Katherine de Jersey with Marvin and Eleanor at Family Event, August 24 1981
Personal Note: In 1993, my dear friend and astrology mentor/teacher Katherine de Jersey asked me to write a forward to her book, Appointment with Destiny. I considered her request a great honor; of course, I wrote the forward to Katherine’s book. The book is a wonderful case study book with astrological knowledge and teaching scattered throughout it. I highly recommend you read Appointment with Destiny and Katherine’s other book, Destiny Times Six. Both books are highly readable and very entertaining.
In 2005 when Katherine “crossed over,” as she would say, I revised the forward I wrote in 1993. It reflects that Katherine is no longer with us in body although she is always with me on all other levels. Without her in my life, I never would have understood or studied astrology and it is with great honor that I republish this forward to introduce you to her and her work.
Revised Forward from Appointment with Destiny
At the time I became interested in astrology, information about it as a serious subject required a commitment of time as well as intent because the popularized notion of astrology did not reflect the true science of the subject. As a social scientist, I wanted to understand how and if astrology had something to offer a true explorer of consciousness and personality. I had studied astrology for a couple of years on my own, finding it the most complex field I had ever encountered, thus, when I had an opportunity to have Katherine do my astrological chart, I looked forward to the experience with great anticipation.
My initial reading with Katherine overwhelmed me; she had skill beyond what I could comprehend from my studies; from the chart she drew up, she knew all kinds of intricacies of my personality and my life that even the best designed personality test in the hands of a truly gifted psychologist could not have mapped out. I wanted to understand more of what Katherine did and I wanted to know more of what she could see in the charts. I began an exploration with her that continued to grow over the years. Initially, I had her do charts for my children; I put the tapes away for more than ten years before I listened to them with my children; they were astounded at the accuracy of the map Katherine had made of the events as well as of the psychological climate of the various times in their lives.
In addition, I began to send clients to see Katherine for chart delineation; sometimes my clients would call her without telling her that I sent them. She invariably asked them if they were in counseling or recommended that they seek counseling; they would then tell her that they were in counseling with me. Since the information that Katherine gleaned from the charts proved so accurate and useful, I began to send all of my clients to her for evaluation; the two of us collaborated on cases, thus helping me with the timing of therapeutic interventions as well as alerting me to areas of the personality which were blocked, helping me find other ways to approach an individual.
After I moved into my office in Chicago and began remodeling, I had a meeting with Katherine. She told me that I should make sure I could get out of my lease because I would be moving within two years; I thought she was crazy. I said: “ Katie, I just unpacked books I have not unpacked in twelve years, I am not about to move.” “Well, dear,” she said, “ if you sign the lease, at least have a way to terminate it and have a legal document with your partner, because it is right here in the chart.”
Since by that time I trusted Katherine, I consulted with my lawyer; I had Katherine pick the time for me to sign the documents. Sure enough, at just the time she anticipated, I decided to move to California, a move I had always wanted to make, but which presented itself at that time. I was grateful that I had listened to Katherine. Because of the documents Katherine had advised me to prepare, I saved a great deal of money and hassles with my business partner.
Shortly after my move to California, Katherine told me that I would meet a person with whom I would have the “lasting love relationship in my life.” She gave me the exact time and day I would meet him. I promptly put the piece of paper away and went about my life. Several months later, I decided in a meditation to go to India for five weeks on a spiritual quest. At the time I thought to myself, “how could Katherine be right if I go to the other side of the world?” On Katherine’s advice, I used astrology as a guide and did not change my life based on it. I took my trip. In India, on the day and at the time Katherine had envisioned from the timing of the chart, I met my husband; he was traveling in India also; we lived within a mile of each other in California; in addition, we moved in the same circles of holistic medicine and consciousness people, but had never met. We have been soul mates, married since we met, August 14, 1978.
Through Katherine I came to understand and use astrology constructively. I observed many dabblers misuse astrology with its potential for information. Katherine could see what forces acting upon a person would present to that person through their charts; she could see the timing of the energies as they approached and grew stronger, and she could see the timing of planetary energies as they weakened and moved away.
When an individual is aware and sensitive to cosmic energies acting upon them both internally and externally, they can transcend the physical dimension and transform the level on which manifestation occurs. Every individual has positive forces as well as negative ones that help them grow in awareness; by using an astrological road map, Katherine helped individuals anticipate the forces and their impact on them. They could live with these cosmic influences with less stress.
As another example, when I planned to move to California, I wanted to time my move for the least stress; Katherine and I talked at length about the factors in my astrological chart at that time. The financial stress factors were there; I decided with her help that because there would be financial stress regardless of what I did, I could move and be working toward something I wanted rather than staying in a place that was not my true “home.” It did help me, however, to know that after a certain time the “fog” would lift and stress would no longer be an issue in the financial area.
Along these same lines, my daughter consulted with Katherine in December of her first year of college. She felt she was at a crossroads in her life; she disliked school and was deciding whether to continue or quit. Katherine told her that the frustration showed in her chart regardless of her decision and that the frustration would continue for about four years. Katherine also told her that there was an aspect coming up in January that “nine times out of ten indicates that you meet the man you marry.” Armed with this information, my daughter returned to school; in January she met a man to whom she became engaged to within a month. With Katherine’s blessing she married a year and a half later. She continued to be frustrated throughout college, but knowing the frustration was part of her self-exploration, she tolerated the schoolwork. She ultimately completed her Ph.D. in psychology when she no longer experienced confusion about her direction.
Proper language in astrology makes a world of difference in the accuracy and nuance of its communication. Katherine was a master at this language; she did not use aspects in astrology as immutable forces as so many astrology students do; she saw aspects and expressed them as energies. These energetic interactions between planets have subtle influences on the consciousness of action patterns in an individual and their life. She used her language skill to express such patterns to individuals, as much as language can.
By understanding cosmic patterns you know what to expect from these energies. You can master your life free of forces that impact you daily and you remain very much in tune with them.
I worked with Katherine de Jersey for thirty years. She gave me great respect for the astrological field as well as for her in her skill as a master of the astrological tools. My life became richer because of Katherine who contributed valuable insights into my life and so many others; my psychological practice was enriched by having Katherine as a resource who has contributed by the use of astrology to the depth of the work I continue to do.
Astrology and Noble Sciences Tools can synthesize many disciplines that facilitate the ease with which you live daily. There is a fascinating web of interplay between the road map of fateful forces and the power of individual freedom to change cosmic energy influences and create one’s own destiny.
Eleanor Haspel-Portner, Ph.D.
Pacific Palisades, California
Based on a Forward written on July 22, 1993 for: Appointment with Destiny by Katherine De Jersey (1995) J.B. Publishers, Inc. Richmond, VA.