Best of Hero & Astrologer Ophira Edut

In this illuminating compilation episode, rediscover insightful highlights from Chandler's conversations with Astrologer and Author Ophira Edut. Together, they explore astrology as a rich system for understanding yourself, your purpose, and the season of life you’re in. From breaking down horoscopes and birth charts to explaining retrogrades and zodiac archetypes, Ophira brings humor, heart, and clarity to what can often feel like a mystical topic. 

What You Will Learn

• [00:07:11] Why Ophira and her sister wrote The Astrology Advantage to make astrology more practical.
• [00:09:30] Why traditional astrology can feel overwhelming — and how the I AM system simplifies it.
• [00:13:00] How zodiac “qualities” drive personality, not just sun signs.
• [00:16:07] How astrology can help you feel safer being your full self at work.
• [00:23:00] What a retrograde really is — and why it gets a bad reputation.
• [00:25:00] A powerful forgiveness ritual to use during retrograde seasons.

Resources Mentioned

• The Astrology Advantage by Ophira & Tali Edut (Book)
• The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle (Book) 
• Atomic Habits by James Clear (Book) 

Want to Hear More from Hero Ophira? Check Out These Episodes!

• The Astrological Assist: Your Life's Instruction Manual
• Use Astrology to Your Advantage with the I*AM System
• Horoscopes: Your GPS for Life
• Reframing Retrograde Seasons

Let’s Connect!
Follow The Healing Heroes on Instagram & LinkedIn.

Ophira Edut

Website | Instagram | YouTube

Chandler Stroud

Website | LinkedIn | Instagram

Mixing and editing provided by Next Day Podcast.

Transcript

[00:00:00] Chandler Stroud: Hey guys, it's Chandler and welcome to the Healing Heroes.

I'm Chandler Stroud, an executive wife and busy mom of two who after years of living with anxiety health struggles and an unshakeable feeling like I should be happier, made a profound discovery that changed everything. Join me on a journey where unexpected paths lead to healing and more happiness. On this show, we will explore [00:00:30] unconventional ways to unlock more joy in your own life.

With the help of my very own healers and trusted advisors, the healing heroes.

Hey everyone, and welcome back to the Healing Heroes Podcast. I'm your host Chandler, and I am so excited that you decided to tune in today because we're doing something very special leading up to our one year anniversary in July, which is that [00:01:00] we have put together. Curated looks at some of our favorite moments from the show for each of our heroes, and we'll be releasing those each week so that you as listeners can catch up on getting to know our heroes better without having to go back and listen to all of our past conversations.

And for new listeners, this is a great way to get to know some of the heroes on the show. And so today I am thrilled to share that we will be highlighting hero and [00:01:30] astrology expert. RA Adut. Now, before we dive in, I'll take a moment to just quickly overview astrology and some of the cool things we've talked about over the many months that we have been having conversations together.

So first, astrology is really an ancient practice that helps us understand ourselves and our lives. By looking at the movement of the planets and stars, it doesn't tell us exactly what will happen, [00:02:00] but it can reveal patterns, timing, and deeper truths to help us grow, heal, and make better choices. For anyone going through stress, burnout, or big life changes as I was astrology, can offer clarity, comfort, and a sense that you're not alone.

It's a powerful tool for self-awareness and personal transformation. Kind of like this cosmic blueprint, as [00:02:30] RA always says, helping you see who you really are and where you're meant to go. I personally had been following RA for years, reading her horoscopes regularly, trying to understand and know the why of me always reading about my sun sign, which is Aries.

Quick shout out to my fire sign friends and checking my horoscopes. I was so desperate for self understanding and [00:03:00] guidance in how to navigate this very tricky, uncertain world, and astrology really felt like that anchor I needed where I could keep coming back to it again and again and again, and feel like I had some semblance of understanding.

And or control. And so you can only imagine my excitement when I found a way to get in touch with OFA and invited her to be a hero. On this show, [00:03:30] we have talked about so many incredible topics. Yes, of course. All things birth charts and astrology. Her new book, the Astrology Advantage, which actually is just so groundbreaking because if you don't resonate with your sun sign.

