OPA keeps growing and coming into its own as an organization … in many ways our values and perception of the world seem more at home in the late 60’s than they do this period four decades later … but … watching Barack Obama’s acceptance speech I realized that many of the values we stand for are coming back into common currency. 

We might have been naive forty years ago but at least we believed in something. Remember, it was the summer of love … we went to Golden Gate Park … our cultural slogan “Make Love not War” was a reflection of our idealism, which outweighed reason or even common sense. We were searching for new values in a decaying culture; it was exhilarating, there was “was music in the cafés at night and revolution in the air.” 

We had an actor in the Governor’s Mansion in California … we had someone from Texas in the White House … the country was headed into a very contentious election and we were involved in a demoralizing and unpopular war. As astrologers we look for patterns, right? Well in 1968 the Soviet Union invaded Czechoslovakia and now Russia has invaded Georgia.

There are many similarities even though we are older than we were in 1968; but at that big conference called UAC (from May 13th to the 21st 2008) we were transported back through time; the massive halls of the Sheraton Hotel in Denver echoed with “Blame it on Jupiter” as our wandering troubadour, Jozef Slanda, strolled through the trade show; we attended a homemade underground movie “Return of the Magi” made by Kelly Lee Phipps, it seemed like the late 60’s. And OPA’s participation in UAC was reminiscent of those magical times forty years ago.

Just like the period of the tail end of the 60’s, we are living with the expectation that something new is happening; the world is changing …. again! OPA is part of this cultural shift.

By the numbers, OPA did quite well at UAC. We had a massive turnout of people at our trade table. Toni Thomas (our Outreach Coordinator) did a great job of managing the OPA table … each board member volunteered to be responsible for a day. My day was Saturday and every person I asked to help at the table (there were a lot of you!) said yes. There were so many of you and I would like to say “thank you” to each; but I would like to offer a special thank you to June Morrow for spending the whole day at the table. It was also nice to see Deb Thomas, Carol King, David Beazley, Lilan Lashley, and Lindy  Burke — to name a few who were assisting at the OPA table.

By the way, June Morrow has been going to local astrology groups in the Chicago land area and giving talks on OPA…Thank you so much June! 

During UAC we registered 22 people for the upcoming retreat next April…We got 17 new members in OPA, and most important we had a really powerful time connecting with each other over important happenings in our lives.

Before UAC began AFAN sponsored a preconference called “Manifesting Your Vision.” Donna VanToen asked me to represent OPA at this workshop; this workshop went quite well. Some very good ideas were hashed out by the participants; we had a wonderful time getting to know other dimensions in the astrology community…and of course…it was the perfect time for networking.

Our OPA Panels at UAC were all excellent; many of them were surprisingly well attended. (At big conferences with many tracks, panels usually get low turnouts.) We received many praises for our efforts. Everyone worked so hard to make them a success. 

Our Webmaster, Ron Akanowicz has done a fantastic job of moving our website forward and he keeps on adding new stuff every week. Now people are able to register for the retreat, join the organization, and order a copy of our book online. If you haven’t been to our website recently, go take a look, www.professional-astrology.org. Very soon, Ron will have these OPA panels ready for download:

The Importance of Consciousness in the Astrology Community

Money Demystified 

How to Start, Maintain, and Expand an Astrological Practice

Earning a Living as an Astrologer

Better Speaker for Better Astrology

21st Century Technology for Astrologers

If you think of OPA as a person, then you can imagine the board as the brains of the body; while the internet, Website, and members email addresses (and other contact information) as the central nervous system…this is where decisions are made and where the work is organized, delegated, and finally completed. However, the group leaders are really the heart of the organization. They represent the center of gravity within the organization…this is where we find our reason or purpose for existing; this is where the framework of OPA touches down and actually effects people’s lives in a direct way. Perhaps carrying the analogy further we can think of our newsletter and our e-news as our hands and the retreats as being our feet. 

Every month we have a board meeting, also every month we have a group leader’s meeting.  And every winter the board gets together over a long weekend to plan our forward movements. We are always coming up with new ideas and refining our way of being in the larger astrology community. We are having board elections soon. If you would like to consider working with this very dedicated group give me a call 239-261-2840.

The group leaders are moving in a direction of constant evolution. In addition to our monthly conference calls, we have one weekend a year where we do peer supervision, as well as experiment with new ideas and techniques for the retreat.

At the beginning of September, group leaders got together at the home of Arlan Wise on Martha’s Vineyard for a wonderful weekend of peer work and planning. Throughout the year, the group leaders meet over the phone and keep planning the work for the retreats; then once a year we meet in person for a three day experience turning theory into practice.

Alexandra Karacostas has been doing a great job of handling the details of the retreat. And she will be letting us know periodically how things are progressing.

If you haven’t registered for the retreat, now is a good time…This retreat will be a celebration of OPA’s twenty year history as an organization. We got our start at UAC in New Orleans in 1989. This retreat promises to be the most exciting event culminating with an appropriate celebration of our two decades of experimentation.