Daniel Sowelu, B.Sc. Dip. Ed.
Daniel likes to work with people who have a deep commitment to their spiritual and healing journeys, at what ever stage they may be.
From initiating individuals with their first astrology reading all the way to the deepest exploration of our inner mysteries, the thing he enjoys most is helping people understand themselves and their worlds more fully, to help them make sense of their strongest experiences and to connect them with their fundamental soul purposes for taking birth this time around.
Daniel loves getting down to the nitty gritty of who we are, what we’re here to do as soul’s, what makes us tick emotionally, spiritually and psychologically, why we attract certain experiences, what are the ultimate meaning of our lives.
There is awe, joy and magic when you get down to this level of truth, even in the toughest territory, whether in readings or in the experiential healing work, that Daniel loves to travel to with his clients.
Daniel is a global creator and pioneer in the work of Experiential, Therapeutic and Primal Astrology. Out of this work he has become an advocate for the reclamation of the sacred feminine in astrology and spiritual practice, has challenged the conservative, patriarchal and anti-therapy biases in astrology.
During his 37 years of practice, he has created many individual and group experiential practices to
- Revisit and work with the in-utero journey from conception to birth
- Bring deep emotional healing into the experiential zodiac wheel
- Purify the distortions to the Dark Goddesses while dismantling the toxic masculine
- Balance the masculine and feminine within
- Work directly with the challenges and opportunities of any major astrological event, including eclipses
Daniel has used experiential astrology at men’s leadership gatherings in Australia, in Mary Magdalen circles, at Steiner Schools, on sacred land in the Central Desert, the Kimberley region and the South Coast of Western Australia and, at sacred places in India.
He has also used this work in collaboration with the great mystic scholar Andrew Harvey, co-leading workshops on The Sacred Marriage, the Shiva Shakti relationship and the Black Madonna during Andrew’s tours of Australia.
“My clients come to me, invariably, at times of great transition, sometimes through crises, sometimes ‘cause they feel stuck and know that there’s more, sometimes because they’ve intuited that they’ve outgrown their life but are not sure about their future. I expect it now. And because of that they are primed to get the most out of a reading or workshop. Their unconscious or inner self is saying to me “I’m ready to go deeper now, I want to be initiated into the mysteries of who I am and why I am here”
The Beginnings…
Initially trained as a biological scientist, he spent the early part of his career involved in a variety of educational settings, as a university tutor, high-school teacher and technical education lecturer.
After a series of major personal crisis in 1982 he became interested in the ancient art of astrology. After reading his first natal chart in 1983, he went on to create a unique therapeutic system combining astrology, therapy and ritual through the use of experiential astrology.
Uniquely Combining Experiential Astrology With Therapeutic Practices
Daniel was introduced to experiential astrology by the W.A. experiential specialist Sudhir, while training with Melbourne psychiatrist Graham Farrant, an Australian pioneer in Primal Therapy.
Out of this unlikely and yet very powerful combination emerged a private therapeutic practice alongside his more traditional astrology work, which has been running for over 30 years.
He has successfully combined this with perspectives and practices from Jungian psychology, primal therapy, psychodrama, voice dialogue, inner child work and different forms of meditation.
A Natural Teacher
Daniel initiated the first TAFE classes in astrology in the 1980’s, created a private school of humanistic astrology during the same period and has taught in prisons, ashrams, summer schools, social work agencies and other institutions.
In recent years, the focus of his work and writings has naturally swung towards the goddess asteroids and in particular the so-called “dark goddesses” as representatives of the sacred feminine.
Personal Therapy
As a primal therapist, counsellor and group leader, Daniel has worked with a wide range of emotional and psychological problems, including sexual abuse, pre-natal and birth trauma, anger, rage and grief issues and crisis management.
He is accredited with the Commonwealth Government’s Comcare as a counsellor/ therapist and has also worked in the men’s movement, particularly with men’s relationships to the feminine in themselves.
His work has been deeply informed by 10 years of personal therapy, in Jungian analysis, breathwork, Primal and inner child work, including five years of groupwork with the innovative psychodramatist Lorna Dilollo.
Strong Spiritual Background
His spiritual journey is an integral part of his work, having explored and practised meditation for over 35 years, lived and worked in ashrams overseas and managed a meditation centre in Perth.
He has spent time with a number of spiritual masters, including the great Siddha master Baba Muktananda and, his inner development continues through his ongoing relationship with a number of aboriginal elders.
This spiritual dimension is subtly weaved into the baseline fabric of his work with people engendering it with a deep level of safety and grace that goes beyond technical ability.
A Love For Sacred Retreats
Another aspect of this work is in taking his clients into the Australian bush for spiritual retreats, often in conjunction with the traditional owners, on the southern coastal, western desert and Kimberley regions of West Australia.
The emphasis of these events is in combining the spiritual potency of Aboriginal traditions with the healing power of the Australian natural environment and, with a variety of therapeutic and spiritual practices. He is also developing similar journeys into central Australia, spending time with senior traditional owners of Uluru.
Daniel has traveled back the roots of his spiritual practices from the tantric path of India, to reconnect with the Shiva/Shakti traditions of Maharashtra, centred around the pilgrimage town of Ganeshpuri.
Out of this reconnection has flowed the creation of Goddess and Sacred Marriage retreats and tours, which are becoming a regular part of his programming, an expression of the grace, power and joy that he experiences there.
He currently lives and works between Perth and NSW, Australia where he loves spending time with his son, takes to the surf when he can and undertakes a good home renovation task whenever he has the time.