

13. KAREN HAWKWOOD, CREATOR OF THE PARADOX SCHOOL
*Highly* recommend this episode for anyone who is a professional practitioner - coach or astrologer! If you are, this is a must-listen!
Karen Hawkwood, equally well-known as KJ Sassypants, has business cards with the title "Ocean Floor Meets Night Sky." There really isn't anything that captures her essence better than that! KJ was born fascinated with why humans are the way they are and that only grew with time. She discovered astrology at age 15, leading to 40 years of self-study, 2 years in Steven Forrest's Apprenticeship Program, and 4 years at the original Kepler College. 10 years ago she layered that together with life-coach and Master life-coach training under Martha Beck and opened her own practice, specializing in seeing people at remarkably deep levels with full appreciation of their paradoxical richness.
In addition to a full calendar of 1:1 work and various group experiences, she's about to open The Paradox School, a small and potent training program for those wanting to combine solid astrological framing with deep engagement skills to really help their fellow human people be themselves more skillfully. You can find out more about her and her work at www.karenhawkwood.com!
We talk about:
- What KJ and Baba Yaga have in common
- Coaching vs. counseling vs. therapy vs. what KJ does: deep engagement practice
- Spirituality and astrology
- KJ's archetypal language
- Examples: the Mermaid and the Curious Child archetypes
- What KJ goes to first in the natal chart; how KJ sees the natal chart
- Hubris and the myth of Tantalus
- Understanding your unconscious biases and being a skillful practitioner
- Ferret videos
- Rehabilitation and ecosystems
KJ is my favorite person to talk with in the whole world - I hope you enjoy our conversation!