Michelle Karen | Astrology for Enlightenment
October 7, 2009
Dr. Kent: Welcome back to Sound Authors. Well, this is Dr. Kent, and it’s my pleasure to speak to the author of Astrology for Enlightenment. It’s a beautiful book, and her name is Michelle Karen. Welcome to the show.
Michelle Karen: Thank you.
Dr. Kent: And it’s really a beautiful book, on the outside and on the inside. Tell me a nutshell of what this book is all about.
Michelle Karen: Well, it’s a very original book in that it’s an astrology book but it’s way more than that. It’s really a book on enlightenment. On the Mayan calendar what is happening between now and 2012, which is the end of the Mayan calendar, why does the Mayan calendar end on the 21st of December, 2012, what this means to us, and I share very classical insights on how to reach enlightenment in our daily life, in our bedroom and our bathroom and our kitchen, etc. And I also offer excerpts from the prophecy of John of Jerusalem, that was origined 500 years before Nostradamus seen centuries, and which is a very clear prophecy for our time that is absolutely predicting what is going on in our lives right now, and all the drama (inaudible) that we’re exposed to that is the prophecy that’s full of hope, and that’s giving away that this world of darkness that we are exposed to now is actually giving way to a beautiful time of magic and peace and harmony. And I also redefine each sign in a holistic way, so based on the law of similarities, I explain how to understand each sign by referring to the colors, the sounds, the animals, the plants, the cities they are connected to, and I also give a very detailed prediction for each sign between now and 2012 and how to write those changes as elegantly as possible. So it’s basically a memoir. It’s a very handsome kind of book that is going to really help you understand what is going on, why there’s changes, and how to deal with them as positively and effectively as possible.
Dr. Kent: Well I know a little bit about astrology but not too much. Kind of the extent of what I know is, I heard a great lecture on, you know, the three wise men and the Christian bible, and they were three astrologers, so I know a little bit about that. And then also, of course, the horoscope that comes in the newspaper every week. What do you think people don’t know about astrology?
Michelle Karen: Well, I think, well first of all I think you’re way ahead than most people because the fact that you know that those guys were actually soldiers and they followed the star that told them that there was going to be a very special birth on the planet, which was Christ, it’s already way ahead of the game already. I would say that astrology to me is really a tool for empowerment. Because more, it’s totally based on your date of birth and month, day and year, your time of birth and your place of birth in terms of city, state and/or country. It’s going to give a map of the heavens at the time you were born, what you breathed in with your first breath. So that is very much, there is a sense there of something that gives us a tool that enables us to really understand what our weakness is and our strengths, and what did we choose when we walk on this planet or when we in come in groups. And out of that we can direct our lives with more focus, much faster, it’s basically like having a map, you know, and it’s like if you were invited somewhere and you just drove around randomly hoping to get to your destination, you’re probably going to spend a lot of time just scattered around, and getting frustrated and not figuring out where it is that you’re supposed to go and never finding that place. Whereas if you get your GPS and it tells you to go right, to go left, to make a turn, that maybe here there’s a nice museum to look at, or here there’s a nice viewpoint, or here there’s a great restaurant, well you’re going on a much more enjoyable ride and finding much more efficient and you’re definitely going to get to your destination much faster and in much better condition. And that’s basically what having a birth chart is about. Finding the fastest and the most efficient and the most empowering way to become all that you are.
Dr. Kent: And so, you know, I’m a Sagittarius, and people purport to know a lot about me just by knowing my birthday. What does birth date have to do with all of this?
Michelle Karen: Well, the birthday is based on, you know, because (inaudible) priests who wear the ancient astrologers and festive astrologers in Caldea which is present day Iraq, they figure things out by just observing what was going on in the sky and what was going on on earth, and they started to see that there were a lot of similarities between certain configurations and certain times of the year and that people born during that specific time of the year displayed very similar character traits. So Sagittarius in our northern hemisphere is December, and this is the time of the year where usually the trees are barren and it’s cold, but there is still some very beautiful days and there is a hope that the despite all this coldness that we’ll feel great. So this is the time of Christmas, this is the time of Hanukah and all those holidays where we should give to our family and eat together and we have gratitude for life. And this is, and this could be the hardest days you have dealing with this specific time of the year connected to a specific sign reveal what that sign is about. So if you look at Hanukah or Christmas, these are really beautiful holidays of sharing and gratitude, and that’s the basic character of Sagittarius. Sagittarius is a fierce line, so it’s a very dynamic, energetic, full of faith kind of sign. Very philosophical, also very interested in foreign languages and foreign cultures and long distance traveling, and definitely people. And it’s represented by the centaur, you know with the arrow, you know when you have an arrow it’s usually shot and lands much further than where it was shot from, and usually Sagittarians are people who are able to see the silver lining on every dark cloud and who are very adventurous, who are usually quite athletic, and who really take great pride in having a very fit body, and who are extremely intelligent and usually have an encyclopedic knowledge and a great friend who can usually know, you know, connect very easily to people and have this warmth and this very shiny intelligence that embraces everything. So they’re not always very good with details, because they’re always focusing on the great picture. But they’re very dynamic and hopeful leaders in a religious or philosophical way. And they’re very honest people, you can always know the truth from a Sagittarius, they will never lie to you, or if they lie it’s really very obvious.
