First off. Sorry if my writing sucks.
I had to replace a first person word with (he) here.
So I'm gonna tell a story and I can't tell it from a first person perspective because of the rules of this subreddit. But you catch my drift.
So once upon a time (this guy) was a typical dad. Just a dude with all the dude attributes. Except football. He wasn't much into sports. He was a professional high end carpenter and was running his own business working for some very wealthy clients.
Life was pretty good and things were going his way.
Then (he) went through an extremely traumatic event which is what brought him to his knees and eventually to astrology.
He lost his wife and kids a number of years ago and he felt like he was being gutted. The pain is so intense and so deep it's really hard to explain (he said).
It's what he can only describe as pain in the soul that you can't rub to make it feel better.
At least with a broken bone you can take something and run on it to try to soothe the pain.
Pain in the soul is just so F****ing horrible.
He clung to the idea of one day it'll stop. But all along he just wished he would stop waking up.
(He) would never do anything to (himself) but God it sucked.
So he turned to studying instead which led (him) into studying psychology so he could try to understand himself better. Which was helpful and it helped (him) sort out some of (his) internal issues.
Psychology led to hypnosis, which (he) became proficient at and was a nice distraction for a while.
Hypnosis led to stage magic mentalism. And (he) got pretty good at mentalism as well. Not a professional performer, but (he) came up with some pretty creative effects on (his) own.
By searching for stage magic stuff it led (him) into occultism which obviously astrology was a part of.
When (he) first came across astrology (he) thought it was nonsense. This judgmental part in the back of (his) brain kept saying this is ridiculous, but one thing stuck in (his) mind.
(He) realized that many of the most notable people in history were astrologers or were rulers like Kings and emperors who used astrologers.
So Isaac Newton for instance stood out.
And many of the founding father Freemasons were into astrology. So (he) figured there must be something to it.
And finally, one day it clicked and (he) realized how profound it is.
As (he) dug in (he) started to see the patterns many of us see and (he) began to learn.
Through (his) journey like many of you (he) figured out (his) own understanding of this art/science.
Personally (he) would say it was the worst/best thing to ever happen to (him).
The pain never fully fades but (he is) glad for this new chapter and deeper understanding.
(He) started this journey 15 years ago and (he is) forever changed. By what happened and by what (he) found.
(He) used to make fun of the idea of people finding religion when they are brought to their lowest until something kind of similar happened to (him).
(He) just feels lucky to have found the one true religion of all mankind which is truly Catholic (means universal) and we can look up at the night sky to see heaven with our own eyes.
(He) doesn't mean that in the typical religious sense.
Anyway. Thought (he'd) share (his) journey to see who else may have a similar trajectory.
One parting thought. Why (he) says it was the best/worst thing to happen was this. The worst is what (he) lost and that (he) lost (himself).
For years (he) was a hermit and focused on studying. Then through this process (he) was able to find (himself). (He) wasn't living for anyone else or because of (his) family life. (He) was truly living for (himself) and what (his) heart was leading (him) to do.
(He's) wondering if any of you found astrology through pain or trauma or whatever your journey was and now in hindsight how appreciative you are to have found this? Or if you've found yourself through a deeper understanding?