Some say astrology is a blend of math, science, craft and intuition. But even Brandi Jasmine will tell you the horoscope you read in the paper or online is more like a wild guess.
That’s because a person’s true daily reading is determined not just by their sign, but the date and precise time of their birth. “They’re accurate for about one-twelfth of the population,” she says.
Jasmine, 45, composes the daily horoscopes on Astrology.ca — which she also syndicates out to web sites and print publications — by looking at the pie-shaped astrology chart for each day and noting the different “aspects” for each sign that are active that day.
Since she’s been writing horoscopes for over a decade and has hundreds, she randomly picks one for an appropriate aspect and runs it that day.
Jasmine is more precise when she does a personal reading. After getting someone’s birth details, she calls on a computer program to make up the chart. She then reads from the chart, a process that takes about an hour.
Here, she uses a mix of mathematical knowledge of what the planet’s positions mean. But she’s also very empathic, she says, so senses things from the person as well.
Jasmine was born in very devout Pentecostal B.C. family that had little tolerance for such things. She was known as “sensitive” growing up.
Only when she moved to Vancouver in her early 20s did Jasmine finally get in touch with her psychic side. But it was overwhelming. She called her mother, telling her she was having powerful visions and dreams. Her mother insisted she come home immediately and go to church. The sermon, ironically, was on visions and dreams.
“I guess this must be OK with God,” Jasmine thought. She returned to Vancouver and began readying up on tarot, horoscopes and astrology. She began doing readings, attending psychic fairs and getting to know others who shared the same gifts and interests.
She penned the self-published book Living with Your Psychic Gifts and found she enjoyed spreading the word about astrology and psychic vision as much as she liked using her gifts.
In the late 1990s, she moved to Toronto and started working for an Internet company. She started Astrology.ca and found she preferred doing her work online: She finds face-to-face work overwhelming, as she’ll often take on other’s feelings.
Today, Jasmine works in customer service in Welland, Ont., by day and keeps very busy at night. She updates Astrology.ca and her numerous other websites. She’s also an artist and a writer. She rarely does personal readings these days — but she will have one done for herself every time she’s at a personal crossroads.
