Sandra is a writer, editor, writing coach, consultant, mother, daughter, friend, and a twice widow. She is also an academic with degrees in Communication (B.S. and M.A.) and a Ph.D. in History. And she is a spiritual seeker who finds wonder in mysticism, ritual, and esoteric practices. At the University of Utah, Sandra wrote a master’s thesis on the messages inherent in New Age practices. The thesis was the culmination of two years of ethnographic research, which included immersion in practices such as crystal healing, sessions with shamans and energy workers, and readings with mediums, psychics, and tarot readers.
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In 2020 when her husband Kim died, during the pandemic, leaving her a widow for the second time in less than ten years, Sandra turned to esoteric practices for answers. She consulted mediums, poured over astrology charts, and performed rituals hoping to find the answer to her biggest question, "Why?"
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Her search lead her down many rabbit holes but she eventually landed on Hellenistic astrology and the work of Chris Brennan, Demetra George, and Austin Coppock, She took classes, listened to lectures, and watched hours of YouTube videos to try and unravel the why. When she read Predictive Astrology, by Bernadette Brady and The Book of Pluto, by Steven Forrest, things began to click. She realized that her life began to fall apart with Pluto’s shift into her 4th house of Home and Family.
As she studied her chart, a pattern emerged. She saw her journey. Her past, present, and a glimmer of the future. Techniques like zodiacal releasing revealed the day her late first husband Bud was diagnosed with cancer, the date of his memorial service, and the day she decided to take on a big project that arose from this loss. She saw the transits through her 9th house of travel when she embarked on a research trip across America. She saw how precisely the stars aligned when she met her second husband Kim while traveling through San Diego. She saw the transits that took them from San Diego to Huntsville. She saw the full Moon that foretold Kim was going to die. She saw the alignment of Pluto in her chart and his that signaled his stroke. It was all there in her chart. She realized that astrology, combined with other tools like tarot, could be powerful for guiding us through grief and gaining clarity on the why.
Sandra is currently taking time off from book coaching and occasional agenting to travel and complete a memoir tentatively titled Charted Fate: A Twice Widow’s Journey Through Love, Loss, and Renewal. A prescriptive memoir to show us the way forward.