Go check out her book. It is incredible. If you have not felt seen by your Zodiac sign historically, this book and your I am archetype. Might actually be what you needed to start moving [00:04:00] from skeptic into hardcore believer where astrology is concerned. So we've had incredible conversations together, and my horoscopes, my birth chart have had such an important role in not just my healing journey, but going way back, helping me get a better understanding of myself and my design.

And I think what's better than that? It's exciting, and so I am thrilled to introduce you to our hero and astrology expert. Ra [00:04:30] adu. Enjoy

[00:04:34] Ophira Edut: astrology is essentially the instruction manual that every human being comes with, even though they tell us that we don't. There's actually a blueprint. There's a code. It's based on where the planets were overhead. At your moment of birth in relation to where you were on Earth, and if you were to take sort of like a screenshot of the sky overhead at your exact minute of birth, [00:05:00] that pattern provides a roadmap to.

Your life, your strengths, your challenges, your potential. You always have free will, but it's like the GPS that you came with. Like astrology works in two ways. There's the you astrology, which is your chart, your side, and there's the, the, the out in the world, astrology, the transits as they call it, which is the predictive part.

You can use astrology as a roadmap to you and understanding your. [00:05:30] Psyche and intentions and motives and triggers and drivers. Or you can also use it to know like it's like a cosmic weather channel. Like what is happening out in the world? What am I walking into? What are the planets? How are they playing with each other today, and what energy is that creating because is it gonna rain?

Is it gonna be sunny? Is it gonna be warm? Is it gonna be hail? And it's kind of the equivalent of that. We say there's horoscopes and then there's astrology. Horoscopes are the [00:06:00] day-to-day predictions, or month to month or week to week or whatever. And those are really helpful too. I. Because it helps you prepare and know, all right, maybe this isn't the day to record a podcast if Mercury is retrograde, for example.

[00:06:16] Chandler Stroud: True story guys, I love the concept of having an instruction manual at birth. I think I believe that, and how I use astrology in my horoscope, but really cool way of thinking about it. For [00:06:30] somebody who maybe hasn't considered astrology to play that role in their life. 

[00:06:35] Ophira Edut: Yeah, I mean, when I discovered astrology, I was in my twenties early and it wasn't like, oh, I never knew this.

Now I will just start acting like a Sagittarius. It blew my mind because I was like, how does it know this about me? I've been going through my life doing all these things and this, you know, it was a 30 page report that I started with. Has said things that [00:07:00] are so true and accurate about who I've been, who I wanna be, natural abilities that I have, like it's too weird of a coincidence to be a coincidence.

[00:07:11] Chandler Stroud: Yeah. I have to ask. What was it that motivated you and your sister Tali to write the astrology advantage? 

[00:07:22] Ophira Edut: I would say in the 2010s, what I, what started to happen was like the green juice, the yoga, meditation, [00:07:30] avocado toast train, left the station and. And then workplaces started having, you know, healthy food and healthy initiatives.

So astrology moved out of the, the category of new age and into this kind of catchall category of wellness. So I started being included in. You know, those sorts of things, events and gatherings and workplaces started bringing me [00:08:00] in. You know, Nike brought us in to they had an experience marketing team.

They had all their directors from one of their, from their global departments, graphic design departments come together for. You know, an annual offsite, and my sister and I did all of their charts. I spoke at the Milk and Global Conference on a panel this year. Just these very like, think tank and corporate places have [00:08:30] embraced things like plant medicine, meditation.

I think, I think the pandemic also kind of brought it home because yeah. We couldn't ignore that. Health and work went hand in hand. We had to reinvent everything so. You know, all bets were off. So the astrology advantage what I, what I also noticed was over the last 15 years I've been teaching astrology to people and doing readings and consulting and lots and lots of business owners and very busy, successful [00:09:00] people come to us for planning and self understanding, and they love what they get out of a chart reading, but they cannot retain it, you know?

