121 Stephanie Johnson – A Shining Star in Astrology

Stephanie Johnson A Shining Star In Astrology

Words by Anita Butterworth | Photos supplied by Stephanie Johnson

As a little girl, Stephanie Johnson always had a burning desire to know more – an underlying curiosity about the world and people in general. Initially this drive propelled her to become a journalist, but eventually Stephanie found her true calling.

Over the past three decades, Stephanie has been a highly respected Astrologer, with a national and international following.

And she still draws on that innate curiosity.

“I think I was just always that sort of person that was always questioning what was going on beneath the surface,” Stephanie explained.

“I used to work as a journalist, and I do remember sitting in the courts and looking at some of the people who were up on quite serious charges like murder and a few of them just looked like normal people. There were only a couple that looked like you would think – a shady character. And so, it kind of got me thinking, what people are like on the outside is not necessarily how they are on the inside.

“So, I think that combined with the sort of kid I was anyway, just sort of always curious about what makes the world tick, that there had to be something more to life than what was just happening.”

After harbouring a personal interest in astrology for many years, and travelling and working as a journalist, Stephanie settled back in her home city of Adelaide, got married and had a son. And it was then she began studying astrology, completed a leading course and went ‘from strength to strength’.

People often turn to Stephanie at a time when their life is at a crossroads, or they need some reassurance, be that through star sign astrology in publications including Gippsland Lifestyle, or through one-on-one consultations.

“I love the fact that star sign astrology introduces so many people to astrology. And there is obviously a lot of truth in the horoscopes otherwise people wouldn’t keep reading them. But it is only one small part. You only have to look up at the night sky and see all the stars, there’s just so much up there."

“And that’s basically what we’re bringing down saying that at the moment you were born, this is where all the planets were and they all mean something different, so it’s quite complex. So, we look at not just the sun but look at where Venus is and Mercury and the moon.”

Working as an international consulting astrologer not only led to Stephanie helping people through consultations and astrology readings, but she also developed software to assist her fellow astrologers.

“I started a company called Esoteric Technologies which is astrology software. That was back when Windows was just starting up.

“It’s a bit like MYOB for people who are wanting to do their own bookwork and accounting. It’s like a specialist astrology software. The first one we did was for Windows and that’s now a world-leader, it’s called Solar Fire.

“Now I’m working on one for Mac and iPhones and that’s called Astro Gold. It’s what astrologers use, so the real professionals use it. But also, if you were just starting to study or getting an interest in astrology and you wanted something that was going to do those heavy calculations for you, we take the place, the date and time of birth and we do all these calculations to put the planets into particular house systems, it’s quite complicated.”

It means charts that used to take hours and sometimes days, can now be created for clients in mere moments.

“Back in the day they did it all by hand. It might take hours and hours to do one chart. And then to do the predictive work it would take even longer. And really in ancient days they were only doing it for kings and rich people. Because kings would want to know if they’re going to have a son or a daughter, am I going to have somebody who’s going to ascend the throne, are they going to be strong or not, are they going to live or not. It was very elite. “Whereas now we’ve got ephemeris files we get from NASA which are incredibly accurate and with the power of a computer we can churn out thousands of charts.”

The highly sought-after Astrologer explained that while the charts reveal a huge amount of detail about our future, the paths we walk will always be of our own choosing.

Stephanie Johnson

“You take the moment that a person is born, it’s a bit like a fingerprint, or a snowflake. Even though people are maybe born at the same time and same place, that’s your blueprint for life that’s your personality but it’s also saying some things are predestined and some things are not."

“It’s like weather prediction. I can say it’s going to be raining in 2023, but then decide if you’re going to stay home and read a book on the couch or you go out and splash in the puddles. I do think there’s an element of prediction that can happen, but it’s also choice. We choose what we’re going to do with our lives as well.”

Stephanie, who is now based on the Mornington Peninsula, says she’s seen a shift over the past few years. While the majority of clients previously sought guidance on relationships, she says they’re now, “Searching for something deeper, they’re wanting to have a purpose”.

It’s a duty that weighs heavily on Stephanie but is also a source of fulfilment.

“Yes, it takes a lot out of you because you’re trying to tune into their chart, and I feel a great sense of responsibility because people are making life decisions and you do feel they’re tuning into something that they wouldn’t normally tune into. This is definitely an opportunity when you see an Astrologer to really hone into your inner world.

“On the other hand, it’s also invigorating because it’s such a privilege to take the time to do that, to have the connection with people.”