Rising Star of the Month: Madeline Zech Ruiz

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Well, hello, everyone. I am here again to present another rising star, Madeline Zek Ruiz. She. She is incredible. And everyone at UVA knows Madeline because Madeline makes it a point to introduce herself to everyone at the University of Vedic Astrology. She becomes everyone's friend. And probably the best thing that Madeline does is teaching. Madeline is the most incredible instructor. And you see, when you graduate from the University of Vedic Astrology, you have the opportunity to go on and become a tutor to the new students that are coming on board. Give them all the ways that you've learned and the way that you've captured the information. But I don't know that I've ever had a student quite this ambitious and fun. Madeline makes learning fun, and she has worked with so many students. And I know they will all say the same thing about Madeline, about her inspiration and her empowerment to other students to help them learn. And I just want the world to know about you and how you do what you do with your teaching and helping with the university. And Madeline, also tell us a little bit about how you got into astrology and what it means to you and, you know, what was your experience as you were learning with the University of Vedic Astrology? Let me just hand it over to you and you tell us a little bit more about yourself and what this experience has been like for you.

Well, it's been awesome. First of all, I never in my life dreamed that I would be or have a master's degree in Vedic astrology. And I've always loved numerology.

And.

And of course, the horoscopes in the newspapers, and I thought they were so mysterious, like, how do they know this? And how does this all work? And my very first kind of experience with something like this was that book, Hot Numbers back in the 80s, and it was a numerology book. And I tore through that thing like a crazy woman. You could figure out everything with numerology, and I was just fascinated. But I had a regular life at that time. You know, I was in college then. I had my career. So it's not like you can look at this. Well, back then, I didn't look at it as a job. I looked at it as a massive interest and a hobby. But I didn't have enough time to devote to it the way I do now and the way I love it. So I kind of spent my early years, I was a corporate chick. I worked at Microsoft, I worked at Amazon, I worked at Starbucks headquarters. I was an entrepreneur. So I always call myself a computer chick. I am an end User. I love using computers. I have traveled the world five times over, married with kids. I am like everybody else. I am just busy living life, doing all the things that you have to do to be responsible, put a roof over your head, raise your family. So when I got onto YouTube and of course I learned about YouTube at my age, and I thought, wow, you can learn anything on here. And I thought, well, what, what interests me? And I thought, well, let's look up astrology. And this tarot card stuff popped up and some Western astrology stuff popped up and I was like, okay, that's interesting. But then Vedic astrology popped up, you popped up. And I was blown away by what I was hearing because Vedic astrology is based on the fixed stars. And it is very different from western astrology because western astrology can tell you your personality and all that fun stuff. But Vedic astrology gets into predicting your Dharma and, and looking at your karma and you can figure out how many children and marriages and money and career and catastrophic events and cryptocurrency and lottery winners and ups and downs. And it was mind blowing of what Vedic astrology offered when you took the time to learn it. And so I saw a couple of your videos, Joni, and I became massively intrigued. And then you said, I have a university and of course I love to learn. So that got my attention. And I thought, university, what's involved with that? Because I'm a very busy woman, I've got young children, I take care of my parents, career, the whole nine yards. And I looked into it and I jumped in with both feet and I signed up for the entire program. And that has been the most fun I have ever had. The university takes you from point A to Z very succinctly. And the best part was, is that I could go at my own pace. So I could either keep up with the live classes, which are fantastic, or if I got behind because of life, well, then I could watch the videos, do the homework at my own pace, get on telegram, chat with the other students, catch up where I didn't understand, chime in. And it really changed my ability to take a little interest and turn it into a passion. It is a passion of mine. And that is what the university of Vedic Astrology has offered me as just a regular person.

Wow, that's amazing that you were not like totally into astrology before you started this. I mean, most of us, like, I've been studying astrology since I was a teenager and you kind of got it, got in on it later in life. But, man, you've made up for lost time. I'm going to say.

