Homespun Haints: True Ghost Stories
True ghost stories are scarier (and funnier) when you hear them from the real people who experienced them. We’re Becky and Diana, and we interview people who have seen ghosts--so you can feel their fear with them. Each episode features true, personal stories of ghosts, demons, haints, hauntings, haunted houses, and paranormal experiences, sprinkled with humorous conversations about the random strange events in our own haunted lives.
Homespun Haints: True Ghost Stories
We Might Be Wishing On The Same Bright Star: Real Ghost Stories from a Professional Astrologer
What happens when an astrologer's meditation on birth charts opens unexpected doorways to the spirit realm? Susan Reynolds never planned to communicate with the dead—in fact, she was once so terrified of ghosts that she would leave the room if anyone mentioned them. Yet over her 40-year journey as an astrologer, the veil between worlds kept thinning until she could no longer ignore the messages coming through.
Susan's remarkable story begins with a routine pre-reading meditation that unexpectedly revealed a client's past life as an Irish farmer's wife with seven children. Though hesitant to share what seemed like a "boring" vision, Susan watched in amazement as this revelation transformed her client's life, lifting the burden of guilt the woman had carried about choosing career over family. This pivotal moment taught Susan to trust the information coming through, regardless of how it might be received.
The spiritual downloads didn't stop with past lives. During readings, deceased loved ones began appearing with urgent messages for her clients. "I'm not a medium," Susan insists, explaining that unlike professional mediums, she can't summon spirits at will—they simply show up. One particularly moving encounter involved a father who had passed just weeks earlier, desperately wanting his daughter to know he loved her one last time.
For years, Susan maintained a double life—corporate professional by day, intuitive astrologer by nights and weekends—until her spirit guides abruptly announced it was time for her to pursue her calling full-time. This dramatic career shift allowed her unique approach to astrology to fully bloom, combining traditional chart analysis with spiritual insights that address the soul's journey across lifetimes.
Whether you're a skeptic, a spiritual seeker, or somewhere in between, Susan's experiences offer a fascinating glimpse into what happens when analytical practice meets intuitive gifts. Her story reminds us that our greatest strengths often emerge from embracing the very things that once frightened us most.
Ready to explore your own cosmic blueprint? Visit ExploreAstrology.com for Susan's free monthly predictions and intuitive guidance.
Tired of websites that have been Frankensteined together using subpar body parts? Check out Becky and Diana's digital media and web design company, The Concept Spot, and let's make some digital spookiness together! theconceptspot.com
Past lives, spirit guides and ghosts all play into Susan's unique brand of astrology, but she wasn't always a full-time professional astrologer. Once upon a time, she held down a corporate job and kept her gifts a secret from her co-workers. Today, however, she has fully embraced her calling and, as you can imagine, the dead keep giving her glimpses into the past, both for herself and for her clients. Her stories are wild and you're going to get to hear them today on Homespun Haints. Hello, hainted Loves, welcome to Homespun Haints. I'm Becky. Hey, I'm Diana. Today on the show we've got a special treat for you. We have Susan, who is an astrologer, so she is the fourth astrologer we've had on the show. We've talked to Christian Bradley West. We have spoken with Aurora. We have spoken with Brad.
Diana:West. We have spoken with Aurora. We have spoken with Brad. Yes, four very different types of astrologers really, but all kind of unified in that fact that they combine astrological observational science with their own intuitive abilities, and they're all pretty funny.
Becky:She is amazing.
Diana:We loved talking to her and, Diana, you actually got a reading from her right, I did, I did and I'm I'm actually going to share the video because she managed to take like this hour and 15 minute long video. I'm going to save the highlights and share it with our patrons on patreoncom slash homespunhance. So if you, if you want to go see the behind the scenes and learn about what my fate was upon being born upon this planet under the stars of Leo.
Becky:I think where you're going, I'm just going to follow. You know, just wear a really long coat so I can hold on to your coattails and just like whee through the air to wherever you land.
Becky:It sounds fun. Right before we hit record, I was telling Diana about the latest weird thing that appeared in our house. Yes, you've got tools, these things. They appear because I have a geeky husband and for those of you that follow us over on our business side of things with the concept spot, you know that I'm also an early adopter, so I'm like always getting the weird cool gadgets right away before anybody else does. 3d printer shows up in the house. Husband puts 3D printer in basement. Basement is full of crap because D&D campaign happened there yesterday.
Diana:The children's, not yours.
Becky:Well, no, it's like a boys D&D club Dads and kids Cute. Yeah, it's really cute, it? No, the it's like a boys D&D club. So it's like Dads and kids cute. Yeah, it's really cute, dads and kids yeah. And basement was already trashed because my son's birthday party had taken place the night before. Luckily, I got like washable everything down there so I can get the chocolate stains out of the rug and things like that.
Diana:I have a friend who advocates putting the rug in the bed of the pickup truck and then going through car wash.
Becky:What a brilliant idea.
Diana:She says that's a really easy way to wash a rug and also cheap. You just need a pickup truck. Well, actually she was doing it in a sedan. But it's much harder to do in a sedan because you need two people one to put the rug over the top and the other one to be in there, because you can't get the door open when there's a rug over the top of the sedan. So I was actually modifying her technique for your family because you've got a pickup truck.
