NORWAC 2023

Attending NORWAC felt like an initiation.

I am continually impressed with the way astrology works when you use it. I am humbled by the doors it continues to open for me and more importantly, the confidence it gives me to walk through them. Astrology provides a glimpse of an energy’s potential but it is always up to us to use it. The more I practice, the more I begin to experiment with its potential. 

I had my 35th Solar Return chart read by Camille Michelle Gray (an amazing, fellow astrologer.) One of the points mentioned was that my natal ruling planet, Mercury, was placed at 0*, in the 9th house of Libra. This read as potential to do a bit of traveling and possibly attending conferences. I was already yearning for more connection to the astrological community. I had also struggled with a bit of imposter syndrome around my work. I wanted to take my practice to the next level and I knew that would require me stepping out of a few boxes. 

I felt with her suggestion, a small seed was planted. 

When an opportunity to apply for scholarship opportunities arrived, I applied. I found out a few months later that I was one of the applicants chosen. I have never traveled that far or done something so unknown but there was an unspoken momentum pushing me through all of the excuses to stay home.

So I traveled to the complete opposite side of the country to attend the conference. My partner joined me for companionship and support. I felt anxious. I checked my astrocartography before departing and saw that I had significant energy lines in the area. What would this feel like? What was this trip going to reveal to me?

What I found was alignment.

I was impressed by how quickly my body adjusted to the heavy travel and time zone changes. Even though this place was foreign to me, I felt at ease. The climate and flora were stunning. My skin and hair took kindly to the fresh air and lack of humidity. I could confidently navigate the area and I was surprised to find myself feeling at home.

If I had to choose one word to describe my experience attending NORWAC ’23, it would be “lovely”. NORWAC was like a gift to my mind. To be able to soak up techniques, theories, and stories from astrologers I have studied and watched for years was inspiring. There was no arrogance, status, or division. The vibe was welcoming, engaging, exciting… and really sweet. You could just feel that everyone was happy to be there.

I wondered how I would function in this type of environment. I was not surprised when Placidus-12th-House-Stellium Megan arrived to the party.

At my heart, I am an observer. It takes some time for me to shift my energy when I enter a new space with so many different people and frequencies. I loved that NORWAC held space for all types of social needs. There was plenty of space for the extroverts and adjacent, quiet seating and shops for the introverted. One of my first stops was to the book store which truly was an astrologer’s fantasy. Stacks of books from all genres of astrology. I did not know how, but I was going to fit the five thick books I purchased somewhere in my luggage.

All of the lectures were great and incredibly interesting. There were multiple lectures happening simultaneously, all day, for three days straight. I had already been studying the program online before I arrived trying to sort out what I couldn’t miss vs. what I would watch through the recorded streams later. Most of the lectures I joined had to do with family/ancestral/relational themes which seems to be a large focus of my work.

I thoroughly enjoyed Austin Coppock’s talk about The Lot of the Father using the Menendez Brother’s murder case as an example. There were so many deep layers and synchronicities in perfect timing with the dates of the events. I was shook. I immediately went back to my laptop and started playing with various lot formulas. I’m excited to experiment more with how various lots show up in my life and with my clients.

Amanda Moreno’s lecture, “The Moon, Uranus, and Ancestral Healing” was also extremely fascinating and also quite personal for me. After Mercury, Uranus is my most dominant planet as it sits on my IC and hits all of the angles of my chart.

Moreno has seen a pattern of Moon/Uranus combinations playing a key role in the lives of people who disrupt their family traditions or ancestral patterns. Those who feel like the black sheep of their family or like they are breaking generational curses have strong Moon/Uranus signatures. This feels very accurate in my personal experience. Everyone in my family jokes that they don’t know where I came from. Most of my life was spent not fitting in anywhere, not even within my own home. I have generally felt very alienated and misunderstood. Even now as an adult, I know my family (who are serious, traditional Christians) do not fully understand what I am doing with astrology and why I don’t enjoy football culture. There is a disconnect between them and my need to be rebellious, emotionally expressive and passionate.

All three of my children also carry my Uranian energy. My eldest daughter’s moon trines Uranus, and my youngest two each have Moon conjunct Uranus by 1*. Attending that talk really brought a bit of healing to me. I left feeling seen and validated in a way I did not know I needed.

I also adored talks from Anne Ortlee and Demetra George. These women are astrological icons living. There was such a confidence, comfort, and welcoming feeling to their presentation and I was sucked in, wishing for more time! Demetra’s talk on the “20,000 other Asteroids” had me stunned and intrigued . I look forward to playing around with them in my sessions.

A requirement of attending the conference as a Diversity Scholarship winner included a breakfast with all of the other winners. We were joined by the brilliant Samuel Reynolds and Vernon Robinson - two of the very first (and few) professional, black, male astrologers in the business. I laughed to myself as I saw everyone come in.

Every interesting person who had caught my eye in a lecture or at the book store was sitting at the table. Each carrying a certain essence that was authentic and hungry. I was so happy to see a long time internet friend, Eboni, at that table as well. We have interacted in a few Black Astrologer groups online and have worked together in the past as well. I am always rooting for her and it was so great to see that yet again we were brought together in a special moment in both of our astrological journeys. So much of my experience as an astrologer has been isolated or through the internet. It was so nice to meet instagram friends and people from the CAPISAR board (where I have been acting as Secretary for over a year) who I have only seen on Zoom.

I think my greatest takeaway from this entire experience was that I am an astrologer.

This is my sacred calling. These are my people.
I can have as much of this as I want. I can be as big as I want. I can do as much as I want.
I am confirmed - now what will I do with it?

What will I do with it?

I want to use this work as a healing element. I know I don’t have all of the answers and I can’t live anyone else’s life but I can possibly provide interpretation of the map for their journey … a clear one, a hopeful one, a loving one.

I want to empower people to work with their own chart. It is so important to have your own relationship with your astrology because again, while I can read it, I am not actively living it. We all have our own complex, intricate lives strung with patterns, habits, stories, experiences, traumas, triumphs that only we each intimately and privately know. No one can read your chart like you can read your chart and I want to make the language more accessible to those who want to know how.

I want to bring astrology into the mainstream and not in a Tik-Tok way. I want to bring it into every day places and practices. I don’t want it to be some weird thing that gets scoffed at. I want it to be seen, revered, and respected as it was before its merit was stripped away by religion and society. I want to embrace the ancient wisdom and show its modern purpose.

I strive to bring timing, accuracy, comfort, support, and solutions to my clients. I want to spend the rest of my life learning and sharing… learning and sharing… on an endless loop. I want to connect with all of the people the world has to offer me. I want to travel and study throughout the world. I want to have more professional astrologers in my rolodex that I am collaborating and communing with.

I want to write a book.

I think it’s important to state my intentions somewhere that can hold me accountable and that can keep the record. It’s scary to make these proclamations but NORWAC has given me the confidence to believe that they are 100% attainable.

I am eternally grateful for the experience Laura Nalbandian and Samuel Reynolds gave me when they awarded me this scholarship. I had been trying to rally up this electricity within myself for awhile but this was what I needed. Everyone I have spoken to or seen post about it since then has had the exact same sentiments. There’s something really special happening through NORWAC and through the astrological community at large.

I am honored to be apart of this new wave and I look forward to doing every single thing I said I wanted to do with this work.

With love,

Megan