MUSIC OF THE SPHERES

Governor of California Gavin Newsom has certainly been stirring the pot lately. Instead of taking the usual cautious, buttoned-up Democratic approach, he’s fighting fire with fire by brilliantly mocking Trump and turning TACO’s trademark hubris and pomp right back on him. For those of us who’ve been frustrated watching Democrats play it safe as Trump shreds America’s founding safeguards and gambles recklessly with the economy, Newsom’s willingness to strike back offers a sense of relief.

I had to take a look at Newsom’s natal chart. Fortunately, we have an accurate birth time.  Here are the highlights which I’ll break down one by one:

• Virgo Rising with the Ascendant conjunct Pluto & Uranus
• Eclipses occurring across the 1st and 7th axis
• Saturn in Aries—2nd Saturn Return
• 10th House Profection Year highlighting career and public reputation
• Libra Sun
• Capricorn Moon
• Three planets in Fall and one in Detriment

Virgo Rising conjunct Pluto & Uranus—A Catalyst for Purification and Power

Gavin Newsom’s chart carries the signature of someone born to shake things up. His Virgo Ascendant is tightly conjunct Pluto and 5° from Uranus signifying someone who came into this world to disrupt, liberate, transform, and restructure systems so that something more refined can emerge. He does this through Virgo’s devotion to public service, Uranus’s revolutionary drive for change, and Pluto’s call to return empowerment back to the people.

Eclipses—1st & 7th Houses

From September 2024 through February 2027, many of the eclipses fall across the Virgo-Pisces axis. For Newsom, this axis energizes his 1st House of self and the 7th House of partnerships   Eclipses bring fated openings and dramatic turning points, often ushering in a new era of life, especially when they land in angular houses (1st, 4th, 7th, 10th).

With Newsom’s Ascendant in Virgo, every eclipse along the Virgo-Pisces axis pulls him further into his life path, activating his personal identity while pushing him to step more fully into who he is and how he presents himself. These eclipses can feel fated, creating moments where his visibility increases naturally. The pressure to align his outer behavior with his inner truth forces growth, compelling him to assert himself more boldly.  As we step into eclipses season in September, we can expect Newsom’s drive to disrupt and transform amplify in ways that feel fated and impossible to ignore.

Saturn Return

Saturn in Aries widely opposed his Libra Sun is another key signature in his chart. With Newsom’s Saturn at 8° Aries, he’s entering his second Saturn return, which will be exact in April, November, and December of 2026 and January of 2027. Saturn’s slow, disciplined, and structured nature often clashes with Aries’ impulsive, assertive, and Mars-driven energy, creating tension between caution and action. People with Saturn in Aries often struggle with authority, resist being controlled, and feel compelled to stand up to bullies; but through experience, they learn to channel their boldness with strategy and patience.

In Newsom’s chart, this placement functions as a structural check on raw, reactive power, particularly the kind Trump exudes. Saturn provides restraint and long-term accountability, while Aries gives a courageous, direct, and assertive style. Together, they allow him to confront, limit, and redirect aggressive energy in ways that uphold rules, boundaries, and responsibility, making him a stabilizing presence in moments of high-stakes conflict.

Interestingly, the second Saturn Return is a kind of reckoning. While the first Saturn Return is about laying foundations such as establishing the structure of our adult lives, careers, and responsibilities, the second Saturn Return asks us to assess, consolidate, and perfect those structures. It’s a time we reap what we have sown. We can directly link major life events and themes back to our first Saturn Return.

Newsom’s first Saturn Return in 1996 coincided with his entry into politics, when San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown appointed him to the city’s Parking and Traffic Commission. In Dairy of a CEO, he explains that his foray into politics was unplanned yet transformative. The appointment changed his direction from business to public service. The ensuing learning phase was critical in shaping his future political career.  And now, as he nears his second Saturn Return, it will be interesting to see if he steps more fully into a greater political role.

The second Saturn Return often brings clarity about what is truly ours to carry, what we have outgrown, and where we need to exercise more discipline, patience, and strategic foresight. It is a moment of accountability and realignment, where experience meets ambition, and we are called to step more fully into mature authority and self-mastery.

10th House Profection Year

This year, at age 57, Newsom is in a 10th House profection, a year that amplifies themes of reputation, ambition, and leadership. In a 10th House year, public standing, professional achievements, and the exercise of authority come to the forefront, often bringing both opportunities and heightened scrutiny. For Newsom, this is a time when career decisions, visible actions, and how he is perceived by others carry extra weight, and when the choices he makes can have lasting impact on his legacy. It’s a year for stepping into responsibility, asserting leadership, and aligning personal goals with public expectations.

Libra Sun

Newsom’s Libra Sun adds another dimension. Libra at its best seeks justice, fairness, and balance. Diplomacy is the sign’s gift, but Newsom shows that diplomacy doesn’t always mean passivity. His Sun energizes him to fight fire with fire, yet with a sense of style and dignity. In interviews, Newsom has shared he enjoys engaging with people who hold different viewpoints, reflecting Libra’s talent for weighing multiple perspectives, seeking fairness, and appreciating nuance. This openness to dialogue illustrates his ability to balance competing interests and make measured, considered decisions, even in complex or contentious situations.

Capricorn Moon

Then there’s his Capricorn Moon. The Moon describes our inner world, our instincts, and our emotional drive. In Capricorn, the Moon is pragmatic, grounded, and disciplined. It does not flinch from hard realities. This placement gives him emotional toughness and the ability to keep going when others might fold. It also lends a seriousness that balances out the more performative qualities of his chart.

The Moon often describes our mother and her nurturing style. Newsom’s Moon in Capricorn vividly reflects his mother, whose determination, discipline, and resilience shaped his early emotional world. In Diary of a CEO, He describes her as having “sacrificed everything for two kids,” raising him and his sister largely on her own after his father left, while “grinding” as a part-time waitress. She “came from no wealth, no real privilege,” and struggled with her own identity and confidence, yet became the “anchor, the rock,” a “rockstar single mom.” Newsom credits her influence with instilling his work ethic, noting that “everything that finds the best of me—grit, hard work—is reflected in her” and that she taught him “nothing’s going to be handed to you.” Emotional responsibility, self-reliance, and practical ambition: all hallmarks of Capricorn.

Even though Newsom’s Moon is said to be in detriment in Capricorn, it helped cultivate the disciplined, persevering, and achievement-oriented qualities Newsom exudes.

Planets in Fall and Detriment can shape Magic Moments

Besides his Moon in detriment, Newsom has three planets in fall. These placements are not easy, but they often forge resilience and resourcefulness. Such placements give rise to an underdog quality, requiring the individual to creatively work with limitations, and sharpen their will through adversity.

In Newsom, this scrappy edge is evident in his humble beginnings, self-reliance, and relentless work ethic. He “didn’t come from any wealth,” grew up witnessing his mother “grinding” across multiple jobs, and learned early on that “nothing’s going to be handed to you.” Academic struggles, including severe dyslexia, forced him to develop inventive strategies to succeed and shaped a mindset that embraces perseverance, adaptation, and “failing forward fast.”

In fact, the Fail Forward Fast method is a great example of planets in fall and detriment! To encourage this mindset in others, Newsom implemented a “failure award” in his businesses, giving a bonus each month to the employee with the “biggest screw-up” because they had “tried to solve a goddamn problem.” Later, renamed the “magical moment award,” it incentivized initiative, experimentation, and smart risk-taking, much like planets in signs contrary to their nature which are challenged to act creatively and resourcefully beyond their usual tendencies.

This combination of challenge and determination helped Newsom transform early obstacles into the grit, hard work, and entrepreneurial drive.

Altogether, Newsom’s chart is alive with the signatures of transformation, responsibility, and public visibility. The eclipses, Saturn Return, and 10th House profection year converge to create a turning point that could catapult his career and his legacy.