Dr. Kent: It’s such a fascinating thing. Now, is there a bad sign? You know, if you were born in March did you get hit with the unlucky stick? Or are all signs good in their own ways?
Michelle Karen: Every sign is good in its own way. And sometimes the Sagittarius is going to be easier for you to connect with an Aries or Leo who are other fire signs, than it might be to a Pisces who is born in March who is more sensitive, more imaginative, more inner mystical, meditative, very concerned with music, or who loves peace and solitary and who could be a little more secretive. So it doesn’t, so there is different qualities specific to different signs, and each of these qualities create the tapestry of life so they each have a very important role. It’s as if we had this society that only has accountants, where probably our finances would definitely be in order, but nobody would eat. We need a baker, we need a school, we need teachers, we need accountants, we need all sorts of artists, we need all sorts of people with different skills and gifts that are going to enrich our experience of life.
Dr. Kent: So your book Astrology for Enlightenment, you mentioned it’s sort of like a guide or an encyclopedia. Tell us about, how does one read the book?
Michelle Karen: Well for example, there’s a lot of ways to read the book, but there is one very unique feature to this book, which is on the last page, and which is a guide to the planetary rulership of every hour of every day. So the nice thing is that you don’t need to look into and count zones, time zones or summer time or wintertime. It’s going to be just the time that’s on your clock, and you’re going to look, for example, if you want to create successful meetings and you should always, and I explain how to use it with the meaning of every planet, but you should always use the sun hour. And the sun hour happens, each planetary hour happens four times every day of every week. So for example, if you want to start a fitness hour, well the Mars hour would be the right one. If you want to have a successful date or you want to create harmony with someone with whom there’s been discord, then you would use the Venus hour. And then you can also look at, for example, when somebody calls you and emails you, and check at what time they called you or they emailed you, and that’s going to give you a sense of their hidden agenda or what their real purpose was in contacting you. So that’s one way of looking at it. Another way to use the book is to use the prediction for the next four years and I did it sign by sign, and I created a (inaudible). So for example, as a Sagittarius if you want to know what’s going, what are going to be the major dates or shifts in your love life, for example, your career, then you would go to that specific segment of the book. And then I also used that, you know we usually, you’re Sagittarius so you go and read Sagittarius. But I explain in my book that we are the 12 signs. So as you read Sagittarius, well you might also want to read Capricorn if you’re interested in your finances, or enhancing your finances. And Capricorn, and I explain exactly on the grid on which sign corresponds to what are of life for every single sign. And for example, if you start to use a tool for enlightenment of each sign, for example the colors and the gemstones and the scents and the perfumes and the plants, as we see with the Capricorn, you start creating something in your life that’s going to help you enhance or empower the area of finances. So it’s a very complete book, and then I give also predictions based on the Mayan calendar, and based on or in relation to with our Western astrology, which I believe brings much deeper depth to what the Mayan calendar talks about and the various stages and cycles we are in between now and 2012. So it’s really a book that you can have fun with. It’s a book that you can go back and forth with, it’s a book that you can use in all sorts of ways. So that’s why it’s sort of a manual you want to have with you at all times, because I know some friends who have bought like four different copies of Astrology for Enlightenment for each member of their family. Because there’s always someone who is using the book and (inaudible) very different ways. So it’s one of those books that you know, you don’t necessarily read from cover to cover. You can, of course, and reading for first read it will help, but after that you’re just going to go back and forth and flip through the pages.
Dr. Kent: Well, it’s been such an honor chatting with Michelle Karen. Her book is called Astrology for Enlightenment. Again, it’s a gorgeous book, it’s something you definitely could leave sitting around the house and be proud when people see it. It’s a beautiful looking book. And it’s been such a pleasure to talk to you.
Michelle Karen: Thank you very much, and people can also order it on my website if they want, and I’ll sign every copy personally. And it’s michellekaren.com.
Dr. Kent: So michellekaren.com, and the book again is Astrology for Enlightenment, and it was a real pleasure talking to you.
Michelle Karen: Thank you very much.

