Say that I did, actually. I. I had. I dabbled like everybody else, but I didn't. I wasn't a professional. I had a lot of other responsibilities, but I found that I love it. I love it. It is like sitting down with the greatest book of all time. And. And although I have many books that I study, your university is great because you give us the workbook, which is fantastic. It's not that thick. And then you have this other book, which I love, which I always say is the secret sauce, because I didn't know anything about houses or planets. I didn't know anything. I had to learn everything. And I realized that if I just took the classes at the university, I studied the two books that you wrote, and I actually studied and read them. And then we have this amazing group on Telegram. All the students get together and at different hours because the students come from all over the world in every time zone. And so sometimes we'll meet in the morning, sometimes in the afternoon. Sometimes you'll just send a message out asking, oh, I've got this chart. Does anybody. What do you see? And you'll get an answer the next day based on someone's time zone. And it has been a phenomenal experience because I've been able to ask any question I can think of, either of you. You're very responsive to all of my emails and telegrams, and I appreciate that. All the tutors and the classmates. So it became this community that I didn't expect. And it is invaluable because then we all start sharing our life stories along with our charts and bringing in some fun famous ones, which is just fun to do. And it has been mind blowing what I have been able to learn at your university.

I know in such a short amount of time, Madeline, you are able to read charts. I can efficiently make predictions. I mean, you blow me away. When you were in the sixth semester and I was working with you, I couldn't believe your answers. I mean, this is somebody who just. How long has it taken you to get from the beginning to where you are now? How many years has it been?

Well, it's been about a year and a half that I signed up with you. I signed up January of 2021.

Yeah. And right behind you is your diploma.

There it is.

Yeah.

That was the greatest day ever.

I know. I got to give it to you in person. That was really cool. I love it. That was exc.

For me.

Yes. And you know, Madeline, here's what's so special about Madeline as a tutor. She loves communicating and teaching. And so she has this little way of teaching that's called the whiteboard. And she found that this was so efficient because really, it is, because only a year and a half, this blows my mind. But you have this whiteboard that you will do these classes. I mean, this is, aside from the university that you say, hey, guys, you want to join me in for a whiteboard study? And you bring them all on, and you go into a little class, tell them a little bit about that whiteboard. Is that the whiteboard behind you that you use?

This is the whiteboard behind me. And you got to remember, I didn't know anything about astrology when I signed up. I didn't know planets. I didn't know houses. I didn't know qualities. I knew nothing. I mean, I heard fire, earth, air, water. I didn't know what that meant. So there was a lot of information in semester one and two. And of course, it's paced beautifully with the modules, but I had to memorize it. And I. I was starting from scratch. So I thought, well, I just am going to have to write these things down and put them in an order so I can do this. So I created a South Indian chart on my whiteboard, and I started filling it in. And as I filled it in, I was memorizing houses and planets and qualities. And. And when it got complicated for me, which I fell a little behind, is when you introduce the Ascendant, because then the Ascendant would be that person's first house. And that took me a little bit of understanding, and I realized I wasn't the only student who didn't get that right off the bat. And so on my whiteboard, we kind of talk about the natural zodiac, and then, you know, the Ascendant, how it changes it. And so I. I struggled with, well, what moves and what doesn't move in the chart? If you're moving the Ascendant, what, what else moves? You know, does dig ball of move. What, what else moves? And so I kind of created this whiteboard that comes to life and kind of have a checklist of all the things. And. And I ended up with this little. This little chart here that I did on the computer. And, of course, the colors represent fire, earth, air, water. And I put in all the little secrets and aspects and angles and rules and things in the middle. But as I created it, I was learning it. And so I do these whiteboard sessions where I tell my classmates, okay, Get a blank South Indian chart, and let's start to build it together. And we do them on Saturdays or Sundays or Wednesday nights or Tuesday mornings, depending where you are in the world, doesn't matter. And I have done a video for the school where I recorded the session. And it is just kind of an interactive way to start learning the fundamentals. Because if you don't learn the fundamentals, then you can't build on it. Because once we get to the third semester, we're starting to predict.

Yeah.

And so that's a big deal. And so you want to know more than two things about a house. I mean, okay, second house is about early childhood and how you make your money every day. What else? Because. And that's this. I always call this your secret sauce, Joanie. I always tell all my classmates, you guys read this book out loud into a tape recorder, play it back on your walks, play it back in the car. Because there are at least 30 adjectives for each house. And that makes you a great astrologer when you know what qualities or characteristics of each house or planet are available for you to. To see your client's story for when they ask you that odd question.

