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Adam Eliot: Starman

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Born in Golddust, Tenn., Adam Eliot claims he was a "highly mystical, spiritual, and philosophically oriented" child who began making predictions at an early age. A chance encounter with a Vedic astrologer led Eliot to become a practitioner of the 7,000-year-old Indian practice of studying and interpreting how the planets affect our lives based on when and where we are born. I recently caught up with Eliot, now a professional astrologer living in Los Angeles, for my first Vedic chart reading (I learned that I'm always going to be screwed when it comes to love, I'm supposed to have some money coming to me at some point, I'm well suited for my career, and I was destined to be an incredibly shallow guy) and then we chatted about skeptics, love, and the heavens -- and why some relationships might be doomed right from the start. Out: Your bio states that you began having "mystical" experiences at a very young age. Do you remember your first one? Adam Eliot: I remember being intuitive and being able to read people extremely well. I was always very psychic early on, where I would tend to know things or be able to read environments -- but especially with people and their personalities and things like that. How did you get into astrology? I always had some interest in astrology in general, but mainly through my studies in the Eastern philosophy like yoga and Ayurveda, which is the natural health care system from India. Its the oldest form of health care. So I was really into those kinds of things and a friend of mine had gone -- weird story -- she actually was on a layover on some flight or something in London. She ended up meeting this gentleman there, who a Vedic astrologer, and she talked to him and she was impressed with certain things he was able to tell her right then, in that very moment. So, I found out about that from her and I ended up arranging to see this person as well, and it ended up being just an incredible experience. At that point in time he predicted that I would be a very successful astrologer. So I was really kind of drawn to mysticism, you know, things of that nature, and from that point on it was a few months later he was starting to teach and he had called me and asked me if I was interested in learning astrology and I started to study with him at that point. That was almost nine years ago. I didnt really have any intention of becoming an astrologer -- I was just so fascinated with the subject, and so drawn to it. In that moment I was hooked. I just had to know more, I had to learn more, based on just my reading and how amazing that was for me and what a spiritual experience it was. How does Vedic astrology differ from the daily newspaper horoscopes people typically associate with astrology? Vedic astrology is the original form of astrology. Its the first form of astrology that was known to man. It originated at least 7,000 years ago, maybe even longer. It came from India, so, every other form of astrology after it is some version of it where some person has put his or her spin on it. And somehow its changed quite a bit. The zodiac -- the calculations of the zodiac -- changed about 22 or 24 degrees, which is approximately 21 days difference. So, its the same signs, you know, theres Pieces, Scorpio, all of those things, but the position of the signs has changed. The Western system uses the tropical zodiac, and Vedic uses whats called the Sidereal zodiac. Basically the timing, the calculations, have changed somewhat. Ive never really studied Western astrology, Ive only studied Vedic astrology, but I do know thats one of the major differences, along with that the sun sign is not even considered to be as important, while the Western system puts all the emphasis on the sun sign. In addition to that, the sun sign that you would be in Western astrology most likely is not even the sun sign you would be in Vedic astrology, and you arent even aware of what the moon sign is unless youve had a chart done where youre determining where the moon is and it changes each sign every 30 minutes, so, four times a day it goes through the complete zodiac. Without the accuracy of knowing where you were born, the date, the location, and the exact time, youre not able to determine where the moon is. Everything that happens in your life as far, as the predictive values that Vedic astrology has, is dependent on the moon and that is something that Western astrology doesnt even use. It's called the Dashas, which are planetary energy periods that are operating, and thats all taken from where the moon is. Does someone need to be psychic in order to be an astrologer? I think it goes hand in hand. I really love to use both, because if Im feeling something naturally, and intuitively, astrology is a science, so there are certain rules and patterns and things that youre looking for every time you do a reading. Youre studying what someone tells you and youre looking for these reoccurring patterns just like a scientist does. But, kind of the art of that -- of being intuitive -- is the art of making predictions. How is this really going to play out for this person depending on all of these things? And the rising sign is the most important sign of the chart, and that is the sign that the sun is in at the exact moment of your birth. Not the sign that the sun is resting for 30 days. There are 12 signs in the zodiac and each day the Sun passes through all 12 signs. It only takes 2 hours for the Sun to travel through each sign, which is equal to 24 hours, so you still need to know that information to get the rising sign which then sets up the whole chart. Certain planets are friendly to one rising sun and they're not to another, so all this information is imperative to really give someone a serious astrology reading. And so, I dont really put much value on what you read in the paper, because its so general and it doesnt relate to you personally. But do you believe that people do behave, or are more likely to behave, a certain way based on their sign? Absolutely. There are definitely tendencies that each sign has -- a certain energy. The planets are sort of like people, and each planet behaves a certain way. Even if the action or result is different, it still comes in a way thats related to that planet. That makes me wonder about free will versus destiny. How destined are to do certain things based on astrology? Youre pretty destined unless sometimes you have an awareness, then it can change the results. You find out what those tendencies might be and then you can make some adjustments or changes. Astrology is only