I am delighted to introduce this issues’ galaxy of OPA stars. Like so many of OPA’s members, they reflect the diversity and expertise of our profession. We live in auspicious times and I am grateful to be a part of the international astrological family. Though I have now attempted to contact OPA’s membership I may not have reached you all. Please do not hesitate to contact me and set up a time for a mini interview – to share your update with your astrological peers. Thank you to everyone who contributed to this issue. I look forward to meeting some of you in Denver! Ena Stanley began studying astrology in 1968 and has never looked back. Between 1978 and 1986 she studied with a number of people, including Zip Dobyns and Joan Negus. Ena started out teaching in 1986, and in the mid 1990’s started teaching through an on-line community college and by 1997 she was teaching thirteen classes per week! It is at that time that she pioneered an on-line school. Though no longer a practicing astrology counselor, Ena runs the Online College of Astrology, an astrological vocational school, now in its eleventh year. The Online College of Astrology offers three basic departments. There is a preliminary department, a professional training department (a four-year program) and a continuing education department. The four-year program is extensive covering everything from Vedic, Chinese, Meso-American astrology to history, traditional and modern techniques. The first graduating class was in 2000. Ena is absolutely zealous about comprehensive education for astrologers and students. Patsy Moore lives in Yellowsprings, Ohio where she is involved in politics and an active member of the Democratic Party. She said that it is an uphill battle as Ohio is a Republican state. The first book on astrology she read was by Sidney Omar when she was in grade school. She was intrigued that army intelligence had Mr. Omar doing astrology charts in support of military operations during WWII. In high school she did all her friend’s charts. Her teachers OK’d it because it helped her with math. Patsy is still learning astrology and continues to do charts for friends. She is also an artist and her most recent salaried position was as a professional cook. Patsy comes from a large family and that is currently the most dominating factor in my life. She is currently considering relocating further west where astrology is more widely accepted or further south where it is warmer. Patsy is gearing up to take on more astrology work as it is her object to increase her income through her practice. She remains committed to her volunteer work and her community. We wish you success on all fronts, Patsy! Gisele Terry When Gisele was eighteen years old she started learning astrology by going to the local bookstore in Cambridge, MA and reading books. While living in Boston and New York, where she worked off Broadway and did some TV, she continued her studies of astrology and metaphysics. It wasn’t until 1979, when she moved to West Hollywood, CA, that Gisele finally felt she found an astrological community. Not knowing if she could make a living as an astrologer, she pursued a degree in counseling and psychotherapy. Gisele currently maintains her work as a psychotherapist alongside her astrology practice. It just happens that her work comes natural to her. Though she is a western astrologer, Gisele thinks that most any modality works as a psychological tool. In the end it is not the interpretation, it is about “how we sit with people”. She is excited about riding the wave as astrology enjoys its increasingly positive reputation in the world during this period of history. She wants to help astrology gain an intellectual foothold and become integrated in academic studies. Her personal goal is to study every single branch of astrology. In fact, she would become a full time student if she could. Go, Gisele! Angela Werneke Angela is a professional astrologer as well as a graphic designer. Her study of astrology started in 1975 but it was not until the 1999 grand cross solar eclipse that she began her astrological practice. Angela says that she came to realize during her years as an illustrator how images function as gateways to understanding. That sensibility now underpins her astrological practice by emphasizing mythic symbols and images as a portal into the world of the chart. Angela’s shamanic approach to life—as a nonlinear exploration leading to self-realization, interconnectedness, and service—is a reference point in facilitating the journeys of others through the language of astrology. She is a western astrologer, focusing on life purpose and evolutionary process, who works out of her home in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Angela attended the OPA retreat at Sunrise Springs and characterizes the experience as life-changing. She found working with peers extremely valuable and achieved a breakthrough in self-confidence as a consulting astrologer. We hope to see Angela at the next retreat in ‘09! Kay is an intuitive counselor living in the San Francisco Bay area. She uses astrology as part of a consulting practice integrating her psychic skills, astrology, psychosynthesis (a spiritual psychology that helps integrate one’s personality and Self), and hypnotherapy including past life regressions. When Kay discovered astrology as a teenager she immediately started doing charts. However after a successful corporate career in her twenties, she began her journey as a professional psychic and teacher and has been doing this work full time for almost twenty five years. When Pluto squared her Pluto, astrology helped her understand the radical changes in her life and her guides began channeling astrological information to her in sessions. Initially she focused her self study on the nodes and transpersonal planetary transits. About five years ago Kay started writing books and began more formal training in astrology “to fill in the missing pieces”. She completed a mentorship program with Glenn Perry, studied with other psychological astrologers, and then apprenticed with Stephen Forrest in Evolutionary Astrology. She teaches her Intuitive Development Program though HCH, The Institute for Psycho-Spiritual Trainings in Lafayette, CA. Kay will be lecturing at UAC on “Grounded Magic: Integrating Intuition with Astrological Counseling”. She also leads retreat workshops in Europe and this June will be taking a group to Spain. In February 2009 she is offering a Grounded Magic retreat in Calistoga, CA specifically designed for astrologers. Stay tuned for the details! Glenn Perry, Ph.D. lives in rural Connecticut, having just moved back to his home state after working 30 years as a psychotherapist in California. He is finally able to devote full time to astrological projects that have been postponed due to the time constraints of his psychotherapy practice. Glenn wants to continue