CorpComms Magazine

Imagine a world of corporate communications where you could accurately tell your boss what's going to happen to your company and how to prepare. Your secret fount of knowledge could alert you to future market downturns and M&As that might affect your company and industry.

It could even tell you of imminent profit warnings or financial collapse, so at least you would be able to bail out before anyone else worked out what was going on. Promotions would beckon. No obstacles could impede your progress. You would be indispensable.

A pipe dream for PR professionals with their heads in the clouds? Maybe. Or perhaps they should actually be looking beyond the clouds to the cosmic matter twinkling above. At least that's the belief of Shelley von Strunckel, the Californian best known for creating the first astrological column in a UK broadsheet newspaper, the Sunday Times, in 1992. She also has a sideline reading the fortunes of well-known gurus from the world of business and entertainment.

'My background is actually in marketing and I have had extensive training in business so I can speak to business people in their own language,' says Von Strunckel, who got her business training at US retail chain Federated Department Stores, now better known as Macy's. 'My association with business people started at the beginning of my path in astrology because they were the people I knew, so referrals came through them. This work is unlike that of other business consultants, because I have a map of their psyche, their birth chart.

'An astrological chart is a map of the heavens, of the Sun, Moon and planets, based on an individual's place, date and time of birth. I see it as a mirror of their character. I don't think the planets make them the way they are, but the birth chart is a superb mirror.'

Heavenly gaze
So what does Von Strunckel see in her looking glass? She says she can spot strengths and weaknesses of the business people she works with, which she can then use to make individuals' weaknesses work in their favour.

'I look at their strengths and liabilities and articulate them in a way that is relevant to business people,' she says. 'Then I compare their chart to the current planet positions, which are called transits. This indicates what's going on in the world around these individuals.'

Von Strunckel claims to have used this technique to predict profit warnings, major takeovers and macroeconomic shifts. 'At lunch with the editor of the Evening Standard magazine, I talked last year about how I saw revelations, particularly about money and business and banking,' she says.

Surely she is not claiming to have foreseen the subprime credit crunch? 'You're not kidding,' she exclaims. 'And the scandal in the media about MPs' allowances - I saw that, absolutely. I can and do predict these things very accurately. It is very useful to CEOs in particular because, generally, CEOs are specialists. Unless they are very unusual individuals, they will not be aware of activities outside their sector that may affect their sector. But astrological trends reveal the larger picture.'

Can she give any examples? 'I once worked with the head of a major Hollywood studio and saw from his chart that there was fraud in the company,' Von Strunckel recalls. 'Not only could I see a fraud going on, but I also saw how the fraud would appear. The surprise was that the studio head's chart indicated that he would figure prominently in the media himself. As he was on the financial side, this wasn't part of his job description, but I clearly saw him being interviewed on television. He kind of went pale when I said that.'

Truth will out
Von Strunckel then pretty much forgot about the incident until a few weeks later, when she read a report in Time magazine about a fraud that had been uncovered at the company where her client worked. What's more, he was obliged to explain what had happened - on television.

'There had been a huge scandal, and it had showed up in his chart,' she says. 'And he was, indeed, on television. It turned out later that he knew about the fraud, although he didn't let me know that at the time. Until people experience that kind of thing, it's hard for them to believe an astrologer can be so precise. And I never know what I am going to find, but it's all part of the puzzle. Once I can see the potential for takeovers, for instance, I can highlight the trends. CEOs can then decide whether to use the information or not.'

Von Strunckel accepts that what she does is not to everyone's taste and admits there is still a taboo attached to astrology in many peoples' eyes. That is part of the reason she will not name her clients, in addition to the usual strictures of confidentiality.

But there's another reason, too. 'If you're a top business person and you're getting excellent insights from astrology, why would you want to reveal your source of competitive advantage?' she asks with a smile. 'Why would you want to disclose where you're getting your information from?'

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