Becky:I do have a pickup truck, yes, which my husband can't drive right now because he's lugging 3D printer into the basement trying to work his way around all the crap. Printer into the basement, trying to work his way around all the crap, like he set up card tables and folding chairs and then other furniture is just like scooched against the wall and it's. It's a mess. And he stubs his toe into the couch. And I'm actually on my way out the door because I just got a call from the school and they were like your daughter vomited. And I was like, okay, well, she vomits all the time. And they're like, no, she can't stay here, we have rules. So I was like, oh crap, I got to go get my kid.
Diana:Like cat, like daughter.
Becky:Kids vomit. Okay, like she looks at something funny and she vomits. She stays in a car for more than five minutes. She vomits. She's just a vomitous child, I mean billiest child. So I'm like crap, all right. So I'm running out the door and my husband's like uh, I think I hurt my toe and I'm like I'm still, I've still got to go. And he's like I think I broke it and I'm like okay. So I go over and you know, I'm like what did you do? And he was like I was walking. I'm like God, you're getting old. So I walk over and I look at his toes, so you know. So imagine this is the big toe, second toe, middle toe. So these are the other toes and this one's like sorry, I'm flipping you off. It's not intentional, but it was, it was not painful though.
Becky:It was not going in the right direction and I said, um, that looks broken. And I was like trying to move it. He's like I can't, I'm like broken, I'm like great, all right, well, I'm just gonna drop you off at urgent care so you can get x rays and I'm gonna go get my kid. But I couldn't do that Because then my husband goes into shock. So I'm like, oh crap, it's like this is such a life of a mom, right, it's like why do?
Becky:people keep getting injured. He starts like getting dizzy and he's like pouring sweat. He's like so I'm like like putting him in the car and he's like throw up. I'm like, not you too. Just the other day we were taking my son to his birthday dinner and he threw up everywhere. Your whole family's getting pretty bilious, I know right, can you believe we travel a lot? Yeah, so we're driving down the road because he really wanted to go to Panera. That's his favorite place for his birthday.
Diana:Wait, your son right?
Becky:Yes, my son, yeah, no no, this is like a few days ago, right before the part. Yeah, so we're driving to Panera and he's like I'm gonna get sick and I was like roll down the window and just like a college kid, he's like yeah, like all over the streets of Roswell, georgia. We pull in and I'm like, all right, it's like all over him. I'm like let's go to the bathroom bud and wash you up.
Diana:And let's go eat our bread bowls. You know like nothing, no big deal. So I'm just I'm so, I'm just I'm so used to dealing with this. I have to interrupt and say you're a really good mom for raising kids. That would not be like devastatedly embarrassed by the situation that we're just like okie, dokie, yeah, it's gonna be my party, no big deal, that's. That's some next level confidence. Good job, good job mom in that, some next level confidence.
Becky:Good job, good job, mom, in that. So it comes from a lot of me just like I can't. I can't deal with emotion, so you're gonna just power through this, yeah. So anyway, I get my husband in the car and the whole time I'm like trying to give him Lamaze breathing techniques. Oh, throw up in my car and he's like. He's like, okay, we're breathing together, we're breathing together and I'm like breathing with him all the way to urgent care and I get him in the door and I'm like I cannot just leave him here like he couldn't even walk anyway. I'm actually on the hunt for um, a local reiki healer in our neighborhood, because we are going to roam in less than a month so that toe needs all the good vibes it can vibe that toe better be healed because I am going, with or without him, screw the fact that it's our 20-year anniversary, but I do want to give a big shout out to Tiffany Parks of the Bittersweet Life podcast.
Becky:She hosts that with Katie Sewell, who's actually a patron of ours. Tiffany has been so instrumental in helping us plan this trip. She is actually a tour guide. We're going to take one of her tours and she set us up with some private tours throughout Rome, as well as giving us a lot of recommendations like insider information.
Diana:That's so cool. So you're going to see the darker side of Rome. That's. The important thing to mention right here is that this is a spooky trip to Rome.
Becky:Oh yeah, oh yeah, Just a normal trip. My family doesn't know that yet.
Diana:Oh sorry, it's a secretly spooky trip to Rome, so it's interesting You're going to be in the Vatican during Jubilee, during a new Pope election, assuming like the conclave is over with by then. If you guys were Catholic, this would be really like a big deal in your lives.
Becky:Right, none of this is happening if my husband's toe doesn't heal.
Diana:Right, right. So we need to all send good vibes.
Becky:Send good vibes to my husband, because he is going to get stuck in the hotel room with his foot up while I go walk around in the catacombs.
Diana:You're going to call him when the kids puke and he has to come pick them up so you can continue infiltrating Catholic venues.
Becky:I'll just tell him to find a bush.
Diana:They have public fountains there. It's fine. You'll be able to clean them up no matter where. Oh good God, Do not throw up. Oh no, that's not what I was recommending. I just meant like it's easy to clean up because there's always fresh like oh yeah, I can clean them up.