It's so true. Yeah. And it's the way the houses are interrelated to each other that gives each house its variety of meanings, such as, you know, you don't think of the fifth house as money from your mother, but because it's the second house from the fourth. It is how you know what kind of wealth you will receive from your family or your mother. So, I mean, all of those meanings come to life when you understand and you interrelate it. What is. What do I always call it about?

And the derivative house system, such as, you know, the third house, for example, can be the end of your parents. Why? Because it's the 12th from the 4th that the 4th house. And I'll never forget when I had Saturn and Jupiter transiting in my third house, I lost both my parents. And I was like, how is the third house relative to that? So when you really understand the houses, I always say, this is the groundwork of the chart. The houses are the foundation. I say it's a stage that the performers perform on. And that's why when I start my classes, I start with the houses first, not the planets, which you would think the planets are the energy. But I want to get the foundation of the stage built before I put the actors on it, which are the planets. So the houses, to me are so. So very important in astrology. And if you understand all these different meanings, like Madeline saying the 30 some odd meanings that a house could be, this is what's going to make your predictions and your readings as an astrologer great. And my goal here is to produce great astrologers so they can go out and help other people in the world. I mean, we all need this. And this is the divine science. This science can give us what we need to live our lives, to heal our lives and to help others. This is astrology. And Vedic astrology is so much more profound and deep, especially when it comes to the dashes in terms of predictions. When you have these tools, you have the tools you need for your life to really help yourself live life. And not only that, remember, I think all of us at the university, we all know this, that life is a spiritual experience. We are here to grow on a spiritual level. And everything that's presented in our life is an opportunity for growth. Astrology gives you exactly the guidance, the tools, the. It's the navigation of a lifetime, really. And Madeline took this and she helps so many people. But what I love the most about you, Madeline, is you make it fun. And learning should be fun. And that's what we do. We help each other, but we have fun learning. We take the charts of like famous people, such as. Let's talk a little bit about something that's going on in the news, which everyone was upset, obsessed with. Amber Heard, right? And Johnny Depp.

Yeah. So I took their chart and I did1 on YouTube. But we go into a lot more detail in the, in our classes because we look at a lot and the transits and everything. I knew that he was going to pretty much win this case. But you know, looking at his chart, he had so much in the Nakshatra of truth finding. You know, I think it was purva nutara shadow, which is finding the truth. And that's why he started this whole rigamaro. But you know what I discovered today? Madeline and one of my other astrology friends, we were talking about this and she sent me a text today and she said, did you know that Amber Heard and Johnny Depp both have their Venus conjunction, the star a goal, which is where.

Which is where the full moon and I mean Mercury stationed retrograde recently they have their Venus which. What is Venus? Love and romance. Right. And to see this in someone's chart, you can see what is a goal, but losing your head. And what did they do throughout this trial? Losing their head. And no wonder they were attracted to each other. If their Venuses were the same in the same sign, same Nakshatra, they were conjunct. So these are all the kind of fun little facts that make astrology fun for learning because we love to take, and I know celebrity charts. Celebrities, their information's out there. And you know, it's okay to look at celebrity charts to learn from because everyone already knows something about them, so they're so much more interesting. And so when I have my live classes every week, I always take something, something or someone that's going on in the news currently because it's so interesting, and then make a prediction. And when it happens, you're like, okay, see, astrology, this is in the makings of how it works. I think that's so much fun. But Madeline, you're a master of fun with the art of astrology.

So we love it in class, what we do with all the students, the new students, that what I love about the tutors is that, you know, when you're new to this, the best place to start is with your own chart, right?

Best place to starting chart to everyone. Your own chart.

