know why, because no one in my New York Jewish family was interested. It just came to me. Where people can get very off track with trauma or woundedness is they begin to tell a story of victimization and victimhood. Yes, we've been victimized, but victimhood is a noun. Now you're in a jail. I like to think that my wounds, and I've had many, are invitations for me to be more resilient, more compassionate, more loving, more powerful, more bold.

I know when somebody's awake because they have curiosity in their eyes. They're living to learn. Norman Lear, who's passed but was a great icon of TV, said to me at, I think, 100 years old, you can always learn something from anyone. That's how you know people are really present instead of 'Oh, I've got this,' or 'No, I have no idea. Let's find out.' Being present for me as an astrologer, I have a Taurus moon, so I know you by how I feel inside. It's an experience, not a concept. When I'm with you and truly present, I feel relaxed, warm, and open. My heart expands. I'm curious, interested, and engaged. When I'm not present, I feel dead, cranky, distracted, my knee hurts, and I'm not really listening.

As a young, rebellious person, I experienced a lot of distraction, disassociation, trauma, and not being present. I could even be with people or doing what I would be doing was thinking, why am I not with them, and it would really hurt me and I would feel less connected. As I started my practice, mindfulness, therapy, and trauma work, I realized what I want more than anything is to be with people, be with nature, and be with animals. The biggest advice I have for anybody that feels dull, and we all have felt that, is movement. Dullness is a feeling of numbness. You don't wake up with any joy or excitement. Maybe you're depressed. Dull is a very brown, dark feeling. The only antidote to that is movement. I'm certain of it because I've seen people that are too heavy for themselves, too dull, or even me when I'm down. If I dance for 40 minutes, ecstatic dance, and I do this, I am not dull or depressed anymore. I think we have forgotten we're animals primarily, and animals sitting or being stuck die. We need to remember that we have this body. Whatever capacities we have, you can move. If you move 30 minutes to an hour a day for the purpose of joyful movement, that's going to make you less stuck.

My words of encouragement to anyone feeling hopeless, in despair, or stuck is this is not the end of the story. With the right people around you, however you find them, you will remember who you are. It's never too late. That's the biggest thing I want to say to people. You are here as long as you're here. Whatever day it is, whether you're waking up at 20 or 70, that could be the day if you are very clear that you want to wake up. For me, that is what I ask for every day. I talk to my guides and angels and just say, 'Please help me.' And they do. There's always assistance if you're willing and ready to make the intention to wake up, to say, 'Help me. Help me. Help me wake up.' One day, even though it may seem like overnight, those things come together and will be revealed to you to help you.

I have an incredible group of friends and healers. One thing I want to say for sure, I'm the first person to get help. Yes, I'm a coach to people and I do a lot of amazing work, but there's not one part of me when I start hurting that thinks I better do this myself. I always get help. I have great healers. I have great friends. My spouse is amazing. When people have trouble getting the motor going and running, they need more help. This is the most underrated part of being a fully actualized person. We were put on this earth together. That's very important to remember. Not alone. There are resources, free or paid, incredible apps. When we're stuck and the tire is just repeating a cycle of stuckness, we need to keep reaching out until we find support that helps us get unstuck. Whatever it takes. I'm for whatever it takes.

There's a saying I like, don't do what other people can do. Do what only you can do. As Mercury in Capricorn, I'm extremely practical. I think each person is a unique, perfect assemblage of their own gifts and flaws, both the shadow and the light. I think if everybody really remembered who they were and what was possible and had support, because we all need more support, then people would be naturally more generous, thoughtful, and caring. When we're engaged in those divine possibilities, where the spark is, where the charisma is, where the love is, that's when I feel most alive. That's what I want to invite other people into, their own divine possibilities. Sometimes they just haven't had anyone talk to them about their many gifts and what's possible.

The main ingredient people have forgotten is that you don't get to purpose without effort. Whatever it is you're interested in, there's way too much emphasis on it should be delivered to you. My entire path is that I've worked hard for every single thing I've gotten. I've been given so many opportunities and grace, but not one thing came to me because I was sitting on the couch thinking, 'When am I going to find my purpose?' That never happened. I started writing and some people were making fun of me because I never got paid, but I wanted to have a voice. I was writing and writing and writing. Then that turned into an offer to publish my first book in astrology, which became a bestseller at 60 years old. Nothing that you care about has to be monetized initially. Just do it. I was just doing it and doing it and doing it. Then it turned into the first book, then the second book, and I got so many clients. I'm a go-getter, so I said to that person, 'Can I write for your magazine?' Let's give it a whirl.

