Planets moving politics

Sitting in Janice Stork’s astrology room, looking at pictures of deities on her wall and listening to faint sitar music, I couldn’t really imagine her placed in the setting of the state Capitol, a pristine white dome filled with people in suits. But as an astrologer and retired legislative aide to the California Legislature, Stork is a blend of the two opposite worlds. At her request, Assemblyman Ed Z’berg introduced legislation to allow astrologers to practice for compensation, which Governor Ronald Reagan signed into law in 1974. Now, with a new book, Footprints of the Capitol Astrologer, Stork again melds the worlds of planets and politics, telling the story of her life as an insider at the Capitol through an astrological perspective. Footprints covers prominent figures such as Assembly Speaker Willie Brown Jr., Congressman Gary Condit and Senator Jackie Speier.

How did you become the Capitol astrologer?

I was a legislative aide to the California Legislature for 32 years. But then slowly over time I became the Capitol astrologer because staff was making appointments to see me or a member would know that I did the astrology and would ask about their chart or, you know, there was one time I was behind closed doors in rules committee with the assembly at one time.

Who in the Capitol has asked you to do readings?

I couldn’t say that because they’re still in positions of prominence, and I don’t really want to do that to tag them.

Did they keep it from each other as well, then?

No, they wouldn’t have to tell each other. See, I was in all of their offices, and so people introduced me as an astrologer. It wasn’t like, “Hey, this is Jan. She’s the secretary,” but it was, “This is Jan, the astrologer.” And then that would open doors right there to conversation and other things.

How do you go about making a chart?

You go to an ephemeris. An ephemeris is a book that has all the planetary placements in it. It’s all mathematical. When you ask someone about his astrology or what’s your sun sign, that means where the sun was when they were born. But when they were born, the moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, all of those, and Jupiter, they were all some place.

What do the planets represent?

If they’re political, a lot of times they have planets in Leo. OK, Gary Condit has three. Well, Leo relates to politics. It also relates to ego. It relates to power, that’s why you see it where the Legislature is concerned.

Were your voting interests affected by what you saw in the charts?

It’s hard for me to vote because I know certain things or I see certain things, and it makes it really hard.

Did you find anything in the president’s chart?

As I finished writing the book which was close to the 9/11 incident and I watched everyone praising George Bush on TV, well the thing I see as an astrologer is that in time, he will have opposition from the public simply because Saturn will move and it will be opposing his moon or it will be in Jupiter there or maybe that’s the aspect. I think Saturn is aspected into the moon. The moon is public, but it relates to money. So I started going in there to see what would happen if I start watching where Mars is now on his aspects and then look 18 months to two years from now. Well, three months ago it was Enron. After that it was WorldCom. Those were both money things, and they’re tied into Bush’s chart whether he’s tied into it or not. It doesn’t have to be a scandal related to him, but it’s a negative factor.

How did you decide to write the book?

I didn’t want to write the book. It’s scary as a staff person. It’s very hard because it becomes just like family after you work there for 32 years. So it’s very difficult, but my guides told me to do it. I’ve heard the voices forever. And so I didn’t question it, I just did it.

Do you expect any repercussions from the book?

No, I think that I did what I felt I was supposed to do, what I was told to do because I was in a position to do it. The grace of it all is what can they do? Shoot you? You know with the work they do they would be fearful of their life! And I would go; I would reincarnate and as I always say I would come back in Hawaii or some other place because the soul goes on.