August 22, 2025 at 11:07pm PDT—Most mornings, my days begin very Virgo. I wake early, meditate, read while sipping yerba maté 🧉, then head out at 6am to take the dogs for an hour walk as I listen to podcasts. This nourishing ritual creates a peaceful scaffold for everything that follows once the day switches into high gear.

The other morning, my gentle corridor into the day cracked open into a surprise. As I turned to walk home, a massive coyote crossed the street in front of me and stood still in an urban yard. It was as interested in me as I was in it. For a long moment, there was no routine, no walk, no schedule. There was only awe as we beheld one another. Even now, a sense of magic lingers, reminding me that no matter how carefully we arrange our days, the wild can step in.

Routine Interrupted

Friday’s New Moon in Virgo carries that same quality. Virgo values structure, order, and optimization. A new moon here is normally an invitation to reset the habits that serve us, polish the gears of daily routines, and recommit to the practices that keep us grounded. But this new moon squares Uranus, the trickster planet of disruption and breakthrough. It’s as though the coyote has wandered into the yard of our routines, and introduced a breath-taking element of surprise. Virgo—the place in our chart where we usually strive for precision and flow—is on the cusp of a new beginning that feels unexpected, maybe even rouge!

Virgo steps forward right now with not only one new moon but two, with next month’s arriving as an eclipse. Friday’s New Moon shakes the Virgo part of our lives awake, preparing us for the New Moon Solar Eclipse on September 21st and reconnecting us with themes playing out back in March, during the Lunar Eclipse in Virgo.

The ruler of this new moon, Mercury, blazes in Leo, rising before the Sun. Mercury’s voice is loud, bold, and unwilling to stay small. Where Virgo prefers modest refinement, Mercury in Leo asserts itself with confidence and courage. This energy can help us bring clarity, playfulness, and daring self-expression to the new beginnings this moon invites.

The Magic of Discipline

At 00°23′, the New Moon falls in the first ten degrees of Virgo, the decan associated with the Eight of Pentacles. In tarot, this card shows a craftsman at his bench, shaping pentacles with care and repetition. It speaks of diligence, apprenticeship, and learning by doing. I like to think of it as the 10,000 hours card. Even with a square to Uranus, disruption does not mean destruction. If Uranus introduces a bit of chaos and surprise, what emerges can refine our craft. In the Eight of Pentacles, we make our own magic in the discipline of returning, again and again, to the work of shaping our lives.

So as this cycle begins, honor your rituals, but leave the door open for magic and notice the wild visitor standing at the edge of the yard.

In the natal chart, the asteroid goddesses—Juno, Ceres, Pallas Athene, and Vesta—offer a window into the feminine dimensions of the psyche: how we relate, nourish, create, and devote ourselves with purpose. While I was living in Mexico, I designed these pendants as an homage to Demetra George, whose pioneering work has illuminated the timeless relevance of these celestial archetypes in the lives of all—women and men alike.

I crafted only ten of each, set in sterling silver. Each pendant comes with an 18-inch chain. They’re nearly gone, so if one calls to you, now is the time to claim it.

JUNO Queen of Heaven

Regaled as the Queen of the Gods, the Greeks knew her as Hera. Older myths align her as the Triple Moon Goddess representing the three stages of a woman’s life: Maiden, Mother and Sage.

In our charts, Juno represents the relating principle. She points to what we need in a committed relationship in order to be content.

Archetype: Commitment, partnership, sovereignty in relationship, fairness, long-term bonds

1. Michelle Obama – Embodies loyalty, grace in long-term partnership, and strong selfhood within relationship.
2. Ruth Bader Ginsburg – Devoted to justice and equality in marriage and law, modeling dignity and commitment.
3. Paul Newman – Known for his enduring marriage to Joanne Woodward and his committed humanitarian work.
4. Beyoncé – Navigates the complexities of love, power, and partnership while honoring feminine agency.

Only 1 Juno left: Fortify your path toward soulful commitment and relational clarity.

VESTA Keeper of the Flame

Vesta is one of the oldest and most cherished goddesses. Hestia, her Greek name, means “hearth”, symbolic of that what brings us together, gives us focus and captures our attention.

In our charts, Vesta describes our commitment style and where we revitalize ourselves through work, devotion and even sacrifice.

Archetype: Sacred devotion, focus, inner fire, dedication to service or spiritual practice

1. Teresa of Ávila – Mystic, nun, and writer devoted to the inner life and spiritual discipline.
2. Mister Rogers – Compassionately devoted to nurturing the hearts and minds of children with a calm, focused presence.
3. Maya Lin – Architect of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Her focused, reverent design reflects sacred service and remembrance.
4. Bell Hooks – Dedicated her life to love as a transformative force through scholarship, writing, and teaching.

SOLD OUT: Honor your need for solitude, discipline, and sacred focus.

CERES Great Mother

The Greeks knew her as Demeter which comes from da mater or “earth mother.” Ceres was the important goddess of the harvest. Her story is one of loss and reunion and the cycles inherent in life.

In our charts, Ceres points to how we nourish others and need to be nourished. She also speaks to self worth, to loss & recovery.

Archetype: Nourishment, grief and renewal, mothering, the cycle of loss and return

1. Princess Diana – Embodied public compassion and personal vulnerability, especially in her mothering and humanitarian work.
2. Thich Nhat Hanh – Taught mindful nourishment of the body and soul, embodying gentle compassion and care.
3. Oprah Winfrey – A cultural mother figure; nurtures collective healing and encourages emotional literacy and growth.
4. Brené Brown – Guides others in self-worth, vulnerability, and recovery from shame—key themes of Ceres.

3 Ceres pendants remain: Strengthen the part of you that knows how to give, grieve, and grow again.

PALLAS ATHENE Warrior Queen

Athena emerged fully grown from her father’s forehead. Zeus. Her roots reach back to her origins in the African Amazons as the Libyan Triple Goddess Neith.

In our charts, Pallas Athene describes our capacity for creativity, curiosity, strategy and synthesis. Given her gift to see patterns, she is the patron goddess of weavers.

Archetype: Wisdom, creative intelligence, pattern recognition, strategy, justice, boundary-setting

1. Greta Thunberg – Fierce, clear-sighted, and strategic in her advocacy, Greta channels intellect and moral clarity into powerful global action.
2. James Baldwin – Wove art, activism, and analysis into fierce truth-telling; saw cultural patterns others missed.
3. Amanda Gorman – Uses creative intellect and poetic form to speak truth to power with elegance and precision.
4. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) – A skilled communicator and strategist with a deep commitment to justice and reform.

Just 2 Pallas Athenes left: Align with your inner strategist where pattern, creative intelligence, and insight meet.

To see them all, visit my store.

August 9, 2025 at 12:55am PDT—The Full Moon at 17° Aquarius rises like a lantern in an indigo canyon of swirling winds on Saturday, an hour after midnight. It’s a still point amid motion, offering us clarity even as everything else stirs with tension and change.

Though this Moon makes no exact aspects itself, it’s part of a larger and very active sky. In addition, this is the second New Moon in a row ruled by Saturn in Aries, a placement  described as its fall, where Saturn’s slow, disciplined approach is at odds with Aries’ fiery thrust to act now and deal with the fall-out later. This tension between urgency and restraint feels frustrating. We may wrestle with an impatient desire to charge ahead, come what may, even as we’re unsure which path truly aligns with long-term stability.

What’s more, as the Full Moon rises, two rare kite patterns hover in the skies, weaving into the fabric of this lunation’s power.

Kite #1: Breakthrough in the Air

Once Mars enters Libra on the 6th, he begins to move into a Grand Air Trine between Uranus (Gemini) and Pluto (Aquarius)—signs that favor connection, communication, and innovation. Ideas flow, insights deepen, and conversations carry us somewhere new.

A kite forms when there’s a planet that anchors one of the three planets in the trine by opposition, like a triangle popsicle. Here, we have two anchors: (Saturn conjunct Neptune) opposing Mars. Whereas the air trine (triangle) offers possibility through the flow of ideas and intellectual stimulation, the opposition (popsicle stick) uses tension, like a bow pulled taut before the arrow flies, to activate the trine. Rather than floating, the energy now has a point of release, turning potential into action.