What holds people back is fear and the critic in their head. Those are the two things I'm certain of. If people didn't have fear of what others thought or failure - like I'm big on failure, I have failed a lot. I think fail fast, get up faster. Fear of failure, fear of shame, fear of public ostracism, big ones. And then just the basic, who am I to do this? I always think, who am I not to do this? First, it's a psychology technique. You just have them name all the projected fears and bad things that are going to happen. That's a standard thing: what are all the worst things that could happen? Let's say all those things happen. First, you have to face the fear and make it not the demon but an incentive. The worst things, as an author once said, the worst things that have ever happened to me never happened, was Mark Twain. So much of what keeps me back or keeps most people back is the what-ifs. I say, bring on the what-ifs. It's okay. And how's that going to be? And what will it be like when you're dead? What if you aren't killed? Then what is it going to be like? That's a possibility for sure. But what are some other possibilities?

What's been hard for me my whole life is that I've never been conforming. From day one, I felt different. I didn't understand why people were mean or why people were treated badly because of skin color. None of it made sense to me. Early on, I felt like a misfit. Getting interested in astrology before most people confirmed that sense of being different. I'm a woman attracted to men and women, and I don't identify as anything specific, which didn't make things easier. The truth is, I think I'm well suited to be an oddball. And I think that's been hard. But I think as an outlier or an outsider, I've been able to offer everybody that has a wound about belonging a place to belong. The wound is where the light comes in. And I think people often mistake that I am the wound. It's not. I have the wound. I am not the wound. The biggest hindrance to growth is asking, 'Well, what are they doing? Should I be doing that?' What I've been able to do and support others to do is if you don't feel like you fit in, great. You can stand out.

Part III: The third issue in this special four-part series takes use on a journey into the dreamscape—where Tarotpy and the unconscious converge in symbols, synchronicity, and transformation.

Cosmic Parenting: A Birth Chart Deck for Kids, Parents, and Families: 80 Astrology Cards [Freed PhD, Jennifer] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Cosmic Parenting: A Birth Chart Deck for Kids, Parents, and Families: 80 Astrology Cards

Oracle decks, well, I use them. I love oracle decks because for me, I can get in bed and pick a card. It's so fun and great that you can just pick a card and it reflects to you your unconscious. I think that's amazing. For me, it was really joyful. Then I was approached to make a deck after my two books. It's called Cosmic Parenting. Jung had the idea that we have a collective unconscious. Other frameworks also suggest we're always connected, we just forget. To me, everything we need to know and are curious about is within us. Objects reflect it, messages reflect it, cards reflect it. The minute you sit down and say, 'I'd like to take a look at this day through a card,' you've already made a relationship with the unconscious. It's like asking your dreams night after night to reveal something. The world is always speaking to us, but we often put ear muffs on and don't listen. Tarot or dreamwork is like saying, 'I'm listening. Tell me.' Astrology is a mystical oracle art as old as humanity. It has existed in every culture because before electric lights, people saw the planets and stars as luminaries, gods, and goddesses.

My main thing about my success and anyone else I've ever met is no one does this alone. Get your people. Get inspiring people around you. Here's a big one. If you're around complainers, find a new set of friends. I've never met people who complain habitually who are joyful or doing things that I want to be part of. The sacred crew metaphor is the idea that you're in a lifeboat. Who do you want to be alongside when things get rough, when you're seeing the best sunset of your life, when the dolphins are jumping, when there's a leak? It's very intentional to think, who can I count on? Not everybody has to have the same skills. Let's say I'm in a really bad mood. I've got seven different people I could call because somebody might not be home. You have to democratize your suffering and your joy. One thing's for sure, are they people who are happy for you? That's a big litmus test because a lot of people are going to be there for your misery. We call it misery poker. But how many people, when you do something amazing, are as happy for you as they'd be for themselves? Part of my work for my entire life, and it's in my astrology chart since I've been 20, is that I lead groups. I lead very intentional groups of people from all over the world, and they become each other's sacred crew.

Astrology Oracle: Messages from the Stars [Freed, Jennifer, Savolainen, Laila] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Astrology Oracle: Messages from the Stars

A Map to Your Soul: Using the Astrology of Fire, Earth, Air, and Water to Live Deeply and Fully (Goop Press) [Freed PhD, Jennifer] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. A Map to Your Soul: Using the Astrology of Fire, Earth, Air, and Water to Live Deeply and Fully (Goop Press)

I had a profound reading when I was about eighteen or nineteen, and I knew this was something I needed to learn. I became deeply engaged with it while still doing many other things. Over time it grew into a lifelong romance, the connection between astrology and psychology, alongside my training as a therapist. As a map to your soul, from the day you were born, the moment, the time, and the place you were born, it illuminates a lesson plan. These are the possibilities you signed up for. It doesn't mean you can't transcend them or go off the map. But knowing the areas you're designed to explore and experience is helpful, rather than just doing what everyone else is doing. There's a saying I like, don't do what other people can do. Do what only you can do. At the moment you're born, and in conversations with others, there are aspects, what I call your inner committee. As time moves on and the planets move through the sky, they aspect different parts of that committee. When you're twenty one, you experience certain Saturn aspects. When you're twenty eight, you have a Saturn return. Different things happen at different moments in life. These are portals or gateways to specific lessons. I learned quickly that when you know the transits, the timing of events, and the divine possibilities, I was more efficient and helpful to my therapy clients.