Becky:No, no, this is true. Yes, and the world's first sewer system was there, so I'm sure there's plenty of places they can throw up into Probably.
Diana:But, I can't wait. You're going to see the church where the the which.
Becky:Tiffany, yeah, she says she's going to take us there.
Diana:Okay, the one where they catch the bodies that wash up on the on the river, on the Tiber. Yes, On the Tiber river.
Becky:Yeah, I'm very excited, looking forward to that.
Diana:Please call me from there. I'm looking forward to that, all I'm looking forward to that. All right, surely they have Wi-Fi. All good churches have Wi-Fi, right.
Becky:Wi-Fi. It's in the Bible, right Like it's the 11th commandment Thou shalt have good Wi-Fi, it's enshrined. And those of you that are part of our patron, patron Patreon, I will be sharing little stories of the trip as I go, so you'll get some exclusive imagery, just like we did for our trip to Appalachia. But please send healing thoughts to my husband and his toe.
Diana:I used to sprain and or potentially hairline fracture my baby toes all the time. Because my feet are shaped like this. I've got monkey toes. They're prehensile. I can play the piano almost as well with my toes as with my hands, but that's just because I can't play piano. But I can pick things up. I I one time I learned how to crochet with my toes. I can write with my toes a little bit. But what I wanted to say was I used to always fracture, hairline fracture my middle toe every time I walked through a dark room because I'd knock it onto some doorway or something, until I got these shoes right here and these shoes or something. Until I got these shoes right here and these shoes you may not be able to tell how big they are on a flat screen, but they're larger than my head, they're huge and they've got cheekbones, because it's like an evil jack-o'-lantern. Right, they've got cheekbones there and there.
Becky:Where do you find said shoes?
Diana:I will put a link to them in the show notes for this episode, should you want to obtain a pair of evil jack-o'-lantern shoes that keep you from breaking your toes, so that you never do this to your spouse when she's hoping to have her first trip to Italy as an adult? And you're breaking your toes and going, oh, there's nothing I could have done? Yeah, yes, there was.
Becky:Okay, that's a really good idea.
Diana:I don't think I've told you yet, becky. The library here has a creative writing contest for adults every year, and this year I won. Oh, you didn't tell me that? Yeah, I got first place in the essay contest.
Diana:Congratulations, thank you, so now now I'm going to have my story published on the library website and I get to go to a ceremony where I get to read it aloud. Now you know me, the story is incredibly embarrassing and it's all true. So, unfortunately, yes, I get to read a very embarrassing story aloud and then have people reference it online for a year. This is what publication is like.
Becky:Oh well, it's incredible, diana. I'm so proud of you. Thank you, it's awesome. It's a cool accolade to put on your resume.
Diana:That's the first thing I did. I've edited my CV that I haven't edited since 2019.
Becky:Cv that I haven't added since 2019. Well, hated loves. Thank you for listening to our rantings and ravings about contests and broken toes in italy. If you are a patron, you can follow our adventures at patreoncom.
Diana:Slash homespun hates and if you're not a patron, we'll just continue to watch you quiver in anticipation.
Susan:Oh man, I had a rough day.
Becky:What happened, honey? I was out with the guys and they uh. And, and they said I wasn't spooky enough. Oh honey, how could they say that to you? You're hella spooky. You think so, Of course. After all, you came up with the ectoplasm being ghost jizz theory, and you've been scratched by more horny ghosts than anyone else. I know.
Diana:Well, I suppose you're right.
Becky:But if you're really worried about it, I have just the thing oh wow, A spooky AF t-shirt. That's right, Our spooky AF line comes in shirt, sweatshirt, pillow and even a high-quality mug.
Susan:Man, those are super awesome, especially for something with profanity on it.
Becky:What's even better, all these items were hand-lettered exclusively from Homespun Hates by world-renowned calligrapher Nikki Malick. Holy, ghostly cannoli. That's amazing. From now on, whenever you brandish your Spooky AF gear, no one will accuse you of being boring. Yeah, I'm spooky AF. Visit homespunhatescom for all spooky AF merchandise.
Becky:Today on the show, we are thrilled to bring on Susan Reynolds of Explore Astrology. Hey everybody, Welcome Susan. She is an astrologer and she has been doing it for 40 years. That's so cool, I know it's so cool. I know it's so cool. So, as you know, we'll include links to her information or her email address, because I'm sure you guys are going to have lots of questions and you're going to have an expert that you can reach out to after this show. Susan, thanks so much for being here with us. Thanks for having me. I'm excited to be here. Before we hit record, you were explaining that when you began reading these charts, you started actually delving into people's past lives with their charts and the exploration you did, and that's kind of one of the unique approaches that you take with your practice. Can you go back to the beginning and tell us what that was like and how that sort of occurred? Can?
Susan:you like, go back to the beginning and tell us what that was like and how that sort of occurred. Well, I started out doing something that I still do today, even after 40 years. Before I ever do a reading with a client, I meditate on that, that chart. And so there was a woman who had made an appointment. I'd never met her before, she was a brand new client. And I was sitting there meditating on this chart, like I always do, and all of a sudden I started to see a vision Like I didn't ask for this, I didn't even know this could happen.
