Q&A with Nada Yousif

   

 

 

Nada Yousif is the author of the new book The Astrology of Healing: Unlocking Our Sacred Wounds with the Wisdom of the Stars.  

 

Q: What inspired you to write The Astrology of Healing?

 

A: I wrote this book to mirror what an astrology session can offer without the constraint of time. It’s meant to be a companion to your birth chart, especially for the placements that feel hardest to hold.

 

I wanted to give readers tools to work with traditional timing techniques so they can move through difficult transits with awareness, understanding not just what is happening, but why these cycles are unfolding in their lives and when it’s expected to end.

 

Q: How did you research the book, and what surprised you most?

 

A: I did a lot of research during the pandemic, so I had plenty of time to go down endless rabbit holes. What truly pulled me in was studying my own birth chart and seeing my life, especially my trauma, reflected back with uncomfortable precision.

 

What surprised me wasn’t just the accuracy, but the context it provided. The most painful and the most beautiful moments of my life were part of an astrological signature baked into my chart from the moment I was born.

 

I had always believed everything happens for a reason, but astrology gave that belief tangible structure, it translated it into something observable, something I could track and work with.

 

Q: What are some common misconceptions about astrology?

 

A: Most people believe that astrology is purely predictive or that it is based solely on confirmation bias.

 

Since the rise of what most astrologers call “pop astrology,” there has been a singular focus on the zodiac signs being attributed to personality traits rather than archetypes that run though our lives, the people in them, and the occupations we hold.

 

Astrology, when studied earnestly, reveals patterns in our lives that are hard to ignore or dismiss as simply confirmation bias.

 

My recommendation is to study your own chart and look back through the years using timing techniques such as Annual Profections, Zodiacal Releasing, Transits (especially eclipse cycles), and Planetary Returns to accurately assess how the timing of your life has mirrored through the stars, even without your direct awareness of these themes playing out.

 

Some of my favorite astrologers were once skeptics, the ones who “tested” the cosmos rhythms against the backdrop of their own lives or the history of the collective, and through their discernment and the consistent result of astrology “working” beyond their “better judgment” they develop a unique ability to translate this ancient language — even to the most cautious minds.

 

They are usually the first to admit that astrology shouldn’t work--yet it does, in measurable ways, if you’re paying enough attention.

 

Q: What impact did writing this book have on you, and what do you hope readers take away?

 

A: Writing The Astrology of Healing was one of the most difficult things I have done. My personal life was falling apart as each page was due.

 

The pressure to create in the midst of a life crisis isn’t new in the world of many artists and as an astrologer, I could see the difficulty being reflected within the timing of my own chart. That awareness gave me two anchors: this was part of the process, and it wouldn’t last forever. So, while I was grieving one life I was actively creating another.

 

What I hope readers take from this book is a sense of meaning within their own experiences. That their lives matter. That their wounds are not evidence of unworthiness, but proof of their capacity to endure, to feel, and to transform. Nothing is permanent. The difficult times pass. And what remains can become something powerful, something beautiful even.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I’m currently working on a novel and several scripted series. These projects let me explore mythology in different forms, while still weaving astrology into the foundation of each character and story. Even when it’s not obvious, astrology and its symbolism is in the bones of everything I create.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb