I remember it like it was yesterday, though it was probably closer to five or six years back now. My life felt a bit… adrift. You know those times when nothing really seems to click? I was totally in one of those ruts. My cousin, bless her heart, she was always, always into horoscopes and all that jazz. She kept bugging me, just kept on at me to “just look at your birth chart, L!” I shrugged her off for ages, just thought it was fun stuff, you know? Not really serious.
But then, one particularly bad week, I just caved. I was at my wits’ end. I pulled up some free online chart calculator – you know the kind, punch in your birth date, time, place, and boom. Suddenly, some things started making this weird, uncanny kind of sense. Not like magic, not at all, but like, “Oh, that’s why I always feel like this when X happens.” It was kinda wild, honestly, like someone had written a secret instruction manual just for me.
I got hooked. Seriously. I started reading everything I could get my hands on. Books, blogs, old dusty PDFs from forgotten forums, anything that looked even remotely legit. I wasn’t looking for predictions, not really. I was looking for understanding. I wanted to know why certain patterns kept showing up in my life, why I reacted to things the way I did, why some days I just felt off without knowing why. It was like finally getting a roadmap to myself, a way to navigate my own inner landscape.
Pretty soon, my friends noticed. I’d be chatting with them over coffee, and I’d just casually drop something like, “Yeah, with Mercury retrograding in your finance house, it’s no surprise you’re having budgeting issues right now, right?” And they’d look at me, eyes wide, like “How did you know that, you psychic witch?” I’d just laugh, tell them it was all in the stars, literally.
It started super small, honestly. Just me reading charts for my pals at coffee shops, scribbling notes on napkins. No big deal. They’d pay for my coffee, or bring me a homemade cupcake, or just listen to me ramble. It was a nice little exchange. I was doing it for fun, for the sheer joy of seeing someone go, “Wow, you totally get it! You actually see me!”
Then one friend, Sarah, she really pushed me. She looked me dead in the eye and said, “L, you should totally do this for real, not just for us. You have a knack, a real way of explaining it.” I was super hesitant. Who was I to be giving out readings? I’m just me, you know? Not some guru or anything.
But she kept at it. She suggested I try doing weekly write-ups, something consistent. “Like, ‘Elle Virgo Weekly’,” she joked, because I’m a Virgo and my first name starts with L, so it just kind of stuck. The idea was to just put out some general energy readings for the week ahead, maybe a little something for each sign. No pressure, just practice. A way for me to get my thoughts organized and shared.
My Process: From Scribbles to Sharing
So I started. My first attempts were… rough. Like, really rough. I’d sit down, usually late at night after everyone else was asleep, with my old spiral-bound notebook and a pen. I’d pull up the current planetary positions on a free app, flip through my worn-out astrology books, and just… write. I’d try to connect the dots, put it into simple language that even my least spiritual friends could grasp.
The hardest part was making it actionable for people. Not just “this is happening,” but “here’s how you might feel it, and maybe what you can do about it, or how you can navigate it.” I’d scribble, cross out, rewrite entire paragraphs. Some nights, I’d just throw my pen down in frustration, feeling like I was trying to explain the color purple to someone who’d only ever seen black and white. How do you put cosmic energies into everyday words?
To get better, I knew I needed more feedback, more real-world situations. That’s when the “Get Your Free Reading!” idea popped up. I announced it on a tiny social media group I was part of. “Hey guys, I’m trying to get better at this. If you want a quick, free, general reading for the week, just drop me a line!” I made sure to specify it wasn’t super deep, just a practice run for me, a way for me to hone my craft.
Boy, did people respond! I got slammed. I mean, not hundreds, but enough to make me feel totally overwhelmed at first. I remember one particular week, I had like 15 requests. I usually only aimed for 3-5. My brain felt like scrambled eggs trying to keep everyone straight and give them something meaningful.
I had to develop a system, fast. I’d dedicate specific evenings to readings. I’d grab my biggest mug of tea, put on some chill instrumental music, and just focus. This is how I tackled each request:
- First, I’d open their message, quickly scan what they were looking for (general insights, love, career stuff, family dynamics).
- Then, I’d pull up the current planetary transits. If they gave me a birth date, I’d quickly look at their sun sign and rising sign to get a general feel for their energy.
- I’d free-write thoughts in my notebook – whatever came to mind, connecting their general query to the planetary energies and the current vibe. This would often be a mess of arrows and circles.
- Finally, I’d craft a concise, kind, and hopeful message back to them. I made sure to always end with a positive spin or a call to self-reflection, something they could actually do with the information.
It was exhausting, but also incredibly rewarding. People would write back, sometimes days later, saying things like, “That reading helped me so much, I totally saw what you meant about that interaction at work!” or “I was feeling so lost, and your words gave me some clarity, thank you!” Those messages, seriously? They fueled me. They made all the late nights, the scribbled pages, and the mental gymnastics completely worth it.
Through all those free readings, I learned to trust my intuition more. I learned to phrase things carefully, to offer guidance without ever dictating. I learned that astrology isn’t about telling people what will happen, but about understanding the energies at play and how to best navigate them. It’s about empowering people to make their own best choices, armed with a little more insight.
“Elle Virgo Weekly” became more than just a silly name a friend jokingly tossed out. It became my little corner where I could share what I was learning, share those weekly insights, and connect with people on a deeper, more meaningful level. From just me, fumbling with a birth chart calculator in my living room, to actually helping folks navigate their own rough patches and see their lives a little clearer – it’s been a wild ride. And honestly, I wouldn’t trade it for anything. The practice itself, the recording of my thoughts and observations, the constant feedback, it all built up to this. It’s just my way of trying to make a little more sense of the world, one cosmic insight at a time.
