Frequently Asked Questions
What you may want to know before your session.
How accurate are the predictions?
If one of the outer planets, i.e., Saturn, Uranus, Neptune or Pluto, is strongly affecting a planet in your birth chart, your reading is likely to be highly accurate.
Outer planet transits (orbits) offer a higher degree of accuracy, but since they move very slowly, they are not always affecting something in everyone's chart..
You can ask your astrologer to let you know which of the predictions are based on outer planet transits.
Astrologers call the planets currently orbiting the Sun transiting planets.
When a transiting planet arrives at the position where a planet was when you were born, the planet in your chart gets activated by that planet.
Astrologers call geometric angles between planets aspects.
Activation can also occur when a transiting planet makes an aspect to a planet in your chart.
Important aspects that we look at are 60, 90, 120, 150 and 180 degree angles.
The impact is greater when those same two aspecting planets, the transiting planet and the one in your chart, are aspecting each other in your birth chart. This also increases the accuracy of the astrologer's predictions.
An example of an outer planet's impact on a birth chart.
For instance, let’s say a baby was born on the first day of the sign of Gemini.
The date a sign begins varies a little from year to year, but is usually around the 21st through the 23rd. So, let say you were born on May 22nd when the Sun was at zero degrees Gemini.
Also, on that day, the planet Saturn was at one degree Gemini.
I will call the Sun a planet even though it is a luminary.
So these two planets, the Sun and Saturn, were almost exactly aligned. When two planets are at the same degree or within a few degrees of the zodiac, we say they are conjoined. This is what was happening on May 22nd in our example.
Now, let’s imagine that the planet Saturn where it is today orbiting the Sun arrives at zero degrees Aquarius. That orbiting (transiting) planet (Saturn in this example) is making a 120 degree angle (aspect) to where the Sun was when you were born.
Since the Sun and Saturn were both at the same place on the zodiac wheel, both being at the beginning of the sign of Gemini, when you were born, something big is happening now.
Transiting Saturn is strongly activating the Sun and all the arenas in your life that the Sun rules in your chart.
Transiting Saturn is also activating all the areas thatSaturn rules in your chart.
In the process of interpreting the transits, a particular number of degrees are allowed before the planet comes into an exact alignment or a precise angle with a planet in your chart. The number of degrees between the two planets is called the orb.
Most astrologers use varying degrees for different planets and different aspects, such as eight degrees for a conjunction (when the two planets share the same degree or are close in degree).
That means the astrologer starts predicting possibilities of what can occur as soon as the transiting planet gets within 8 degrees of the planet it is aspecting in your chart.
The fewer the number of degrees taken into consideration, the tighter the orb, which means the fewer things there will be to talk about during a session, but what does get talked about is going to be a lot more accurate in timing.
Our interpretation policy is a 1 degree to a 1.5 degree orb. The orb is the distance to either side of a planet. That distance defines the window from beginning of probability to end of probability.
This means that we are focusing on windows of time that are much more likely to happen, but the actual experience you have may happen sooner or later than the precise window of time we give you.
Meetings and events predicted in my friends' readings have happened, but my predictions have not happened at the time predicted. Why not?
Over the years we have found that the few clients who felt that there was very little relevance or accuracy in the predictions usually come back to us at a later date wondering why the predictions took so much longer to manifest.
For the most part, did the stuff happen as predicted? Yes.
Did it happen according to the time frame predicted? Yes and no.
In retrospect, those clients can see how things were in the process, but too subtle to detect.
In looking at their charts for explanations, it appears that some progress was realized at the time things should have culminated, but the actual manifestation didn’t happen until later when Saturn (the planet of manifestation) made an aspect to those same planets.
If this happened more often than not, we would just typically take time in the session to look up when Saturn hits.
If you have experienced this delayed phenomenon in readings with other astrologers, tell us so that we can factor this in.
Your reading is rooted in your birth chart, which depicts the life you planned for yourself so that you could experience all of your soul’s desires and choices.
This life plan was made prior to your physical incarnation.
Humans are delightfully creative and often exercise free will by choosing a different course than the one they chose prior to birth.
The astrological chart reflects what is possible according to your original chart.
If you like what your birth chart holds, then your reading will help you come back into alignment.
If you do not want the experiences described by your birth chart, then another form of spiritual direction is a better choice for you.
