MpMapril_FINAL.pdf Apr. 2014 | Page 17

IT’S ALL IN THE STARS MELISSA HODGE SPEAKS WITH ASTROLOGER STEPHANIE JOHNSON What job should I do? Should I stay with my partner? Is there travel in my future? Will I ever have children? These are all familiar questions that inevitably come up during our lives when we feel like we are at a crossroad, and that’s where astrology comes in. Far from the hocus pocus many imagine, astrology is actually the science of reading your life map as astrologer, Stephanie Johnson explains. “Astrology is a study and interpretation of the planets, the stars, the asteroids and their influence on the earth and individuals. We calculate where the planets were based on time and place of birth. From that you can tell just about everything about people,” says Stephanie. “Of course you can’t tell the choices they will make but you can tell the choices that will be presented to them, as well as their basic personality. Astrology is never wrong but it is a complex map of a person’s life.” And Stephanie should know, after studying astrology and being involved in the field for more than 25 years. “I actually started out as a journalist, working for AAP, a country paper in the UK, local newspapers and magazines in Australia and the USA, but I always wanted to look deeper at people’s personalities. Then it came to me when I was doing court reporting. I would look at these people who had committed crimes and think they look just the same on the outside as everyone else, but I wanted to understand what makes people tick,” says Stephanie. “I picked up a book about astrology and particularly the introverted, armchair philosopher Sagittarian and I was hooked.” Soon Stephanie’s curiosity became a career as an astrologer. “Studying astrology also introduced me to a computer programmer which evolved into us starting our own business together, Solar Fire software, now in its ninth version and the world leader in astrology software,“ says Stephanie, who has just designed an app for the iPhone called Astro Gold. While the software business has been a great success, Stephanie says nothing beats doing an astrological consultation for a client, helping them achieve greater selfawareness. “When you 6VRF