Little Things To Know

Little Things to Know
...about working with me.

Julian Lee

Calling Me

Calling me is very simple and everyday: Phone my number at the website and leave a message. There is not much more to know. Many people make it complex and confuse themselves by forgetting what my phone number is and using other numbers. Here, I'll give it again: 805-640-9591. You can call that at any time of the day or night, and I regularly deal with messages there.

I sometimes give out my cell phone number to those in a hurry, or if they've been trying to get me over a week. That number goes: 805-234...... Please don't use this number to try to reach me unless instructed in a message from me, then use it only till you get me for that instance. After that, go back to the usual number.

I don't start work early. I answer my cell phone from about 2 pm to 10 pm Pacific time.

The hours I am HIGHLY likely to answer my cell phone:

Eastern Time 5 pm to 1 am
Central 4 pm until Midnight
Mountain 3 pm to 11
Pacific 2 pm to 10

I am a human being, not a franchise or a 24-hour Call Center and staff. If you don't want me to be a human being, please find an astrological 24-hour call center instead. However, I have steadily done a heavy workload of clients for the past 20 years, and 99 percent of my clients easily reach me by simply calling my number, or my cell phone during my work hours (posted above). My own locational astrology made me successful and gave me a life (including leisure time). My idea of a successful life was never to be tethered to a cell phone from morning till night.

Getting me on the cell is not a perfect science. Maybe I'm in the reading when you try, or "indisposed" momentarily. But those are the hours the hours I generally will respond to it and no point in trying before noon Pacific time, for you east coasters. I do keep "business hours."

There is a 3rd "secret" line I often do readings from because of better analog sound quality. It begins 503. Don't write it down or keep it in memory. It will just confuse you. I do not answer that phone; it often doesn't even ring, and has no voice mail. In rare cases I may have you call that number, in some immediate situation, for convenience. But don't write it down or keep it in memory. LOTS of people it seems, having seen this number associated with the reading (for its better analog quality only), tend to start phoning it for evermore. They ring and ring, Lost Sprites of the Unseen Realm of Landlyne! Ever lost in the dark spacerealm of Vox MaiLessia . At least, I hear it ring a lot, then I turn off the ringer. I won't pick up that phone unless you were just directed a minute ago to phone me there. If you keep calling the 503 number you'll have a lot of frustration! Ignore the the 503 number please. If confused, go to this website (JulianLee.com) and look at the phone number. It's in about 72 point type. I don't know what else to say.

The Interview

I do a pre-interview with my clients before I ever study their charts, look for locations, or give any reading. This is to find out your goals, problems, motives -- the things you are seeking in life, basically. Typical starting questions are: "Why are you thinking of moving?", "What's wrong with things now?", "What are the 2-3 most important things in life you're hoping to improve." I hear quite a lot about people's aspirations in this interviews. But it's good for you to focus in on 1-3 critical things.

In the interview I'm trying to get a picture of your life as it is. I usually ask what you do, how you make a living, the nature of your work (if working). I may ask if it's working for you, and if you'd rather be doing anything else. I usually ask what your living situation is (apartment/own, etc.) I may ask how you like your current town, as a town. Sometimes I ask if you work at an office or at home, and whether you commute. Whatever will give me an accurate picture of your life as it is. One reason for the interview is so that I'll later be able to understand your present chart, what it's "doing" and not doing, including gaging whether I think you're "making sense" according to my experience. (If nothing's making sense, or not fitting, I may decline to do the case.) I'll also ask if there are particular locations you're thinking about that you definitely want considered.

At Interview time I am listening intently, want you to do most of the talking, and I'm taking notes. My clients can tell me anything they want me to know in that interview.

My clients typically tell me things in our first chat, too. Sometimes they mistake that for the Interview. In initial chats the client is trying to get a general idea of how I work, what I'm like, and deciding if they even want to work with me. The object there is not to tell me all the details, facts, and history of your situation. That should be saved for the Interview.

Sometimes my client misunderstands the process. Sometimes during the initial chat they ask, "Is this the interview?" I answer, "No, I schedule people for Interviews once they tell me 'check's in the mail.'"

Or, after scheduling them for their interview, and after asking questions for a while, then concluding, they say: "Oh, I thought this was going to be the reading!" They are confused and dismayed that I am not already giving them their reading. (They didn't read my site, etc.) I just say, "No, this is the interview. I interview you first, and do in formally. I have to know your goals and problems in order to work with you. Now, what about such-and-such date for the reading?"

I can only conclude that many astrologers give locational opinions after the shortest, most casual, initial phone chats and that most are not used to an astrologer having three separate conversations with them. It also tells me that people are used to "readings" from other astrologers in which the client actually does most of the talking! (Astounding! What an easy way to do readings!) Anyway, now you know. I wouldn't do this any other way.

Just yesterday I had a fellow, a very intelligent fellow, and he told me he had just read this very page, and I told him he'd be scheduled for his interview once I learned he'd mailed me a check. Again, he asked, "And that will be the interview, right? Not the reading?" So even though this was plainly explained here, he still wasn't sure. It made me muse on why this happens, and I know why it happens: Because I am a tremendous listener and people are not used to this. One thing about me is that I grew up with a father who never listened, but only talked. And he would talk for a long time, always taxing my powers of listening. It turned out that the prime way I ever felt close to him or got nurtured by my father was by listening to him. What this did was two things: 1) It gave me the capacity to listen well, and 2) A general quality of being a listener/observer, and 3) Made me able to listen long and hard. It actually helped me to be a very good astrologer.

Then what happens is that once somebody is conversing with me at all, it's as if they are presented with this great, open, absorptive vacuum or something which draws them out. In five minutes I can have a person telling me their life story for 3 hours and they think it's as natural as picking up their coffee cup. Because they apparently feel my quiet, listening ear and it draws them out. Anyway, so it turns out that even these clients who have an initial, brief, conversation with me end up well-listened to by me in that brief span, and they have a hard time registering that I've not already interviewed them. This is my only explanation. Now, some of my clients will not experience this, or even think I'm a poor listener. That's a factor of our own compatibility, synastry, etc. However, this is the general trend. To keep from being confused about this, just remember: Your first conversation is never your interview. The interview is called "The Interview" and it is formally scheduled, and I'll be calling you. (You won't be ring me.) That's how you can tell when you've been really interviewed.

You know what? It's really sad how few people ever get listened to in this life! And it's really pathetic when even astrologers don't listen well. But me, I'm a listener, thanks to my father, Victor.

Wheew.

Calling vs. Emailing

Always phone, and phone the number at the website. I don't work through email. There is only one sort of email message I'm sure to respond to, and that's an email regarding your recording, such as not getting it. (I send them out by email.)

The other email I welcome is an email telling me about your move and move results; reporting to me. I always read these, though I might not always respond.

Otherwise, phone. Emailing me is the slow, slow, slow track and even slows down a phone call response. Most emails from clients will not get answered. If any do, it's luck.

If you email me instead of call, it means you didn't really want to talk to me. Even if you phone, emailing me too will slow down my response and put you in a slower track. It complicates my way of responding to you. If I see the email and recall it I will note in my phone log next to your name "there's an email." This will put you in the slow track for getting called back, because I may not call you until I've read the email, which may possibly even happen, the gods willing, after some lapse of time. Your name will slowly move into my back pages.

If you leave a message and reveal "I emailed you" it will have the same effect: You'll get put on the slow track because now an expedition into the email wilderness is required. This could even happen some day.

So, before calling you back, I would, possibly, first go through a process of finding your email before I phone you. This, if it ever happens, will take time. Why do I want to read your email first? Because I hate it when somebody says, after I call them, "Didn't you get my email!" I feel put down by it, and embarrassed, as if I am incompetent, even though I told them here to "call; don't email."

So, simply returning a phone call (Fast! Easy!) gets complicated if I think you emailed me. I won't phone you until I read the email, to avoid that moment, see? So don't email unless it's one of the two things above, or it slows things down.

