Open for Interpretation

In the early 1990s, a young physician was practicing medicine in the middle of the HIV epidemic, and the daily work left her doubting whether her profession could truly make a difference. Looking for a sense of direction, she turned to unconventional sources and eventually settled on astrology.

What drew her in was the discipline's grounding in astronomy. Because it follows fixed rules, it cannot easily be bent to suit someone's wishes, and the scientist in her found that compelling. At a group demonstration, she met Iris, a mentor who introduced her to the study of astrology. As she learned to read a horoscope, she began to recognize her own potential and set her sights on traveling to learn healing methods from Indigenous peoples.

Her search led her from Manhattan to the Peruvian Amazon, Belize, and Bolivia, where she encountered ancient healing practices among communities that see the sky as an extension of the natural world on earth. She came to understand astrology as a language for describing the relationship between people and their celestial surroundings. The horoscopic map, she found, can reveal a person's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and health concerns, helping them make better decisions.

The book recounts how she finally found the map she had long been searching for, and how that path deepened her understanding of herself and her place in the world. She also wants to share what she learned, and she explains how readers can use the same map to reach their inner selves and abilities they have not yet tapped.