About

I started studying astrology at age 13. I was obsessed with astronomy in eighth grade, and eagerly signed up for a summer astronomy course at the local community college where I got to see Carl Sagan speak live! But I'm well aware Dr. Sagan likely wouldn't approve of the more archetypal and intuitive approach my fascination with the stars ended up taking. For what it's worth, I still love dipping into the occasional physics book now and again. 

Though astrology was always a background element in my life, I experienced two major events that shaped me into the astrologer I am today, and inspired me to provide astrology as a service to others: First, my discovery of the Inner Guide technique, and a while later, finally opening my mind to sidereal astrology - after having found tropical wanting for some time. Both of these methods brought my understanding of my own chart sharply into focus and have shaped my approach to interpreting the stars for others. Discovering Western sidereal astrology was a full circle moment, taking me back to the stars, my original source of astrological, and astronomical, inspiration. I also bring a familiarity with tarot and Western esoteric traditions, and a love of history, music, theatre, and mythology to my practice of astrology. 

-Kela, Creator of Soul Figures

AI Transparency Statement: 

The visual prompts we offer in Soul Figures astro-archetypal work are generated through text prompts with Midjourney AI technology. While we recognize that AI presents humanity with many complex moral, aesthetic, ethical, and environmental issues, we think that artists and designers need to be at the forefront of using and shaping this technology. We also think it is every designer, media outfit, and businessperson's responsibility to identify when and how they use AI. Though that is only a brief summary of our thoughts and policy on the intersection of art, astrology, and technology, below you can find a more detailed rundown of how we use AI: 

1) AI helps us capture the most universal version of each of the astrological archetypes. Though we have previously generated artwork from pen, line-drawing, and paper cut, we have found a certain inhibiting factor has come up: The artist's personal filter and interpretation (which is, in general, an amazing and wonderful thing) can limit and narrow the way an archetypal image is rendered. The astrological archetypes are transpersonal, and their use in this context specifically is not primarily aesthetic, but as a jumping off point for meditation by a wide variety of people. 

2) Using text-to-image prompts allows us to transplant the names and descriptive classical titles of the archetypes, have AI pull from the vast body of knowledge online related to them, and generate images from many ideas that we may not have strong ties to in our personal charts but that may resonate profoundly for others. The prompts we use are taken directly from Edwin Steinbrecher's compendium of archetypal correspondences, which were collected based on his connection to and knowledge of Jungian psychology and the symbolic system of the Golden Dawn. We feel these folks had a direct channel to powerful sources of wisdom, many of which were  diluted and short-circuited by a variety of factors influencing how those traditions have been disseminated and taught. Our intention is that helps the images facilitate active meditation experiences for the widest number of people.

3) I did not have the opportunity to ever meet Steinbrecher, who passed away in 2002. His center, the D.O.M.E. Institute, also disbanded a while after his death. This is to humanity's detriment and I believe his teachings can be of great service to us today. In addition to my own active meditation sessions and the "downloads" I have received as to the reason for some of the functional aspects of the meditation, I believe using Steinbrecher's words with AI image generation helps reawaken the line of transmission from his astrological and psychological insights for our benefit today. 

4) The audio meditations are generated with a real human voice, and produced with a sonic library of real sounds.