Another way to understand this is that I don't like to be asked the same question twice, or ponder it twice, and I like to work by phone. So aside from all the other complexities email creates, it means I'll usually be getting your questions twice and thinking about them twice. I don't like to do that, and it actually gets lesser results from me (in terms of accuracy, etc.) So read this simple chart if this is not clear:

-- If you want me to call you back fast, just call and leave a message, and send no email about your issue.

-- If you want me to take longer to call you back, send one email.

-- If you want to get called back in maybe 2 months, send 2 emails.

-- If you want a strong chance of never being called, send me 3 emails.

Time Zones

I speak in terms of your time zone, not mine. I deal with all kinds of time zones, so time-zone-translating is second nature to me. I don't expect my clients -- who don't often deal with different time zones, to do time zone translating. Thus if I say "How about 8 PM?" -- I mean your time.

Nowadays, just to avoid this confusion, I often explicitly say "8 PM YOUR TIME." I use those two words "your time" after after the number. Funny thing is, I often find they are still confused about it and have to ask "who's time"? right after I say it, and later on ask again. So maybe if you read it here, that I speak in terms of your time zone, we won't have to have many conversations about it and you will not to be on pins and needles come reading day wondering "I wonder if he meant my time or his time?!" I speak in terms of YOUR TIME. It would be absurd to expect my clients to translate it for me, because they would tend to find it new and confusing and get it wrong, and I am used to dealing with all time zones from Hong Kong to Melbourne to Hawaii to Maine to Rome. I do this every day.

I very rarely mess this up. You can be confident that I am talking in your time zone whenever I refer to an appointment time. I deal with every state. Occasionally I may ask 'what your clock says right now" just to assure myself that I have your time zone right.

I Call YOU

At the reading time, just wait by the phone. I normally say "I'll call you at such-and-such o'clock" in my chats with clients, but many forget this and start phoning me, instead, at the appointment time, just because it's 30 seconds after or whatever. This just leads to us getting voice mails or busy signals. I ask you to just wait by the phone at the appointment time and keep the line clear. I sometimes phone "right on the dot" but usually not; usually sometime within 5 minutes of the appointment time. I have to be good and ready. If I am going to be over 5 minutes late, I will call you to let you know. Some clients start ringing me and ringing me at 1 or 2 minutes past the appointed time, and it just creates problems as I am trying to call them. I have done it this way for 20 years, ever since I first started this. I call you.

Occasionally -- not very often but occasionally -- I have not "cracked the case" yet, and don't have my answer for you, though I have worked on it. In such cases I will hold you over and give you a new day and appointment time some days away. I hit it another day.

I Astrologically Time Your Reading

To schedule your reading I use astrological timings -- i.e. transits going on in YOUR chart. Repeat: I do your reading at a time especially selected FOR YOU. I pick a particular astrological time. I do this even if the time is inconvenient to me, because I consider it very important. I don't just choose your appointment time from random "open dates" on my calendar, arbitrarily. This means I am seriously after a particular few dates, within a given month, to deliver your reading to you. Not just any old day. I DO TRY to accommodate my clients in terms of choosing a time convenient to them, whether "on a weekend," or "on my day off," or "in the evening" etc. I almost always succeed in accommodating those practical scheduling requests. However, I do insist that you let me choose the good astrological dates for your reading. Therefore, in cases where I have to reschedule you (because the answer is not found yet) -- I will also choose another good astrological time. So do not worry about that. I do this as consistently as the sun rises. It is second nature to me, and I consider it very important.

Recordings

I record the reading digitally on my end. You'll be able to hear both me and yourself. I make either a .wma file (Windows Media Audio, plays on all Windows computers), or an MP3 file that will play on a Mac. I will be asking you at some point which sort of computer you have. The audio file comes to you in 1-2 weeks after the reading. I do these in batches. Once I have a pile of them, I sit down and send out a batch of audios. Again, it should arrive in your email in 1-2 weeks after the reading. When I send these out, I send a companion email along with the heavy file, one with no attachment that is sure to get through. This informs you that I am attempting to send the other email having the big audio file.

Sometimes the file is too large and gets rejected by your email service. In these cases I first try to re-send it at a lesser sound quality so the file is smaller. If that doesn't work, I ask your mailing address, making a CD of the reading, and mailing it to you.

Some people freak out and start calling me the next day when they don't see the audio in their email the next day. But I do these in batches 1-2 weeks later, and my recording of your reading is a complimentary free service. I sell my opinion, not MP3s or WMA files. I have over 7000 readings behind me, a good reputation, always put time in on you, and my fee is very reasonable for selling that opinion. I do not sell CDs, paper, or digital files. 99 percent of the time, however, I successfully record your reading and get it to you.

If we get disconnected

Just stay off the line and let me call back if we get disconnected. Sometimes I am using a hand-held digital recorded spliced into my phone line. My recording rig appears to develop some static electricity or something, and now and then, the phone just gets disconnected. If it happens, it usually only happens once. Just let me call back and we will resume the reading. It can be frustrating if we both start phoning each other at that point.

Stumpers

I turn down or decline about 20 percent of cases. This means I don't get a locational solution I am sure of at this time. In these cases, I do a refund minus a $30-dollar "stumped fee." So you will be nipped for 30 bucks. However, clients often get valuable info even when I turn them down for a move recommendation, such as, say "I don't think it's timely to move right now," or "No, that place you were so hot to move to does not measure up," etc. I used to do full refunds, but I find I turn down so many that it takes a bite out of my time and income. I constantly resist raising my basic fee, though I feel I'm worth more and mere linemap readers often copy by 190-200 pricepoint, which is annoying.

I have done this my entire career, and as far as I know, I am the only one who does. The reason is I know too much, and I operate in a stricter set of rules before recommending any location. My "list of negative factors" (to be avoided) is longer than what is known by most locational astrologers, for example. You could say I am more conservative and more careful. This has resulted in me sleeping well at night and having very few unhappy clients out of my 7,000+ clients. This 'stumped" situation is not permanent, but has to do with transits/progressions going on at this time, and in near future. If a client comes back to me in 2-3 years, things will have changed and I might be able to recommend a location then. Generally it takes me two weeks to do your refund. If you paid on PayPal, I will be refunding you there. If by check, I will be sending you out my own check.

I am paid in advance, and any check sent to me does get deposited. (I have, a few times, had clients become alarmed at the fact that their check got deposited before the reading, i.e. they were confused about what "paid in advance" means.) I always do refunds as fast as I can. If anybody out there never got refunded, you should phone me at the number at the site and remind me. That would have been an oversight.

What the Reading's Like

In the Interview (prior to the reading), you do most of the talking. In the Reading, I do most of the talking. I will be saying a lot, and sometimes pretty fast, and it's coming to me as I look at the charts. I will be giving you a pretty coherent presentation and telling you the critical things I think you need to know, and the critical reasons I am recommending a location, and making some predictions. The reading is not of the nature of a conversation, but rather more an information download. So it's good to be a good listener, but you will have the recording later, too. I give more information and more detail than most astrologers, and each reading is unique. Many people are not used to the kind of detail and content I give. It's best if, during the readings, you keep interruptions to a minimum. Interrupt only if you simply didn't hear or understand what I just said. You will have time later to ask questions. This is not a strict rule. But occasionally there is a client who interrupts so much that it throws off the reading and it's difficult to give a coherent presentation. Usually these are people who are used to astrologers whose readings are more like conversations or counseling sessions. Some astrologers let the time get filled up a great deal by the client talking, acting like therapists. My readings are not like conversations or counseling sessions. I'm there to give as much information as I can and I wear down in about 45 minutes. When I am done, I am done. For the briefing I promise 30 minutes of my dense information presentation, but generally go well over that. Remember, I will have already spent other time and interviewed you -- getting your goals and problems -- in another earlier session.

Occasionally I will ask a client to respond, or describe conditions to me, or to confirm that something I said is true. I always enjoy hearing about conditions. But my main goal is to do the talking and give you maximum information. I have had clients tell me they wish they had not interrupted me so much (when later listening to the recording). This is especially true when they were simply repeating things, about themselves, that they had already told me in the pre-Interview. You will not want to hear lots of yourself telling me about yourself at reading time. The more you hear of me, the more you will like the recording. Again, there will be time to answer any important questions you want to put to me before we are done. In short, be a good listener during the reading, and let me do most of the talking.