Example: Book on Dipa Ma

As I write this, I’m reminded of a book I just finished reading about the life of Dipa Ma, a revered Buddhist master who taught mindfulness teachers like Jack Kornfield, Sharon Salzberg, Joseph Goldstein, and Sylvia Boorstein.

The book’s insights feel like an Air trine in motion: it challenges my perspectives (Mars in Libra), deepens my insight (Pluto in Aquarius), and offers a path to mental freedom (Uranus in Gemini).  But unless I suffer, I guess I’m just not motivated enough to put the insights into action!

The suffering—Mars opposing Saturn/Neptune—mirrors a real-life challenge between consequences (Saturn) and confusion (Neptune) which, when worked with consciously (Mars in Libra), can be transformed into wisdom (Saturn) and spiritual understanding (Neptune). For me, that tension shows up as the discipline it takes to actually do the work: to meditate, to engage in right thinking, and to steady a restless mind. Only then can I receive the gifts Ma Dipa spent her life teaching—which, to me, mirrors the energy of the Air Trine: the gifts of clarity and ease of mind.

Kite #2: Voice Meets Depth

A second kite forms as Mercury opposes Pluto, activating the same Grand Air Trine. Mercury in Leo is grinding its gears as it prepares to station direct on the 11th. This moment invites us to dig deep into Leo’s terrain—pride, self-cherishing, personal radiance, and focus—and turn it over and over with Pluto’s shovel until the nuggets of truth reveal themselves like shiny bits of gold.

With both anchors (Mercury in Mars) of two kites in sextile, the Full Moon in Aquarius could very well culminate in a verbal showdown, albeit a staggered one.  Mercury in Leo wants to roar, while Mars in Libra, influenced by Venus, urges diplomacy and perspective. The tension? It comes from the competing desires to keep the peace and be fully heard. What stalls clarity and breakthrough may not be a lack of expression, but bruised pride that lingers from words that dagger the heart.

Six of Swords Tarot Card—Metabolizing Grief

This Full Moon takes place in the second decan of Aquarius, linked to the Six of Swords in the tarot, a card of transitions, crossings, and healing passages through uncertainty. The Six follows the Five, a card that deals with grief, loss, and regret, leading into the transition and healing represented by the Six.

The image shows a figure and a child ferried across choppy waters, leaving behind something familiar but painful, and moving toward a horizon that is still unknown. After the pain of the Five, we’re metabolizing grief in Six. We’re not at peace, but we are moving closer to it. Even if the answers haven’t landed yet, the figures here are taking action as they travel through emotional turbulence.

In the context of this Full Moon, the Six of Swords reminds us that perspective often missing in the beginning comes mid-journey.  When we begin the work, support begins to show up in unexpected ways to help us break old mental patterns as signified by the Swords. This is the Full Moon’s light as a lantern: illuminating just enough of the path ahead to take the next step.

There’s Good News Too! 

As we cross these inner waters, one of the most heartening conjunctions of the year greets us on the other side: Venus conjunct Jupiter in Cancer, just after the Full Moon on August 11th.

Venus and Jupiter are considered the two benefics in astrology. When they come together, we often feel a sweetening of life and a deeper capacity to give and receive love. In Cancer, their union is especially tender, emotional, and nourishing. It speaks to the security of belonging and the healing power of connection. After the swirl of air and the tension of oppositions, this conjunction arrives like a warm and steady hand lifting us up and out of the darkness of a midnight canyon.

In Summary

Saturday’s Full Moon in Aquarius, rising like a lantern in a dark canyon, invites clarity amid tension and change. With two active kite patterns weaving into the sky’s fabric, the energy supports breakthroughs through both mental discipline and emotional depth, helping us move through transitions and heal from grief. Though the voyage may feel uncertain like a Six of Swords boat ride, the Full Moon offers enough clarity to take the next step toward healing and connection, culminating in the sweet conjunction of Venus and Jupiter, offering love, support, and emotional renewal.

Full Moon image generated in Ideogram

July 10, 2025 at 1:36pm PDT—Imagine this: A graduate walks across the stage, diploma in hand, gown pressed, parents beaming. She did everything by the book. Four grueling years climbing the Saturnian ladder of higher education. She pulled the all-nighters, took out student loans, interned at impressive places, and curated a resume she could be proud of.

And then?

The job market she trained for quietly vanished. According to recent data, 40% of white-collar job seekers in 2024 didn’t receive a single interview. The hiring rate for professional roles hit its lowest point since 2013, even as corporate profits surged and AI-fueled productivity. Our graduate is facing a structural shake-up where AI isn’t just a tool, it’s the new workforce. Despite years of preparation, the rules for Capricornian cornerstones like success, accomplishment, and lasting stability have been rewritten overnight, and no one bothered to tell the graduating body.

This scenario offers a fitting analogy for Thursday’s Full Moon in Capricorn, a lunation that illuminates how even our most carefully built structures and long-term plans can shift overnight. For many of us, this Full Moon may reveal the hairline cracks in the foundations of things we once believed were unshakable, like the notion that a solid education guarantees a stable career. But it also offers a chance to rebuild with greater integrity, flexibility, and alignment with who we are now, not who we were when we first poured the concrete.

When Your Foundation Gets Trust Issues

Happening on July 10th in the second decan of Capricorn, this Full Moon illuminates the scaffolding of our lives: our ambitions, our commitments, and our strategically designed plans. For more detail, look to the house in your chart that holds Capricorn to see where this impacts you directly. A Full Moon in cardinal earth offers a moment of clarity on how your own mountain climb is going.

But this isn’t a normal year. This isn’t even normal Capricorn. Why? Because Cap’s ruler, Saturn, is in a mirage filled desert:

—Saturn is in Aries where it’s considered in its “fall”, meaning it’s in terrain that doesn’t naturally support Saturn’s steady, authoritative, structured vibe.

—Saturn is less than 1° from Neptune, the planet of dreams, illusions, and transcendence. Saturn solidifies while Neptune dissolves. Together, they exist in tension—like a particle and a wave—where Saturn seeks form and Neptune invites dissolution, each pulling in different directions.

—Just two days after the Full Moon, Saturn stations retrograde.

When a planet stations, it amplifies its influence. This means that a currently under-resourced Saturn is drawing attention to areas where you may feel overburdened, burned-out, or out of your depth. The endurance you’ve relied on has finally hit its breaking point. This is a time to deeply reassess your long-term vision—especially in the Aries part of your chart—where Saturn’s pressure is most intense.

It can be challenging to reassess at this time as the Saturn-Neptune configuration can have us asking What’s real and what’s projection?  Where do we bear responsibility and when do we surrender to what is?

This combo may bring up:

—Disillusionment with a path you once felt sure of.

—A desire to retreat and rest, even while external pressure urges you to take action for the results you’d like to see.

—A sense that something is off, even if you can’t name it yet.

If you have planets in Aries, or Aries is an angular house in your chart, you may be feeling this more than most as that area of life is being restructured from the ground up. You may not be able to act decisively there right now, and that’s okay. The Full Moon in Capricorn shines a light to where you need realignment, reinforcement, or release.

Uranus enters Gemini: Plot twist!

Meanwhile, Uranus enters Gemini tomorrow, July 7th, ushering in surprises, innovation, and  disruptions to how we think, communicate, connect, and learn.  It also brings its own brand of alignment through Chaos & Breakthrough to a new part of our charts, shaking things up to shake us awake. Think back to the shifts you’ve experienced since 2018, when Uranus entered Taurus. Now, that same revolutionary energy is moving into your Gemini house, where it will stir the pot for the next seven years.