developing his Academy of Astropsychology – an external masters and doctoral degree program in astrology – while revising, expanding, and formally publishing his seven books. He is also excited about writing a computer generated astrological report from a depth psychological perspective, something he has wanted to do for the last ten years! Glenn fell in love with astrology in 1972 after moving to Hollywood, California to become a screen writer. In 1974 he became a professional astrologer and in 1975 moved to Marin County California to study astrology with his mentor, Richard Idemon. At the same time, he enrolled in Lone Mountain College in San Francisco to gain his masters degree in psychology. He subsequently earned a doctoral degree from Saybrook Institute, and has worked as a licensed psychotherapist in private practice since 1979. Glenn embraces a process oriented, value-neutral, evidence based style of astrological interpretation. His approach is minimalist in that he focuses primarily on the ten planets, psychological in that he seeks to uncover the intrapsychic roots of behavior, and archetypal in his conviction that events both reflect and provide a catalyst for the development of corollary internal processes. Glenn wants to develop his model into a coherent theory of personality that meets the same rigorous standards that apply to personality theories in the field of psychology. His school is designed for astrologers who want to learn a psychological approach, and for psychologists who want to learn astrology. As for the future, Glenn expects that Pluto in Capricorn will provide a necessary corrective to the tyranny of egalitarianism that has resulted from the mutual reception of Uranus and Neptune. Batten down the hatches and tighten your seatbelts, he says, for we’re entering a period of collective tough love. I agree! Ani Bettati is from Argentina and lives in Buenos Aires. At the age of twenty, while she was a student of architecture, she became interested in the mystery of life. Astrology and yoga became her hobbies. At the time there was significant family pressure on her to complete her formal degree. After finishing school she began a successful career in architecture. When Ani was thirty-five years old, a crisis in her life led her out of architecture and into astrology. She enrolled in a school for astrology in Buenos Aires and after four years began teaching there. Since then Ani has continued teaching at “Casa Once Institute” (Eleventh House) and also has a private practice. Ani has a psychological, Jungian approach to astrology and works with archetypes. She places strong emphasis on self-understanding and knowledge for the purpose of being connected and living in harmony with others. For the last two years Ani has been running a school of astrology on the Internet for people of Spanish languages. She really enjoys working within the international community. Ani has been a leader at OPA retreats. She loves to work with other astrologers and share experiences with peers. We look forward to working with Ani again at OPA’s 
retreat next year! Susan Faulk's primary residence is in Manhattan, NY, but she spends as much time as possible at her place upstate near Woodstock. In 1979, as Susan was earning her M.S.W. and finishing her training in “Rubenfeld Synergy”, she began her astrology practice. Since then she has been a part-time professional astrologer. In the late 1980’s Susan left her psychotherapy practice so she could travel and not be tied down. Her astrology work and her involvement with photography served her well during her time adventuring around the globe. Susan considers herself a spiritually and psychologically oriented astrologer using simple, traditional modern techniques. According to Susan, these alone are rich if you know the basics! In the future Susan would like to start teaching and pass on what she has learned through the years in conjunction with yoga, herbs, diet, etc., developing a holistic approach to well being. Susan has also been a leader at OPA retreats and appreciates the intimacy that small groups offer. We look forward to her return. When Richard Smoot and I began our conversation he warned me that with his four Aries planets and a Pluto/Moon in Leo that his story would likely be embellished. I think he was being modest. In the early 1970’s, near Detroit , Richard helped create a 24-hour crisis/suicide prevention center for adolescents and teens. The center’s success and growth demanded a Director. They found the perfect candidate in a person by the name of Ray Merriman. Ray also offered classes on better ways of understanding people through astrology. Thus was born long term relationships with Ray and astrology, and the rest, you might say, is history. Richard ascribes to a firm structure of consultation skills and astrological observation. He prefers that clients reach their own conclusions through a process of active listening. Having a modest teaching consulting practice since 1973, Richard attended the “Business of Astrology” OPA retreat in 2001. The following year at the OPA retreat he experienced a “Chiron moment” when he decided to turn his life over to astrology and become a professional astrologer. By 2004 he had quit his accounting position and was working for Ray, having already started with being the Editor the ISAR journal in 2003. Today Richard owns AstroDatabank and the Astrology Software Shop. He maintains ties with many astrological organizations, is on the NCGR Board of Examiners and the ISAR Board of Directors and is a valued leader at the OPA retreats. We are delighted that Richard will be part of OPA’s leadership team at our next retreat! Twink McKenney is our esteemed editor of The Career Astrologer. We are very fortunate to have her on board! Twink lives in Connecticut and is a part-time professional astrologer and a full-time graphic design artist. Twink found her way to astrology in the early 1980’s as Uranus was making its passage through Sagittarius. She had her chart done by a renaissance man and quickly became captured in the course of its study. Since then, Twink served for thirteen years as VP of NCGR’s Berkshire-Fairfield Chapter, planning their programs and producing all the marketing and brochures. Astrology is second nature to her and she appreciates being able to contribute her networking skills in her own quiet twelfth house way. Twink attended the OPA retreat in Ghost Ranch, NM in 2005 and has been doing consultations regularly since. She approaches consultations with curiosity and awe and collaborates with her clients. Twink possesses a gift for translating what is on the chart with warmth and optimism. She enjoys making the chart sing! She is very visual and quickly gets a mental picture and pattern of a chart. In the future Twink imagines herself practicing astrology and having two homes. You’ll always have a home with OPA, Twink!