Listening

It's good to be a pretty good listener with me. At least a decent listener. Generally if I have to repeat myself once, because something flew right past you, I don't mind. If I have to say it a third time, I feel you are not a good listener. I usually feel I get bad results from bad listeners. For one thing, they often don't even get my instructions right. They may travel on the wrong day, think I said up when I said down, or even end up moving to the wrong town! An example of a bad listener would be something like this, in an initial phone chat:

Client: "So how does it work, I mean with payment and all that, and getting started?"

Me: "As soon as you mail a check, call me and tell me 'Check's in the mail.' Leave that on my voice mail. I try to get back to you in 24 hours to schedule you for your interview. If you're in a rush, you can use my cell phone to tell me, which is: XXX-XXX-XXXX. You can call me the day you mail it, or that minute, or even tonight."

Client: "O.K., so after you get the check, you'll call me, and then we set up the appointment."

Me: "No, I schedule you after you tell me you mailed a check. The check may sit on my desk for a week with other mail, or in my mail box for a few days, etc. I am saying that you should phone me immediately when you mail a check. That day, or even that moment. Sometimes people sit there thinking, 'I mailed him my darn check. Certainly he'll call me. Why isn't he calling me!' Yet they never followed my instructions and phoned me. I may not even know I have their check."

Client: "O.K., Check's in the mail." (The client is being funny.)

Me: "Hah. Funny."

Client: "But I'm going to go out and mail it right after we get off the phone."

Me: (Like a patient mother repeating a worn out instruction to 3-year-old Johnny, in dictioned schoolteacher voice):

"Well, as soon as you do, you can call me and tell me. O.K.?"

Client: "So, then after the check clears, then we schedule?"

Me: (Finished) "You don't listen. I can't work with you. See you later."

Click.

If I know I can't work with a client, I don't stay and chit chat. I'm done. It happens occasionally that I refuse, immediately, to work with a person who seems to not listen very well. I won't debate the matter. But I do at least say "bye" or "see ya later."

The thing there was: I dislike to repeat myself, and if I have to say the same thing three times, something deep within me detests it. I feel like I am being abused, and something in my voice is being abused. I don't even like to speak, let alone repeat myself. I don't like saying the same thing thrice even to my children, and even though I love them, and even in important matters. I instinctively despise being made to do this. I respect my speech because it's part of what I give. So be a moderately good listener and we'll get along. 99 percent of my clients are good listeners.

Try to Be Receptive and Just Listen When I Give You the Location, Entertain It

Sometimes a new caller will express this trepidation: "What if you give me a location that I just don't like (the idea of) or can't conceive of"?

I answer: "One reason I'm successful is that I tend not to do that. Usually when I tell the client what I'm recommending their reaction is more like, "Hmm. How interesting." I don't tend to give bizarre or improbable locations to people, as it turns out."

Sometimes the client has her mind made up about some condition like "no winter" or "must be by the sea." I may end up, sometimes, not finding such a location that's really adequate, astrology-wise. I may want to try to get them to consider this other thing.

At that time, if that is happening, you should at least hear me out. Recently I gave a Colorado location to a woman who was adamant that she wanted to be by the sea and was sure she'd like the California coast. After traveling and roaming in both places, she ended up, indeed, settling in Colorado and found the benefits I described there, realizing that she could make sorties to the coast in the winters from Telluride and the west side of the mountains. She has been very happy on arrival in the new location. She did not like my idea at all as I presented it in the reading, but she listened and did not spit on it. If she had begun spitting on it the moment I brought it out, she would not have received the places, or the predictions, but I would have refunded her. I don't like to hear my recommendation rejected the moment it comes out my mouth, like "spitting in the wind" as they say. I would like you to at least entertain it while I build my case and state my reasons. I am fairly touchy about that point, that is, seeing the idea rejected "out of hand." "Out of hand means" rejecting it without even looking at it, as in hearing me tell you the great factors there. Especially if my idea is not extreme or unreasonable.

Sometimes this is difficult because the client may believe they need certain mundane factors, such as a certain kind of air for a health problem. I, on the other hand, may be of the opinion that the current locational chart itself is the root of the health problem, and that her problem is likely to alter itself with a beneficial chart. I usually don't try to bend the arm of clients when it comes to their health problems or what they believe they need, or what the "causes" are. But even those, I ask them to at least entertain the location with a visit. Sometimes they are surprised to find that the "story" or "facts" about their health problem become altered while visiting the other location. (Health problems are just karma and all the karma is controlled by the chart.) This is the power of location. But the main point here is that I want to have my idea entertained and listened to, rather than having you quarrel with it before I even give it to you. Except in cases where you said "It must be in the U.S." and I start giving you a foreign place, for example. (This doesn't happen because I always clear that with clients in advance.)

Here is a recent case to illustrate this. I had a client get a Master reading ($300, two locations). She was very open to foreign locations, and had named a few countries of interest. She had a desire to be in a warmer place than the Seattle area, and by the sea. I ended up finding wonderful charts for her in warmer parts of western Europe, by the sea. Usually I do not reveal where the place is early in the reading, but bring it out finally after opining fully about the current location, then I bring it out all at once with explanations. Part of the reason I do not give the location early is because I am guaging the receptivity and listenership of the client. I may not want to even give it if they are not generally receptive to me. With this lady I very fleetingly said, early in the reading, "I'm going to end up giving you a place in western Europe." Immediately she said "Egad!"(As in "yikes," "kriminy," "blechh" etc.) Europe's big, she didn't even know the country yet! Incidentally, she was of European heritage. Though she didn't even know yet what I was going to tell her, she was already spitting on it, that is, throwing it back in my face. Oh, what a powerful word that one word "Egad" was. With that one word from her I ended the reading, telling her I'd be fully refunding her (which I did), and I gave her no location. She later called strongly desiring a location and saying "I don't know what happened." No way! I won't shout in the wind.

I simply won't give a location to somebody who is not receptive and willing to listen while I'm giving it. If the client has criticisms, doubts, or misgivings about my idea, I would prefer that they save them and lay them out to me after I have done the bulk of my presentation on the new location. Bring them up then. I will be happy to respond, or even change course if your your protestation is strong or non-negotiable. But I want a listening ear while I give it. I never really try to "talk a client" into moving somewhere beyond a certain point. During the time that I do enthuse about it, I don't want negativity. There's an old saying "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth."That means, don't find fault with a gift. (An aged horse can be identified by longer teeth.) This aphorism doesn't quite fit here because I don't give out an old horse, but the finest and freshest horses! Where it does match is that there is an element of "gift" to my locations far beyond the fee I get paid, especially with some of them. (If I could only have some of the fine charts I find for my clients! Some get wealthy.) So save any misgivings till I'm mostly done, because I'm really giving a gift that's beyond the fee and beyond the mundane service as you may perceive it.

It's especially valuable to be receptive and avoid unnecessary interruptions when I start making POSITIVE PREDICTIONS about life in the new location. Some clients act almost as if they want to shut me off when I start making positive predictions, almost as if their capacity to listen is being strained. I try not to let this affect me. But it sometimes happens that a client gets a very abbreviated list of positive predictions simply because they interrupted me once to many times, at the wrong times. The most foolish thing to do in a reading is to keep interrupting me when I am starting to make the positive predictions about the new location.

"Nervous Nellies"

Nervous Nelly is my term for people who are a bit too nervous about working with me right from the start. These are usually the internet-people (found me over the internet) rather than referred to me by someone they know. These appear to be the ones most nervous about working from me. I am happy to work with them, but don't be too much of a nervous Nellie or it makes me nervous. I also can't help but take it as an insult.