This is what makes the Capricorn Full Moon so challenging. It’s trying to illuminate what’s stable and lasting, just as Uranus shakes the foundations, and Saturn—the Full Moon’s ruler—begins to backpedal in a sign it struggles in, right next to Neptune, a planet antithetical to Saturn’s nature. This lunation holds a lot of contradiction: the need to plan versus the impossibility of clarity, the urge to build versus the instability of the ground beneath us. We’re being asked to commit, restructure, and let go all at once.

Just like our graduate, we may find ourselves standing at a threshold with a degree in hand, a plan in mind, and a world that no longer plays by the rules we trained for. It’s tempting to panic, or to feel like we’ve missed something vital. But this moment isn’t broken. The instability is a feature, not a bug. This Full Moon reminds us that clarity doesn’t always come before the leap. Sometimes, the structure takes shape as we move forward.

In Summary

This Full Moon in Capricorn is usually when we check the integrity of our inner scaffolding; but this year’s inspection might reveal hairline cracks, surprise detours, or the realization that the blueprint needs a redraw.

With Saturn in its fall, within one degree of Neptune, and about to station retrograde, the usual rules don’t apply. And with Uranus freshly in Gemini, the plot twists aren’t bugs in the system, they are the system now.

If you’re feeling behind, disoriented, or like your ladder is leaning against the wrong wall, maybe you’re not off course. Maybe you’re adapting. You don’t have to have it all figured out. Just build slowly. Dream deliberately. Let this Full Moon be an inward checkpoint along the way.

Known as Hestia in Greek mythology, Vesta represents the hearth, the center of the home, the temple, and the self. She isn’t loud or attention-seeking; she stays close to the flame—devoted, consistent, and deeply present. Her devotion is her strength.

The eldest daughter of Saturn and Rhea, and sibling to Jupiter, Neptune, Pluto, Juno, and Ceres, Vesta is one of the most ancient and revered deities. In both myth and astrology, she represents the core essence we return to again and again. She reminds us of what we’re devoted to—not because we must be, but because something in us recognizes it as sacred.

In ancient Rome, the City’s flame was a national treasure. It was tended by the Vestal Virgins, a group of highly honored priestesses chosen from noble families. These women took a vow of celibacy—not to be controlled, but to stay independent. The word virgin in this older sense meant “one unto herself.” They belonged to no one. Their devotion wasn’t about abstinence but about complete dedication to a higher principle. Keeping the fire alive was an act of spiritual continuity, service, and power.

Further back still, in pre-patriarchal cultures, Vesta’s priestesses tended both sacre waters and flames in service to the Great Mother. These women were far from cloistered. They were the embodiment of living rituals: sovereign, sensual, deeply connected to the rhythms of earth and spirit. In some myths, their unions with noble men in sacred rites brought forth “virgin-born” children—future kings, heroes, or visionaries—conceived through divine, not paternal, lineage.

Astrologically, Vesta in the natal chart indicates where we’re willing to devote ourselves fully. It speaks to the kind of focus that feels sacred to us. It’s the work we would do even if no one ever noticed. Our Vesta placement also highlights where we might need to periodically withdraw to rekindle our inner fire, especially when we’ve spread ourselves too thin or given too much.

Where Vesta lives in your chart is where your commitment becomes a spiritual act. It’s the part of your life that calls for care, dedication, and integrity. It’s where you might feel most alive through devotion, ritual, and purpose.   

Wearing a Vesta pendant can be a simple ritual to honor her and Vesta’s placement in your natal chart. It’s a reminder that tending to your inner flame is purposeful. Through Vesta, we remember that the strongest magic burns quietly at our center, giving light to  everything it touches.

I made ten silver sterling Vesta pendants. I have two left. If you’d like one, go to Store > Pendants.

This Still Life entry was written under the recent sextile between Venus in Gemini and Saturn/Neptune in Aries.

The question of meaning began to pirouette inside of Feely, turning from the snoozy koan: 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘐 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦? toward the glimmering tug of 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘮𝘦?

Feely began to think of life as a dance partner and purpose as a playlist on shuffle. She began to let the music move through her as she followed life’s lead.

Meet Faunabelle Tarot — a little deck with a big heart. 💖

Designed to spark kindness and self-compassion in kids and the young at heart, Faunabelle is as sweet as it is wise. Whether you’re brand new to tarot or you’ve been reading cards since forever, this deck wants to be your gentle guide.

✨ 78 buttery-feel and oversized cards with a cast of charming, symbol-rich animals
✨ A soft, colorful guidebook with meanings written in kid-friendly, heart-friendly language
✨ Shimmery gold foil details, matte gold edges, and a keepsake box as special as what’s inside

Follow the adventures of a dog (Wands), goldfish (Cups), cockatiel (Swords), and tortoise (Pentacles)—all exploring what it means to live with joy, love, mindfulness, and care.

Faunabelle isn’t just for children. It’s for anyone who wants to wrap themselves in beauty, wonder, and a little extra kindness.

Think of it like the “Big Sister Best Friend” of tarot decks: cozy, sparkly, encouraging, and always cheering you on.

Ships from Oregon with love. You can purchase a deck from my store.

Julia closed her eyes and let the midday sun fall on her face as she took in a deep breath, held it for five seconds, and then let it go. How did she end up here? The conformity was killing her. She might look like just another orange chair in a room of orange chairs, but she knew, as certain as she had four silver legs, that she was meant for bigger things.

💫  Saturn Return
📷  San Luis Potosi, Mexico. September 2011.

 

When Gunther traded in success for wonder, his entire world changed.

💫 New Moon in Cancer conjunct Jupiter
📷 Seattle, Washington. June 2025.

June 25, 2025 at 3:31am PDT—My grandmother used to visit every summer around this time when I was growing up. I always looked forward to spending time with her. One of our favorite things to do was to build outside sleeping forts made of blankets pinned over the milk cases my father collected. At bedtime, the California summer sky tucked us in as we’d curl up in our cozy cave. I would fall asleep listening to her braid her childhood stories with animal fables. I could never tell where history ended and myth began, as they were seamless.

I received my inheritance under those blanketed milk cases, delivered through my grandmother’s imagination. She fed me her unique spell-work like an IV drip of time, care, and wisdom that deeply nourished my own nascent sense of self.

Looking back, I realize those nights were a soft initiation into her lineage. This is Cancer: subtly powerful, woven with nostalgia, encoded with ancestral material designed to nourish and tend the internal hearth of each clan member.

Cancer as Belonging and Restoration

Wednesday’s New Moon in Cancer feels a lot like curling up inside one of those cozy, blanket milk caves—not just for a safe haven or essential sleep, but for the restorative feeding of your soul. The nourishment being seeded is belonging itself: to lineage, to the sacred-bonds between us, and to your own sense of self worth.

The Moon’s domicile is Cancer, meaning Wednesday’s New Moon is right at home, nestled in her own soft sheets, familiar with every creak of the house, every old photograph on the wall. When a planet is in its domicile, it has full access to its resources. It doesn’t have to borrow another planet’s tools or speak a foreign language to express itself. So this New Moon arrives with a clear message, fluent in the emotional dialect of belonging, kinship, and care.

The Company This Moon Keeps—Jupiter

The New Moon in Cancer is not operating on its own. It’s influenced by its connections to other planets, shaping how its energy unfolds and what it’s asking of us. The Moon here is conjunct an exalted Jupiter—the planet of growth, meaning, wisdom, and abundance. When Jupiter is in Cancer, expansion happens through nourishment, care, connection, and emotional generosity. Jupiter in Cancer isn’t concerned with status. It’s more about the fullness that comes from knowing you’re safe, knowing you matter, and being part of something protective and sustaining.  The support surrounding the deportation of a the beloved wine-maker Moises Sotelo is a good example.

It’s interesting to note that the United States own birth chart has Jupiter in Cancer, a celestial signature of the country’s origin story. Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free… echoes the care-taking generosity of Jupiter in Cancer. The American dream, at least in its highest ideal, has always been about creating a home for the displaced. Of course we know that ideal has been flawed and unevenly applied, but that’s the shadow side of Cancer too: fiercely protective of “its own” and sometimes drawing hard lines around who gets to belong.

