This is an I-Heart podcast.

Warning.

The following episode includes talk of magical texts, boxing, the mafia, and how a child preacher who railed against astrology found his path in the stars.

Sensitive listeners, take care. In the very beginning of this show, we set out to find people with unusual stories.

Biographies that upended our understanding of astrology.

And so my colleagues, Mary and Mitra, they went looking for all sorts of folks, right?

Like finance bros who believe in astrology.

Cheesemongers use the stars to guide their

process, towns that have built their entire identity around astrology. And then one day, Mary said to me,

I think there's a community of ex- Evangelicals who fled the church and now they put their

entire faith in the stars.

And, you know, I was immediately fascinated, right?

Like, how do you walk away from one set of really strong beliefs and then dive head first into another?

What type of person decides to do that?

And what are the circumstances that help you find your faith again? And that's how we found

Sam Reynolds. I went to an astrologer to set up a Gemini. Sam is an extraordinary person. And the truth is

he's got a story I can't stop thinking about. At birth, his parents were told he wouldn't walk. As a child, he wasn't supposed to

become a preacher. In college, he wasn't supposed to question his faith or take comfort in astrology,

but Sam has kind of defied expectations at every point of his life. And what makes him so fascinating,

to me, at least, is that in this search for faith and love and a truer understanding

of humanity, he moves with such grace and assuredness. And the path for him, it never seems to be a

mistake. Like, just a stepping stone to where you were always meant to be.

...