I usually pick up on it right away. It's especially grating when they have an idea, even in the back of their minds, that I might be a scam artist, planning to take their money and run, not for real, etc. If you have this fear about me, truly, I'd rather you not call. Not only does it make me nervous, but a bit insulted. I hope, one day, to become the sort of person that is called "unflappable." However, I take great pride in my honesty and sacrifice for my clients. (I do give up a great deal of income rather than giving out locations that are only moderately good.) I am completely sincere in my work, and don't appreciate the suspicion about my nature.

One sign of a Nervous Nellie is that if I am one just one minute late for the appointment time, they start frantically calling my phone. They have ignored my instruction to let me phone them. (Or, maybe they weren't a good listener and never heard it). Now they are phoning me, quite concerned that I may have disappeared from the face of the earth and am now running off to Mexico with a tidy 195 dollars to stake me. When the reading line begins ringing right at appointment time, or a few minutes after appointment time, I start tapping my fingers and waiting for it to stop. When it stops, I then call. (Now the reading starts 5 minutes late because of this.) I have never once picked up the phone to answer a Nervous Nelly who was phoning. I'm sort of like an old-fashioned male in this: I lead the dance.

Another characteristic is wanting to take an inordinate amount of time, in the first phone call, going over mundane details about procedures and how I work, as if they don't trust how it will go. They want to nail down every little thing, exactly how much time they get, when they get the audio. They may want to pre-explain (or pre-interview) their life in detail (rather than waiting for the interview), or know in advance if I'll come out "stumped" or not, or many questions about how my technique works. (Even wanting me to teach them my astrological technique.) Almost the same time they'd want from a wedding planner when planning their wedding day. Generally speaking, I don't want to spend more than 20 minutes in in any initial chat, and if you don't get enough there to give you confidence, we are not right for each other.

Usually a Nervous Nelly will be nervous about EVERY aspect of the relationship. If their recording doesn't arrive the very next day, they begin phoning slightly irate. (Though I state that it comes in 1-2 weeks after.) They are watching the clock. If I go only 29 minutes, they feel I have cheated them and now they'll never see or hear from me again. (Truth is, I might have easily given hem 120 minutes reading time over the run of things, had they called with various questions. I am not a cab driver and don't watch the clock. Truth is, I am very generous with time and always oil the squeakiest wheels. I often do little favors for clients, free. I am not a clock-watcher. If I'm getting "done" with a reading, it's because I feel at a good stopping point.) The Nervous Nellie will take great umbrage at this and feel I am cheating them. The Nervous Nelly may change my attitude about talking to them because of their accusatory attitude.

Nervous Nellies who think I'm prying and "Asking Too Many Questions" in a 10-minute Interview that's supposed to completely alter their life and give them what they want

Generally in the Interview I let you just speak and lead you only as necessary. But there are some basic things I like to know. I don't like to work with clients who are cagey about ordinary questions like those above, thinking I'm prying without cause. With a recent one that I turned down, the interview went like this:

She said she was a consultant. I asked her if that was "working for her." (Often my clients have money troubles. And frequently my consulting clients are not making it. I just wanted to get that question out of the way.) She let out a little gaspy "Enh!" like the question insulted her. Rushing along she assured me she's been very successful. Wanting to know the nature of her consulting work (so I could understand how her chart functions there, and possibly keep it intact or viable in another location) -- I asked "What do you consult about?" She responded impatiently something about "government contracts" and "big companies." What I was after was a real picture of how she functions in work. (On the phone a lot? Traveling to New York or Taiwan? Visiting local businesses?) But she was giving me signals she didn't want to tell me much. She mentioned that she made money doing other things. Now nervous myself, the professional in me still asked: "Oh? What else do you do to make money?" She briefly mentioning "investments" and "other things." That was plenty enough for me to know. I don't ask for any details about anybody's money, of course. I just want to have the general picture life. Trust fund? Alimony? It's necessary to see what, in the chart, is importantly benefitting them already, to avoid disturbing or lose it.

I realized she was touchy about many things and that she was finding these basic questions invasive. She had been very clear about wanting to improve her relationship/marriage prospects. This I had well noted. I like to "shake your tree" a few times and see what falls out. Often my clients forget to tell me important goals. We'd not gone 10 minutes yet. Realizing I should end it, I wanted to just ask one more thing to get a picture of her daily life and at least go 10 minutes. So I asked: "Do you work at home or go to an office, and commute." ("Commuter" charts are interesting to me. Plus that would give me more sense of the nature of her work, which she'd been opaque about, maybe that it was largely phone work -- a money house tied to the 3rd house -- or whatnot.) Exasperated and affronted, she snipped: "I don't know why you're asking me these kinds of questions!"

Hah! Now I got it. I suddenly felt dirty. It was like she imagined I might fly to Denver and start stalking her house because she had a successful consulting business. Or maybe approach her as a jiggolo to embezzle her investments. She didn't want me to be able to have an accurate picture of her life, just get her a husband. So I said "I was about done. But you're too cagey. I can't deal with you. I'm sending your check back." And that was that. Yipes!

This has happened 2-3 times. I don't need to know all your secrets, and don't try. But I want to have a basic reality view of your life. It makes my work come out better. Famous people or semi-famous people are the worst for this. I write about that later. This situation described above has happened maybe 2-3 times with me. In both cases I can remember, the client had two similarities:

-- They believed our initial phone chat was supposed to be the "Interview" and were not even used to astrologers doing pre-interviews or questions. Even though things were explained, they still believe I've already interviewed them, or they've already told me enough in the initial chat. They don't realize I probably don't even remember what they told me in the initial chat, and was not taking any notes. Now that I'm really listening and taking notes, they think I'm just delving into their lives for mysterious reasons, prying unaccountably. Basically, they are confused because they are used to cheap astrologers and also didn't read this page.

-- That had found me on the internet, only, with no referalls. Some of these folks seem to believe everybody on the internet is dangerous. (I don't know why they'de hire somebody "dangerous" to get so deeply involved with their life, making a move recommendation that will alter their life.) They've seen too many movies. I won't work with a client who's too nervous, spooky, and especially one who's suspicious of me or my motives for asking questions. It offends me, and I can't get the info I want to do a good job for them.

I would also observe I tend to have difficulty with clients having two other traits:

-- They think astrology is something magical, like it's calling a psychic, etc. They don't understand the idea of pure astrology and bunch me in with all this other "magical" stuff.

-- They have gone to various kinds of cheapie readers and "services" that just pop off and start telling them stuff on the phone with no intelligent advance preparation. Both psychics and the cheapie astrologers will do that. So, the clients I have most trouble with have called phone numbers in the back of National Equirer or The Sun, or whatever. They think it's all magic, and want to keep a great, almost anonymous, distance from me. This client above, I sensed had these traits also, because she said she had gone to a lot of astrologers -- yet she had never experienced being interviewed by any of them. A goal-oriented astrologer, trying to get things for you, needs to interview you! Not only to understand your goals, but have a real picture of life now. (I'm not God sitting there viewing my client's live on some cosmic TV screen, and though I'll know a lot about your life by looking at the chart, I can also end up wrong. Each person manifests their current locational chart in an individual way, and learning about your life in your own words helps me understand your chart better and avoid mistakes.)

It's a little bit, I guess, like going to an upper-scale restaurant, wanting a fast-and-dirty meal, and becoming annoyed when the waiter asks too many questions, tells you too much, brings appetizers you didn't plan for, and gives you too much elegant service. The one used to Wendys and and McDonalds, I guess, may get annoyed and storm out. Truly, I prefer not to have these kinds of clients who go to many psychics and cheapie astrologers, because the confusion they have, but I will of course try my best!

O.K., so you're famous or used to be famous. Am I going to betray you? Talk about you? Ruin your life?

