
Astrology Conference Reviews: Institute of Vedic Culture (IVC)
August 28, 2018
Astrology Conference Review: ISAR 2016
September 2, 2018Astrology Conference Review: International Balkan (Belgrade)

After a wonderful weekend, the lecturers were treated to a wonderful meal in a castle. I'm not saying what I had.

With the Imsiragics in London
But back to the Balkans. . .
This conference was a beautiful event attended by truly enthusiastic astrology pupils. Most currencies are strong against the Serbian Dinar (Euros were not accepted in early 2018). The translation process was consecutive and as a speaker, I found this very easy to cope with. The food was good and there was lots to see in the city. The audience was exceptionally young and dynamic and if I were an astrology student, I wouldn’t hesitate in getting involved with the Kepler Institute. I’m at the stage in my astrology career when I’ve been to a lot of astrology conferences and have seen a lot of astrology schools. Serbia is blessed indeed to have the Imsiragics.Beautiful Belgrade
I loved this conference for lots of reasons. Lest these genuine reasons become confused with my circumstances before visiting Belgrade, let me explain a little background. I had been staying in Kolkata India organising, planning and then de-briefing the IVC conference. I love India but after nearly four months there, I was feeling a little lost. My English had become very simplified and was punctuated by intricate gesticulations (not to be confused with Mudras) and peppered with badly pronounced Bengali. I was having serious doubts that I was going to be able to string English sentences together. By March, the weather in India was definitely getting too hot for me. It was dry, dusty and as much as I loved the work I was doing, I was experiencing food cravings that were just not going to be satisfied in India. I was even dreaming about this particular food group. If anyone had suggested to me before this long sojourn that I might daydream about these food items, I would have scoffed. Whether it’s my blood type or if there was some vital vitamin lacking in my Indian diet or if it was the impossibility of obtaining the object of my food lust that was driving me so insane is a matter for debate. I can however confirm that all the cows in India were safe from me. This was not the case in Belgrade.The Warmest Welcome at an Astrology Conference
I landed at Nikola Tesla airport (how cool is that?) and was warmly (!) welcomed by customs. I collected my luggage without drama and was cheerfully collected by the lovely Karlina Imsiragic at 7am (!). We stepped outside and I inhaled the cold air. And I felt like my whole body had been purified. It was a beautiful sensation. After the dust and heat of Kolkata, I could feel every cell quiver with contentment. I’m sure Karlina thought I was nuts. In the car, to my relief, I had no trouble holding up a conversation in English. In fact, there were several points in the journey from airport to hotel that I felt a little sorry for Karlina. Fancy being stuck with a babbling, deep-breathing, jet-lagged astrologer at 7am! She was very sweet about it all. To my surprise, I was allowed to check into my hotel room at this early hour. I was in need of a shower and a catch up on all that sleep I missed out on during the long flight. But there was a little thing I had to take care of first.Tongue Tied

After a wonderful weekend, the lecturers were treated to a wonderful meal in a castle. I’m not saying what I had.
The Conference
Freshly showered, my craving sated, my lectures prepared, my body temperature restored to something resembling normality (for someone born in Michigan and residing in London), I put my jammies on. I think I was asleep before my head hit the pillow. And there were no dreams of me chasing cows through the streets of Kolkata in the hope of sinking my teeth into filet mignon. A fews hours later, I awoke refreshed and ready to greet Belgrade. I was particularly looking forward to seeing the fabulous Nadiya Shah (her interview with me is on the front page of this website) and David and Fei Cochran. As I made my way to the conference room, I was warmly welcomed by Aleks and Lea’s students. I was sincerely touched. We were treated to one of Aleks’ introductory videos. It shouldn’t be so thrilling to see one’s self on screen but. . .Moon in Leo. Lea said she expected each speaker to sing or dance as an introduction to the audience. I don’t think she was kidding. As I grew up in the Salvation Army, I have no particular fear of singing in public. Even in lessons, my pupils don’t act surprised when I belt out something. But as I waited to introduce myself to the audience, my fear of not being able to string a sentence together returned. I wanted to sing something by Janis Joplin, my karaoke standby “Bobby McGee”. But could I think of the lyrics? I was so irritated. Was I really going to have to pass up the opportunity to sing in front of such a huge (and sober) audience? Alas, the best I could do when it was my turn was crack a few jokes about how tired I was of lentils.After Hours

Branch Stamenkovic, Alex Trenoweth and Nadiya Shah in Belgrade

Not everyone likes snow but I do!
Lectures and Gongs
After snowflake appetisers, I had a great chat over breakfast with David and Fei. I’m a huge admirer of David’s research but I wasn’t so familiar with Fei’s. Wow. What a duo they are. My own lecture was warmly received and I enjoyed several conversations on the topic of astrology and education with audience members. It really is wonderful to appreciated–and I sold all my books. It was also magical to connect with Felicia Yiang from China (more on our Belgrade adventures a bit later) who I hope to be working with through IVC speaker David Railey, director of the No Door Astrology School. And of course, Nadiya never disappoints.
The exterior of Kalemegdanska Terasa Restaurant in Belgrade
Post Conference
I knew the Imsiragics were special but I honestly had no idea how elegant and creative they were! After a snowy but beautiful trek through Belgrade Fortress with Felicia, we met Aleks again for a tour of their school.
The beautiful classroom of the Johannes Kepler Institute

A beautiful meal followed by a few of us discovering we could read tea leaves!
14 Comments
[…] The International Balkan Astrology Conference in Belgrade, Serbia. This conference was the winner of “Warmest Welcome” Award. A review of this conference can be found here. […]
[…] is a healer, medical doctor and astrologer who is also a coordinator of the International Balkan Conference in Belgrade, […]
[…] happy to say I keep running into Aleks and Lea: they were in India, I was in Serbia for their conference, I saw them at UAC and now here they were in Perugia (I also saw them a few weeks later in London)! […]
[…] Kepler Institute, Belgrade Serbia, every year in March […]
[…] Kepler Institute, Belgrade Serbia, every year in March […]
[…] Kepler Institute, Belgrade Serbia, every year in March […]
[…] Kepler Institute, Belgrade Serbia, every year in March […]
[…] now done a fuller conference review which can be found here. Delighted ISAR featured my review on their website! Since seeing the Imsiragics in Belgrade, […]
[…] Kepler Institute, Belgrade Serbia, every year in March […]
[…] Kepler Institute, Belgrade Serbia, every year in March […]
[…] Astrology Conference Review: International Balkan (Belgrade) […]
[…] Astrology Conference Review: International Balkan (Belgrade) […]
[…] Astrology Conference Review: International Balkan (Belgrade) […]
[…] Astrology Conference Review: International Balkan (Belgrade) […]