Become more in tune with your placed in the universe
At 5am on any given day, you can find psychological astrologer, best-selling author, and Sakara Science Council Member Dr. Jennifer Freed somewhere in the midst of her morning routine—whether that be practicing Qigong, writing a love letter to her spiritual guides, or listing out a hundred positive qualities about herself. (More on that later; prepare to take notes.)
Even before the sun rises, Dr. Freed is doing “the work”—as she calls it—to “live a fully expressed life.”
At age 19, Dr. Freed embarked on two parallel—but philosophically yin-yang—journeys: one in the study of astrology, and another in training as a psychotherapist. A little over a decade later, she merged her foci to chart her own path as a psychological astrologer—helping people maximize their innate gifts and overcome negative patterns through shedding light on their current astrological cycles and encouraging them to apply themselves fully to every facet of their lives.
“You have a universe of positive possibilities inside you,” says Dr. Freed. “If you get a very legitimate psychological astrology reading, it will simply affirm the things you already know to be true. It will also highlight things you might have forgotten or have yet to realize.”
We sat down with Dr. Freed for an inspiring conversation surrounding stars, divinity, love, and the like. Below, some of our favorite celestially-informed insights.
On Work with Clients: “When somebody comes to me, I look at their cosmic DNA—the chart that they’re born with—and also look at biological, social, and cultural influences, and communication patterns. What’s in the chart doesn’t change, but how you relate to it changes and I have the tools, questions, and experience to help you work on that.”
(To hear Dr. Freed in action, listen to her episode on The Sakara Life Podcast, where she delves into founder Danielle Duboise's birth chart.)
On Differentiating Psychological Astrology From General Astrology: “I want you to leave the session fully inspired and empowered to create your best life on your own terms. The most important thing for women in particular is that we are the agents and authors of our own lives. We’re self-determining, within a community of support.”
On Fate: "There’s no fate—there is opportunity and effort. The way I best understand fate is that you’re moving toward or against your ultimate possibilities. The possibilities are the map of the chart... I don't travel in predictions, I travel in possibilities."
On the Complexity: “Most people don't know that it takes as many years to learn the true art and science of astrology as it does to earn a doctorate. The math, the mythology, the symbols and signs, and the art of interpretation requires as much work as becoming proficient in a foreign language.”
On Star-Crossed Lovers: “Love is work; love is not a guarantee. So if you’ve got a cycle that says “focus on love,” you’ve got to work it. Are you the person that you would fall in love with? You have to ask yourself that question every day, instead of Does somebody love me? You’re very much accountable for your experience.”
On Creating a Spiritual Practice: “If you want to align with the divine, which is what I'm all about, you actually have to build a relationship with the divine of your knowing. Whether it's religious or spiritual, you need to form a ritual that connects you with the divine of your knowing on a daily basis.”
On Her 5am Spiritual Practice: “First I do Qigong, an energy form and stretching practice. Second, I name a hundred positive qualities about myself a day. The first 80 are qualities like caring, loving, open, and the last 20 are body qualities that I appreciate in myself. It’s a very good practice because it’s like, Who do I want to be today?
I write a love letter to my guides, who are a felt sense, thanking them for everything they’ve given to me—my health, my happiness. It’s nothing too much, just a paragraph. I always end with, 'Please keep showering me with miracles, magic, and blessings.' Then, every day, no matter what, I either swim in the ocean or pool, dance, or take a long walk."
On Food and Pleasure: “I have a decadent personality and I love pleasure. For me, food is the deepest pleasure besides sex and touch. It just is. The thing about food and pleasure is that it's not just in the eating of it. It’s the energy that it gives you in your body if it's great food. It’s a double pleasure thing, you’re getting gastronomical pleasure but then you also feel good from it. It becomes this whole generative, abundant, positive energy thing. We are what we eat.”
