Chani Nicholas is a professional astrologer, but that’s not what she tells people at parties.

“I usually try getting away by saying I’m a writer. And if that doesn’t work, then I’ll usually say I have an online business. And if that doesn’t work, then I’ll say I’m an astrologer,” she said.

When you tell people you’re in the astrology business, Nicholas said, you get a lot of weird responses. And while it’s true astrology is part of the $2.2-billion-and-growing “mystical services” industry, Nicholas says she spends most of her time teaching people to read their own birth charts. She also she curates Spotify’s cosmic playlists, and just wrote a New York Times bestseller, “You Were Born For This.”

“So it’s really about you having your own power, and you utilizing the information and the tools as you need to,” Nicholas said. “And I’m here to be the bridge to between you and the tool of astrology, if you want.”

This week, we talk with Nicholas about how people have long looked to the night sky for guidance, why astrology is having a moment and what it’s like to run a business with your wife. And she’ll answer some of your questions in our occasional advice segment.

You can follow Nicholas on Instagram @chaninicholas, and find more about Sara Ahmad, the other astrologer we’re talking to this week, here.

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