So, I started getting readings from Steven every three years with his “evolutionary astrology” lens being how do I evolve my consciousness in this lifetime. He wasn’t a predictor of life events, but more of a revealer of the themes of my life. With Steven’s guidance, I wore a new, discerning pair of glasses that guided me in decision-making. He helped me to see that I had outgrown my identity as the founder and CEO of Joie de Vivre Hospitality and that I needed to be single for a period of time in order to “wander” after two relationships that cumulatively lasted two decades.
Around 2012, he told me that I was moving into an “elder” phase of life when younger folks would gather around me in the square to learn from me and, a year later, I became the “modern elder” of Airbnb. He said that I needed to travel to a far away place – somewhere foreign (turned out to be Mexico) – so that people could make the pilgrimage to visit me, but also so I could spend more time writing and less time socializing. While he didn’t tell me I had cancer, he did say that I’d been a “horny monk” in a few past lives and that a certain amount of introversion was needed to put my own house in-order to molt from my “horny monk” karmic identity to free myself from the madness of sex, fame, being mental, and the rush of the new. Who knew that I would get prostate cancer, have surgeries, radiation, and testosterone deprivation therapy that would put my libido to sleep, giving me the space to evolve into a new phase of my life?
The last time I did a reading with him was exactly seven years ago (January 2018), just as MEA was opening, and here are some of his observations, all of which have been uncannily accurate:
- I am moving into a mystical era of my life, channeling messages for the benefit of others with a deep sense of intuition and an inability to stay quiet when the truth needs to be told. It is time to do meaningful service in the world with the calm and serene domesticity of a partner, someone who helps ground me. No more aspirational relationships that have some kind of impossibility woven into them. I love hype and magic. I haven’t valued home enough. My passion for madness is being reduced.
- This is a time to create a stable base, move decision-making more to the heart from the head, and point myself in the right direction that’s aligned with my big mission and my gravitas which will become more and more apparent to the world by 2025. The world needs me to be healthy and grounded in this spiritual elder role that I will be easing into. The more I’ve broken from my karmic past of being the “horny monk,” the less distortion will come through as I become a more sought-out elder teacher in my sixties. The question that will be ringing in my head, “Will the real Chip Conley step forward?” God kicked me out of heaven and said, “Get a job!” It’s time to be useful, not youthful.
- The biggest event in my life comes when my progressed sun hits the midheaven in March 2025, when the call to mission is enormous. It’s time to start preparing. The education period is done and it’s time for me to move into an even bigger role in advising the world. Beware of the Aries tendency toward impatience as now is the time to lay the foundation which isn’t sexy. Ironically, I wanted fame more in the past, but it means less to me now and it’s more likely to come to me as the wisdom of my soul starts to shine through in a more public way and I’m less needy. Simultaneously, having Jupiter (luck) and Uranus (uncommon) means it’s a powerful time. Good time to bet on myself.
- The new Chip: an elder whose passion for madness has abated. I’m moving into the happiest time in my life as I step forward with the real Chip. The real Chip is a married man and a bonded soul. If I get this next period of my life right, my elder teaching will be that much more valuable. If I’m distorted, I’ll pass on my distortions to others. Instead, with a settled home life and less madness, I will have the gravitas of the spiritual elder. I’ve already released so much of this that it’s time for me to integrate. I was born with a mission so this is the time it will flourish. The great work of my life is not the work of a young man. I’m meant to build a community that makes a big difference in the world.
Steven gave me this reading the month that we started doing some beta workshops in Mexico under the name the Modern Elder Gap Year Academy. So much has happened since then and I have to credit Steven for representing a North Star in my life as his readings have been such valuable guides for me. I’m excited that he saw next month, March, as a crescendo time.
I’m honored to say that Steven Forrest will be leading a Santa Fe workshop June 16-21, “Co-Create Your Destiny with the Planets.” It’s a small enough workshop that you will get guidance from one of the world’s leading astrologers (who no longer takes on new clients and has had many famous, regular clients from Sting to Robert Downey, Jr.). Last year’s workshop with him was a revelation for so many of the 20 or so people who were in the workshop. Thank you, Steven, for helping me to see my future.
-Chip