Mon, Jul 06, 2009
Jeff Harman is an astrologer who recently moved his practice from Los Angeles to Tucson because L.A. was not a good astro-location. His clients are mostly in the entertainment business.
Mamta Popat / Arizona Daily Star
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Bonnie Henry: He consults the stars for business, life decisions

Bonnie Henry
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 10.12.2006
Timing is everything to Jeff Harman. Well, duh. What would you expect from an astrologer?
Even our interview was changed to a more auspicious time.
But, hey, that's nothing.
Harman also picked the exact time for his wedding, the exact time to conceive a child, and the exact time — OK, give or take a few hours — for that child to be born.
"I went to the doctor and said, 'My husband is an astrologer,' " says Harman's wife, Camille. "The doctor said, 'Come on in at 11 a.m. tomorrow and we'll induce.' "
Only in Los Angeles. And now Tucson.
Last December, Harman, Camille and their son, Aidan, now 4, moved from Los Angeles and his Beverly Hills practice to Tucson.
The move was prompted by another of Harman's guiding forces: location, location, location.
Turns out L.A., where Camille had moved to from New Orleans in 1995, was not a good astro-location — something her husband confirmed by doing her astrological chart.
So what would she do? Florida, her husband suggested. Too many hurricanes, said Camille.
Ah, but Tucson, it turns out, was just right for all three in the family. It's a creative town, says Harman, who's also worked up a chart on our fair city.
Using the date Tucson was founded, Aug. 20, 1775, Harman found the planets Saturn and Venus figure prominently.
"Tucson has a very powerful planet in Saturn," says Harman, explaining that Saturn is the central planet of knowledge and technology, while Venus stands for beauty, culture and artistry.
No word on whether potholes and traffic jams are also in our stars.
Skeptical about all this? No problem.
"I'm not out to convince anybody about this stuff," says Harman, an affable sort who turns 47 at the end of the month.
Besides, there are enough true believers out there to still keep him riding the jet stream between Tucson and L.A.
"Most of my clients are in the entertainment business," says Harman, who uses what he calls electional astrology to pick the best times for clients to sign contracts, select wedding dates, even schedule plastic surgery.
Real estate agents also use his dates. "They want to know when to buy and sell and when to execute a lease."
Then there's the location factor.
"There was a very successful jewelry company in New Orleans that wanted to set up a place in Atlanta. I told them it was not a good location. There was adverse energy. They went ahead and did it. They fed it for two years, then it folded."
Naturally, discretion is the word. "When we get a good time to sign the deal, we don't say we're using astrology. Everyone would think you're wacko."
Instead, he suggests the more common ruse: "My attorney wants to review the contract."
You could almost say he was born into the business.
"My mother was an astrologer," says Harman, who grew up in Wisconsin. By the time he was a teenager, his mother was "doing charts on the various girls I was going out with."
When his mother died in 1988, he inherited her library filled with writings on the ancient systems of astrology, much of which Harman now practices.
Meanwhile, he was teaching classes in physics and sound production in Chicago and doing sound-recording work in both Chicago and L.A.
In 1996, he moved full-time to Los Angeles, still doing studio work as well as astrology.
Two years later, he met Camille. Both were pumping gas at a Malibu service station.
He noticed her bumper sticker, the one that proclaimed: "I love England." He asked her what part.
"Wiltshire, where the crop circles are," says Camille. Of course. Even so, the stars must be served.
"He did a chart on our first date," says Camille. "If it hadn't been compatible, he would not have taken me out again."
For more information, log on to jeffharman.com.
● Bonnie Henry's column appears Sundays in Accent. Reach her at 434-4074 or e-mail bhenry@azstarnet.com, or write to 3295 W. Ina Road, Suite 125, Tucson, AZ 85741.