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Astrology: The rage in any age

Port Orchard Independent
Saturday, January 6, 2001

Port Orchard woman will teach at Olympic College
by Kelly Everett
Photo by Jim Bryant/Staff Photo

Psychic Charlene Ryan speaks of the future in glowing terms. "For years, Uranus and Neptune have been in the sign of Capricorn. The world at large was into the 'status quo' and not into change," she said. "But now, we're moving into the Age of Aquarius - a very progressive age. The 21st Century will see new ideas and be a very metaphysical time."

Contrary to popular belief, said Ryan, who will begin teaching community courses in metaphysics at Olympic College this month, the Age of Aquarius did not begin with the hit song by The Fifth Dimension, "Aquarius (Let the Sun Shine In)," so popular with the flower-power generation of the 1970s. Although there was a surge of interest in astrology, oracles, tarot cards, auras, meditation, numerology, spiritualism and similar notions in the last quarter of the 20th Century, things weren't really due to take off until now, she said, in the new millennium.

"These ages last 2,000 years each," said Ryan. "There was the Aryan Age - the Age of the Pharaohs. Then there was the Piscean Age - the age of Jesus and personal ego. That's just ended. Now it's the Age of Aquarius - the Age of the Mind." She said the so-called "Age of Information" will give way to the Age of the Mind in the coming years.

The Port Orchard resident is aware that some of this sounds a bit far out. But she insists there's more substance to it than people realize.

"Astrology has been around a long time - thousands of years - and you have to ask yourself, 'Why hasn't it died out?'" she said. "I've been using it since I was 16 years old and I've matured with it with age, and I can tell you it really works."

She admitted that it's a very complex "science" that isn't always 100 percent right. Ryan, who has a master's degree in psychology from Seattle University, said intuition plays an important part. Astrology "deals with probabilities and not exactitudes; mathematical equations and interpretations based on certain protocols. When you think of the new quantum physics and 'string theory' you can see that it's based on a lot of the same things: probabilities and protocols.... I think quantum physics is finally catching up with metaphysics.

"When a person is born, it's almost as if the creator takes a snapshot of the probabilities of that particular life journey," she said. By studying the placement of the planets in a person's astrological birth chart, one can get a sense of how those probabilities fall into place.

People come to Ryan for advice on relationships, career dilemmas, health problems and other issues.

"President Reagan and his wife Nancy used astrology to help them in their lives. A lot of people with money and power and prestige use astrology - even if they aren't always open about it," she said. In a typical session, Ryan will start out with tarot cards, mainly to put clients at ease. Then she passes her hands over them to get a psychic feel of what may be bothering them. She also has the ability to contact relative and friends who've died, she said.

Until last year Ryan was host of a weekly BKAT local-access television program called "Synergy." She is an ordained minister and works as a drug and alcohol counselor with the highest experience rating in the state. She did a "walkabout" in Australia in 1996 and is writing a book of her experiences called, "Memoirs of a Mystic."

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