Background
Railey was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, where he attended DeKalb Community College (Pre-Journalism), working one year for Associated Press (1968 - 1969), before dropping-out of college to study astrology in 1971 - following a year of self-study that began in March 1970. David studied primarily with two professional astrologers, Rosemary Jones in Atlanta, Georgia (1971 - 1973 and 1975), and Vicki Green in Virginia Beach, Virginia (1973 - 1974). In addition, Railey studied with professional astrologer Bil Tierney during the 1970's, and attended workshops offered by Isabel Hickey (1974), and later Ray Merriman (1976). In November 1975 David passed the City of Atlanta Professional Astrology Examination, obtaining his professional license to practice Astrology from the City of Atlanta (1) in January 1976.
In 1978, Railey was appointed by the Mayor and the Atlanta City Council to serve on the Atlanta Board of Astrology Examiners (2), a professional oversight board, where he served through 1982. At the national AFA Conference in Atlanta in 1978, Railey lectured for the first time on the Lunar Nodes, the special focus of his study and practice, subject of The Soul Purpose (2003, 2009). This AFA* Conference was highlighted by Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson declaring the opening of the Conference "Astrology Day" in Atlanta. In 1979 Railey lectured at the NASO Conference held in Atlanta, serving as host for astrologer Marc Edmund Jones (1888 - 1980) and meeting the founder of Humanistic Astrology, Dane Rudhyar (1895 - 1985)
In January 1980 Railey co-founded The Daily Planets Astrology Center in Atlanta, Georgia with astrologer Jeff Jawer (1946 - 2015) (3), where they shared offices, taught classes and sponsored workshops for such notable astrologers at the time as Buz Meyers (1941 - 2000), Marcia Starck (1939 - ), and Phillip Sedgewick (1950 - ). In December 1980 Railey and Jeff Jawer were featured in a 2-page article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution regarding their work and their astrology center. From 1980 - 1981 Railey was the weekly featured astrologer on ABC affiliate WSB TV's Good Morning Atlanta.
From 1980 - 1992, Railey was active in the media, presenting the professional side of astrology locally, nationally and internationally on radio and TV, including a debate on WAGA TV in 1983, guest spots on CNN on the Sonya Live show, and a BBC interview during the 1988 Democratic Convention. Railey also produced and hosted a live weekly local TV show Astrology Today on Channel 12 for 4 seasons (1989 - 1992).
While living in Los Angeles (1994 - 2000) Railey began working on The Soul Purpose, first published in 2003 following his move back to Atlanta in 2000. A second edition was written in 2008, published in 2009. Railey was approached by several Chinese publishing companies in early 2009, signing with Liping Publishing Ltd., and spent the summer of 2009 rewriting The Soul Purpose for a Chinese audience. The Soul Purpose was the 2nd Western Astrology book published in mainland China.
In October 2010 Railey traveled to Beijing on a well-publicized book tour as the first western astrology author to tour mainland China; during which he taught the first humanistic astrology workshop there. (4)
Returning to Beijing in 2011 David co-founded www.nodoor.com along with the Nodoor School of Astrology, a division of Beijing Nodoor Consulting Co., Ltd. Most notably, in June 2011, Railey was invited to participate in a public debate at the Beijing Planetarium with astronomer and curator Dr. Zhu Jin. (translator Jiang Ying, co- founder of www.nodoor.com )
Their 2-hour debate was covered by the Chinese press, including CCTV, and such newspapers as the Global Times and Southern Weekly - the later which devoted 2 page to the story. Zhu Jin (astronomer) - Wikipedia
Railey began writing for Men's UNO magazine in 2012, the 2nd largest Men's magazine in China, continuing as a monthly columnist for the last 9 years. Active in Chinese social media on WeChat and Sina.com, his Weibo (microblog) currently has 1.5 million fans. DavidRailey 的微博_微博 (weibo.com)
In 2016 Railey began collaborating with documentary filmmaker Wang Jiu Xi to and Nodoor.com in the making of a documentary called Astrology in China (2017), which chronicles the growth of western astrology in China from 2010 - 2017. Astrology in China - YouTube Railey authored 2 more books (2018) The Trip of a Lifetime - English/Simplified Chinese - an introduction to the 12 zodiac signs as personal-growth for a Chinese audience, and 2121 - a science fiction novella (English only) David Railey currently resides in Beijing, China.
References
(1) (2) Article C of the Atlanta City Code – Section 14-5091 - defines Astrology and requirements
* AFA - American Federation of Astrologers American Federation of Astrologers - Wikipedia
**NASO - National Astrological Society National Astrological Society (NASO) | Encyclopedia.com
(4) 2010/10/20 article: Future Perfect Source: Global Times | Author: Photo: Wang Zi By Wu Ningning American astrologer, 60-year-old David R. Railey is working hard...
(5) Is Prediction Killing Astrology? ISAR Panel at UAC 2018 - YouTube https://youtu.be/F1wRXJ6DFyM
Partial Bibliography
The Soul Purpose (2003, 2009 2nd edition) English ISBN 9780595 264650
The Soul Purpose (2010) Simplified Chinese ISBN 9787222 065529
The Trip of A Lifetime (2018) Simplified Chinese and English, limited availability, text for Chinese students of Nodoor - no ISBN
2121 (2018) ISBN 9781 9320 45141