Why sceptics must read astrologer Susan Miller's new book
Susan Miller happened to me a couple of years ago, quite by chance, almost like religion happens to some people. I was busy chewing the ears off anyone who cared to listen about how every single project I had been careening along at F1 speed on, had put their night suits on and taken themselves to bed.
It was then that a dear friend told me in dire, sepulchral tones, that Mercury was retrograde, Susan Miller had said so, and if I had half a modicum of sense I would just sit pretty on my hands till Mercury emerged from retro, raring to go.
I must confess, the natural-born sceptic in me snorted in disbelief, and demanded to see what said dear friend had been ingesting, in the event these were hallucinogens.
Brought up on a steady diet of tepid astrological forecast columns in daily newspapers and magazines which never ever came true, I didn't place much faith in astrological predictions. Just you wait, said dear friend told me, things will pick up the day Mercury goes out of retro. Susan says so. Like all good stories go, they so did.
It's been a long, arduous trip from being a scowling "Susan Miller who?" disbeliever to this current avatar of devout Susan Miller fan girl planning my day by what she says.
And I'm not alone. Susan Miller is followed by millions across the world. She has fans across demographics and time zones. Her accuracy is eerily unnerving, I have actually checked dates in the past (from my emails on those days she refers to) from a period when I didn't follow her predictions and found them to be true.
It isn't for nothing that she's been called the reigning queen of astrology by theverge.com. She writes for dozens of magazines, is a bestselling author, her site Astrology Zone has over six million visitors ever month, celebrities are her fans, and she's immensely popular in the fashion circuit with her predictions even encompassing what the forthcoming fashion trends would be.
And add to all of this is her voice, with none of the drab succinctness or ambiguous vacuity that earmarks most astrology columns.
Susan Miller is that friendly, loquacious, breathless with anecdotes aunt we all have in our lives, completely well meaning, who sits you down for a chat and steamrollers you with so much information about what could happen, that you have to pause and take a long second to assimilate all she says.
Her predictions are long and rambling, averaging thousands of words per sign, an anomaly in this age of short attention spans that mandate listicles, written with empathy and understanding about the little and not so little things that light up our everyday, "... Book a spa treatment, plan a first date, book a meal with your sweetheart or spouse in a beautiful restaurant," for example.
She balances these accurately with the possible pitfalls one could encounter, but always upbeat, always with the light at the end of the tunnel.
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| Forecast for the Second Half of 2016 into 2017 is exclusively available on the Juggernaut app. |
True to form, Susan Miller's Forecast for the Second Half of 2016 into 2017, begins by telling us where each individual planet is going to be during this phase, which of them are going to be retrograde, and hold on tightly to your seats, there's a fair number of them which are going to be retrograde, and what this means for us.
And she explains all this in terms that anyone would understand, rather than complicate it with terms one would need an astrological thesaurus to decode.
She starts out with the biggie, Mars went retrograde, she says, on April 17 and will only come back in real form on August 22.
Till then, she says, in her inimitable style that often combines the whimsical with delightful imagery, "… We all might feel we are walking through glue."
She also gives us fabulous five star days on which to sign contracts, start new things, days when Mercury conjuncts with Jupiter. Oh you bet I've marked those down in my diary already.
Her predictions for individual sun signs bring a balance of cheer and concerned warnings. In detailed predictions for each sign, which look at the placement of each of the major planets, as well as their aspect to each other and eclipses, she zeroes in on which aspect - home, career, romance, health - gets affected and how.
Aries, she says, will have their "best year in over a decade to become engaged or actually wed," for Taureans, Jupiter's move into Libra in September 2016 for 13 months will see them "receive some of the most divine assignments you've seen in a long while, and they will pay well too."
Leos will have the best financial year of the decade, this coming year she says, but also warns them to be practical with money. Librans, she says, will need to be prepared for when "a powerful person asks you suddenly (and quite randomly) how he or she can help you."
Scorpios may see a dream materialise by September 2016, she predicts.
With each sign she gives a balance of the good news, tempered with the not so good, the latter often peppered with a soft cushion of common sense options as to how to make the best of the not so good times.
And for the Cancerian me? Jupiter will enter my fourth house of home in September, she says. There seems nothing on the home related horizon at all right now, but I'm waiting for September. Something will crop up. Susan said so. And that's what Susan always does, she gives one hope.