But at its best, Jupiter in Cancer is the promise of sanctuary, where purpose and meaning is not met through competition, but through kinship and care. This New Moon taps into that same archetype, in both the current politics we’re witnessing as well as in the personal, day-to-day choices we’re making about how we hold one another in tenderness, empathy, and understanding. Conjunct Jupiter in Cancer, lunar abundance looks like protection, caring for people, and making sure no one gets left out.

Support from Mars

Besides joining Jupiter, Wednesday’s New Moon also forms a harmonious sextile to Mars in Virgo, offering a thread of steady, detail-oriented action. Mars in Virgo is the meticulous editor with a red pen, circling typos in the manuscript of your life, making awkward sentences better, and turning passive verbs into active ones.

The word I like to use for Mars in Virgo is “iteration”. This earthy-mutable Mars is more about refining than it is heroic breakthroughs. It adjusts and improves the last draft. Mars in Virgo isn’t flashy; it’s practical, detailed, and continually perfecting. The take home here is that small actions you begin under the light of this Moon cycle will add up, and the end product might look a lot different than what you start with.

The Challenge

The most challenging note here is the overcoming square from Saturn and Neptune in Aries to this fertile New Moon in Cancer. Saturn can feel like a bit of a Debbie Downer, constantly asking us to be realistic, make a plan, and set down our boundaries. Often, Saturn appears as an obstacle we have to navigate before we can move forward. Alongside Saturn, Neptune can represent overwhelm, disillusionment, or just plain fog about what forward terrain looks like.

When these two are tangled up, it’s easy to feel caught between the vision of the life you want and the practical limitations standing in the way. This New Moon might surface those tensions: the ache of wanting closeness, community, or creativity, but bumping up against the real work it takes to bring those dreams into form.  The questions bubbling up in Cancer’s New Moon Cauldron might feel like: Where have I idealized connection but avoided the practical steps required to build it? Where do I long for belonging but hesitate to lay the foundation it needs?

Two of Cups

It’s fitting that the Two of Cups corresponds with the decan this New Moon seeds—the first ten degrees of Cancer. Traditionally, this card speaks to partnerships, connection, and mutual exchange. Like the sweetest of times I spent with my grandmother, it’s the sacred moment of being seen. It’s the gift of offering your vulnerability, and having it met with care. It’s the sentiment behind Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s quote, “I love you not only for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you.” The Two of Cups reminds us that while relationships can’t complete us, they can meet us and supply the very nourishment we’ve been craving.

As this New Moon arrives, maybe the work isn’t to build something perfect, but to build something real. The blankets might sag, the stories might blur between fact and myth, the ground might be hard, but it’s yours. This Cancer Moon offers us the chance to cultivate connection and belonging, where we are seen, nourished, and loved. As we open to tenderness, and commit to small actions and steady repair, we get to become the kind of people who can offer that soft fort of care to others.

June 11, 2025 at 12:42am PDT—Welcome to June, a month of crossing thresholds. June is the liminal passage of Lucy stepping through an ordinary wardrobe into Narnia, a magical world frozen in time, waiting for adventure and courage to thaw it.  We’re not just turning a page this month. We’re stepping through it.

In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the portal doesn’t just open into magic, it opens into responsibility, transformation, and destiny. Each of the four Pevensie children is an archetype in motion: the skeptic, the believer, the reluctant hero, the seer. None of them expects to be chosen, and yet there they are—shouldering quests, wielding swords, walking toward their own becoming.

A wardrobe month

June’s sky echoes this arc as the planets rearrange themselves into doorways and beckon us through into our own transformational quests. At the time of Wednesday’s Full Moon in Sag, all the planets (besides the luminaries) are either in the final farewells of old signs or in the first few degrees of new signs. These are bold, initiating shifts. What’s more: all planets—except Pluto in fixed Aquarius—are direct. No retrograde ruminations. We’re forging a new timeline, cloak billowing behind us, ready or not.

As we pass through, two bright allies reclaim their thrones: Venus entered her nocturnal domicile on Taurus on June 5th while Jupiter enters his place of exaltation in Cancer tomorrow, June 9th. As we begin to settle into this shifting season, a celebratory full moon rises, glowing like a lantern in the desert.

The Sagittarius Full Moon is our compass check. Sagittarius is the seeker, the wanderer, and the idealist. C.S. Lewis himself was a true Sagittarian explorer with a stellium of six celestial bodies in the philosopher’s sign—Sun, Mercury, Venus, Saturn, Uranus, and Chiron—and a Gemini Full Moon! Under this adventuresome Moon, truth lights the way.

Yet despite the verve and optimism, there’s weight here too. This lunation falls in the third decan of Sagittarius, associated with the Ten of Wands. Like every hero’s journey, this one has been especially arduous. You’ve probably been carrying more than your share. The Full Moon illuminates what’s been too much, and invites you to set it down. We don’t have to carry it all on our own. When the Ten of Wands appears in readings, it’s often an indication that if you reach out for help, you’ll find it.

The Full Moon seeks support through a trine with Mars in Aries, offering courage, and just enough enthusiastic fire to make a next move.

Jupiter in Cancer: Aslan has returned

Jupiter, ruler of the Full Moon in Sag, will step into Cancer tomorrow where he’s exalted. In Cancer, Jupiter grows through belonging, nurturing, and through deep-feeling. Jupiter in Cancer is hearth magic. It’s the mentor who has protected you and built you through showing you your own worth. In Cancer, Jupiter reminds us that home isn’t a place, it’s a feeling of being known and nurtured, where vulnerability can become a strength. As ruler of the Full Moon, Jupiter in Cancer lends care and respite to the final stretch of the journey, when it’s time to lighten the load and look ahead.

This Full Moon matters because it shows you what you’ve been carrying, and what you’re now ready to leave behind. In true Sagittarius style, it illuminates the new story waiting, but whether you answer the call or stay where it’s safe—that’s your myth to make.

Pallas Athene, also known simply as Athena, embodies the divine union of wisdom, reason, and creativity. Born from her father Zeus’s forehead fully armored, her emergence was a symbol of intellect fused with strength. Her mother, the Titan Metis, meaning “wise counsel,” was swallowed by Zeus before Athena’s birth, creating a myth that speaks to the deep, unspoken wisdom that often resides beneath the surface, waiting to emerge in moments of necessity.

Athena’s origins trace back to even older mythologies, where her archetype was rooted in the Libyan Snake Goddess Neith, worshiped by the African Amazons. This gives Athena a legacy of wisdom that stretches across cultures, blending intellectual and intuitive powers. Athena’s wisdom was always embodied, practical, and rooted in the real world. It’s no surprise that she was credited with some of the most essential human inventions: weaving, pottery, chariot-making, and even shipbuilding. Through her, we see that intelligence isn’t just about thinking, but about creating, building, and making something tangible from a brilliant idea.

Athena was also known to add “Pallas” to her name in honor of a childhood friend, whom she tragically killed during a friendly combat practice session. This story, marked by sorrow, transformation, and the weight of responsibility, demonstrates Athena’s connection to both intellect and the emotional wisdom gained through experience.

In astrology, Pallas Athene speaks to our capacity for creative synthesis, strategic thinking, and a keen, perceptive mind. She guides us in seeing patterns where others might not, bringing clarity to complex situations, and enabling us to approach life with both logic and intuition. Her energy is one of innovation and resourcefulness, urging us to think outside the box and channel our intellectual powers into meaningful action.

Wearing a Pallas Athene pendant can serve as a reminder of the balance between intellect and intuition, between strategy and creativity. It symbolizes the ability to turn ideas into action, to see the whole picture while understanding the finer details. It’s a tribute to the wisdom that comes with experience and the strength found in creative intelligence.

I’m loving this Pallas Athene pendant for this powerful New Moon in Gemini. I have two Pallas pedants left at this time.