Famous clients are a special breed. Some are nervous about speaking with me and telling me their actual situation, goals, or actual problems. This is because they are nervous, I suppose, about the possibility that I might reveal this information about them to the public for my own thrills, or fun, or notoriety. The astrologer Joan Quigley did a great disservice to astrologers and their relationship with the famous by publishing her book "What Does Joan Say" about her counseling relationship with the Reagans, and this is deplorable. I have always practiced the rule of complete confidentiality with my clients. This includes never telling anybody who they are (even my own family), much less anything about what they tell me. In other words, I will not even confirm or deny that a person is my client. If you find out somebody with fame is a client of mine, that would have been through them and their own word-of-mouth grapevine, not because of my mouth. So if you are famous or about-to-be famous, and want a reading, please relax. I don't like working with clients who are nervous, who don't trust me, or who want to be cagey about their true situation or thoughts. I have to know my clients and their true goals and problems to work intelligently with them, and I'd just as soon not have you as a client if you are a nervous Nellie. For the record, I have a number of famous clients, and a few who became that way after getting readings from me. But I am not going to tell you who they are!

There are three obvious reasons I have a confidentiality rule with my clients, including the famous:

1) It's what people want,
2) It's what I would want, and
3) I would never get any more famous clients if I didn't.

You should know, too, that I am not particularly impressed with you just because you are famous, used to be famous, or about to be famous. I find the famous are full of problems and limitations just like everybody else. I also won't work with a famous person if I am not in favor of what he/she is doing, thus I am going to want to know what you are all about. If a famous client is offended that I don't know all about them already -- the names of their books, movies, etc. -- I respect that and it's understandable. I am a hermit type and don't follow fame, or know all about everybody. However, I will do my best to inform myself about your work. Sometimes, however, it is easier and faster for you to simply tell me all about it in the interview. Please do not be offended by my initial lack of knowledge. I respect all my clients and their works.

Just recently I had a client who, after much openness in our initial chat, later refused to tell me what the name of her best-selling book was, refused to tell me what her documentary movie was all about, and refused to elaborate on what she meant by the goal of being a "global spiritual leader." She appeared to be clamming up because of fame/reputation fears and wanted to be a mystery. I refused her and refunded her. By the way: I'm the biggest fan of organic gardeners and farmers, stay-at-home mothers, great singers, and nice and friendly people. However, if you are famous and not unpleasant, class-conscious, or cagey -- I am happy to work with you. You may as well know I consider myself to be greater than you. (There, that knocked out at least 90 percent of the potential high-maintenance, high-stress fame-clients. Phweww! What a relief.)

But if you are famous and I am asking you questions about you -- it's not because I am ga-ga about you, getting thrills from knowing your secrets, or being a fan. I am a fan of two people: My guru Yogananda and the avadhut Nityananda. But I easily respect people for what they are, or for the nobility of their work. But not just because they have fame or used to have fame. (Truth is, many famous or formerly famous people are actually crass people and sometimes pathetic.) I respect a client for what he/she is, but I also respect the situation with fame and your feelings about it. I do have to learn about your true situation and goals to serve you. So please be honest and tell me the truth, with no fear. Nobody will ever know that I am your astrologer unless you tell them.

By the way, I love the famous clients I have and admire what they are doing. But all this had to be said anyway.

Checking Out The Location

The least I ask of my clients is to be open-minded enough to at least visit the location once. In most cases, the first well-timed visit will give the client some positive ideas and attractions to the location, and they will begin already to have their own natural, sensible reasons to want to move there. This is because my recommendations are generally very good, and I also have you go at the right times. In some cases, the first trip will not be convincing, or it will be mixed. All trips are conditioned by the transits effective at the time of the trip. Some trip times are better than others, and I can't always find the strongest times in, say, the month you wanted to use. So, a second trip could turn out better still. I always feel that a client has not really give a recommendation a chance until they have gone there at least twice, using my timing. Generally, if I time the first trip, and your findings there are not mostly positive, it means 1) the timing I used was not as strong as it could have been, possibly because I was required to choose a particular time of year and not much was available for a good timing, or 2) Your birth time is wrong. If a client goes to a place I give, at a time I recommend, and has a negative experience -- it's almost a sure thing that your birth time is wrong. This rarely happens to my clients, but if it does, you should tell me right away and we should look at it and let me evaluate the time. In some cases, 2-3 minutes off can account for/explain the unexpected results. In such cases, I can sometimes adjust the location to a city to the west or east, and also make a slight correction to your birth time. (Give an opinion about a more correct birth time.) This correction can be very valuable for you in the long run.

About Birth Times

There is nothing really "Gospel" about the time on your birth certificate. It is probably very close, but not exact. I use the time you have as if it is correct, but you should understand why birth times are often not perfect in the first place. Some people get all excited if any doubt is raised about their birth time, saying "But it says right on the birth certificate." I have actually watched babies being born in delivery rooms, and there are at least four reasons 99 percent of birth times can be adjusted slightly:

1) Clocks are not perfect. This is even more true of the 1950s and 60's before "quartz movement" etc. But even today, you can walk out of a delivery room and the clock on the hall is a minute or two different. Unless the hospital clock is a digital radio clock, with a digital display -- tuned to the the Federal Time Signal -- it will run fast and slow. Just like clocks always have done. (Remember in school, waiting for class to end? The minute hand starts slipping down as it descends, then slowing and struggling as it comes around to 7, 8, 9 o'clock?) Clocks are a bit better today, but they are not magic clocks.

2) Unless there is a person in the delivery room trying to get a correct birth time, rarely do nurses etc. look up at the clock at the real moment of birth. (First in-breath.) Generally a nurse writes down the clock time soon after the first breath in, when she happens to look up. However, this will usually be after the crisis and hubbub of the birth has settled down, and it is the nature of the nurse character (their Virgo-like character) to not make things up. They have their routines and habits. "I write down the clock time after the doctor does such and such.) I know for a fact that in the births I witnessed, I looked up at the clock before anybody else did, and was the only one who witnessed the correct clock time. And yet, I couldn't trust the clock. (For reasons given.)

3) Even with a person there explicitly trying to get the right birth time, they may not watch the right event. They may time the physical exit. But the true birth time and "beginning of the chart" is the first in-breath.

4) Even that witness deliberately trying to get the right birth time with his own watch may not have a perfectly timed watch. It may lack seconds. He/she may not have checked its exactitude prior to the event.

5) The "seconds" fudge factor.

Birth times are rounded to minutes. A "5:14" pm time might have been 5:14:01
or it could have been 5:14:59, which is more like 5:15.

So, let's say you even have a friend timing the birth with a digital watch, not the mechanical hospital clock, and it's set as best she could. She even understandings the breath thing. She writes down "10:49" because her clock said that. But in reality the time was 10:49 and 55 seconds -- almost 10:50. Then there is a few seconds lapse before she realizes the baby is breathing. Effectively she records a birth time at least one minute off.

So you can understand how hospital times can be off. I only bring all this up for those rare cases where I might recommend 1 or a few minutes birth time correction based on anomalous reports from you, about your current location or a visited location. I don't want clients to think there is something inherently flawless about the time written on their certificate. I rarely recommend birth time alterations.

Usually the locations I recommend can tolerate a few minutes time inaccuracy. In most cases my locations have some room for birth time error, with the location still good 5 minutes off either direction. However, in some locations I give, exactitude really matters.

Trip Timings

You can take a trip to the same place 5 different times; you'll never have exactly the same experience. The difference in experience comes from the difference in the astrological transits during your trip. So, you can pick a place, say Santa Barbara. If you go under bad transits to Santa Barbara, you can have an unpleasant time. Go under good transits, and you can have a wonderful time. When people travel, their astrological transits at that time (those days, that week. etc.) dominate the results. The place may be one that will build you up and be positive long term, yet you could have a terrible time there on a trip. Conversely, the place might be one that will tear you down and ruin you over the next three years, yet you could have a wonderful trip there because, say, Venus was sextiling your Moon, Jupiter Trining your this, or that -- during the trip. So, a trip does not necessarily "tell the tale" about a location's long-term potential for you. It is partly an expression of the location's long term trends, and partly an expression of the transits at that time. Any location (I mean anywhere) -- when visited under bad enough transits -- will produce negative experiences, and more importantly, negative "findings." Again: Any location in the world can produce the "trip from hell" if you go there at a bad time. There is no location that is so positive that you won't have a bad trip, or a very mixed one, if visiting it under bad transits. This is very important to understand.

