"You are the center of the universe," says Michael Mercury's voice mail. The phrase was also the name of his call-in astrology radio show, which aired weekly on KDVS for seven years, ending its run just last month.

"The universe is the cocoon of our being and of our experience, the womb of our central awareness," explains Mercury, who now plans to pursue other radio and television projects and is still maintaining a Web site and sending out weekly columns via e-mail to some 800 people worldwide.

It's the sort of revelation Mercury passed on to his listeners during his time at the campus radio station. Mercury took a roundabout route to the Freeborn Hall basement. Born in Japan to a father working in counter-intelligence, his family lived around the world during his childhood and adolescent years. Mercury attended 16 schools in several countries, including Germany and Puerto Rico, through high school. He came to UC Davis in 1971, earning a master's in fine arts with an empasis in acting in 1973.

Later that year, Mercury traveled to Iran to teach acting. There, he says he experienced the first of several events that would change his direction in life. Mercury had what he calls a "past life experience," during which he passed out and "saw some things I couldn't explain." The powerful episode helped Mercury determine that acting was not his destiny.

Having originally done psychic readings to help his stage acting, Mercury returned to occult studies upon moving back to the United States. He took a particular interest in astrology and aura reading. Still, Mercury felt lost.

He dabbled in community television during the mid-1980s and then owned a downtown Davis restaurant called Café Cinema. However, Mercury's business went bankrupt in 1995 when he was unable to obtain a long-term lease on the property. He lost everything he had, he says.

"I was in my mid-40s when it happened, and I had to re-examine my life," he says. "I went on a self-discovery journey."

What Mercury discovered was that astrology, "an innate ability," was his calling. He pitched his idea for a call-in show that focused on analyzing callers' astrological charts to a KDVS employee. "Sounds cool," came the reply. "When do you want to start?"

Mercury was on the air two weeks later.

"That bankruptcy turned my life around, it was a blessing in disguise," he says. "It's like a door was waiting to open, but I had to lose myself before finding it."

Mercury gave more than 6,300 on-air readings and interviewed more than 300 fellow astrologers and mystics during seven years at KDVS. "The Center of the Universe" became one of the most popular shows in the station's history. Fully convinced he has found his path, Mercury is now looking for ways to increase audience — his airtime was only an hour per week at the campus radio station — through Web-casting, television programming and commercial radio.

Just two days after his final KDVS appearance, Mercury ran into a Sacramento-area radio station director who was intrigued by "The Center of the Universe" and interested in having the show on his station.

Coincidence?

"The people who call things coincidences are the people who don't understand the fabric of life," Mercury says. "There are no coincidences."

What would you be doing now if you had not found astrology?

There's nothing else I'd be doing. This is the reason I was born. I can honestly say that I'm fulfilling my destiny. My whole life has led me to what I'm doing now. You know some people go to graduate school for two years? I've been going to school for 47 years for this profession.

Why do you think your show became so popular?

People are starving for a spiritual understanding of life in this complex world. The language of astrology allows me to reflect their own wisdom from a different perspective.

What's your birth name?

Clinton Leon Cochran. I go by Mercury, not Michael. My older friends call me Clint, and my current friends call me Mercury. It doesn't really matter, either way is fine with me.

Who inspires you?

My parents. They were the greatest examples of love, compassion and forgiveness. They recognized that I was a unique kid and encouraged me to discover who I was.

What's something that perhaps only a few poeple know about you?

I teach yoga. I started learning in 1971 while in Canada, and yoga has now become my passion. I do astrological yoga though; all the postures have astrological equivalents.

Do you have a quote or philosophy that defines you?

"What you are is what you have been, and what you will be is what you do now." — the Buddha.

If you became U.S. president, what would your first action be?

I would put an end to domestic terrorism in America. Every seven minutes a woman is raped. That is far worse than anything foreign terrorists have ever done, and it's not being addressed. I find that frustrating. We have to stop abusing women; they're the mother of us all. •