Meeting Maria

Thomas Canfield

    It is very rare to know when a friendship begins. In the case of my meeting with Maria, it was memorable to me and I remembered the date and the time. It was October 21, 1979, in Danbury, Connecticut, at 11:59 am. Back in 1979, I was studying Astrology in Newtown, Connecticut. Unfortunately, my teacher was about to move away. However, she told me about a new teacher who was moving to Newtown, and suggested I contact her. I called Maria Kay Simms on the phone, and she said she was moving to Newtown and having classes in her home. She invited me to attend a meeting of the Western Connecticut chapter of the NCGR (National Council for Geocosmic Research.) Their meetings were held at the Grange hall in Danbury, on the third Sunday of the month. 

      Shortly before Noon on October 21, I arrived at the Grange hall. Maria arrived a few minutes later, since she was the one who opened up the building for the meeting.  I have to admit that I found her to be a very striking woman. What impressed me the most was that she wore a brown cape instead of a coat. At the time, most women did not wear capes, and one might consider it to be an affectation. Yet, on Maria it looked impressive and a bit magical. 

      When she saw me, her first words to me were, “Are you Canfield?” I replied that I was, and we went into the Grange hall. The bells of a nearby church were starting to chime for Noon. That was how I timed our first meeting just before Noon. Maria introduced me to the other members of the NCGR.  I was invited to attend her weekly classes at her new home on Route 34 in Newtown. It was there that I got to meet her husband, Jim Jossick, and her daughters, Shannon, Molly, and Elizabeth. I became a fixture at her classes and the NCGR meetings, enjoying the lessons I received. I also got to admire Maria’s art work, and the paintings she did with Astrological themes.

      In the chart for our first meeting, there are interesting elements of transformation. Pluto was conjunct the Midheaven, and meeting Maria was to bring about major changes in my work life as well as my spiritual life. Neptune was rising in the chart, and we certainly had interesting talks on religion and mysticism. Uranus was conjunct Mercury, and both were sextile Saturn. We had long and serious conversations, and we learned much from each other. Maria gave me an education on Uranian Astrology, which she had learned from Charles Emerson. I would talk with her about historical events, and how the transits of the times reflected those events. 

     Juno trine Uranus and Mercury helped bring a meeting of the minds.. With Mars squaring Uranus and Mercury, we could have disagreements, but without being disagreeable. Mars was trine Neptune and Eris. Though there could be discord, we were both strongly on the same path, The Moon sextile the North Node and Jupiter stood for an emotional equilibrium. We never had to shout at each other to make a point. The Sun sextile the Ascendant gave us a personal affability, blending Libra conciliation with Sagittarian scholarship.

  The friendship was never a romantic one. Venus was opposing Chiron and Vesta. We both had a love of knowledge and a respect for family values. This balance was emphasized by a Grand Square with an opposition between Mars and Pallas. There were some conflicts in wisdom and attitude.  I suspected Maria did not completely trust me because I was an Aquarius. She had previously been burned by an Aquarius partner. In her Magical Child book she depicted Aquarians as being other worldly space aliens. However, she did give me a sort-of compliment by saying I was the most “Saturnine “Aquarius she ever met.  Saturn was the previous ruler of Aquarius before Uranus was discovered.  I took it as a compliment that she did not think I would do wild and crazy things like a “Uranian” Aquarius. So, the friendship was filled with love, energy, wisdom, and a respect for family values. 

      With Pluto as the highest planet in the chart, much of the friendship was influenced by Pluto transits. Maria and family moved from the first house in Newtown to a nicer one across town.  In the Autumn of 1983, when Pluto was at 27 Libra, conjunct the Sun of the chart, I started working for Maria. I was her chauffeur to take her to an Astrological conference on Cape Cod about the History of Astrology. Then I became her typist, and typed up the manuscript of her first book “Twelve Wings of the Eagle.” I made a few historical comments that she added to the book. Then, I was hired by her husband, Jim, who was starting a new chemical company. The business was in the basement of their home, and I was there on a daily basis, organizing the chemical compounds, and mixing up the chemical recipes that Jim created.

      When Pluto went into Scorpio, things started changing in a strange way. Jim decided he wanted to move his chemical company to New Hampshire. Maria had to go to Illinois to care for her elderly mother, and she took her daughters with her. While she was in Illinois, she decided that she wanted to end her marriage with Jim.  This happened about the time Pluto was passing over the Moon in the chart and sextile Jupiter. The strange situation was that I ended up in New Hampshire with Jim, working in a renovated saw mill, and dealing with the emotional pain he was going through. I did write to Maria, and I respected her decision, though I missed her classes. Jim and I parted paths in August, 1986, though circumstances were to bring us all together again.