Sometimes I get a client who says, "Why should it matter when I go, Julian? You said this was the fortunate place for me! I'm going this week!" However, if he visits briefly under a brief set of bad transits, he will produce a bad trip there. This will be a waste of his money and time, and possibly poison his mind against a place that is going to be very good for him over the long term. A place will "produce phenomena" for you based on the transits effective at the time of travel, and this constantly changes. It takes longer to see the long term themes of a location.

My clients naturally want their trips to be confirmatory, auspicious, and to give good indicators that the place will be fortunate. They also want to be attracted to the place and get natural reasons to move there. That is why it is important that for your first, and even additional, trips there you should use timings given by me. This brings out the maximum positive results from the trip and gives you the most "reasons to move." My trip timings for clients are a big reason I am successful in my work and have so many clients who finally relocate to the place I recommend.

It is a part of my service that I give AS MANY TRIP TIMINGS AS YOU NEED until you get moved to the location. I also provide a move timing when you have finally decided that you desire, for your own reasons, to move there.

What I'm Paid For

I am paid for my opinion, and, my opinion is what you are paying for. I am not paid for paper, CDs, cassette tapes, or mp3 files. I am also not even paid to be God, or to be infallibly correct, or to remove all future problems from your life. I am not paid to use the "system" that a client thinks is cool. You should leave the system to me, or at least understand aspects of my system and be interested in my results in that system, before hiring me. If a client thinks he you already know "the system," or has his "own system" he should do his own astrology and not hire me. If he thinks some other astrologer's "system" is theoretically "better" he should hire that astrologer, and not me. (My system is better than what the majority of locational astrologers use, in my opinion. You are encouraged and invited to ask about it when you are initially talking to me. Many do, and I am always happy to fully answer about it, because I am a natural astrological teacher. I am not covert or coy about explaining the important aspects of the system I have evolved to get improvements and happy results for my clients.)

What I'm paid for is my opinion, and my opinion is what I'm paid for.

Now, I couldn't be in this business if my opinion was not often right, with my clients often pleased with their moves and move results. So I'm also paid because I have a good reputation. However, the thing you actually pay for is my opinion. So, if I give you my opinion, I have given you fully what you paid for. That's if I whisper it behind a tree, or hand it to you written on a piece of bark, or give it to you with a great deal of supportive explanations and rationales (which is what I do, as a courtesy and confidence-booster for you).

As evidence of this, were I to give my opinion out to everybody who called, magically, the first time they call me, guess what? I would not hear from them again, and few would send me money, once they had their question answered. That's because the thing they dearly want is my OPINION. I am paid for my opinion, and that's what I sell. I am a consultant and advisor, and I give the advice.

I actually give a lot more that just the "name of the place" in my readings. That's because I want my client to have enough confidence to at least try out the location with a trip. But my opinion of location is the important thing I give. It's what I work to find, interview you about, and use all my experience to decide.

Thus, if you don't LIKE my opinion of location, you still got what you paid me for and were dying to know: My opinion. You got what you paid for. If a client thinks he's becoming his own astrologer and "doesn't like my system," he still got what he paid for -- my opinion. If you move to the location, and you are disappointed with your results, both of us are disappointed. But I still duly provided you what you paid for, giving it my usual time and effort. Sometimes lawyers fail to give you your hoped-for results, even after paying them thousands of dollars. Same with doctors and stock brokers and advisors. Still, they worked for you.

I say this because doing this 20 years, and having 7,000-plus clients, one naturally ends up with a few critics, wiseacres, and never-satisfied clients. I have very few of these, but its inevitable.

In the End For YOUR OWN Good Reasons

The overwhelming majority of my clients are pleased and delighted with their moves, in the first month, the first year, and longer. But I can be wrong. I want all my clients to move, in the end, for good reasons of their own after investigating a location. Never 100 percent "because Julian said so." Everyone should find their own natural reasons, attractions, and good signs before making a move decision. It should feel right to you. My job is to point my finger to a good spot, a spot that will pull you in and give you good signs and results, and soon.

The nature of things is that everything is "mixed." There is no location without flaws. However, my purpose is to give you a location where you see important things improving, and soon. I don't give out any location unless I am 90 percent certain that it will be better, in future, than where you are now. And not just "a little" better, but significantly. So you can be confident that if I am recommending a location, I consider it worth looking in to with a strong prospect for improvement.

When I say "move for your own good reasons," I mean the sort of reasons you could tell your mother or a slightly cynical friend. These can include things like:

-- "We went there and really like it.
-- "Sam got a great job there."
-- "I just feel good there."
-- "I just love the air."
-- "There is a great house we can get."
-- "Some of our good friends are there."
-- "We met good friends there."
-- "It has better schools for the kids."
-- "It has the natural environment we want to be around (mountains, sea, etc.)
-- "There's a great community of folks there into all this same stuff we're into."
-- "John found a 50 dollar bill on the sidewalk, I found an old chair like my grandmother used to have, my cough went away, people smiled at us and were friendly, I met this guy who's a perfect contact for my business, they have us a free upgrade on our hotel room, little Stormy acted much better and met a friend," etc.

Stuff like that! Not this:

"Julian Lee, this locational astrologer, told us we should move there."

That's not on the list. So please, get some real-life reasons, such as above, before you move. To get a feel for it, imagine you have to tell your father-in-law why you are moving. Will he roll his eyes? if you say "An astrologer told us to move there," he will roll his eyes. So get other reasons onto the list from real-life.

If Getting Bad Results Soon After a Move

So we want the TRIP to turn out pretty good. I like to hear about positive results during a trip, but you don't have to tell me. On the other hand, if a trip is BAD and you really dislike the location, or the happenings, you should definitely call me. I give those timings to stack it the other way, toward good findings and happenings. So it could mean the birth time is off.

Same for after a move: If the first month or two after a move is really negative, and I timed the move, there is probably something wrong. You should definitely call me and report to me what's going on. Again, it may be that the birth time is faulty and the ideal location was a bit east or west from there. This rarely happens, but if it does: The sooner you call and report about contrary or anomalous results, the better. We may be able to salvage it and get you a bit east from there, or west, if you are not too hunkered down there yet.

Very Little Things

Much of what I am writing here is not important to know, and truly little things. But hey, I've been doing this 20 years, and now and then I've had some spare time to add to this page for the entertainment value, or to express myself, or whatever. These further items are indeed very little things, but I have run into them a lot. I am only fleshing it out for the entertainment. Some people have told me they enjoy reading this page, and I am a sober, grim and sometimes severe person. So in my old age, before I croak, I am trying to work on my humorous side. It's presently as wide as a strand of cheap thread from K-Mart, thus an unlikely prospect. Still the sat-chit-ananda ever avails.

Finding Out Where You Live

Sometimes one of the hardest things about my work is finding out where my client lives. =/:o|=

It seems that in this day and age people are sort of de-locationalized. They think that they live in big regions instead of towns. They don't realize that to me, as a locational astrologer, location is an important thing. Just for fun, I will demonstrate a conversation that sometimes happens. It's usually not this hard. But I've actually had conversations similar to this, especially with a faster-talking sort of person:

Me Trying to Find Out Where
Jenifer Devi Shakti-Ma Smytth Resides
Note: I made up the name for fun

Me: "So, where are you living?"

Client: "I'm in the Bay area."

Me: "I mean..."

Client: "Basically Marin County."

Me: "I mean, what's your t-..."

Client: "It's just about 10 minutes south of San Rafael...25 miles north of Berkeley...About 30 minutes from the coast...Kind of near Mill Valley. I'm, like, in the Mill Valley area...Basically 'Bay...' "

Me: "Yes, but I want to kn-..."

Client: "I can give you the zip code if that will help."

Me: "No, I can't use...I just need to be able to draw a chart fo..."

Client: "Do you need the Latitude and Longitude? Here, I have it on this old natal chart...The longitude says...(it's hard to read this)...one hundred and...thirty-two...West 32...."

Me: "No, no...I'd rather just have...

