Deborah began the study of astrology in 1975. Beginning as a tropical astrologer, like everyone else around her, she was always bothered by the little inconsistencies. People would usually have some of the qualities they were supposed to according to their tropical signs, but not always or not as pronounced observed as expected.

Then one day her friend, the late, great Rick Houck stood her in front of a full length mirror and asked “whatever made you think you were a Virgo Rising?”. That day, as per usual, her wavy hair was tussled, clothes were brightly tie-dyed, and her jewelry was a mix of bold, hand crafted one-of-a-kind pieces. "He said “If we don’t look like our rising signs describe us, then none of this works”. She agreed.She must be a Leo Rising. (Deborah doesn’t wear tie-dye as much as she used to, but her clothing choices do not allow her to fade into the background.) 

Using observational methods she began to seriously compare the tropical and sidereal zodiacs. Books are a great start to any educational endeavor, but spending time observing or doing a thing is where you actually learn. In two and a half years, a full Mars cycle, she had her answer. Using the Sidereal zodiac works 100% of the time.

Ms. Dillard spoke at astrological conferences in the 1980s-90s, was president of the Astrological Association of Northern VA in the 1990s, and was featured weekly as Debs the Horoscope Lady on AOL’s Kids on Line program in the early 2000s. She studied Runes in the early 90s, then switched to Tarot in the late 90s to augment her practice of predictive work.