One of the best methods for creating a new set of circumstances than those spelled out in your chart is to do archetypal guided imagery.
Is the reading recorded?
Your reading will be recorded for you, but the outcome is NOT guaranteed.
Readings are recorded on a digital voice recorder. At the end of your reading, your recording is downloaded into the computer and then sent to you via an APP called HighTail which handles large files.
You will receive an email from HighTail that your recording is ready to download. It will typically be on HighTail's secure site for five years.
You can download your reading into your computer, phone or device and listen to it through your computer or burn it onto a CD.
And we encourage you to feel free to record the reading yourself.
What is your cancellation policy?
There is no charge for canceled readings provided Diane is alerted at least thirty minutes before the reading. For literal last-minute cancellations or no-shows, you will be charged for 30 minutes. If you must cancel last minute for an emergency, you will not be charged.
There is no charge for a canceled reading with Stephanie, Sheri or Savannah if you let us know any time before the session … a minute before is fine.
Do you offer gift certificates?
Thank you for choosing one of our readings as a gift.
Sheri will send you a PDF of the gift certificate for you to print out to give to your recipient or to attach to an email to send to your recipient.
If you prefer, we can send the gift certificate to the recipient.
You will be charged for your recipient’s reading at the time you place the order.
Why do I need my birth time to book an appointment?
Your astrological reading appointment is not truly confirmed until we have your date of birth, time of birth (from your birth certificate), and place of birth.
The chart changes every four minutes, so an accurate birth time is crucial.
Our policy is to refer you to a different astrologer for the new reading, i.e., if Stephanie did your initial reading with the wrong time, your subsequent reading would need to be done by Diane.
Do you have a cancellation list?
Sheri maintains a cancellation list. Established clients have priority over new clients. It seems to go in spells, i.e., no cancellations for a month and then suddenly a bunch of cancellations. We just figure it’s a result of some planetary transit.
How is the fee calculated if my reading runs over or under an hour?
Please make a note to yourself that you will need to track the length of your reading if you are looking to keep the reading within a particular timeframe.
You can always just ask your astrologer how much time has lapsed and she can check for you.
If you are not concerned with how long your reading runs, then your astrologer will tell you when she has covered everything pertinent so that you can ask questions for any remaining time.
Fees are calculated according to the number of minutes lapsed for your reading. The rate for Stephanie is $420 per sixty minutes, which is $7 per minute.
When your reading is under an hour or over an hour, the final fee is calculated according to actual number of minutes.
The rate for Diane is $240 per sixty minutes for psychotherapy, hypnotherapy, archetypal therapy, astrology and tarot, which is $4 per minute.
If you are paying for your reading with a credit card, the charge will appear on your statement as HSC, which is a d/b/a of Higher Self Communications, Inc.
We accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover cards.
You can also pay with Venmo using @Stephanie-Jourdan or with Paypal using StephanieJourdan1@gmail.com as the email address.
If you will be paying by check, please make arrangements prior to your reading.
What if I have more questions immediately after my reading?
For most people, hearing all of the new information in the reading typically generates more questions.
Your natal chart (birth chart) is saved in the computer, but the progressed charts that show what is currently unfolding and activating in your life are not saved. This means that follow-up questions require new charts be run and analyzed.
Follow-up questions are answered by Sheri. Call her or email her with your questions and she will speak with Stephanie or Diane when they have time to run your charts and look up answers. Sheri can then get back to you by phone or email.
If you prefer that your questions be answered directly by Stephanie or Diane by telephone, you need to call Sheri to schedule a new appointment.
Follow-up questions are usually answered within a week or two.
Some clients prefer to book another reading a week after their initial reading to handle follow-up questions. If you do choose to book two readings at a time, know that you can always cancel your second reading the day before or even the same day with half an hour notice.
Time is clocked for follow-up questions. The astrologer logs in the start time when she first hears the questions read to her by Sheri. When she finishes looking up answers, the total time is immediately charged to your credit card.
Be sure that Sheri has your credit card number and expiration date on file if you have follow-up questions.
What if I have an urgent question?
If you need an answer to a question within 48 hours, we will do our best to get you that information, but there may be an additional fee. We will advise you in advance. Reach out to Stephanie at stephaniejourdanphd@gmail.com.