Client: ...then it says, it looks like, 'O3'? Is that minutes? Is that how you say it? I'm not sure if you say lon-Ji-tude or Long-Gi-tude, and then, let's see, the latitude...the latitude is..."

Me: "No,...It's easier...Here, let me just ask you, um, what do you write on your..."

Client: "Is that....?"

Me: "...on your envelopes. When you write on your envelopes...

Client: "What do you mean."

Me: "I mean for the mail...when you address an envelope...to write where you live, what town or city do you write on it? I mean, for the post man, you know. Where does the postman think you live? You write "such-and-such, then a comma, then the letters "CA."

Client: "Oh, Larkspur. I'm in Larkspur, California."

Me: 'Thank you. That's all I wanted.
Cool! Larkspur!"

Client: "But my post office box is in Mill Valley and my office is there. Does that matter?"

Me: That's O.K. I just wanted to know, right now, where you actually live. Like, where you sleep and have a house and stuff."

Client: "O.K., Larkspur."

Me: "Great! How interesting! Larkspur?! Wow. Larkspur! I love it."

(I don't really say "stuff," but I thought it looked funnier.)

Anyway, lol! I suppose I could write an essay on this, and what it says about our degraded "sense of location" in these times. At this time I would only comment that we don't really live in areas. Nobody "occupies the bay area" or "Marin County." Almost all of us live in an actual town or city (probably 99.9 percent of my clients). I mean, what's "home," people? If I dropped you out of my car in the "Bay area," say near some six-lane concrete turnpike in North San Francisco, would you feel home? No, you'd be a stranger in a strange land, and hurtin.' (Zoom, zoom, cruel streets.) But if I dropped you off in your very town of Larkspur, you'd feel much better, right? You could probably even hoof it home and through your quiet door.

Please reveal to me the name of your wonderful Home Town -- the town that your Post Office thinks you live in -- without complexity or reserve. If not sure where you live, look at your mail.

Again, just to be clear, if you are not sure where you live, or what I mean when I ask "Where do you live?," please look at the envelopes the postman is always bringing to you. This goes, also, for my initial callers. I would rather hear in your message "Darien, Connecticutt" than "I'm on the East Coast ("I'm an ant on a planet!") or "I'm in Eastern Time Zone." I'll figure out your time zone. You tell me the name of your wonderful town. It will even cause me to remember you better.

For more background on this trivial and unimportant subject matter that you really don't need to read: Astrological software is all organized to get charts based off of city and town names. It's been like that a long time. It's easy and fast to get your current chart with just the town name. And much faster to type town letters than to enter in 18 mysterious longitude/latitude numbers -- and STILL not have the fun of actually Knowing Where You Live!

NOTE: Lat/long numbers come up automatically once I enter the town and state letters. I never look at them. They are just colorless numbers. The only time "town name" doesn't work is when you're in a suburb or town that is so newly incorporated that it is not in my database yet. Or, if there are several towns with the very same name in your state. In the first case I may have to ask,"What's the nearest town to you?" In the second case, my computer will show me a list of three "Goshenvilles" in different counties. Then I ask: "What county are you in?" Easy.

Aside from the fact that I'm a obviously locational guy, and all about location, I do dig places! They have stories! And associated bio-regions and natural features! (As Yoda would say: Very Cool, is place.) I love the names of towns. I like hearing them. They have city councils and are sometimes in the News. They even have Histories! Maybe I have a friend in Larkspur or once bought some cigars there. Maybe I know three things about that town already. Maybe my sister's there. Maybe it's a mystery to me and I'll get to ask you about your town.

I like visualizing where the client is and always learning about actual towns. When somebody says "Berkeley" I get one impression, "Oakland" another, and "San Jose" another impression. And I normally don't need you to spell the town for me. I'll get it pretty fast. If I misspell it, I get a list of towns with the nearest spellings to what I first input, and easily find the right town.

The same principle can apply for those who tend to use these phrases:

"Napa Valley" (That one bugs me almost as much as 'Marin County')

"Orange County" (That one drives me up the wall. Talk about placeless.)

"North County" (Encinitas? My guru lived there. San Marcos? The Heavens Gate people waited for the spaceship there. I'm lost in space.)

"New England" (Little old New England? There are a hundred towns in New Hampshire alone.)

"The east coast" (Why not just say "east planet"?)

"West Texas" (Kerville's real different from Austin, pardner)

"The Berkshires" (Amherst? Northampton? Lenox? Help!)

"The Pacific Northwest" (May as well slow me down with something more interesting and mutter: "I gloam the Wide and Dark, Five North'r Empires' Rain, Where Vulcan Grimly Sparks, Those Regions With No Name" We'll work it out in the interview.)

Just give me your town and state right off the bat. That's what I want to know, and I get a reaction from hearing your very town, and I can spot it on a map just like that.

"Sequim, Washington" not "the Pacific Northwest."

"Langley, Washington" not "Whidbey Island."
Though I would like to know, indeed, that you are on an island, and on Whidbey Island. But your town is more important. That lets me draw a chart.

"Santa Monica" rather than just "LA."

I love town names!

If you're not really in a town, but out in the country, please give me the town that's closest or the town you use on your mail.

I also prefer this specificity when you phone in to me initially and my message asks me to tell you where you are. I'd rather hear "I live in Providence, Rhode Island" than "I'm in eastern time."

But none of this is any big deal. Just me having a free afternoon. =8o)=

"Your Living Situation"

When interviewing you I'll want to know your present living situation. In earlier years, already knowing their town I would ask: "What do you live in?" as in apartment? Mom's house? Mansion? Cardboard box? But clients would repeat their town to me. So I learned to ask: "What's your living situation?" That works better.

This means: Are you in an apartment you rent? A house you own? Couch surfing? In a tree house? Hiding in a hidden drain pipe with a cell phone? In the gorgeous guest house of a pal? Staying in a hotel? In your car?

I want the real picture. I am finding out about you. It's all relevant, and of interest, both as an astrologer and as your helper.

Sam, Apple, Boy, Orange & Edward
and all those guys...

I'm pretty good with spelling and getting town names. (After 20 years I know a lot of town names, and spelling for them.) But I might not know how to spell a new town with a strange name. After you tell me the well-familiar name of your town Sebewaing, Michigan, I might ask you to spell it."

At that time I would like you to simply say the letters to me, like this:

"S - E - B - E - W - A - I - N - G."

That sounds like: "Ess, Eee, Bee" etc. That's the fastest and easiest for me to get it. I do not need this:

"S as in Sam, E as in Edward, B-as-in-boy,
E-as-in-Edward-again, (spoken lighting fast) Doubleyew as in William...."

...I don't want that if you can resist it. I know it's fun, and it's an opportunity to show creativity with words, and I have many creative clients. But this just jams my gears. I'll end up saying, after Sam and William and apple: "Just spell it once, please." If I ask you to repeat the spelling (because it shot past like a bullet or a desperate 9-11 call, or the cell connection is bad) still leave out Paul, Orange, Boy and the gang. Just repeat the letters once more. If I am having difficulty getting one letter we can try Sam and the rest.

Canadians love to do this with their zip codes. They utter the names of lovely Canadian Saints: Peter, John, Paul, Mark. I love to hear the names of saints, be assured. But a simple attempt to get the postal code A4J B6S becomes a cryptic "Anthony, Four, James, Bartholomew, Six, Steven." I'm too busy being impressed by the saints to parse all that code, plus working overtime just to get a zip code.

Anyway, I didn't attend THAT many Grand Funk Railroad concerts and I'm not that impaired. (A sign of the times? Everybody going deaf?) Paul and the gang are just an annoyance, to me.

Not that it's a big deal, but if I ask you for a spelling I like that you just spell. Like teacher did in school, not too fast.

Same with name, if an unusual name. Most people by age 20 know if their name requires spelling help. The Stewarts, Johnsons, and Smiths know that they don't need to volunteer help. I do want to know the correct spelling of your name and will ask if not sure! But please, not 20 other names along with it. Just the letters will do. These things don't need to be so difficult.

As I told you, none of these things are important. I just had some time today and felt like having fun writing, and adding things to this page from my 20 years of fun.