Susan:But boom, there we were and I saw a vision of a woman who I knew was my client and it was like the 1800s, 1700s. She was a woman, she lived in Ireland, she was married to a man who was a farmer. She had like seven or eight kids. I saw this woman trying to be a good mother, to be a good wife. Money was a little bit of a struggle, but she was teaching her children to get an education, you know. And then I think she died somewhere in her 50s. And then the vision went and I was shocked. I didn't know what to do with this. Remember this was 40 years ago. This was not as accepted and I said I can't tell this woman this. You know, it may take all her courage to come from astrology reading, and I'm going to talk about crazy past life stuff. You know what, if she calls me a fraud.
Susan:But then I thought, well, I got it for her, I should tell her. So I kept going back and forth, back and forth, should I, shouldn't I? Finally I said, okay, I'm going to tell her, and I'll tell her right at the beginning of the reading, so that if she doesn't like it, she's upset with me, she could leave and that'll be it. And so if she doesn't like it, she's upset with me, she could leave and that'll be it. And this probably doesn't reflect well on me, but I'll tell you anyway. I was upset at getting this vision, but I was also upset at seeing such a boring past life, like a huge story of Jess' life. Could she not have been a pirate or a civil war general or something with some pizzazz? You know a housewife and then you die. Like who wants to hear that?
Diana:That's probably 95% of our past lives, if you think about it.
Susan:And I was like, oh my God, I can't even tell her this boring life. You know, my client comes in. She's a lovely woman in her 30s, very well-dressed, very polite. We sit down, we start the reading and I tell her about this vision. My client bursts into tears and she says, oh my god, that explains my whole life. Oh, what, what? That is my reaction. This, this explains your whole life, turns out. My client was a lawyer.
Susan:She was born in a very loving Irish Catholic family in Boston, large family, six or seven kids and all the women, the girls in that family. They would grow up and get married and then have kids. They may get a job to help out the family, but she said she always knew from a young age that she didn't want to do that. She wanted a career. She went to college, she went to law school. She was a lawyer. She said she was aiming to make partner and she said she always felt guilty that she wasn't being like all the other women in her family. She always felt guilty for not wanting to follow that path, for wanting to enter a career. And when I told her this it was like I could see this woman getting lighter, getting brighter, right in front of me, like that burden of guilt had lifted she was. I don't even remember what the rest of the reading. All I remember is her reaction that what I thought was boring and humdrum changed her life Like literally. In those moments I could see her life changing and it was a lesson to me. Like Susan, it's not up to you to decide what you're supposed to tell them. If you're seeing a vision, you just tell them and let go of it. That's your job, but not the judge of this. And so after that I would do the same thing with other clients go into my time of prayer meditation before we sit down, and more and more often I would start to see visions of past lives. And this is what you came into this lifetime to do. And so many times I would see that click. Oh, that's why I struggle with this. That's why this is this way. So usually when I do a reading now, I will start if I got a vision for them.
Susan:Occasionally, but it's rare, I will go into my time of prayer meditation and my guides will come in and they'll go. No, you will get no information about this person's past life, and that's annoying for me but it's incredibly frustrating for my client, because most of my clients are word of mouth and so their friends or their relatives telling them this is what she told me. I'm like I'm so sorry, I cannot tell you anything. But the vast majority of the time, like 90, 95% of the time, I'm going to see something and I'm going to tell you and I tell people all the time believe it, don't believe it, toss it away, keep it. Totally up to you. I've done my job, I've shared it. This is what I saw, this is what I'm sharing. The end.
Susan:And then I'll get more into the chart. But I'll start to explain the chart from a spiritual standpoint, from the soul standpoint. This is why you brought in this Venus. This is what it's trying to teach you. So my way may be a little different than most people's style, but that's okay. It's mine and I've made peace with it over the years.
Diana:You know, susan, we've interviewed at least two other professional astrologers and both of them have some practice that has to do with intuition, mediumship or psychic ability or predictions or something that's above and beyond just, oh, I read charts. So I think that, yeah, I think that once you become a professional something, maybe either the people who are meant to be professional astrologers have some kind of gift naturally and it weaves itself in, or it maybe generates some kind of gift. I don't know.
Susan:I will say, before I start the reading, I always take a moment of prayer to bless the reading, to call in their guides, to call my guides, and when I do that, when if any astrology does that you're opening that door and you don't know what's going to go through that door.
Susan:I mean certainly we're protected and we're going with the high vibration. But their guides sometimes start talking to me. My guides sometimes start talking to me. Sometimes I'll be telling my client something and my guides will sort of hit me in the back of the head like Susan, this is for you too. Like pay attention. So I have just learned to just go with it. I am often the most surprised person in the reading surprise person in the reading.
Susan:The first time a relative came in. I'm not a medium, I'm not a you know, I don't talk to the dead and I was reading for this woman, lovely young woman, and I saw this man, older man sort of, come towards me and he was very loud, very insistent Tell her I love her and I'm in my head going no, go away, go away.