May 26, 2025 at 8:03pm PDT—The Sun lights up the mutable air sign of Gemini from May 20th to June 19th. With the Sun, Mercury, and Jupiter all in Gemini, the pace picks up. We’re feeling more social and eager to get out and about. Be open to change. New opportunities and fresh perspectives are on their way with tomorrow’s New Moon in Gemini.

Gemini’s Multifaceted Nature

Gemini, like Mercury himself, is a tricky sign to fully grasp. My favorite Gemini is my grandmother. She had many curious parts to her: trickster, herb encyclopedia, traveler, story teller. We would sleep outside when she visited. I would fall asleep as she created worlds from the places she had visited: Rome, Kenya, the Florida Coast. During the day, we would walk barefoot in the canyon where she would teach me all about the flowers and grasses, picking some to eat on our explorations. We were two peas in a pod with one Chiron Return between us. As I learned astrology, she became my archetype for one version of Gemini: free & inquisitive, like a playful wind that breezes between the nooks and crannies of every experience, tincturing just enough of it to carry its essence in a story file. Like Gemini, she was perennially young despite the tapestry of lines that formed around a forever smiling face and easy laugh.

Tomorrow’s New Moon in Gemini feels like a visit from my grandmother: nimble, fun, full of possibility, and attuned to magic. This is an Alice-in-Wonderland lunation, open to fantastical beginnings. It’s a mental reset that clears the static and jolts us into the present. Further, it’s unusually potent. Ideas born now aren’t just clever—they have legs. They have vision. They may even have staying power.

The Power of Planetary Support

Every new moon plants a seed, but what grows depends on the company it keeps. While new moons mark moments of initiation, their tone is shaped by the planetary aspects surrounding them and the condition of their ruler. In this case, the Gemini New Moon comes with an unusual chorus of planetary support in yang signs (Fire & Air)—and that makes it worth paying attention to.

First, the New Moon is in Gemini, a sign governed by Mercury. That alone sets the stage for a new cycle influenced by thought, language, learning, perception, and social exchange. But this Moon is also conjunct its capable ruler, Mercury in its own home, doubling down on Gemini themes: mental sharpness, communicative clarity, business acumen, and adaptability. It’s an ideal window for intuition to put disparate pieces together and pull a rabbit out of its own thinking cap.

Next, there’s a supportive sextile from Saturn, who ingressed into Aries just yesterday on the 24th. Saturn helps translate fleeting inspiration into grounded, long-term structures. Saturn offers endurance and solidity. In aspect to a Gemini Moon, it stabilizes what could otherwise be a flurry of passing thoughts. This alignment gives ideas just enough structure to start taking shape, turning a concept from daydream to blueprint.

Neptune—also in Aries and in a supportive sextile to the New Moon—offers heightened imagination, intuition, and spiritual insight. Neptune’s role here is subtler. It opens up the symbolic layer beneath the data stream, offering access to dreams, timelines, and ideals. It’s less about clarity and more about allowing space to incubate vision.

I’ve often found that Neptune offers the gift of surrender, letting something go so something more meaningful can emerge. Under Neptune’s influence, we don’t chisel a pathway out of stone, but instead, we hold space until the fog lifts, revealing a deeper truth. Letting go in this context means loosening our grip on rigid expectations so we can receive something more inspired, more intuitive, and perhaps even more aligned than what we originally envisioned.

Then there’s Pluto, forming a trine from Aquarius. This is where things get deeper. Pluto lends transformative potential—less about surface shifts and more about core-level recalibration. Whatever begins now may evolve into something with far greater impact than initially expected. This is the kind of New Moon that can seem light on the surface but carries hidden tectonic shifts below.

Finally, we can’t forget Jupiter’s co-presence in Gemini. The Greater Benefic’s proximity to this New Moon adds extra wattage to whatever’s getting seeded now. Jupiter encourages big ideas, bold curiosity, and a willingness to think beyond our usual mental frameworks. The ancients viewed Jupiter as the planet of divine blessing and wisdom—when he’s in the room, something meaningful is always trying to grow.

 

In Summary

Tomorrow’s New Moon in Gemini isn’t just another mental reset. It’s supported by a rare combination of active, outward-moving energies that make it a powerful time for initiating ideas with both structure and soul. There’s mental quickness (Gemini/Mercury), long-term traction (Saturn), imaginative lift (Neptune), transformative undercurrent (Pluto), and an added dose of luck and purpose thanks to Jupiter’s co-presence. That’s not just a new beginning—that’s a strategic turning point. And it’s about time… we could all use a resurrection like this!

Images made by me in Ideogram

May 12, 2025 at 9:56am PDT— Hello May, you strange little flower. After months of a rather turbulent energy, something shifts. The air feels a bit lighter. A playful breeze flirts with the curtain that stirs the room from its slumber. Mars advances past his post retrograde shadow and we unclench a little to step into the Sun. Venus and Neptune have another moment, this time in Aries, initiating a new start that feels fresh, primal, and bold. We’re gliding into a new era of love, creativity, and spirit. Less weepy nostalgia; more fire-in-the-heart clarity.

Unraveling

I’ve noticed that most of the time, when people go through an intense moment—like a near accident or a period of survival mode—they don’t really feel it until it’s over. The body keeps going as the psyche tightens its jaw. We postpone fully registering the flood until we’ve safely reached the shore. I think that’s what this Scorpio Full Moon on Monday, May 12th, invites us to do: gently unravel the tightly packed emotions we’ve been holding at bay. The ones we stuffed into the corners of our consciousness for safekeeping until we had a wide enough space to deflate them.

Scorpio is a water sign, but not the calm and sparkling kind. It’s the undertow, the deep tidepool, the underwater cave where old bones and buried treasure live side by side. In Scorpio, the Moon feels raw and alert, sending out its hypersensitive feelers—testing the room for loyalty, truth, and signs of emotional safety. Ruled by Mars in Leo, Monday’s Full Moon in Scorpio adds a feeling layer that’s fiercely proud and sustained by silent courage. Both Scorpio and Leo emphasize loyalty to the core—but they won’t beg. The desire around this lunation is to be chosen, not pitied. So while the heart longs for closeness, it may armor itself in dignity. There’s a regal ache blossoming here: the kind that wants to be seen in its strength, even while quietly unraveling. This Full Moon may pull at the knot that’s been holding everything together—asking us to admit our needs without shame, and to let truth past the gates guarded with pride.

Action in Aries

It’s also worth noting that Scorpio’s ancient ruler, Mars, also rules the sign of Aries—which has been very busy hosting celestial guests. The Sun and Mercury have left for Taurus by the time of the Full Moon, but Venus remains, shaping a connection style that advocates boldly for the self. This isn’t the kind of Venus who waits for the right moment or tiptoes around her needs. She asks for what she wants, directly and unapologetically. There’s a freshness to this energy, laced with self-respect and clean desire.

Soon, Saturn will ingress into Aries on the 24th, stepping out of Pisces’ noncommittal tides and into Aries’ crackling hearth of intention. What once felt hazy gains contour. Boundaries sharpen. And the goals we’ve been floating around begin to demand real traction.

So much of this sky feels like a private reckoning, the kind of epiphany that descends when we’ve made it through the storm and are finally safe enough to feel what it cost us. As Saturn steps into Aries’ sunlit forge of will, we may find ourselves getting clearer about what matters—and more willing to stand up for it. This Full Moon in Scorpio might not be comfortable, but it is a release and it could be a catalyst. Expect cathartic waves to wash over you as you discharge the past few months. The next chapter asks for less armor. And Scorpio, paradoxically, teaches us that true power begins with honest vulnerability, especially with yourself.

Images by Mo Eid

Also known as the Greek goddess Demeter, Ceres was the goddess of the harvest, fertility, and sacred rites of nourishment. She taught humans the art of cultivating grain—giving us the root of the word cereal. Her mythology is one of love, loss, reunion, and the cycles that define both nature and the human heart.

Central to her story is her daughter, Persephone. When Persephone is stolen away to the Underworld, Ceres descends into deep mourning. She roams the earth in grief, withdrawing her life-giving power. The crops wither. The earth turns barren. Her sorrow becomes the first winter—a sacred pause that marks absence, longing, and the aching space between separation and return.