Meaningless phrases
(that I don't relate to very much)

The 'already been there' statement
"I already know what (such-and-such place) is like. I've already seen it/traveled there/visited."

"I know what that place is like already. I drove through there one Saturday in 1976. I got a flat tire. A waitress was rude. I know it's a bad place for me."

Explanation: One's experience of a place will change. It won't be the same should you go back now. Nothing repeats exactly, and completely different experiences can develop in the same place, or nearby.

Or, "I already know what the North Carolina is like. I even lived there three years and I hated every second of it."

Explanation: That was then. At that time you experienced the way your North Carolina transits were working, for good or ill. That was a long time ago, and "the Carolinas" are a big place. You won't get a repeat experience visiting even one tiny town.

The 'Everybody knows Texas sucks' statement

"I live in Texas, and you know what that's like. I mean, you know what Texans are like. They're so dumb. They're not all progressive like us. You know, they're not even into stuff like crystals and shamanism, and I'm really alternative. Can't you Feel my Pain! I'm a shaman and an energy healer. This is Texas. It's Texas! Bush country! You know what THAT means, Julian! Ya Gotta Know I'm dyyyy-in' cuz it's Texas!"

Explanation: I'm not bigoted about the people of any particular area, and I know that if the chart is right, you'll find people you like anywhere. Some of my best clients and best friends live in Texas. Please don't approach me as if I have a schematic in my head of 'what states are cool and which ones are square.'

The truth is, people who look down upon and despise their own people of origin don't impress me. Your intention was to show me how progressive and hip you are, but I just might think, in my head: "Pretentious! Disloyal!" You never know. If you don't relate to the people around you, I can accept that. I will believe you. I will probably see the problem in the chart. But it's not about "Texas." It's about you and your chart there. There are no universal realities (about places) that are true for everybody.

Basically, please don't talk to me like 'Everybody's supposed to know Texans are dense, Midwesterners are boring, people in L.A. are all enlightened, and [filthy, degenerate] Portland is cool because it's 'Progressive.' I'll survive, but I find it unpleasant. I might end up defending Texans and opining that the people of your keened for Shangrila (S. California, Boulder, whatever) are vapid in their faux spirituality, desperately empty in family terms, and transparently decadent -- just to vex you and shake you from assumptions about me and about places.

Now, here's a statement I can relate to and sympathize with:

"In this Texas town I don't find anybody into what I'm into. I'm all into India, meditation, and my guru Sri Ravi Java Ji. Plus E.F.T., Modified Sheboyganism, Reconstituted Dolphinism, S.S.R.R. (Shape-Shifting, Reconsidered & Re-Edited), and P.E.O. There doesn't seem like anybody around like that. I don't have good friends here in Texas or a sense of community with like-minded people. I tried to join such-and-such [church/association] but I just didn't connect with them."

That, I can sympathize with.

I also don't think in political terms like "red states" and "blue states." I go by the charts. Anyway, if you made me choose a state based on the "red/blue" thing, me -- I'd choose the blue. (I mean, I'm basically a paleoconservative with Vedic tendencies. Give me government-free Idaho!) In brief, I don't carry a list in my head of "dumb places" and "hip places." In brief: I'll as easily give somebody Boise, Idaho as I will Amherst, Mass. -- if it's a great chart and will give them a lot of what they're after. I don't rule out places based on listing them as "left" or "right." On one hand, if a client is more of a liberal, I tend to try to point them to liberal towns, say Boulder instead of Littleton, Colorado. (Given that those two charts will be the same.) That's just sensible. On the other hand, those who have intransigent bigoted views about the "unpleasant conservatism" of a whole region are difficult to work with, and often wrong about experience on schedule for them there. and I will only argue with them up to a point.

And I may not share your political views. But this is astrology. It transcends politics and contains both. (Leftishness and rightishness are both present in astrology in the form of planets, aspects, houses, etc.) The charts work. As an astrologer I am functional for both lefties and righties. If I can see, for example, where "a person finds 'their' people" -- whatever their politics or views are -- using impassive laws. I don't have to myself agree with your politics. Realize that somebody else - having your very same values and politics -- may NOT find kindred spirits in the town where you did. Because their chart is different there.

The headline mentioned Texas. But same for "the South," the Midwest, or whatever. I'm not going to press a client to move to a place he's dead-set against (especially if a trip fails to attract), but I don't buy into schemas about what parts of the country are "objectively unpleasant" or "obviously desirable." The reality of the charts and astrology simply don't support these political schemas, and liberal bigotry does annoy me besides.

"You know, it's the Bible belt here"

I grew up Christian and, in my spare time, tirelessly defend the great and elegant bhakti-yoga of the White Europeans. If you don't appreciate the religion or church services (bhajans, bhakti yoga) of Christians around you, or their beautiful shrines and spaces devoted to "Isvara" (the yogic name for The Lord) and Saguna Brahman (God with form) -- that's fine. But don't assume I have a negative attitude toward my own religious heritage just because I am an astrologer, or that I'm happy to hear slurs against moral people with faith in God. It's the Bible that said "God made the planets and stars to be as signs,"and astrologers were the first bhaktas to worship the sat-guru Jesus Christ. My Jewish clients never insult Christianity, and I thank them for that. In my alternative view "Bible Belt" people are strongest in the genuine Yoga things: Brahmacharya (morality), shraddha (faith), and bhakta (devotion). Can I say that for the denizens of Santa Monica? They even have special quiet places devoted to Brahman that evoke akasa (space, God's first evolute), etc. My impression is that "Bible Belt" people are often nicer and more cultured than people in so-called "progressive" towns. I may be playing with a different deck than you about a lot of things. But suffice it to say I don't enjoy insults against Christians. I'll let it pass. But I'm not really on a religion-trashing bandwagon.

I'm not selling conventional logic

Conventional logic means ideas like these:

-- Alaska will be cold

-- San Diego will be warm

-- Iowa is no fun and the people are shmucks

-- If you live in Florida, all you'll see is boring elderly people

-- Such-and-such place must not be good, because the cost-of-living index (that you read in the paper) looks high. Or the "cost of real estate" is high.

-- Nobody can afford a home in California

-- The best time to go to New England is spring and summer. "What sort of fool would go in the winter??"

-- One doesn't go to India during the rainy season

-- In New York City you'll just see concrete everywhere

-- If you live in Hawaii you'll see lots of flowers, hula-hula girls swooshing hips and putting flowers around your neck when you land.

-- Hawaii is expensive

-- There are no jobs in such-and-such state (thus you'd never get a job) because the paper said the job market is depressed there

-- Only movie stars and moguls live in Santa Barbara

It would be a real swell job to get paid $200 to say, "You go to Maine during the summer, houses cost a lot in California." But if your chart didn't support that, I'd be wrong. I don't sell conventional logic. I use a higher logic, and my predictions are right much more often than what folks get using conventional logic. That's why people come to me.

A final word

I consider it to be a big, heavy thing to be involved in lives in the manner in which I am involved -- being part of an impetus to make a life changing decision that will have life consequences from here on out. I don't take it lightly. That's why I am so careful and turn so many people down. I know what consequences a move can have, and don't want to make mistakes.

I am a Sun-Trine-Uranus and I think I have a broad ranging grasp of humanity. I can understand and appreciate all sorts of people, people of every stripe. I respond to people as individuals.

I have every imaginable sort of client. I have had a successful career in this, in my terms. I have an easy life, have the free time I want to devote to sidelines, scriptures, and meditations. I have enough money for me, and am contented. The technical astrology part came easy for me. But it's not the only reason for my success. One of the big reasons I am successful is that I have a capacity -- I don't know how -- to actually care about somebody I've just met over the phone, plug into them, entertain in my own mind their wishes, believe in their vision, and get behind them. I think I'm actually successful because my clients can tell that I care.

The biggest secret of my success, I can't tell here. But it is personal, and has to do with the power of speech. Though I think my technique is better than everybody else's, and it's not that, my capacity to care is why people come to me, then trust my advice, enough to reap.