My Multipotentialite Tour of Woo

My partner does not believe in astrology. If someone starts a conversation with, “I’m a Gemini rising. What’s your ascendant?,” he’ll tune out, or roll his eyes and find any excuse to walk away. Deeply logical, woo-woo things, confound him. Like, Why does this grown person still believe in tooth fairies?

Me, on the other hand? When someone reveals to me that, along with their board certified psychotherapist, they also consult a Reiki practitioner, a tarot reader, an astrologist, a psychic, or a sound healer, I know I’m in good company.

With the exception of sound therapy and popular psychology, I’m not literate in any of these modalities. I remain curious, however, and ready to entertain.

Why woo?

The way my multipotentiality manifests itself, I’m constantly in dialogue with my desire to do all the things and the feeling of having finite resources in focus, time, energy, and moolah. When these clashes of desire vs reserves meet, I often seek advice from traditional mental health experts, but more and more I find myself drawn to intuitive guides. In these alternative spaces, I feel, there is less judgment about the way my peculiar multipod brain works.

Recently, I noticed that my cup was full and running over. My life either required a larger glass or I needed to drink faster or it was time to turn off the tap. What was most frustrating was that this situation was not new to me, it’s a pattern and a puzzle I often find myself trying to solve. I didn’t need help with this newest challenge alone. I needed to look more closely at my entire life to understand why I keep arriving at familiar crossroads. What are my life’s motifs? How are my thoughts and beliefs orchestrated? How am I designed?

To help me sort this all out, I consulted an astrologist-in-training as well as an applied mythology coach.

What is astrology?

Astrology is a language that seeks to interpret human patterns, purpose, and direction through understanding and observing the movements of planets, stars, the sun, and the moon. People from all over the world have practiced various forms of astrology and it dates back to at least the 2nd millennium BCE. Western astrology is organized according to the zodiac, a belt-like region of the sky divided into twelve signs.

Like many of us, I’ve known my sun sign “Cancer the Crab” since before I could remember. But I hadn’t had my natal chart explained to me until I sat down with an old friend who had just entered astrology school—yes, astrology schools are a thing! 

The natal chart is basically a map of where the planets sit at the time of your birth. These coordinates, astrologers believe, influence how you’re likely to operate in the world.

I explained to my buddy, before the reading, that while I am not a believer, I do find myself regularly looking up my horoscope—a paradox I’m now willing to confront.

My natal chart, like everyone else’s, is round and divided into twelve houses. It contained a bunch of lines, shapes, and planetary symbols that my friend needed to explain a few times, before I got it, sort of. It’s complicated, which is why astrology schools exist.

The meaning in the stars

What I walked away with is that my seventh house that rules intimate relationships is solid. My friend explains, “Jupiter is the most beneficial planet, especially in the day chart, it brings joy and abundance and expansion and good fortune to wherever you find it. Jupiter is in your House of Committed Partnerships so this means good things for your love life!”

I used to feel guilty whenever I looked at my horoscope, because I only ever paid attention to the career reading, never my love reading. Now, I know that was only because it wasn’t necessary. My love life has been pretty solid. My professional life, on the other hand…

Like a good multipod, I’ve tangoed with a number of careers. For me, but not for every multipotentialite, this has meant that my finances have suffered. My chart also revealed something interesting. Uranus is in my Second House, the house associated with wealth and resources. Uranus is about “innovation, surprises, and doing things differently” according to my reader friend. Because Uranus “squares” Mercury: the planet that rules my career, this creates a challenging relationship between my career and my financial life. I discovered that my unique way of handling business may be jarring to others. Since work-life habits have an impact on income, this is an area that my friend says will get easier for me over time, but could require extra effort throughout my entire life—yikes!

What is applied mythology?

This modality looks at primordial narratives, those old stories that are foundational to human existence. Applied mythology demonstrates how these myths relate to contemporary life. 

I’m a visual storyteller, so looking into how my personal biography might tie back to and be influenced by archetypal characters and their exploits, piqued my interest. Plus, I’ve noticed that wherever I travel, I arrive in spaces where goddesses held a lot of prestige, during those pre-patriarchal days of old. I often wondered what these figures wanted to say. 

Cue, Wade Gasque, a writer, filmmaker, and thespian who offers an intuitive service he named “Heeding the Call”. Here’s how he describes it:

“When we look at our life’s journey through a mythopoeic lens, we begin to notice patterns, symbols and synchronicities pointing to a singular something or other within each of us – a kind of story we’ve been playing out (consciously or unconsciously) since day one.

The Greeks called this our daimon. The Romans, our genius.

Soul’s purpose, highest potential, whatever the name, it is our calling. It is that which we were born to do. And whether we’re in touch with it or not, it’s always there, trying to make itself known, trying to be expressed through us.”

Wade encourages creatives to tap into applied mythology, especially when they’re at a crossroads—a place I find my multipotentialite self often.

Meeting my ancestral goddesses

I met with Wade over two, three-hour sessions. 

Each meeting began with a grounding ritual—a candle lit, a guided meditation inviting full presence and participation. I was surprised by how seriously Wade took our time together. It forced me to regard my own life’s lore with more gravitas and pay attention to what my greater guides needed me to know.

During the first session, I was very candid about past traumas. Incidents I hadn’t brought up to anyone, in decades, came tumbling out of my mouth. Like the childhood game Operation, all of the major chapters of my life, to the present date, were laid out on the table. If there was an area that needed further examination, I was given homework, between the two sessions, to delve a little deeper, and advised to “remain receptive”, try to avoid leaping into any action or falling into self-criticism.

Through these applied mythology sessions, I was able to name, out loud, the things that make this human journey enjoyable for me. And watch those things show up to accept or reject. 

I was able to see how important it is to remember, acknowledge, and honor my ancestral goddesses and heed the lessons their stories still evoke, even in these modern times.

Wade gave me so much to dig into, I’ll be returning to his notes and wise counsel again.

So many modalities, so little time…

I love how there are so many approaches to deeply exploring a life. These self-examinations also help me with my main gig, which involves understanding human behavior and motivations in order to create storied characters, so I’ll keep diving in. Human Design is my next planned foray. I don’t think I’ll get on the 9-month waiting list for the most popular psychic in the city where I live, but I might undergo hypnosis to try Past Life Regression therapy. Every time I opt into a new-woo-thang, I become more of a believer. Why not?

Your turn

Have you ever visited a psychic? Or had someone interpret tarot? Have you had a look into your natal chart? Or tapped into your own mythologies? If so, what did you discover about your multipotential? Let me know in the comments.