The BOOK That Changed My Astrological Path | My World of Astrology #5

Foreign.

Hi, I'm Joni Petrie and welcome to my YouTube channel. Well, today I want to continue on with my series called My World of Astrology. And boy, do I have some incredible stories in my and my search to be an astrologer. Let me take you back to the 70s when I used to frequent a bookstore in Dallas. And it used to be in this really cool area in Dallas called the European Crossroads. And it was that. It was this whole outdoor shopping mall that was built just like Europe, with cobblestones as the streets and fountains everywhere. But there was this, this phenomenal bookstore and it was called the constellation. Alice McFarlane used to own it. And anytime I wanted an uplifting experience during the day, then on the weekends, I would always frequent this Constellation bookstore. Alice had every astrologer's book in the world at the time, and I would always go there and I would leave with at least 20 books at a time. I just loved it. But she even put on.

All these classes and she would bring in some of the best astrology teachers in the world. In the world. I remember seeing Alan OK in there, Noel Teal, Robert Hand, just to name a few. But probably one of my most memorable workshops of all that Alice put on, she actually had it at her lake house in Oklahoma. So in Dallas. Oklahoma is not that far. Probably. Probably where her lake house was. It was 150 miles. So we're up in North Texas. Yes, so about 150 miles or 200 miles max to her lake house in Oklahoma. And it was out, out in the country. And this whole workshop was with Ray Merriman. And Ray went on to do such great things in the astrological world. I mean, he created isar, which is International.

Society for Astrological Research. That's what ISAR stands for. But it's one of the best and old organizations there was the ncgr, which I have lots of stories to tell about that, which NCGR stands for National Council.

Let me see. Ncg, Geocosmic Research. Okay, correct me if I'm wrong, but that's another one. I'm going to go into detail with that, so I'll get that right if I'm off by a little bit. But Ray started all these organizations even to go. And he is the kind of guy that brought people together. He had these amazing meetings and conferences. Ray's whole purpose was to make astrology not only mainstream, but to make it reputable that being an astrologer was no longer laughed at or looked at as a gypsy. We were professionals and even they came up with an organization of where lawyers would represent us. Because what you guys probably don't know is it used to be in some cities against the law to practice astrology. Yes. So they had afan. Afan was where you could call on some reputable lawyers that would protect you if you went to jail for doing readings. And it happened. As a matter of fact, I remember not that long ago in Plano, Texas, which is huge.

A huge city that surrounds Dallas. It's one of the suburbs, but it's gotten to be a big city now, Plano, it was illegal not that long ago, back when I had my center on Lovers Lane. So what I want to talk about is that Ray had this amazing weekend workshop at Alice's lake house. I'll never forget it. We all kind of want were in bunks with all these women. I was always the youngest one. Now I'm the oldest one. Go figure. But I was always the youngest one. I told Ray I think I was 19 at the time. I might be exaggerating a little bit. I think I might have been 20, but give or take, I was early 20s. And I remember asking Ray, sticking a chart in his face, which is definitely. Don't ever do that to teachers. But we all kind of started out doing that. Should I marry this guy? And you like, I didn't know what to do with that, but I was like before I was married and showing him my husband's chart. But to make a long story short, Ray did this workshop. It was called Evolutionary Astrology. And I still have his book. It was the most amazing concept. This book I bought at that conference. Let me show you something about this book. It's handwritten. Look, can you see this? It is a handwritten book in gold. It is amazing, the gold on the front cover. And let me tell you what it's about. This was really, really. It's such a beautiful book. I doubt you can still get it today. Maybe you can get it, you know, somewhere, you know, used. But this is just a masterpiece. And let me just say what he did in this book, you're going to love this concept. And this was Ray's idea. He's a genius, and it works.

And you know how I am so big into eclipses, right? Love eclipses. Because eclipses really do. There's such deep symbology of where the sun, the moon, and the nodal axes align. And the signs they're in speak volumes as to what's going on in the world. But in this class, he taught us to go back to the eclipse that happened before we were born.

And to go find where that eclipse, its lines were. In other words, where is it most visible on Earth? It's called the eclipse path. So if you go back to the countries that the eclipse path was most relevant.

In a prenatal eclipse, in other words, the eclipse that happened right before you were born, if you go back to where this eclipse path was, Earth, that is where you reincarnated from before, I think that is brilliant.

So.

I went back in this class, and you guys are going to get a kick out of where the eclipse path was right before I was born. India.

I think that is wild. So it's no wonder I was so drawn to Eastern philosophy and eventually Vedic astrology.

So I just wanted to give you all a little message, a little class, a little tidbit from all of my historical past in my life, in my world of astrology. Going to. Oh, it was such a meaningful workshop. I'll never forget. Alice's husband.