If you've ever seen your chart, you know, it's all these hieroglyphics, you're like, oh my God, I need this in my life, this Rosetta Stone, but there's no way in hell I'm gonna remember all of this. And so 

[00:09:21] Chandler Stroud: it's like, it is overwhelming. 

[00:09:22] Ophira Edut: Yeah. It's like astrology. It's what, you know, astrology is a marketing problem.

You know, it's not, it's gotta be [00:09:30] mvpd. I happen to be like. Have, have an online business. So I have to stay in the digital marketing and product development language too. So I thought, what if astrology had was made into a, a minimum viable product? What if it was like Dr. You know, crunched down into, you know, one archetype, like a personality test?

So we'll get into that, but there is a way of doing that that we call the IM system or framework. We've rebranded it. Where you can [00:10:00] use the power of your entire birth chart. That's 13 points, not just your zodiac sign to get this full snapshot of yourself without having to remember anything more than just one of three archetypes.

So it was a code I've been trying to crack for a long time.

[00:10:20] Chandler Stroud: What are horse. Scopes and how are they different from astrology or astrological profiles? 

[00:10:27] Ophira Edut: Horoscopes are a subset of astrology, I would say, 'cause [00:10:30] astrology can make a map of your personality and your psychological profile. It's your astrological birth chart is a snapshot of what the sky would look like overhead, if you could see every planet.

Based on your exact moment of birth and location on Earth. So it's the, the relationship. So astrology overall is encompasses everything from the large trends of the planets, the profiles of people based [00:11:00] on their birth charts, et cetera. Horoscopes are the advice or predictive. Pieces that you read in the newspaper, the magazine on a blog.

They're prediction based and they're based on what are called the transiting or moving planets and how they relate to you based, usually based just on your sun sign or zodiac sign. Not all the planets in your chart. So they're more general, therefore, every, [00:11:30] for you as an Aries, a horoscope would be a general prediction.

It's like the difference between. You know, astrology would be someone coming into your home and measuring like the carbon monoxide content, the temperature of your house, the mold, the, all the specifics. And a horoscope would be like if you live in, you know. Rockland County, New York. This is what the general weather is gonna be.

If you're in Aries, someone born [00:12:00] between March 20th and April 20th, you're likely to experience this kind of en overall. And it's gonna be a sunny day. It's gonna be a rainy day. You might, you know, get a, a shower around three o'clock, you know. 

[00:12:15] Chandler Stroud: I love that analogy. I think that's so clear and really breaks it down For those who may be less familiar and not sure if, if they wanna check their horoscopes or if maybe a better first step is to really dive deep into their astrological profile.[00:12:30] 

[00:12:31] Ophira Edut: A lot of people have heard of fire, earth, air, and water signs, for example. The, the 12 zodiac signs are sub grouped into what are called the elements. So I'm a Sagittarius, you're an Aries. We're fi, we're two of the fire signs, and that means we're fiery and go-getters and that kind of thing. But there's another subgrouping I.

The Zodiac called the Qualities, and that's what I am, is based on. They just have astro jargony names that we've [00:13:00] rebranded. So the Qua, what I love about the qualities or modalities is that they tell you what drives you. They're very much aligned with like what you would. Ew. In a personality test, like what are your motives, what are your drivers, what are the temperamental qualities that you have that make you make those unconscious choices?

I think I read somewhere that like 95% of the choices we make every day are made by our [00:13:30] subconscious, so 

[00:13:31] Chandler Stroud: I. Absolutely believe that 

[00:13:33] Ophira Edut: Uhhuh, so this is almost like the astrology of your psyche. So cool. And your motives. So yeah, it's something I've always been fascinated by. So the, there are three groupings and they're based on the seasons.

So the first grouping are the, the four signs that start each of the seasons. Spring Aries summer cancer, fall, Libra Winter, Capricorn. The [00:14:00] solstice is in the equinoxes and those are what are called the cardinal signs. Fancy astro. Name one you're not gonna remember. So we rename that group innovators.