Susan:Shoot, shoot, shoot. And I'm doing this in my head, talking to him, and so I'm still reading the chart, and so I'm still talking about her moon or what's going on here, and he's like tell her I love you, no, go away, go away. And again, this is my fault. I thought I love you was some sort of generic message Like oh yeah, yeah, I'm a medium, they're happy, they're on the other side, they love you. I wanted a message like the will is under the third brick in the fireplace.
Diana:Like I want it specific.
Susan:I wasn't getting that. I wasn't getting this. I love you. Like no, we're not doing this, go away. So I'm arguing with this man in my head while I'm reading for my client and he won't go away. And finally I'm so annoyed at him. I had a pencil in my hand. I just threw it down on the table. Oh well, right. And my client's looking at me like what did I do? Because she doesn't know.
Susan:I've been arguing with this man for the last 10 minutes and I tell her there is a man here. He's an older gentleman and he is very insistent that I tell you I love you. He wants you to know I love you. And I still get a little choked up about this because tears started running down her face. I did not know this, but her father had died three weeks ago and she was in another state at the time and her family called her. He was in the hospital, so it was expected, but they said come it's time, he's fading. So she drives like a bat out of hell to get to the hospital and he had died before she got there and she said I'd give anything to hear him say I love you one more time. Oh wow, I did not know any of that. So once again I had to learn. It's not up to me. Sometimes I think my guys have taken up a special collection to work with me. I'm sure I'm in slow class or something.
Becky:I give them bits. You say I'm not a medium, but how is that not mediumship in a way?
Susan:Well, I've had people come to me and say I want to talk to Aunt Mary or my grandmother. Nothing happens Like I got nothing. I think a professional medium can call on the other side at will and be able to pick somebody up. I can't do that Like the other side is making and be able to pick somebody up. I can't do that Like the other side is making the decision, not me Got it Okay. So I had to sort of say sometimes this happens and if it does, I will do my best to be the best interpreter. But you're also not getting somebody who's a professional in this area and my clients are fine with that. But I'm always a little worried. I don't want to disappoint anybody or, you know, I don't want them to be misled in any way about my work.
Susan:I remember this this older woman came to me beautifully dressed I think she's wearing a Chanel suit. You know, very sort of like ladies who lunch kind of energy. She just looked beautifully put together and this young man came in and was standing behind her and I couldn't see him very clearly. Remember, not a professional. So I'm doing my best to like who is that? What is that? And he was holding something in his hand. It looked like a tall spear. I was like what is that? His hand, it looked like a tall spear.
Susan:I was like what is that? So I asked her. I said does a man holding a spear mean anything to you? And she said no. I said, okay, you know, I just went right back to the reading and then a little bit later it was like the picture wasn't as fuzzy, it was like it was fine tuned or something. And I said, oh, it's not a spear or something. And I said, oh, it's not a spear, it's a fishing rod. I said do you know anybody with a fishing rod? And she said, oh yes, my son was a bass fisherman before he died. So again, my skills are not necessarily where I would want them to be if I was doing that professionally.
Becky:I just say I'm doing my best, know it's just a little extra perk that comes sometimes with the readings the past life readings.
Diana:Do they come through the dead, through a form of mediumship that maybe you're not a pro at yet but that happens to you passively, or do they come through you?
Susan:somehow they come through me, they come to me and through me. Um, sometimes it's a good question you ask because I didn't think about this Sometimes, when I'm seeing a past life unfold in front of me, I'll realize immediately oh you know, that woman's now her father. In this lifetime, like sometimes, that connection will just be shown to me immediately. Time, like sometimes, that connection will just be shown to me immediately. Most of the time not, but occasionally it's shown to me to understand this is why this situation is going on, and so sometimes it will happen like that, but most of the time it's like watching a movie it's, you know, cue the MGM, like the fog and the vision and everything happening, and I just watch, I just kind of watch, but I'll also it's hard to explain I'll also be feeling these feelings like this happened and this is what you were feeling, and I watched a life unfold in front of me, a past life, where a woman, a woman, was married, they had children, and a famine hit their nation or their country, wherever they were living.
Susan:Her husband died, her children died and this woman eventually passed after her husband and children, and what I remember is this woman's sense of guilt and failure I failed my children, you know, like they died, like I couldn't keep my children on this woman's heartbreak and in this lifetime she was scared to get pregnant and this lifetime she's afraid to be a mother. Oh, wow, she didn't know why. She said nobody in my family died from childbirth. You're like I don't know why I'm so scared to have kids. Well, if you watched your children die, you might be a little hesitant. So she did nothing wrong as a mother. She was a good mother. But our feelings and what she was feeling at the time that she died I'm a failure as a mother, I'm a terrible mother was impacting her in this lifetime, that is incredible.
Susan:That's so relevant.
Diana:That's bizarre to me, because the reason I was asking that question is because I've had an Akashic Records reading, which is you're familiar with that? Okay, yeah, but basically the one reading I had produced an extremely profound image of a past life that I had no takeaway from. It meant nothing to me, there was no value whatsoever, and the reader went over every single aspect that she was able to see. It had no relevance to my life and I still, to this day, cannot place it as anything relevant to my current life. Wow, that's incredibly frustrating. Sometimes you're going to get messages that maybe aren't relevant yet or would be relevant in a future life, or something like that.