Made us food for lunch every day and dinner. Are you kidding me? Nobody does this anymore. I mean, talk about a big family. And all these older women that were astrologers were so fun. They were amazing. And I kind of liked being the baby in the crowd because I never get that anymore, but it was fun. I remember Alice always telling me she thought that I was her daughter in a past life. I remember her telling me that very clearly. And just, you know, we always talked about the metaphysical, what's beyond this world. And I remember just this fabulous soup that Alice's husband made at lunch one day. And we all sat around and talked about the meaning of life, astrology. And it was always this older crowd of women that were into astrology that were so wise, kind of like a lot of Jean Dixon's, if I could say, so wise, so intelligent. And I just soaked up all that knowledge. And I remember it was during the fall. I remember the leaves falling and changing colors. And that just adds to the mystery of the whole weekend of coming together. I'll never forget something else about Ray Merriman. This was so many years ago in the 70s. Ray took so many vitamins. He had. He had. And you know what? Ray and I are still good friends. He still takes so many vitamins. And you know what? I do, too. But I think he's got me beat on that because we. We've actually gone on trips together. He and his wife Antonia is a dear friend of mine, and we go on trips together. He would lease a house somewhere. You know, we went to Martha's vineyard one time. And we always end up going to the health food store and buying so many vitamins.

And all sorts of wonderful healthy things. So it's a blast to spend with all these astrologers. And my history goes back thinking back. This was my memory from the constellation back in the 70s and all the workshops and the astrologers. This was the beginning. This was my beginning back in the day. Because in the 70s I would go off to school, to Austin, I would come home to Dallas for the weekends and I would go to all the classes that Alice put on at the constellation. And then I would go back and study with my teacher in Austin and this whole whirlwind of my astrology life began. I want to tell you one more funny thing while I was in college and remember I told you guys that I found my first teacher? Well, I had all these astrology books that I brought to college with me. The basis of astrology and all these fun, fun books. Gosh, Ruth Montgomery. Did you all ever read those books by Ruth Montgomery? I couldn't put them down. And they weren't just astrology, they were about metaphysics. One of her books was about walk ins. And I was like over the top with that theory that somebody could take over somebody else's body right at the time somebody was about to die and that person had a comeback from near death, but it was another spirit or soul in their body. That book was so much fun to read. Whether it's true or not, it's certainly was entertainment. So Ruth Montgomery books way back in the 70s were amazing. And of course I talked about Edgar Cayce and all those good books. Well, I brought all my books to college with me. And of course I'm in a dorm with three other girls, a roommate and then suite mates. Well, every time. And I went to high school with these girls. I knew them, these weren't strangers. But still I guess they didn't get the extent of my astrological studies. So every time I was getting my key out to get into the room, I'd hear them talking. And I get a little closer and here's the kind of stuff I would hear. Do you see those books? She reads She's a witch. And then they would talk all these mean ugly things about me. And then, you know, the minute I walk in, they act like my very best friend. Friend. Those typical teenage girls, right? Typical. They talk behind your back the minute you come in. Oh, they're so excited to see you. And nothing of the sort of like what they just said about you before you walked in the room was there.

Anyway, this went on for quite some time. They, they did ask me if I wanted to be, which was nice to be in their sorority, which was, I remember at UT at the time, it was a Tri Delta. But I couldn't be in a sorority. Sororities told you what to do.

And I'm just the most rebellious soul on earth. I'm not going to be told what to do. So you got to give a lot of credit to my husband.

Which has in his chart, by the way, in his seventh house of marriage, he has Uranus.

Ketu and Jupiter. And what does that tell you about me? Okay, anyway, a lot of that, a lot of you that went over your head. But if you understand the planets, you'll get it. But here's what I wanted to say. While all the girls that I, that I was in school with went to sorority meetings and sorority parties, I was going to hippies houses, drinking carrot juice and studying astrology to give you an idea of. But I have to say, like I said before, I stuck out like a sore thumb in those classes. Nobody else dressed the way I did, wore makeup, fixed their hair. My hair was in a perfect Farrah Fawcett do, if you can imagine that back in the 70s. It was back when Charlie's Angels was a hit and I had the Farrah Fawcett do going on and you know, I didn't fit in anywhere. Let me put it that way. Not with the sorority girls, not with the astrology people. But hey, isn't it nice to be your own person and not have to follow the conservative norm?

Sometimes it's tough thinking back may be easy to say now, but it was. It's tough to be different. It is because sometimes you just, you feel pretty isolated and alone. But everything's changed. Things are opening up. I remember when I first opened up my, my metaphysical center. I'd get letters that people wanted to burn it down because it was part of devil worship. I mean, come on, what does astrology have to do with devils? Absolutely nothing. And as I said before, those people that judge it have no idea what it even is. So I think this is a good little story. Tale mainly about evolutionary astrology.

The Constellation.

And Alice McFarlane. Wherever you are, sweet lady, I want to give you thanks for you helping open the door to a certain astrology in Dallas, Texas. So with that, I think I'll close. Remember, if you want to learn more about astrology, I have a university. Go to universityofvedicastrology.com Become one of my students and remember to go to my website and sign up for my free newsletter that is galactic center.org I have a free newsletter comes out every week. Also, while you're there, check out my Galactic Planner. If you want to look at where all the planets are in your birth chart personally and get the news of what you should do every day based on where the planets are, check it out. You will love my Galactic Planner. It does your chart and gives you your transits and tells you what days are good or bad for certain events. It gives you guidance. Go to GalacticPlanner.com thank you.