About Mal
Mallory was recently named one of The Organization for Professional Astrology’s Most Promising Astrologers of 2022.
Where It All Began
My introduction to Astrology occurred around the age of twelve when I got my hands on The Only Astrology Book You’ll Ever Need. Now, with dozens of Astrology books in my possession and another dozen on my to-read list, I’m positive that one book is not enough to truly understand the complex subject of Astrology. However, to my tween-self, that book was like a magical portal into a mysterious surreality. A part of me associated diving into an Astrology book with the feeling of cracking open Harry Potter; I was entering into a mystical and unknown territory, something that I’d previously thought only existed in a fantasy book. But even then, I knew that Astrology held a deep, soul-resonant truth.
The more I casually delved into studying the zodiac signs in highschool and college, the more I realized that Astrology is, in fact, way more than just the twelve signs of the zodiac. This subject is a beautiful mix of art, science, math, intuition, psychology, philosophy, and history. It became something I was deeply interested in, but never thought would become a career.
After college, my post-grad plans took me to Malaysia in 2018, where I worked as an English Teacher with The Fulbright Scholar Program. While my days were spent teaching and running after-school clubs, my nights were spent diving into my Astrological practice. Stifling and humid Malaysian nights became the perfect time for my esoteric studies. During that year, I also bought my first tarot deck while traveling. It was actually Tarot that awoke me to my own intuitive capabilities and connection with spirit. You can hear more about that story on my podcast on Episode 55.
That year, I bounced between podcast recording, tarot-card slinging, astrology-studying, heat exhaustion-napping, and then more studying. This time period in my life was what ultimately guided me towards my path as an Astrologer, Tarot reader, and healer.
My Studies
I graduated college in 2017 with a degree in English-Writing & Religious Studies. My knowledge of poetry, literature, and religion often make its way into my healing work, as well as my teachings and classes.
When it comes to Astrology, I was self-taught until 2019, when I studied Modern-Western Astrology under the mentorship of Chicagoland Astrologer Dave Gunning. In 2020, I felt a deep calling to the study of Hellensitc Astrology, and became a student of Chris Brennan’s Hellenistic Astrology Course. Currently, I am a student of Acyuta Bhava’s course, “Ancient Astrology For The Modern Mystic.” I am also in the process of pursuing certification through the Organization For Professional Astrology (OPA). OPA’s certification process includes completing a handful of classes like Consulting Skills & Astronomy for Astrologers. Their certification process has been the highlight of my astrological studies thus far!
As for my Tarot studies, I’ve had no formal training or teachers. I believe that the Tarot cards revealed themselves to me over time and with experience; the more I “lived” the cards, the more familiar their meanings became. During my professional readings, I saw how the same card could show up in multiple ways for different people. Reading for others is what ultimately showed me that a single deck contains a never-ending facet of meaning. My first decks were the traditional Rider-Waite Smith, as well as the Osho Zen tarot. These two decks really shaped my knowledge of tarot from the beginning. As I continued with my tarot self-study, I became influenced by the writings of Rachel Pollack, Craig Junjulas, Marcas Katz, and Tali Goodwin.
As for my training as an energy healer, I was taught all four levels of Traditional Usui Reiki by Chicagoland Reiki Master Pamela Ziolkowski. I saw clients under her mentorship for about a year.
About My Clients
My clients range from teenagers to sexagenarians. Almost everyone I work with identifies as either a Highly Sensitive Person or an Empath. Elaine N. Aron, author of “The Highly Sensitive Person,” loosely defines an HSP as someone with a sensitive nervous system and greater receptivity to their external environment. Although I haven’t found my “niche” quite yet in my healing career, if there is one thing that I’m an expert in—it’s the Highly Sensitive Person. Their inner-workings, their common fears, their challenges, their immeasurable gifts—I know these things well, because I am a HSP myself.
Many of my clients are also healers themselves. I hold space for artists, creatives, writers, therapists, healing artists, business owners, teachers, entrepreneurs, freelancers, etc. In no way do I limit my practice to these types of people walking these specific paths. These are just the vast majority of people that I have attracted to my practice!
My Trauma-Informed Practice
It’s important that my clients and future clients know that I call myself a “trauma-informed practitioner,” and I don’t take that label lightly. I believe that there are many subtle definitions of trauma that go beyond what is in a traditional psychology textbook. For instance, I understand that there are many forms of trauma that source from socio-political and racial oppression. “Love & light” spiritual culture is not my thing, and I think a lot of popularized spiritual ideals (like manifestation or the law of attraction) often sidestep systematic oppression and structural racism. I also deeply believe in intergenerational trauma, or the idea that we may carry the unhealed trauma of our ancestors. “The Body Keeps Score” by Bessel Van Der Kolk is one of my favorite books about the somatic price of trauma. It’s important to mention that my guides, spirit, and ancestors have been invaluable teachers when it comes to these subjects as well.
Through Inner Sense Healing Arts Collective (ISHA), I have learned a lot about being an effective space-holder through their trauma-workshops for healing practitioners. OPA’s Consulting Skills Training has helped me evolve into a skillful counseling Astrologer. It’s my promise as a practitioner to continue to improve upon and learn more about counseling skills, space-holding, psychology, and communication whenever the learning opportunity is presented to me. For me, there’s no finish line when it comes to learning about these topics—this is my lifelong study.
If you are grieving the passing of a loved-one, you can trust that I will not respond with, “when are you moving on?” no matter how long it has been since the passing. If you are struggling with depression, you can trust that I will not suggest “positive thinking” as a cure-all. And if there’s financial stress in your life, I will not advise you to “pick yourself up by the bootstraps” or “ just work harder.” It’s obvious that the capitalist agenda continues to prevail throughout all communities and industries, including spiritual ones. As a healer, I choose to work on dismantling these systems within my own self, instead of mindlessly perpetuating them.