A Radical New World: AI vs Astrology
Vivi and Fiona Hillery dive into the technology dangers we’re facing as astrologers.
“Do you think AI will replace you?” A client once interrupted our session to ask me that question. At the time I was indignant. Now I think he might have been onto something. Maybe.
A few years later, in 2023, Fiona Hillery released her viral article “AI Gurus Are Coming for the Witches.” It’s been haunting me ever since I sat down to TALKTALKTALK with her a few months ago.
We touch on AI in our conversation. Will it replace astrologers? Probably not. What about people learning astrology with ChatGPT? I think we both agree it’s a terrible idea.
Mostly it’s two astrologers getting to know each other and trying to make sense of a radically new world — Hello, Outer Planets! It's one of those talks that sparks more questions than it answers, and I’m already hoping Fiona will join me again to dig even deeper.
Below is an excerpt from our podcast recording.
Vivi Henriette: Have you experienced a Pluto transit?
Fiona Hillery: I have a fifth house stellium in Capricorn with Mercury, Venus, Uranus, Neptune, Saturn in Capricorn. So Pluto hit every single one of those planets. I am very well versed and acquainted with Pluto. And listen, I've gotten the deepest lessons from this great teacher, the transformer, right? You do have to be willing to face your shadow, but it's not all doom and gloom.
As you said, it's a deep psychological awareness of what you must let go, right? You have to understand and integrate shadow. And that's where I think spirituality isn’t all love and light. There's duality in this world. And so becoming aware of the shadow — or aware of deep psychological needs and urges — is really kind of a catalyst to your full empowerment. Because through that process of… you can call it ego death or you can call it shedding and release…
The first stage of Pluto… But then from that moment comes this real sense of: “Okay, if this isn't it… here's where I'm moving into.” And there's such a magnetic energy when you really can step into the empowerment phase of Pluto because you've gotten rid of that underpinning that's holding you back. And so I think, really, it's like a deep, esoteric and psychological understanding that Pluto brings to the table to support you — in really moving toward your soul's highest path.
Vh: There's been a lot of talk among astrologers around what Neptune in Aries means for the future for astrology and magic - for the popularity of these arts. It seems like you’re also coming to these same questions from Pluto in Aquarius and the rise of AI.
FH: Yeah. I mean, the world has broken up. I think Pluto in Aquarius can definitely be attributed to that mass collective shift in consciousness. It, for me, exploded my business. And I definitely feel like Neptune moving into Aries is going to enhance the desire for understanding the soul on an identity level. We all might go through a collective identity crisis. What is the nature of consciousness? What is the nature of I? And I also feel like we will be reevaluating our relationship to authority, to ego, to our leadership.
Vh: Part of what I keep thinking about as we move into this age of air — almost as a reaction to that — are people actually going to seek the earth element, wanting to be more grounded? We know AI is not going away. We know that that is going to be a part of the future. I'm also wondering, as if out of rebellion, if we're going to see things start to come back to more analog ways? I think in some ways people are kind of sick of the internet, let alone AI.
FH: Yeah, I mean, this is more sociological. I love to study futurism as a double Aquarius. I'm always looking at futurism trends. And I think there is this thought within the experts in that field where there's going to be a split. There are going to be the people who are like, let's move to Mars. Let's colonize. Let's go tomorrow. Ready for the cyborg era. Get me a robot in my home to do the dishes. You know, that kind of leaning in, early adopter, This is also, you know, maybe a strategy for survival, because if you're not adapting to change, you feel like you're going to get left behind. But then there's also the Luddite rebels who would go the opposite direction and completely reject this new wave of fast moving technology where this is. And I mean, I love that you see I forget the name of this group, but there's a few of them that have no phone community days where they'll just go in the park and read a book. And like, I do this in my own life, you know, soft girl Sunday, I do airplane mode and just ground into my body.
Vh: You've referenced several times that you grew up with astrology and then you sort of came back to it. If we go back to the very beginning, how did astrology come to you the first time growing up?
FH: My mom is from Limerick, Ireland. And so she has she I mean, she's like a quadruple Pisces and she's very much a spiritual being, you know, tarot cards around the house, astrology within her life. She's not a trained astrologer, but she would always reference the stars. And so I just remember reading the columns religiously every week. This would be me diving into that horoscope culture and very much identifying with being an Aquarian type. So I learned very rudimentary things, like the baseline sun, moon, rising sign as a teenager. And then went off to chase my sex in the city life, media career, New York, kind of moved away from that because I didn't really consider that to be a viable career path. And I had other aspirations, went to college and got a marketing degree. But then, you know, anytime I dated anybody, I'd be checking our compatibility, at least on a rudimentary level. And then around age twenty six, you know, I'd gone through all of the first half of my Pluto Capricorn sweep. And I just found myself really in this dark night in need of love. therapy, but also spiritual support. And luckily, I mean, the therapist that I got was a trained astrologer and tarot reader. This is like divine intervention. But she brought me back to the practice. And I also found a properly trained Glastonbury witch. And for about four years, I just, you know, I became a recluse. I somehow kept a job, but every day I'd be taking courses. After work, I'd be reading. I would be practicing with my mentor. and then going to therapy and chatting about what was happening in my life through the lens of the stars to help see these patterns. I was unpacking a lot of Saturn-Venus conjunction, Venus retrograde natal patterns. So lots of karmic relationship work going on there. And I just found this to be incredibly transformative. And yeah, I guess that's how I came back and how I began.
ABOUT FIONA
Fiona Hillery is an interdisciplinary astrologer, tarot reader, and feng shui alchemist based in Los Angeles. Through her practice, Esoteric Empowerment, she integrates ancient wisdom with modern modalities to guide individuals, couples, and organizations toward personal development, business growth, and relationship harmony. Esoteric Empowerment
ABOUT VIVI
Vivi Henriette is an LA-based astrologer and tarot reader whose collaborative approach to divination weaves in storytelling and mythology to create a container for her clients to explore their personal narrative. She’s the host of the Los Angeles Astro Salon at the Philosophical Research Society and the podcast TALKTALKTALK and producer of LA Astro Fest.
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I LOVED this episode!!! Thank you both for explaining this new era in a way that is both digestible and not alarmist.