That's the I and I am. Because they are the ones that like to pioneer. The qualities that they have are of innovators, they're trailblazers. They like to be first a little competitive. You're an Aries, you are one of the innovator signs, but you. So you have to do your full chart to know which [00:14:30] one you mostly have.

Okay. I'll get to that part of it afterwards. But the, the second group, which was the a and i am are what we call the authorities. So those are what are also called the fixed sides Taurus, Leo. Scorpion Aquarius. They're fixed, they're rooted, they're in the middle of every season. Innovator is kinda like the hunter, and the authority is like the, the farmer or the, they come and they, they, they clean the fish or the, you know, the [00:15:00] whatever you, it's such a.

I don't like to talk about those metaphors, but they, you know, they, they make sure that, that the resources are used well and planned out. So authorities are often in corporate roles or they're like the responsible ones. And then the mavens, I. Are the four signs that fall at the end of every season.

Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces. I'm a Sagittarius, so I'm, my Zodiac sign is in the Maven Group, but I'm an innovator in the [00:15:30] IM system, which I'll explain. So the Mavens are the ones that end every season. They're the gatherers. They're the communicators. They bring. People togethers, they polish everything.

They give it that winning touch or they take it out to market. So the innovator comes up with the idea, the authority produces it. The Maven markets, it buzzes about it, talks about it on social media, makes the viral TikTok, gets everybody into it and excited about it. [00:16:00] 

[00:16:01] Chandler Stroud: How can astrology really help someone think about their career and, and getting ahead?

[00:16:07] Ophira Edut: I think a lot of people start to doubt and second guess themselves, or they'll go into new situations. Either bull a China shop and get reprimanded and then pull back, or they'll go very hesitant and tentative, but they don't go in as their authentic selves in a balanced way to new [00:16:30] situation. Our job is always to be evolving and the world needs a lot more good leaders than it has.

A lot of people have good intentions. You wanna actually do something powerful and leave an impact and make a difference. And a lot of the times, people with that intention don't really get a chance to express that in their careers because they don't know which moves to make, so they become fearful.

They start to avoid [00:17:00] risk and avoid loss. They feel unsafe being who they really are, but when they stop being who they really are, they feel unfulfilled and lost and purposeless. So there's this big dilemma in our workforce. Everyone wants to get to bring their whole selves to work, but the culture feels unsafe to do that in.

So I really love bringing, astrology into organizations. Work needs a [00:17:30] culture where individuality is celebrated and teamwork is actually fostered. By systems like this one that let people be quirky, individual, they need to be more of who they are, not less to thrive. 

[00:17:46] Chandler Stroud: And to your point, I think point if individuality and encouraging people to feel safe and be themselves at work is the end goal, then as leaders understanding what your areas of strength [00:18:00] are, that or encourages that kind of behavior can be so helpful.

[00:18:04] Ophira Edut: I as a Sagittarius am naturally entrepreneurial and independent, and I need to be in a space where I'm inspired. I in my own company now, we have what I call full on versus full-time employees, and we really do work with people's signs and strengths and things that we know in their charts and create a way that they can work that works best for them.

My queries art [00:18:30] director needs to take a pottery class. In the middle of the day and walk her dog and, and then she comes back. Great. Please go do that. If that means I get the best workout.

[00:18:42] Chandler Stroud: What do you think makes Horoscope such a powerful tool for personal growth? 

[00:18:49] Ophira Edut: I think because we as humans are our own biggest blind spots, so we can't, I mean, we're Desi, I think I may have said this before, but we we're designed really [00:19:00] funny. Like everyone else in the world can see us, but we have to look in a, a piece of glass to see ourselves.

We've, we're stumbling around literally blind to how we occurred to others. So, you know. I love. I remember when I discovered the book, the Power of Now, it took, it really hurt my brain at first to grasp the concept of becoming an observer of oneself. I was like, what does that mean? I'm just me. And then I was like, oh, okay.

It's like [00:19:30] kind of be able to get that distance where you can see yourself as another person would see you. And I feel that a horoscope. Gives you that. Like, whoa, okay. That is true about me. I had this sneaking suspicion that this was happening and now it's, it's the validation again, you know? Yeah. 