Susan:Sometimes we can see something and we misinterpret it in a certain way, and that may be what was going on or, like you say, it may be relevant later on.
Diana:I don't know it was. It was a good friend of mine, so she knew me. It's not like she was just trying to connect with some random things.
Susan:I would start to. Maybe, if you work with your spirit guides at all, I would start to ask them to show you what do I need to learn from this, even if you get nothing. Let's say they were describing a life where you were sitting under a tree eating an apple. You know, and you okay what? What is the big deal about that? Start to maybe make it like a story. What can that mean? Was I a farmer growing apples? Was I hungry? You know? Was I happy in that moment? Start to treat it like you're interpreting a dream and see if you can put things together. You might even get a dream book and look up apple or look up tree, just because it may seem very simplistic or not seem to have any relevance. Sometimes, when we dig into it a little bit more, something starts to come.
Diana:That makes sense. That makes a lot of sense. I never thought to interpret it like a dream, but that's a really good idea.
Becky:And you would be good at that, Diana. Of course you do a lot of dream interpretation.
Diana:Yeah, I do dream interpretation, so that is kind of something I would.
Susan:Oh, I do some too. It's fun Once you start to dig into it. What looks one way totally changes and looks a totally different way.
Becky:Poor Diana gets a text from me almost every day.
Susan:I dreamt about this. What does it mean?
Becky:She's like well, you're going to learn to do this yourself.
Diana:That's okay, helps me keep tabs on you.
Susan:I used to work years ago in corporate America and my friends would call me up at work to tell me they had a dream and I'd be like not a good time, not a good time.
Diana:That'd be an interesting performance review. That'd be an interesting performance review. It must feel good to move from a life where you're trying to do readings in between client calls and corporate break room, and then now you do this full time.
Susan:Yeah, I started out in corporate America Never thought I'd be a professional astrologer. Even when I took classes and started having clients, it was a hobby, nights and weekends. In astrology I do my best to make it very practical to what's going on in your life today and people would say you need to go do this full time. And I go, look, I need a health care plan, I need some benefits. I'm not walking away from a job that pays me a good salary with a lot of benefits. So look at this. So for many years I just thought that would be it. Look at this. So for many years I just thought that would be it. I would do it nights and weekends. And then one day my guides were like no, today's the day, Just like that, Just like that. And I went to my boss and I said I was leaving and I never went back and I had no money, I had no plan, I had no nothing. I tell people all the time don't ever leave your job the way I left mine. Don't do that, it's incredibly stressful.
Becky:So your guides meant like leave that day, don't give a month notice, don't try to get a severance package.
Susan:I gave my notice that day and I had reached in the company I was working for, if your years of service plus your age added up to like the magic number, you could leave and retire with medical benefit, and so I wasn't even thinking about that, but my guys were.
Becky:Oh, so you had that.
Susan:you were at that point and the minute I reached the magic number, they were like okay, you're out of here. Oh, really.
Diana:That's awesome Okay.
Becky:All right, I mean you still had all of that. You built that for yourself at the company.
Susan:Yeah, I liked what I did. It wasn't exciting, but I was good and I was respected. I you know, if my guides had not decided otherwise, I might have stayed there a lot longer, but I was very invested in my astrology, even though it was part time. I was doing a lot of night and part time work and I was in the break room, you know, sort of having lunch with a colleague and casually I wasn't even thinking said something about working that weekend and he said, oh, I didn't know, you had a part-time job.
Susan:And immediately I'm like deer in the headlights oh, my God, I cannot tell him what I do. I work for a very conservative company. And he could see my panic all over my face and he said it's okay, it's okay, you don't have to tell me what you do. And I guess most people would have said, no, I'll tell you. But I said, oh, thank you so much. I got up to leave the break room and then I kind of turned around and I looked at him and I said, but my stage name is Cinnamon.
Diana:He's been Googling that for years and still can't find you?
Susan:I never did tell him what I really did.
Diana:That's phenomenal.
Becky:Welcome to my life. You see images of the departed in your visions, of the departed in your visions. Have you ever seen a ghost or a spirit or something like that outside of reading for a client.
Susan:Yes, oh, twice, not a lot, but twice I've seen this. The first was many years ago. I was an astrologer, I was still working in corporate America, and my sister and I were at a graveside. We were visiting a relative's grave and leaving some flowers there and I looked up and I saw this young man like leaning on a big headstone and I thought it was kind of disrespectful. Like you know, that's not a seat, you know, and you don't usually see that, like, people are usually very respectful in a graveyard. I'm kind of looking at them and I'm trying not to look because I don't want to be rude. And finally I'm talking to my sister. I'm like you see that man over there, do you not think that's disrespectful? And my sister says what man? Uh-oh, yeah, that was me, uh-oh. And I look again and he's still there and I realize I'm looking through him instead of at him and I'm like, okay, we can go now. You know, like I'm not sure I want to talk to him and he looks fine and we're not walking in that direction, we're going to walk in this direction. Whoa, walking in that direction. We're going to walk in this direction.