Absolutely. And so we'll read the new students charts, right? Because that's a great way to teach. So one of the fun things I loved, I loved having my chart looked at by the tutors because not only was like all about me, which was so cool, but I also got to start to learn the houses and the planets and the aspects and the dashes. And it was, it was just so eye opening and, and fun. And then I started doing that with the students. I do that all the time with the students in our groups. And anyone who has questions, you bring your chart, your mom's chart, your brother's chart, whomever, and we'll work with it. Why? Because we're still learning and we're here to have fun. This is fun. I didn't sign up for work. I signed up to have fun because this was my little escape, right? Something that I was passionate about. So it's a place for us to come and play and, and have fun and learn and be Vedic astrologers. Because in the end, Joanie, I am now a Vedic astrologer because of your school.

You are? Absolutely. And you know everyone. I always tell everyone that they're going to have their own special way of doing astrology. Yes. You're going to use all the principles and study and memorize and know everything, but everyone has a little different style about them depending on who they are, their upbringing, who they are. You know, people are attracted to different astrologers for different reasons. You know, maybe because you and I, we have families, we have children and we're women, maybe we'll attract a certain type that wants to know more about their kids. But, you know, it's so interesting that we all are different and we all have our different style of doing astrology based on who we are. And I think that that's powerful and wonderful to remember about all of us, that none of us will do astrology exactly the same, but when you use the principles, you are going to do such powerful work to help heal people. And, you know, this is so invaluable to be able to give people this information, to help give them guidance in their life. I mean, it's worth its weight in, if not more, it truly is. Astrology is the gift from the gods, really, or the, or from the divine, let me put it that way, depending on your background and beliefs. But it is, it is the divine science. That's why I named that book the Divine Science, because it is, it is nothing that we've created. It was given to us from above. And this is why in the ancient Vedas, which, that's why we call it Vedic astrology, it's actually just Indian astrology. But in the Vedas, they say that there's different branches in the Vedas, actually they're put together in a series of hymns. And the way that it works is they talk about different parts of the human body. And for astrology, in the hymn in the Vedas, astrology is called the eyes of the Vedas, the eyes of man. And I thought that was so meaningful. Joy Tish is the science of light, but it is the eyes of the man. Therefore, what does it do but give us sight into the darkness of this world and helps us see things. And another thing is once you know thyself, when you know everything about yourself, you know everything about the universe. This is really and truly how powerful this science is. And Madeline, you have really.

You had to be an astrologer in your past life for you to catch on to this somehow, some way. But yes, and I know you help so many people every day, even not only with, with the teaching that you do, but in the work you do with astrology. I know because I know you. You're always at service and always helping others. And you're so giving and you're so loving. I know you, you come from the heart. And to have people like you, this is like, this is what the university is about, A community of caring people that use a science to Help give us light, that helps us grow. I mean it doesn't, it doesn't get more powerful than that. So I have to say the people that are part of this community are like minded and people that come together with this university are just like Madeline. Now one thing I hope that Madeline and I know you're going to do this. The way that I've devised the university is it's these learning platforms or semesters. So I have the five semesters, the sixth semester, as you well know, I work with the, the person and they, they have to do the work and prove that they can make all the predictions. But there's other semesters that are being developed as we speak and it's by other graduates such as Srikala Ram. She has created two semesters that are so powerful for Gemini Astrology. If you want to learn Gemini Astrology, she's the one to go to. She's written a book on it. She has two different semesters. This is a platform on uva, but it's opening because I encourage all of my tutors to create their own semesters on the University of Vedic Astrology and put it out there already. We have an audience and we have, we have students that want to take these courses. But I'm looking to see an array of classes. I know we have a team that's working with medical astrology and in healing right now and we've started a magazine that we're getting out that has the, all of the research in the Journal for Research with the University of Vedic Astrology. It's all going to be in the new magazine that's about to come out in July. By the way, everyone, this is going to be Joni Patri Astrology Insights. And we have so many of the students writing in this book, beautiful magazine, plus research articles and Madeline's been doing a lot of research on things. Tell them a little bit about your research you've been working on.

Well, I'm working with another student who actually is a physician. We have several physicians in the university. I don't know if people know that, but everybody comes from. We have dentists, physicians, nurses, moms, bus drivers, community computer people, sound engineers, you name it, they're here. And so I've hooked up with a couple of people and we are actually studying solar flares and planetary transits throughout history in an effort to try and predict them going forward. And so.