[00:19:51] Chandler Stroud: Yeah, I think, I think it's absolutely true.

I think the validation is so helpful at times, and even as we've talked in [00:20:00] previous conversations. I love the way that astrology and horoscopes to some extent, highlight I. Where your opportunity areas are, but in a way that you can embrace them, digest them, and celebrate them in some cases. 

[00:20:14] Ophira Edut: Yeah. Which 

[00:20:14] Chandler Stroud: I think is really hard for us to do when, you know, we're hearing that firsthand, but stepping away and looking at it from an astrological or horoscope perspective, it's a little bit easier to identify those tendencies in [00:20:30] yourself, I would say.

Yeah. 

[00:20:31] Ophira Edut: You're right because a lot of personal growth work, you know, is compassionate, which is great. It's about finding self-compassion, but there's also an undertone on a lot of it of like, and now you can fix yourself and be more like this one way that you should be, you know, like even Atomic Habits, even though it's the number one book forever and ever.

And I love it. It's like kind of about like. Do this and your life will work. And I'm like, that will work for some [00:21:00] personality types, but not all. So astrology, you get permission to become the best version of yourself, but not as like a, now you suck and if you do this, you'll you won't. Which is like, you know, we're addicted to that.

Yes. But like, it's, it's a playful. Fun, dynamic living. It's like being a lifelong learner. It's about the, it's permission to be who you are and not have to like, have every part of yourself [00:21:30] fit together. And to kind of have fun with the idea of growth and a growth mindset. Like, oh, a personal development doesn't have to mean, you know.

I one day I'm gonna stop eating after eight o'clock or whatever. I'm gonna have the discipline to ride my Peloton every damn day. Like, it's just like, hmm. These are these unique traits about me that I've never even cultivated. Much less celebrated, but I've, and I've even maybe tried to [00:22:00] hide them because they're like, as a sad, it's like, we can be loud, we can be opinionated, we can be blunt.

That's like, oh, that is true. But I could be like, Annette, I can have some fun with that. I just need to modulate it a little bit. You know? I have to be careful. I don't bulldoze someone with the truth bombs, but I also can like be funny if I want, or like embrace those qualities. There's an Aries like, all right, you're fierce, you're trailblazing.

You didn't wait for permission. [00:22:30] You started this whole series and it's so Aries. But So Aries. So Aries, yeah. But if you didn't know that, you might be like, oh, who do I think I am? But well, probably not. 'cause you're an Aries. Thank God. 

[00:22:46] Chandler Stroud: Hadn't been 

[00:22:47] Ophira Edut: question yourself, 

[00:22:49] Chandler Stroud: so thanks. So Fara. Thank you.

What exactly is a retrograde and why do they have. Such a reputation for disruption. [00:23:00] 

[00:23:00] Ophira Edut: The best analogy I make for a retrograde is if it's like two cars traveling at opposite speeds. Have you ever been in like a car or a train or on a bus and you pass each other and one of them appears to be going backwards?

Yes, so's. That's what happens. So with astrology, we actually are measuring when a planet passes the earth in its orbit around the sun. Then it appears that that planet is going backwards. 'cause we're the [00:23:30] planets move at different speeds. So that period of time, because we measure astrology, we measure the movement of the planets from our view on earth.

Mm-hmm. So it would look like they were moving backwards, and that's how we measure them degree by degree. So that would be a retrograde period. So Mercury moves. The fastest 'cause it's closest to the sun. So that one, you know, those retrograde periods last about three weeks, three to four [00:24:00] times a year.

Venous retrograde is every 18 months, and that is for six weeks time. Mars retrograde, which we just finished at this recording a couple weeks ago. That was from December 6th, 2024 to February 23rd, 2025, and Mars. Is, yeah, about two months of retrograde. Oof. And you know, different planets are called, you know, this is an ancient thing, but they call Saturn and Mars [00:24:30] Monolithics and Venus and Jupiter Benefic.

