TALENT

Looking at the Stars

Being Neighbourly x Lana Wong, Atman Lab

Author/ Being Neighbourly
26 February 2025

Guessing someone’s sign can be a tricky game even for a seasoned astrologer. We usually don’t like to play this game as there are so many layers to each person,” says Lana Wong, Founder of Atman Lab, which specialises in astrological readings.

Wong explains that guessing a sign means guessing someone’s sun, the position of the sun on the zodiac belt at the time of our birth; but if someone’s sun is afflicted and it can’t shine like it’s supposed to, this might be hard.

According to her, guessing an ascendent is easier, it’s the way that you come across to the world, but is also difficult. “Each person is truly unique and there are so many layers that an astrologer has to analyze when reading a natal chart.”

Dispelling others notions of people of the same sign or element necessarily gravitating to each other, Wong says, that we are much more complex than that. But, overall, she admits that the element of fire will be antagonistic to the element of water; and the element of earth will be antagonistic to the element of air.

Originally from Ukraine, Wong graduated from Law School and earned a Masters degree before moving to Beijing to study Mandarin. She got married, moved to Hong Kong in 2008, with her then husband, and had three kids in the SAR.

“I had always been curious about astrology because the descriptions of my sign in most astrology books that were available to me at that time were so true,“ she says.

But it was only in 2021, when Wong was going through divorce, that she got into astrology seriously. “I was searching for answers, for comfort, for meaning and I got my answers through astrology. I received much needed understanding of my purpose and from that moment on, I no longer felt lost.”

She says that this time coincided with Covid lockdown, when many people felt lost and scared, but for her, it was “a super productive time” in terms of study.

“Overall, it took me three years to finish my online studies at astrology school,” she says, adding that in 2023, she remarried and welcomed a daughter.

“Life can be full of amazing gifts. We just need to focus on the internal, not the external story of our life,” she adds.

According to Wong, nobody really knows the origins of astrology and it is hard to comprehend, but our natal charts contain not only the description of our character but also our life paths, and they can be quite accurate in the hands of professional astrologer.“

“What astrologers can see in a natal chart is certain trends, the windows or openings for certain events. I think it is crucial for everyone to at least know their ascendant, position in houses and signs of the sun, moon and the lunar nodes. This knowledge helps us to know and understand our self better, it helps to ground our soul in our body and it can help us to understand our purpose.”

“People who we meet on our life path are never accidental, each of them was meant to teach us something, some bring out the worst in us, and this is when we meet our shadow; and some bring out the best in us. In terms of astrology, all our partnerships are located in the seventh house of our natal chart. When I say all partnerships, this includes romantic ones, friendships and business partners; and all the people who are our audience either in person or online. It can be so amazing when we can literally see certain trends among all those relationships in our lives if we know how to look and analyze.

So, knowing your seventh house, according to Wong, its sign, planets and aspectations can really help to look in the right direction when looking for relationships and knowing the seventh house of your partner, his or her ascendent, moon, sun, Venus, and so on, helps to understand them better and be more compassionate towards them. So, if two people want to know each other better, a synastry reading can be very helpful,” she says.

Today, Wong’s clients are mostly based in Hong Kong and find her through word of mouth.

“I have quite a few, very nice testimonials that were given to me by my clients. I have helped a few to look in the right direction for a partner. I also predicted when one of my clients would finally get the job he was seeking,” she says, adding that she finds it very rewarding when she can help clients gain clarity or ease their anxiety. “In my opinion, people who know who they are through astrology, tend to be more confident and face challenges with determination. Pain is inevitable in our lives, without pain we wouldn’t know the light, but suffering is optional,” she says.

Starting from the end of 2024 and during 2025, Wong says will be a rare event in human existence, when all three high planets (Pluto, Neptune and Uranus) are changing their signs.

“On average, Pluto changes its sign once in 15-20 years, Neptune, once in 12-14 years, and Uranus, once in 7-10 years. With these current changes, we are entering into a new world order, where new trends in technology, politics and discoveries will drive humanity into a new dimension of existence that will be set for the next 10-20 years.”

“We won’t be able to see the consequences of these ingressions immediately, the order will change slowly, but we still will be able to see some of it. The changes will be ideological, social, political and ethical,” she shares.

What’s the best work advice you have received?

“The best work advice that I have received came from my astrology teacher. He said that anything can be learned and understood through 10,000 hours of practice,” says Lana Wong, Founder of Atman Lab.

“This concept of dedicating 10,000 hours to practicing a skill was popularized by Malcolm Gladwell in his book, Outliers. Basically, investing this amount of time can help anyone to master a skill and develop muscle memory, learn problem solving and practice confidence, expand creativity and build a network, learn to set a goal and practice discipline and time management.

While the 10,000 hours rule is not a strict formula, it emphasizes the importance of deliberate practice and the time commitment in achieving expertise. The journey itself can be as valuable as the destination, providing personal growth and fulfilment along the way.”

Atman Lab
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