Dreadlock Culture Shock: Interview with Astrologer Ashleigh D. Johnson

A few weeks ago I was at Odunde, a huge street fair in Philadelphia, and I had the pleasure of meeting Ashleigh ( I knew I liked her because she had a great name). I got a natal chart reading from her and it was fantastic! I knew I had to interview and learn more about her specialty, business astrology.  


Me: How did you get into astrology?

Ashleigh: I got into astrology as a kid really. I was a bit of a bookworm so I was always read stuff. I have been reading [book] since I was two. So I happened across horoscopes in papers and magazines and I figured out I was an Aquarius. I would always read it and of course as a kid it didn't make sense to me. Over time I started to look more into it and I got more serious about it. A couple years ago, around 2010 or 2011 I started going to an astrologer. The first time I got a natal chart reading I was just like "Oh my God, this is everything!". It really got me, it was just really interesting. I kept getting readings and I kept wanting to know more but I didn't want to bug my astrologer to death, so I started to learn stuff on my own. I've always been a very "do-it-yourself" type person, I started to learning how to read my own chart. Then I started reading my friends charts, the charts of guys I was dating, and my friends were having me read charts of guys they were dating to try to figure stuff out. And it just kind of blossomed from there. 

Me: What is it about astrology into particular, more than anything else really attracted you to it?

Ashleigh: I'll start with the fact that I am an Aquarius, my sun and moon, Venus, Mercury, Jupiter and Ascending are all Aquarius in the first house. So I have a lot of Aquarius energy going on and I always wanted to understand it. Actually Aquarius rules astrology. I think what drew me to Astrology is that I've always been on a quest to figure out who I am. Because Aquarius is very much all about individuality, being original and being yourself. But you need to figure out who that is. You know, you got to try stuff out. So I think for me I love Astrology because it is a really good tool for self-mastery. It's so unique and individualized to you, there is no cookie cutter way to read someone's chart.. Even if you were born the same day as somebody, your chart may be totally different than theirs because the rising sign of the ascendant changes every two hours. Depending on what time you were born, you have a completely different chart than someone else. So I just like that Astrology is so vast, and there is so much still to learn. I mean, there are astrologers who have been doing this for 30, 40 years and they are still researching, still working, I mean, it never ends. 

Me: You mentioned before you really enjoy astrology because you are looking to find more out about yourself. How has astrology really achieve that? How has it helped you from the time you started to now? How has it helped to learn more about yourself?

Ashleigh: Well I think it initially helped me achieve certain things because I... well in 2012 I visited Cleveland which is where I live now, and, I fell in love with the place. And I couldn't figure out why. I've always had this thing about being lead by my intuition, but I also know it's important to use my brain and use logic. So my decisions are usually a combination of the two. But that gut feeling has to be there. So then I consulted with my astrologer, and he introduced me to astrocartography, which is laying over certain lines and aspects of your natal chart over a map of the world and figuring out what areas of the world affect you different. Some places my be great for you professionally, but they may suck for your personally. There are places that are good for you to have children, places that would be good for you to network, places that would be good got you to have children, places for you grow and so on. As it turned out, the Mars line for my career was almost directly over Cleveland. So he said, "This would be a great place for you to start new and get your career going." That kind of gave me confirmation. I kept thinking, "Why am I so into this place?" and after that it made perfect sense. Coming to Cleveland has allowed me to really grow as a woman and a professional and has really gotten me to where I needed to be. Since I got here I held a director position and now I have started my own business, and that is within two years of being here. So astrology has served in a way... to find the logic behind my instincts. Sometimes we have these thoughts, and these things we want to do and these desires, and we don't know where they come from. But it is all within us. One of my favorite Astrologers, her name is Anne Oretelee, one of her phrases is that "if it's in your heart, it's in your chart".

Me: That's so cute!

Ashleigh: It is, but it's true! We have to determine whether these things that we truly desire and want are things we really deep down truly want or if it is something someone told us. I find that a lot of my clients are looking for that confirmation, looking for that validation. I want to make sure I'm on point.

Me: One really interesting I found about you is that you do business astrology. I had never heard anything about business astrology, I didn't even know people did that. If you could explain a bit about it, because I don't know if a lot of people know about it and it's just so cool.

Ashleigh: Business astrology is... most people call business astrology financial astrology, or electional astrology. The electional part comes from planetary trends that that affect the stock market and things like that.That I don't do much of but... doing astrology for businesses and companies themselves, as if they were an entity and then reading the chart that way. Business astrology is more of a 20th century thing. What peaked my interest in it was a quote from J.P. Morgan that said "Millionaires don't have astrologers, billionaires do". That really peaked my interest. It has helped me tremendously in my own business. It's like a little cheat sheet. For example, I'm actually doing a blog post about Chipotle. Chipotle as a business actually has a Virgo ascending, and that is the sign of health and agriculture... and Virgo is also very into systems and order, so you notice when you go into Chipotle, they mostly look the same and have the same aesthetic and you know exactly what your gonna get when you go to Chipotle. Also, in a business chart, the owner is reflected in some way. and I was looking at the founder, Steve Ells has a lot of Virgo placements in his chart including his Sun so he is very part of the business. When you lay out his chart and Chipotle's chart together, it's very interesting. That's what I love about Business astrology, it helps you run your business better. You can know when to launch something, when to hold back, when to brainstorm, when to strengthen your networking, when to ramp up your marketing, how to market, who to market to, it can get really granular. 

Me: It's so amazing how involved you can get with all of these things, especially in business. The last question I have is what kind of advice would you give to someone who wants to know more about astrology?    

Ashleigh: I would say learn the basics. Learn the planets, the qualities, the modalities, the elements, and you know all that good stuff. And use your chart, practice with your own chart, and try to be as objective as possible. It's easy to look at other peoples chart, but it's quite another to look at your own. I would definitely suggest getting a natal chart reading and get it from a couple different astrologers. You don't have to go to the same person, everyone is different. Go where the specialty lies. Like, I'm good with business, and someone else might be good with relationships.Try different people out and see what vibe you get from them. Also, read the charts of people in your life... especially your parents. it will definitely help you to see them differently. Lastly, don't be afraid to challenge yourself. Astrology is a lot and there is a lot to learn, but do one thing at a time. You never gonna know everything. Every astrologer is still learning, still growing and still figure it out.  


I want to thank Ashleigh D. Johnson for taking some time to sit down with me and if you would like a business reading, here is where you can get in contact with this lovely lady:

Email: hey@ashleighdjohnson.com
Website: www.ashleighdjohnson.com
Blog: www.ashleighdjohnson.com/blog