About
ME
My Story
I was born in Illinois, and grew up in a quiet patch of suburbs just north of Chicago. From a very early age, I would bike and walk through the neighborhoods and forest preserves, aimlessly searching for some adventure. I was an introspective and often nervous kid, so the peace of natural spaces calmed and comforted me. Whenever I would discover something new in the woods, like a long-buried junkyard or a hidden island, I would feel a strange sense of home.
This desire for adventure and belonging would later take me all around the country — road tripping, hitchhiking, hopping trains, camping out in recycling dumpsters and abandoned buildings. I met friends and partners, joined clubs and activist groups, bounced from job to job, house to house, city to city. Eventually I would meet my (now ex-) wife through my bike club friends, and would follow her up north for a time. Without knowing it, she would lead me to a whole new way of experiencing reality, and completely change the course of my life.
Around the same time, I had started a gender transition that was similarly revolutionizing my sense of self. As a queer transgender man, I’ve often viewed life from the margins. Whether positive or negative, these experiences have pushed me to reexamine my ideas about gender, sexuality, race, class, and many other social categories. I deeply appreciate the value of these perspectives, and hope that this process will continue to unfold and deepen.
Feeling like a “stranger in a strange land” eventually led me to explore philosophy and spirituality, as an attempt to understand what we’re all doing here. Through friends, I would be introduced to the book Be Here Now by Ram Dass. Ram Dass’ book, lectures, and especially the stories of his community of spiritual misfits cracked my dry little heart open. I longed to find out whether this sort of mysticism still existed in the world, and prayed for help to find it.
When my friend moved to Oregon to study with a spiritual teacher named Shambhavi Sarasvati, I told myself I was only interested in learning more about her because I was too lazy to find my own teacher. Years later, I decided to take her Trika Foundations course, and quickly recognized that this person had access to real wisdom. She was able to translate these complex ancient topics into language I could understand, and guide me in spiritual practices that are truly transformative. When I had the opportunity to follow her and a group of Jaya Kula students to Maine, I jumped at the chance. Later, when she introduced me to Vedic astrology, I had no idea how radically and thoroughly it would recalibrate my everyday existence.
For more information on my background in Vedic astrology, see My Astrology Background below.
Devamadhu in Maine
Jaya Kula Retreat
My Astrology Background
When I attended my first jyotish (aka Vedic astrology) course in 2015, I remember absolutely loving it, even though assimilating the material was challenging from the start. I’ve always been a very detail-oriented person, saying that I could keep an entire “solar system” of projects running in my head. Now I had a simultaneously vast and subtle wisdom tradition in front of me, demanding all of my capacity for memorization, pattern recognition, linear and nonlinear thinking, and more.
When the course ended, my teacher Shambhavi recommended that I find a professional jyotishi (practitioner of jyotish) to continue my studies. We found Steven Highburger online, and discovered he was in the same lineage as Shambhavi’s jyotish teacher. I remember being impressed by his humility, his devotion to his teachers, and his decades of dedicated work.
I began studying with Steven in 2016, and had my first natal reading with him shortly after. I had told him almost nothing about my history, and yet he was able to describe my experience in relationships, family, and career with pinpointed accuracy. I felt confident that this person had the skills and knowledge I had been looking for. Since that time, jyotish has been a daily obsession for me.
Thanks to my teachers’ guidance, I relate to this wisdom tradition as a lifelong apprenticeship. Whether I am preparing a chart for a client, practicing new techniques, tutoring, or studying, I feel that I am part of a living tapestry of symbols woven from the energies of the universe. I continue to be amazed by all that unfolds.
Whatever the future holds, however skillfully I am able to work with these incredible tools shared with me by my teachers, I am now confident that this world is a magical place, and that there is always more to discover.
Sahaya
Sahāya is a sanskrit word that translates to friend, or helper.
I chose the name “Sahaya Sacred Arts” as an expression of two of my deepest desires in life: to develop my gifts and skills, and utilize them in service of others.
I have been through many challenges over the years, but no matter how difficult things have been at times, I’ve always had one ally or another in my corner. Having that fundamental support has been invaluable to me, and I would like to offer that to others to the best of my ability.
Vedic astrology has taught me that timing is everything, and that things are constantly changing. Even when life is dry and dragging, these ancient tools can help us to gain insight on the wisdom available to us in this moment, and even help to find our next window of opportunity.