We'Re having a very good time kind of looking at what are the transits that hit when you get these solar flares and how big is the solar flare and what aspects of what planets could have or would have caused that and what's coming? So that's an interest that I have with several other students.

Well, you know what I discovered this is in one of my research articles on the Saturn square Uranus aspect, which happens about every 11 years. They say that those solar flares get really big around that time frame. And so this is like every 11 years that Saturn, Uranus go into a hard aspect. I think those solar flares, the big ones, come around every nine to 11 years. Isn't that right?

Yeah.

Okay. So I was charting that and I was like amazed how this followed along with that. So Saturn will go into a hard aspect with Uranus every 11, 10 to 11 years somewhere around there. And so what it is is when Saturn conjuncts Uranus, Saturn squares Uranus and it's waxing square. And then when it opposes Uranus and then when it in its waning square to Uranus is another hard aspect. So for Saturn to go through all the signs and with this cycle with Uranus, it takes about 40 years that it completes this conjunction, square opposition, square conjunction. And that equates to around 11 to 12 years or somewhere around there. And it does line up with that. I thought that was fascinating. So there's all sorts of things you can be using in your research. And I know some of the research is fascinating with medical astrology that they've been working.

Oh, the greatest thing is that this is what they always said when I worked at Microsoft. If you can think of it, you can do it. So the university is set up like that. If you can think of it, you can research it. And so you just have to have the thought or the passion or the desire or the interest. And guaranteed there are students at the university who, who are going to say, you know, I was wondering about that too. And so we put together our little group and we start to research and start our own spreadsheets and research and come together and we're like, hey, did you see this? Did you know that? And that's aside from our studies. But that's what makes this so fun. It's a community of interest. I have another student that's working on solar flares and the effects on health, which is a fascinating perspective. I'm like, why?

Why?

Why would it affect health? I wasn't thinking of health. I'm thinking of like electronics. But I'm a computer chick, right? And this person's a doctor. So we had the same interests of the Transits, but different impact on planet Earth. So it's just fun the way people are, are creative and brilliant and passionate about astrology.

I love it. Well, man, you are a gift to our university. And I mean that with all my heart. You really are. We are so lucky to have you. And I will support you in any way I can to grow and have your own classes on the university because, you know, I know you're gonna do an amazing job and everything you do, it's amazing. You just amaze me every, every day. So I am so glad that you are the rising star of the month. You are it. And you have taken this to a new level and helped so many people at the university, including.

I love it. I'm always here. Sign up, come, come play with us. Because I'm available all the time. People are like, can you, can you work with me this week? I'm like, yeah, I love it. What are we working on?

It's like, oh, boy, I'm going to have some more fun.

I love it because, you know, I've given myself 10 years to really learn Vedic astrology at a level, you know, where maybe I could even get close to what, what you do for the world every single day. You inspire me to raise that bar for myself and to just keep digging and learning and being inquisitive and learning the knowledge of the Vedas. I don't want to make it up. I want to know the truth. So that's why I study the material, you know, in a. In a disciplined manner that matters. So thank you for bringing this university to life because it opened the door for someone like me who, you know, I'm a stay at home mom right now, taking care of lots of people and lots of things, and I still get to play.

Yeah. Well, we're so happy that you're with us and thank you. We have lots and lots to do together in the future, Madeline, because you know what? We're gonna have a conference coming up here and you're gonna be part of it. So I hope you know that.

Yes, we're gonna have fun.

Yeah, I'm thinking about. I haven't set the date. I'm looking astrologically, but I'm looking at around May and June of 2023. So y' all keep that in your mind because this is gonna happen. And you know what I love about that? Going to be able to come together in person. Isn't that going to be.

Yeah, I need some socialization.

Enough of being on zoom. Right? Hey, this is a beautiful way that we can all come together from around the world. It's just an amazing opportunity that the world has opened up like this. And I just want to give my heartfelt thanks to you, Madeline, for joining and helping us and. And being who you are, because you're incredible. Thank you.

Thank you, Joni.

All righty. So bye, everyone, and thanks for watching and learning more about our wonderful Madeline here. Thank you so much.