Susan:It was the first time I'd ever seen a ghost. I did later, not that day. I looked at the grave marker that he was sitting on and it was a grave for a young man who had died in his twenties and I figured that was him. The second time that I saw a ghost was much, much later. Grown woman left corporate America full-time astrologer.
Susan:I don't know if either one of you have ever heard of Chip Coffey. He's a very well-known especially in Atlanta, very well-known medium and he had a show for a while about working with children who are mediums and seeing dead people, and I don't know if he still does this up until COVID. I know a few times a year he would do an event at like a haunted place and you would buy your ticket, maybe go to like a haunted mansion for the weekend and you would have the weekend there and you would see ghosts. He would take you around to see ghosts, and so he was offering something in Tennessee, in Pigeon Forge, at the Titanic Museum that they have there, and a friend and I decided to buy tickets and to go.
Susan:It was like you buy your ticket and there's a three or four course dinner in the evening when the museum is closed and then they take you through the museum at night and it just sounds like fun. That's my idea of fun, you know. So we buy our tickets, we go to Pigeon Forge and during the day we decide to go to the museum as a tourist, just to see the museum. It was very well done. If you're ever in Pigeon Forge go to the Titanic Museum, it was really very well done. And you get a card with a picture and a name on it as you enter and then at the end you could see if you survived, like did you survive it was is very well, nicely done.
Susan:So we're looking through and I'm looking at these exhibits and in glass containers or whatever, and um, and they had encouraged us for this event to dress in 1920s clothing, like really to get into it. I did my best but I didn't know that I was going to wear a bustle or whatever it is for anybody, so I had my limits. But I'm walking through the museum and there's a young boy there, maybe like eight to 10, something like this, and he's dressed in like the 1920s style, with a cap and like the knickers kind of thing, and we're kind of playing with each other, kind of teasing each other, and he's, like you know, darting over here and I'm going over there to sort of find him and we're just having a good time with each other. And then he darts behind a woman that is looking at the exhibit that I take to be his mother, and I dart right behind him and there's nobody there and I realized, oh, that was a ghost.
Becky:Oh my goodness, so nobody else saw him?
Susan:No, because I asked my friend and she's like what boy? She didn't see anything.
Diana:Oh my gosh, the random woman you darted behind must have been a little alarmed.
Susan:You know, I didn't even think about that.
Diana:I probably do that to people all the darn time.
Susan:I didn't even think about that, but the dinner was lovely, and then they took us into this part of the museum and the temperature drops to like the 20s or something like that. It drops to the temperature. It was that night when the Titanic went down, so you're immediately cold and they had little slats created where you could sit on, like little benches that mimicked the rowboats that they had where the survivors would sit in the rows on the rowboat and I was sitting down and then I scooted over to make room for the woman sitting next to me and I realized I didn't see anybody. But I realized it was nobody sitting there, but like I could feel the brush of cloth or a dress or something next to me. So I knew there was somebody there, but we didn't communicate and I was just like, oh, that's interesting.
Diana:So somebody is here, you know. Okay, I know you don't know the answer to this, but if you were speculating, would you guess that these spirits were attached to items in the museum from the Titanic, or attached to the land somehow, or perhaps just attached to the idea that the concept of the Titanic and so many people thinking about it?
Susan:This is my impression, again, as a light medium, not a professional medium. I got the impression they were attached to the objects. Okay, I definitely didn't sense any attachment to the land or anything about Tennessee that was important to them, but I did get an attachment to the objects and even to some doing an attachment to that experience. Like it was so overwhelming, so traumatic, that there was still definitely an imprint there, because many of the things that they have there they were original to the ship.
Becky:They were not recreations. I'm really surprised that those are the only incidents that you have to talk about, because those are really, really visceral.
Susan:I'll tell you something. I sort of opened up to being an astrologer and moving into the more spiritual, metaphysical world through my ARE study group. They are joined with ARE, the Association for Research and Enlightenment, and it's an organization that is in Virginia Beach and it was created by Edgar Cayce, who is a very famous seer You're both nodding. He lived in the 1890s to like 1940s, something like that, and the ARE is his organization. He has ARE study groups all over the country, all over the world. It's free to join, and I had joined one and I knew nothing. I knew nothing about past lives, I knew nothing about any of this yet, but I was interested, which is why I asked to join. So they encouraged me and helped me.
Susan:But one of the things that they were very surprised about is that I never wanted to talk about ghosts. I never wanted to talk about dead people. I never wanted to talk about mediums or seeing spirits. It scared the bejesus out of me, literally to the point where if they were going to talk about this subject, I would leave the room. I would, I could not even be in the room. If they were going to talk about this subject, I would leave the room, I could not even be in the room while they were discussing this. I would leave the room and they'd say okay, susan, we're done talking, you can come back again. This is how scared I was of this subject, so I was completely shut down. They laughed themselves silly that now I'm seeing dead people. You know they think this is the funniest thing in the whole world.
