Sanctuary Lakes resident Sandra Beecher is an artist and astrologer. 69765 Picture: DAMJAN JANEVSKI
By Alesha Capone
A LOVE of learning has led to a Sanctuary Lakes resident becoming a talented painter and astrologer.
After completing a Bachelor of Arts in Social Science, Honours in English Literature and Fine Arts at Monash University, Sandra Beecher went on to study astrology and reading tarot cards.
Ms Beecher said she loved painting at high school and astrology was popular during the 1970s, while she was growing up.
“One feeds my eye, one feeds my brain. You can get lost in a painting and more lost in astrology,” she said.
“I’m not happy if I’m not studying, it’s just the way I am.”
Ms Beecher said she enjoyed the chance to express herself creatively and visually, but painting itself could be “hard physical labour”.
Inspired by the waterways of Sanctuary Lakes, she often paints the swans that inhabit the area, although her painting can also often be a “cathartic experience”.
Ms Beecher said her background in academic studies has helped her with astrology, including tasks such as creating birth charts, transits and secondary progressions.
A birth chart can graphically display the planets’ positions and the astrological houses at the time, date and place of a person’s birth and their influence on a life.
Transits are often used to forecast future developments, while secondary progressions move birth charts forward one day of each year of a person’s life.
Ms Beecher said while astrology could not predict exactly what would happen in someone’s future, she enjoyed learning about the ancient art which involved geometry, mathematics, symbolism and mythology.
“It’s very hard, looking planets up and doing charts is very complex, many planets are in flux the whole year,” she said.
“It’s like writing a story for someone, where the planets were at their time of birth, before they were born and where they will go in the future.”
Contact sandrabeecher@bigpond.com for more information.
