“Confessions Of A…” is a weekly series by marie claire dishing the dirty little secrets from different professions.
Today we’re kicking off with LA-based celebrity astrologer Chani Nicholas, who writes the horoscopes for Oprah’s O Magazine, is Lizzo’s go-to for zodiac guidance and has 267,000 adoring followers on Instagram.
Put the kettle on, we’re about to sip some tea…
“I had my first astrology reading when I was 12 and it really grabbed hold of something in me. It felt familiar to me, even though it was the first time I was hearing about it. I’ve been into astrology ever since – and working as a counselling astrologer for over 20 years now.
My client list is confidential, but I write for Oprah’s O Magazine and have done a public reading with Lizzo. She’s amazing; a force of nature.
That reading was back in February and I looked at her chart and said, ‘This summer things are going to blow up for you.’ And they did. Her single ‘Truth Hurts’ reached #1 on the Hot 100 record chart this month.
When I’m doing a reading, I never feel like I’m predicting something. There are a lot of really wide misconceptions about astrology [like we can see the future]. Sometimes people think I’m telling others what to do, when in reality I’m trying to describe the qualities in their chart and how best to use them.
I really don’t care if you believe in astrology or not. It’s a system that works for me and has been profoundly life-altering and helpful.
I don’t love telling people I’m an astrologer. Some people like to tell me they hate astrology, which is great [sarcasm]. If I don’t want to explain what I do, I usually just say I have an online business or that I’m a writer.
I also don’t talk about what star sign I am, I think it’s the wrong emphasis to have. We tend to stereotype each other based on star signs, and I think it’s a really unfair way to meet each other.
The best part of my job is connecting with people and creating spaces and horoscopes that can support and challenge a person to deepen their connection with themselves.
I get a lot of very loving and sweet feedback; the joke on the internet is that I make everybody cry.
Once when I was abroad visiting a really famous museum, I pulled out my credit card to pay for a souvenir and the cashier was like, ‘No, no, it’s okay. I’m a huge fan.’
I’ve also had some really awkward encounters in my gym changing room where I’ve been half naked and people want to chat [laughs].
When strangers come up to me on the street and ask about their star sign or horoscope, it can feel a little bit inconsiderate of my time. I don’t ask you to work for me when you’re not at work. You’d never ask a therapist, ‘Oh my god, I had this dream last night where my dog turned into a turtle. What does it mean?’ You should pay people for their work.
But I also totally understand the curiosity, it’s normal for people to ask questions because most of them don’t know an astrologer. I just generally won’t answer.
I think as humans we can be very fearful and it’s really important to use astrology in a way that doesn’t promote more fear or contraction. When I’ve seen challenging times for myself come up in a reading, I’ve had incredible things happen that have transformed my life.
We never really know the potential of a moment.”
Chani Nicholas is in Australia to launch Spotify’s Cosmic playlists, exclusively curated tunes informed by her astrological readings. “I look at the astrology of the month for each sign and then work with Spotify to curate a playlist of songs that reflect each horoscope,” she explains. “The playlists will make you feel more connected to yourself, and they’ll give you extra support, like you’ve got your own backup dancers.”
Listen up here: open.spotify.com/genre/popculture-page
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