Susan:It took me a while to open up to this. This was not natural for me. This is not something I asked for or wanted. I had to kind of make peace with this. Now, of course, I've made peace with this and it's fine. But I kept wondering why am I so scared of this To literally have to leave the room with the conversation turns there? That's kind of an extreme reaction. One night I had this dream, not say it was real or not, but I had a dream where I was a medium in the 1800s and I was like I don't know what they call it, a trance medium where you open up and the spirit comes into you and can speak through you. That was the kind of medium I was and I had a spirit who didn't want to leave and go back and give up the body.
Becky:I was going to ask if it has something to do with a past life.
Susan:Okay, so this life, I'm like, oh hell. No, I'm not doing any work for mediums or ghosts, no, I got it with sperm.
Diana:Once again, the past life. What could be a past life vision, I suppose, since it was a dream, but it sounds like it explains it pretty well. I'm jealous. I need another past life reading.
Susan:Well, if either one of you ever want me to read for you, let me know. I'd be happy to read for you and you can experience what a reading with me is like.
Becky:So do you do readings over Zoom and you can experience what a reading with me is like so do you do readings over Zoom?
Susan:Yes, I absolutely do them by Zoom and I record them and I'll send the recording to my client. Sometimes during a reading I'll just kind of trail off and you might think, well, I'll just start looking at the ceiling or something you know, and I tell them I haven't lost interest in your reading, like I'm hearing your guide or something's coming through, and so I always tell them just give me a moment, just let me get it, and then I'll share it with you.
Diana:Speaking of looking at the ceiling when you're doing a Zoom reading, when some spirit comes through to speak to you or speak through you, do they come through on your side, in your location, or on theirs? Mine, okay, okay, gotcha. They come through to your side and your location or on theirs? Mine, okay, okay, gotcha, they come through to me. It's not whoever's surrounding them, they come to you.
Susan:No, it's interesting you say that they're. They're on my side, they're surrounding me, but sometimes I'll see a guide trying to communicate with them and they'll say why aren't my guys communicating with me? And I'll say they're communicating with you, you're not open to hearing them. Yes, and so I'll see them there with my client at their location, wherever that is, but they'll still be communicating to me because I can hear them and they can't.
Becky:Susan, you have so many stories. This is such an amazing conversation.
Diana:Love to hear anything else you want to talk about.
Susan:Well, every month on my website my website is exploreastrologycom I put out free predictions for every one of the 12 signs and you don't have to join anything, you don't have to pay anything.
Susan:It is my way of giving back to the community. So if you want to know what's going on with you, I think I just updated explore astrology with april's predictions for all the signs so you can go on and you can check and it's just a way of sharing. And I'm also going to say I have a facebook page, susan reynolds, and every day, every day, I go on my facebook page and I will tell people where the moon is that day. You know, today the moon is in pisces and it may be a nice day to meditate or do some woo woo things or do some healing, because Pisces is associated with that. And again, of course, facebook. There's no charge for that. I also send out a free monthly newsletter, um, where I talk about the new moon and the full moon and what's going on for that month's moon energy. The new moon and the full moon and what's going on for that month's moon energy.
Diana:So if you want to be on, the list and receive that.
Susan:Go to my website and you can sign up for that right now. I'm getting ready to teach a three month intuitive development course, because so many clients say how do you do that? I want to do what you do, and we all have some intuitive ability and so we're getting you know. Friends of mine and I are teaching it together and we all have some intuitive ability, and so we're getting you know friends of mine and I are teaching it together.
Susan:She's in Atlanta, by the way. Oh, nice, nice, and so we're getting together and we're going to teach this over the course of three months, so the whole course would be three months so people can own this, use this, talk to other people about this, not like one and done and go out into the world.
Becky:Very cool, a lot of great stuff, and that's all at exploreastrologycom.
Susan:Yeah, all the stuff about the classes are on my events page. The predictions are on my predictions tab. Every month I'll put up monthly predictions.
Becky:Well, we will have links to all of that on our website at homespunhaintscom, on Susan's episode and in the description below this episode, wherever you're receiving it. So make sure you check that out and click on that link.
Diana:Oh, one important question when we do the predictions, do we go by our rising sign or our sun sign? Go by your sun sign.
Susan:But I always tell people, if you know what astrologers call the big three, look up your sun sign, look up your moon sign, look up your rising sign. But if you had to just pick one of them, pick the sun sign first.
Becky:Okay, Well, Susan, thank you again so much for coming on and sharing everything. I really really enjoyed talking to you. This has been such a great conversation. You have some really, really amazing stories and experiences and you're just full of light and just an amazing soul. So, so thrilled that we got a chance to connect.
Susan:I tell people I have a very boring life. All I do is like work and you know, go to the grocery store, go to a book club, and then I hear myself talk at you and I think, oh, maybe my life's not as boring as I think it is.
Diana:Well, this was lovely, thank you so much for having me. Thank you, susan for being on the show and Hainted Loves. What do you think If you were doing a normal astrology chart and suddenly the dead started talking to you? Would you admit it or would you just have a spooky day?
Becky:Homespun Haints is hosted by Becky Kielimniknick and diana dodie and produced by homespun haints media llc. Editing and music by becky kalimnick. Show notes by diana dodie. If you have a ghost story and you'd like to be considered as a guest for this podcast, please visit our website at homespunhaintscom. Slash submit.