Ceres’ pain is not just loss—it’s transformation. Her myth reminds us that grief itself is holy, that the act of mourning is an expression of love. And that even in the darkest season, reunion is possible.

In the birth chart, Ceres points to how we give and receive care, how we experience attachment and separation, and how we cultivate resilience through cycles of depletion and renewal. She speaks to nourishment—not just of the body, but of the soul. She holds wisdom about self-worth, sustenance, and the slow, steady beauty of recovery.

Wearing the Ceres pendant can be a tribute to your own sacred cycles of giving, letting go, grieving, and growing again. A symbol of love that endures, and of the strength found in softness.

The Five of Pentacles appears when there’s a contraction around finances, our values, and our connection to Earth. We usually associate this card with poverty, a scarcity mindset, and worry about the future. I’m in Southern Mexico right now—a few hours from the Guatemalan border—and despite the real struggle for many families in this part of the world to survive, there is a sense of contentment here. They don’t have the same kind of loss around family structure and deep connection to land + ancestors + traditional language that I’ve experienced growing up in USA that I believe causes soul loss.

Yesterday I went to the Museum of Mayan Medicine. The Mayans had six types of healers: the candle maker, the midwife, the herbalist, the bone doctor, the pulsero (understood disease through strength of pulse and voice), and the Mountaintop Prayer Healer (or Koponei Witz). The Koponei Witz prayed to the spirits of the mountain to be kind to the crops and to provide for the people. They had direct communication with the land and a vital connection that we’ve lost long ago, but that many people are trying to recover now as we remember the importance of revering the land and our ancestors.

I thought of how the fives are connected to the Hierophant. In the town I visited, there is a police force and a spiritual council. They work together with the community to keep peace. The church is filled with leaves, flowers, candles and mirrors instead of saints and pews. People come to this spiritual hospital to have the shaman work on the energetic plugs that are causing disease. Generations of families pass down herbal knowledge and take care of one another financially. Nobody is alone, isolated, or stuck in a care facility. The native language is taught in schools as the primary language, ensuring the preservation of a way of thought. If you’re bilingual, you know that they way you speak changes the way that you think.

It seems to me that the real poverty and scarcity mindset in the Five of Pentacles is the disconnection from land, ancestors, generational support, mother tongue, and deep respect for the environment. When I think of the contrast of living in isolated bubbles eating processed food and no connection to the spirit of the land, I understand the Five of Pentacles in a much deeper way. In a world chasing security, perhaps the remedy to scarcity might not be more, but returning—to land, to language, to each other.

April 27, 2025 at 12:31pm PDT—Sunday’s New Moon in Taurus encourages us to stop spinning and start planting. The cycle of retrogrades—Mercury, Venus, and Mars—have ended, taking with them crumpled versions of some of us who had settled for breadcrumbs and thin promises. If we weathered these resets successfully, we’re exiting the upheavals of these past few months clearer, stronger, and ready to build.

This New Moon in Taurus carries the energy of a powerful Mars-Pluto opposition (across Leo-Aquarius), lassoed into the lunation by squares. All the fixity! Many of us may have felt the intensity growing since last Sunday as the Moon crossed over Pluto. Mars-Pluto brings up issues of control and unspoken motivations, inviting us to reflect on the places where power and vulnerability intertwine, offering an opportunity for deeper understanding and healing. The Mars-Pluto opposition ferments in the psychic compost of the exalted Moon in Taurus, seeding the nutrients for new emotional resilience and deeper self-awareness.

Venus, the New Moon’s ruler, exalts in Pisces and is separated from Saturn by just one degree. This is the second lunation in a row where Venus rules and shares the stage with Saturn, echoing a theme of devotion meeting accountability. A dominant storyline this month has been Venus’s relation to Saturn. Through the lens of the signs she rules—Taurus and Libra—this pairing has been weaving a thread of maturity into matters of love, peace, coin, and connection. At the New Moon, Venus has moved past Saturn, carrying the lessons she’s learned through her retrograde and her conjunction with The Lord of Karma.

Venus-Saturn asks us to love like we mean it—to ground amity with grit. Harmony doesn’t fall into our laps like manna from heaven. It’s planted, watered, and tended with intention. In many ways, this conjunction encourages the right cultivation of our bonds.

So what do you plant under this New Moon in Taurus? Plant something steady. Something that carries the wisdom of the last few months—not just the spark of desire, but the form it’s meant to take. We’ve been tested, turned inward, and pulled back to reassess. Now we begin again, with clearer eyes and soil that’s been churned by truth, consequence, and grace. Venus has passed Saturn. Mars has met Pluto. And you, too, have crossed something.

 

I generated the images using Whisk

April 12, 2025 at 5:21pm PDT—Tomorrow’s Full Moon in Libra brings with it a pointed clarity—a firm, undeniable knowing. This lunation turns our attention toward the equilibrium (or lack thereof) in our relationships. Are we showing up fully—or just going through the motions? Are we overextending, stretching ourselves thin in places that start to tear at our integrity? Or is it the other way around—have we grown too comfortable taking without offering, expecting without acknowledging?

Libra, at its core, seeks balance. It notices when the weight shifts—subtle at first, then unmistakable. As a Cardinal sign ruled by Venus, it’s sensitive and responsive to the fade of reciprocity, when one side starts carrying more than its share. Under this Full Moon, squared by a brooding Mars in Cancer, we may begin to understand how the imbalances we’ve tolerated, justified, or left unspoken are working to agitate the emotional landscape—stirring up friction where harmony once pretended to live. As a Cardinal lunation, Libra would have us take action to set the balance right.

Right relationship

With the Sun currently in Aries, the tension between self and other becomes more pronounced. Aries reminds us to advocate for our own needs—to step forward rather than fold. The question becomes: how do we do that without tipping too far in the other direction?

The ruler of this Moon, Venus, may hold an answer. Conjunct Saturn and in the sign of her exaltation, this powerful Venus is less concerned with fleeting pleasures and more devoted to what endures. This is a compassionate companionship that values integrity, commitment, and emotional maturity. Venus asks: What agreements are we making—and are they built to last? Are our boundaries rooted in self-respect, or in fear of losing connection?

Venus-Saturn doesn’t sugarcoat. This conjunction invites us to clarify what we’re truly available for, and to relate from a place of peace. Not out of guilt. Not out of obligation. But from a grounded sense of self-worth that knows compromise doesn’t mean self-erasure.

Rawness in the air

Another theme in the field of this Libra Full Moon is deep-seated wounding. With Chiron conjunct the Sun and squaring Mars, there’s a rawness in the air—an ache that may trace back further than we expect. Old stories of rejection,  abandonment, or not being seen can surface now, often disguised as irritation or defensiveness.

Mars in Cancer doesn’t always rage—in a water sign, it withdraws, broods, and simmers. When it rubs up against Chiron in a square, it may not be a sword fight so much as a silent retreat—a closed door, a swallowed response, fists clenched beneath the table, and fingernails chewed to the quick—that builds pressure beneath the surface. This lunation could spotlight those tender places where our anger masks our pain, and where our pain, once tended to, becomes a source of strength rather than reactivity.

Fairness as a practice

As the Full Moon in Libra illuminates the space between us, we’re reminded of the delicate dance of give and take. We’re called to notice where harmony has been disrupted—not just in romantic ties, but in all our connections. With Saturn’s influence, there’s an undercurrent of responsibility urging us to take ownership of our part in the balance if we want lasting harmony. True equality and fairness asks for commitment while showing up in ways that are steady, real, and accountable.

With Venus stationing direct less than an hour after the Full Moon, we are granted a moment of pause. A chance to rest, reflect, and reset. In this precious space saturated with the presence of Venus and the light of the Full Moon, appears an invitation to align with what is true and steady within us. Before we move forward, we can take stock of the relationships we are navigating—those with others and the one we hold with ourselves. In this stillness, we can ground ourselves in clarity, compassion, and responsibility. When we step forward from this place, we do so with a deeper understanding of what it takes to cultivate harmony, one step at a time.