an indication of what will be if you dont really do anything about it. Its whats likely or probably going to happen. But if you have a certain awareness you can make a change. There are things like mantras. That's something specific with Vedic astrology that I love. It's really giving you the tools to change things, not just talking about what they are, because that doesnt really serve anyone. We all want to find out what we can do to make these improvements or learn about what these tendencies are so we can then do something about it. I see more as a spiritual process than really about just entertaining someone with it, because otherwise that is what will happen unless you make the effort to change something. So its basically a tool? Absolutely. Its like a map. How would something like sexuality come into play? You see books like Gay Star Signs -- does someone's chart have an effect on his/her sexuality and do they play into each other? Not so much your sign. It doesnt really -- it would be many other factors in the chart. More about the planet connections and where certain planets are located. It cant say, "Oh, everyone whos a certain sign is going to have a tendency to be gay or --" Theres no one sign that's gayer than another? No. There are sometimes signs that are more feminine, but even if a person is a more feminine sign, a male could be more feminine, but not necessarily be gay and possess those qualities. Then you could have someone who was gay who maybe was extremely effeminate. So, either way it will play it, but it doesnt necessarily determine those type of things. Very often there are times that I do a reading of a chart -- and a lot of my clients I never see face to face -- and I have asked if a person is bisexual or gay, just from looking at the chart, and it turns out they are. It's something I'm fascinated by, being gay myself, so I do look very closely at that, and thats something that is a whole science of study where astrology can used to explore those things. Were only just beginning to understand how useful it can be. But by looking for those patterns and those things that happen or occur in a persons chart that are gay, you can start to see what they are and then it helps you to make better judgments. Valentines Day is coming up. How can people use astrology in order to shape their love life? Is that even possible? Absolutely. Basically by doing a compatibility reading, which is a service I offer. I would take two people's specific charts -- not what their Western sun sign would be, again youre really going to look at the moon, because the moon is really the planet of relationships. The sun doesnt really have a lot to do with how we relate to other people. So, Vedic astrology puts most of the emphasis on the moon, especially when it comes to relationships. So I put the two charts together, look at where the planets are, see how compatible they are -- theres a whole system I go through to see the probability of success for a relationship. It can also give you tools and ideas if someones already in a relationship, of things that maybe you could work on based on how the two charts are relating to each other, so it can be very useful especially in relationships when you think you might seriously be interested in someone to have that kind of reading in the beginning before things get too far. That way you can maybe make a better decision or look into it further to see if it doesnt look likely [to succeed] or if there may be some problems in these areas. That way you can either address the issues or decide that this isnt the best thing. Could two people be deemed incompatible solely based on their horoscopes? Yeah, its definitely indicated when two people are not very compatible. Really? It definitely comes through in the horoscope. Do you tell people that? Let's say you have two people and they say, "Were really in love and we want to see how compatible we are," and then it comes back and they're not compatible at all. How you do deliver that kind of news? I always ask, "Are you willing to work at it? Are you willing to put the work into this relationship?" Some relationships require more effort than others. Thats the whole idea of seeing how compatible you are. To see how much happiness you can have with the least amount of effort. Not that all relationships require work, so you know, sometimes some of them are going to be more work. You have to gauge how important is it to you. Are you willing to put in the extra work and work on the issues that are there? Its not to say its impossible, but it definitely will show up in the chart as what areas might be affected. Do you ever worry your sensitivity -- your being psychic -- might freak someone out, especially a date? I dont think so. Maybe if they are I just dont know it. Im married to my partner -- we were married in October before Proposition 8 passed. Wed been together for almost five or six years before, so its not something I have to worry too much about in our relationship now. Finally, what would you say to someone whos highly skeptical of astrology? There are a lot of skeptics with this work, but I would say, "Just try it. Just look at it and study it." Im put off by someone who dismisses something without ever exploring it or taking any effort to see if it really works. Because theres no other way that youre going to find out and I encourage everyone to find out through their own experience. Thats where astrology can really be a tool to help people better their lives by starting to understand and educated themselves about it throughout the process. But one other thing I was going to say about helping you and having happiness in your life: you really cant change the past or whats already been done, but astrology is very helpful for future things because its really the cosmic weather. If you know that its going to rain, you dont go to the beach that day. So it can help you to make plans, especially with things like weddings or engagements. Or say you have a CD coming out; I look at the chart and see if its a harmonious time where the planets are functioning to help you get better success. Because at certain times its not good to do things and at certain times its more favorable. So you really can use astrology in that way as a tool to work in the future as well. It's not just what your horoscope is or your tendencies or your psychology and all that. Its really a tool. To learn more about Eliot and schedule your own reading with him, visit his website.To read Eliot's weekly Astrology forecasts and become a fan of his on Facebook, click hereSend a letter to the editor about this article.
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