      Maria became the art director for Astro Computing Service in San Diego. This started a new romance with Neil Michelsen, the founder of ACS, and she and Neil got married. In 1988, when Pluto was going over the Venus in the chart, I met them briefly when Maria and Neil came to Connecticut for a lecture.  It would be a few years before I saw Maria again. She was dealing with Neil’s health crisis when he came down with cancer and passed away in 1990. Then she took over management of ACS. I did keep in touch with her with letters, this being a time before e-mail. At a time when Pluto was passing over Uranus and Mercury in the chart, she was writing and publishing her best works, like “Dial Detective”, “Future Signs” and “Your Magical Child.” The last two books were made into popular reports for ACS.

    Around the time that Pluto moved into Sagittarius and was squaring Jupiter in the chart, Maria decided she had enough of being a businesswoman. She revived her relationship with Jim Jossick, who had been successful with his chemical company.  She decided to move to New Hampshire and remarry Jim. This was a pleasure for me as well, because I had hoped she would resume giving classes. As Pluto was moving to a square to the Nodes in the chart, she did start new classes, but they were more spiritual and profound than what was before. She had a good circle of students, who enjoyed her work.

     In 2004, Maria started a new publishing company, Starcrafts LLC, just as Pluto was conjunct Neptune in the chart. She had wanted to publish a new book on phases of the Progressed Moon, which would use goddess mythology for explaining each phase. “Moon Tides, Soul Passages” was to be filled with her own color goddess illustrations. She had submitted the book to Llewellyn Publishing, but they told her it could be a goddess book or it could be an Astrology book, but it could not be both. Maria decided to start her own publishing company to get it published her way. This new work in publishing revived an interest she had in getting Astrological titles in print back when she was running ACS. She decided it was time to revive some of the old ACS titles. As Pluto was squaring Saturn in the chart, she expressed dissatisfaction that so many ACS titles were no longer in print.

    In late 2005, as Pluto was going over the chart Ascendant, Maria revealed to me that she was planning to get control of ACS and revive the company. At that time, I was changing jobs, and was willing to work for her again. To tide me over until she got ACS, I was hired by Jim’s chemical company, with the distinction of being his first employee. Maria did not acquire ACS until September, 2008, just as Pluto was entering Capricorn, and going over the Part of Fortune in the chart. She brought the chart services and publishing company to Epping, NH, where she set about doing new editions for old titles, and I handled the chart services and mailing out books. 

     A major change started to take place in 2017, when transiting Pluto was squaring the Midheaven and Natal Pluto in the chart. ACS moved to a new location, which allowed the opening of a gift shop. We also started having monthly lectures from the local Astrological association. Unfortunately, Maria was suffering a major health decline. Her mother had suffered from Alzheimer’s, and by 2017 it was obvious that Maria was showing the same symptoms. She came to work and stared at her computer, but it seemed she was not doing much work. With Pluto sextile Uranus and Mercury, the business managed to keep going, but by 2020, when Pluto was opposing Natal Juno and trine Natal Saturn, the company underwent another change.  Covid caused the gift shop and the lectures to close down. The property in Epping needed to be sold, and the business evolved into a work-from-home company. 

   In 2022, Pluto was square the Natal Sun, and it was a time of endings. Jim passed away in May, 2022, and was buried in Connecticut. The last time I saw Maria was at the beginning of August, 2022, when it was decided she would be moved to Virginia to be cared for by her eldest daughter, Shannon. It was a sad parting, knowing I would never see her again. Once she was gone, I helped the family in cleaning out the house, making sure to pack up Maria’s Astrological library, which was later sold to a book dealer seeking Astrological books. Once in a while, I would get a message about her declining state. Her daughter, Molly, took over the management of ACS. On January 9, 2025, Molly called to tell me that Maria had passed away on the morning of Jan. 8.

     Transiting Pluto in Aquarius will be squaring the chart Moon in Scorpio, and it is a sorrowful loss looking back over 45 years of friendship. Yet, it is liberation for Maria to move to a better world and away from physical suffering. The wisdom and talent she had will be carried on in her books, though I may take some satisfaction that I experienced the wisdom and talent first hand. For an Aquarius, losing a friend can be a great tragedy, but there is always an appreciation and exaltation for having had such a good friend to begin with.