So a Venus retrograde, while it can mess things up like Mars retrograde. Can be really harsh. In the beginning of 2025, the first six weeks were under Mars retrograde has been one hell of a year. 

[00:24:49] Chandler Stroud: What are some retrograde rituals or practices that can help us move through these periods with more ease? 

[00:24:56] Ophira Edut: One that I really like is a forgiveness [00:25:00] exercise that I did by accident once and found that it really worked so.

When I was younger and had one of my many breakups, you know, as we all do in our twenties, I would try to write an angry letter and burn it or write a forgiveness letter to the person, and it just never really worked. So, but I did notice during retro grades well find where we're stuck and stuck in anger or sadness or grief or some [00:25:30] emotional.

State that isn't empowering us. There's a difference between being stuck in it and processing it so. A ritual I like to do is writing a letter to yourself as though it's from the person that you are stuck with. For me, you know, having a lot of Scorpio in my chart, although I'm a Sagittarius, I have like four planets in Scorpio, and knowing that I'm like, Ooh, forgiveness is not my, always my automatic setting beyond [00:26:00] a certain point.

I understand. Mm-hmm. So, one another, you know, one piece of. Learning your astrological chart is to become more forgiving and less judgmental of yourself. That that's the invitation. So I said, okay, I am, I'm stuck in this. Let me write a letter to myself. I. As though it's from this guy that broke up with me, that was the moment that started it.

I've used it for other situations to [00:26:30] bad business relationships. Mm-hmm. Or friendships that changed or wanna arise. So just start, you know, dear Phy, I'm really sorry that it didn't work out between us. I know I told you this, but the truth was blah, blah. I just, I just let it kind of come through me like however.

Mm-hmm. It was however it wanted to, and I found that your mind can't really distinguish between whether the person is really apologizing or [00:27:00] not. Like as long as you have the experience of the neurons firing of like, oh, they are apologizing to me, you will undergo the process, the transformation, the emotional process.

I think they use the example of like people watching athletes racing and their muscles. Firing as though they were running the race themselves. So it's cool. Pretty crazy. So I have found that even though, you know, like I don't forget [00:27:30] what happened and. Forgiveness is a journey. It's not a a one time thing.

I still was lifted from some of the imprisonment of the resentment and hurt that I felt and able to be like, okay, this was a human, that maybe I've elevated to superhuman status and I can see them as a fallible human and forgive them a little, forgive myself a little bit. Just be released from the the stuckness, and that's what I think.

Any retrograde [00:28:00] ritual that you do. Some people like to burn things. Some people like crystals. Some people like it to be less verbal and written. Some people need to dance it out and activate their right brain and their subconscious less than their left brain and the writing and verbal part. But any ritual that.

Frees you from the grip and allows a releasing. Maybe you need to scream and write. Maybe you do need to write the angry letter, the F you letter first before you can write the other one. I just had happened to have [00:28:30] written a lot of those already. 

[00:28:33] Chandler Stroud: I can't imagine why having all of those Scorpios there, right, exactly.

Those are great. Thank you so much for sharing those practices. They're very, very helpful to understand and I think really accessible for anyone to try on their own, so, mm-hmm. This has been great. Thank you so much, RA, for joining us today. I loved hearing more about retrograde and now everyone, all of our listeners know their importance, how they can be beneficial and how to look [00:29:00] out for 'em by subscribing to the Astro style newsletter so they can have a heads up when these important milestones are coming.

Absolutely. Obviously we share it on our Instagram, our social channels, all of your weekly horoscopes and yeah, monthly as well. But like go submit your email and you'll get the emails right to your inbox, guys. 

[00:29:16] Ophira Edut: Awesome. 

[00:29:17] Chandler Stroud: And to everyone tuning in, if you liked today's conversation, please share it with friends and don't forget to subscribe.

You can also visit healing heroes podcast.com to get resources, meet the [00:29:30] heroes, and share your ideas for future episodes. Thanks for listening, everyone, and until next time, remember, be curious, be courageous, and be kind to yourself. You've got this.