Photo 1 by Tiarra Sorte
Photo 2 by Cottonbro Studio

March 29, 2025 at 3:58am PDT—I know change is constant—life is always evolving and asking us to evolve with it whether we’re ready or not. But these last few months? It feels as though life’s been stuck on a spin cycle set to never-ending. Not just for me, but for so many people I know. It’s as if we’ve all linked arms and leapt into some kind of collective free fall—half exhilarated, half wondering if we should’ve packed a parachute.

We’re all leaning on our go-to coping mechanisms these days. For me, that’s been early morning meditation, long walks with the dogs, and—most recently—Buddhist Sunday Service. Although these have been keeping me afloat, I still catch myself bracing for the next wave, wondering what’s forming on the horizon, questioning if stability is within reach.

They say, “Ask and ye shall receive,” so that’s exactly what I did. And then, later the same day, while I was standing in the kitchen heating water for tea, I found a quote on my iPhone I had saved from Instagram sometime ago. It’s from Joan Didion:

“What I want to tell you today is not to move into that world where you’re alone with yourself and your mantra and your fitness program or whatever it is that you might use to try to control the world by closing it out. I want to tell you just to live in the mess. Throw yourself out into the convulsions of the world. I’m not telling you to make the world better, because I don’t believe progress is necessarily part of the package. I’m telling you to live in it. Try and get it. Take chances, make your own work, take pride in it. Seize the moment.”

I sucked in my breath. It’s as if Joan Didion’s hand had reached across space and time into rain-weary Seattle, dropping these words onto the printout of Saturday’s eclipse I’d been studying—declaring, “This is it. The thing that will make sense, eventually.”

The Final Push to Power

Her quote is also the key to Saturday’s Partial Solar Eclipse in Aries. There’s something about this final hurrah that began with a first volley of eclipses in April 2023 that’s asking us to take another chance and make it work. But here’s the thing: we already have. For two years now! The landscape has changed, though. So much has unraveled, rerouted, reformed. We’ve hit dead ends, turned corners only to face barricades, reversed course, tried again. And now? We’re on the verge of having all the right pieces to make it work.

The Partial Solar Eclipse is a new moon. New moons bring a surge of potential, signaling a time to initiate and innovate. A North Node eclipse ignites an insatiable drive—whether to resolve a lingering issue or to chase a compelling vision of what’s possible. The North Node carries a grasping energy, often accompanied by restless ambition, karmic momentum, or an undeniable pull toward growth and destiny.

This lunation occurs in Aries, a sign that embodies action, bravery, self-exploration, and fierce independence. Aries placements are bold initiators, driven by instinct and an unshakable desire to forge their own path. Known for their fiery spirit and determination, Aries energy thrives on challenge, pushing forward even when the road is uncertain. This eclipse amplifies Aries’ raw, unapologetic drive, urging us to step into our power with courage and confidence. Or as Joan Didion howls: live it, get it, take a chance, work, be proud, and seize!!

Backtracking to Move Forward

Aries is the launchpad for re-evaluation these days. Both Mercury and Venus hit the brakes earlier this month to pivot retrograde at 09°35′ and 10°50 of Aries. These degrees are practically flashing a “Recalculate Route” sign to retrace their steps into the contemplative waters of Pisces. It’s like embarking on a journey, only to realize you’ve forgotten something essential at home and need to turn back. What are Mercury and Venus are returning to?

Mercury’s return into Pisces calls us to dissolve rigid thought patterns, seeking clarity through feeling and intuition rather than logic and words. Venus invites us to reevaluate the unconditional realms of love and connection, encouraging a compassionate understanding of how we value ourselves and others. In Pisces, both planets dissolve the boundaries that the ego creates, cultivating openness and receptivity. As Rilke said, “Make your ego porous. Will is of little importance, complaining is nothing, fame is nothing. Openness, patience, receptivity, solitude is everything.”  Perhaps this redirect is a nudge to turn inward—not to escape the limits we think are holding us back, but to build the kind of inner strength that makes them fade on their own. Patience, reflection, solitude—these aren’t just pauses; they’re quiet superpowers. The more we lean into them, the more the edges soften, the more spacious things become, and suddenly, we’re seeing what was there all along.

The gods favor a well-prepared daredevil

It’s interesting that eclipse lands powerfully at 09° Aries—exactly where Mercury (09°35′, first decan) and Venus (10°50′, second decan) stationed retrograde. The Tarot cards for the first two decans of Aries offer a fitting reflection. The Two of Wands, representing the first decan, shows a man holding a globe and looking out into the distance—symbolizing the moment of choice and anticipation. The Three of Wands, associated with the second decan, shows a man watching his ships sail—marking the shift from waiting to purposeful action.

The progression from the Two to the Three speaks to the need to pause and reflect before charging ahead. Mercury and Venus urge us to reconsider and recalibrate before we “live the mess”. Before the Aries trigger is pulled and our ships set sail, Mercury and Venus guide us back to the quiet space within, where we can reconnect to the wisdom that has always been available. Now is the time to get your mantra down, make your fitness routine second nature, and fortify yourself. It won’t be much longer that you return, empowered to seize the moment, take bold chances, and dive headfirst Aries style into the convulsions of the world, fully ready to embrace the next chapter with confidence.

Photo 1 by Dương Nhân
Photo 2 by R.F. Studio
Photo 3 by Anna Shvets

March 13, 2025 at 11:54pm PDT—One of the reasons March is such a pivotal month is that Thursday brings the first South Node Total Lunar Eclipse in Virgo. We haven’t had one of those since 2008! The nodal cycle is almost 19 years long. Every 18 years and change, eclipses repeat in the same signs and nodes, activating a particular axis in our chart. The North Node was in Pisces, and the South Node was in Virgo from 2006 to 2008. We can reflect on that time to get an idea of some of the themes that will emerge again.

Wherever the nodes go, eclipses follow. Eclipses are catalysts: they bring issues to a head, forcing a turning point—we must respond. We can count on major endings as well as major beginnings during eclipse season. If we know what houses the Virgo-Pisces axis falls in our chart, we know where we can expect these pivotal changes to occur.

The Lunar Eclipse in Virgo is a full moon. Full moons illuminate and culminate—like reaching the top of a roller coaster and getting a panoramic view. Eclipses act as turbo boosts. When conjunct the South Node, as Thursday’s Lunar Eclipse is, we’re called to release and let go. The South Node has a surrendering energy that often accompanies closure and healing.

The Total Lunar Eclipse occurs in Virgo, a sign that values service, helping others, and creating systems that improve everyday life. Virgo placements are practical, detail-oriented, and hold themselves to very high standards. They’re humble experts who excel at creating order out of chaos. Virgo sets a high bar and constantly challenges itself to do better.

In addition, the Sun is right next to Saturn, and both the Sun and Moon make a harmonious aspect to Uranus. Finally, the ruler of this eclipse, Mercury, is getting ready to station retrograde in Aries the following day. What can we make of this?

Putting it all together

This morning, I heard a conversation that helped me shape my thoughts around this Total Lunar Eclipse in Virgo. I was listening to a podcast on communication, where the guest spoke about filler words like um, ah, like, and you know. These words act like potholes, breaking up your flow and making it harder for your audience to stay fully engaged. While they may seem insignificant, they disrupt the rhythm of your speech, weaken your message, and make you appear less confident. Eliminating fillers elevates your delivery—you simply communicate with greater clarity and authority.

It struck me that this South Node Total Lunar Eclipse in Virgo is a lot like eliminating fillers!

• Filler tasks that keep you busy but not, like, fulfilled.
• Filler commitments that literally drain your energy without purpose.
• Filler distractions that, well, keep you from focusing on what truly matters.
• Filler routines that feel obligatory but actually bring no real joy.
• So… Filler worries that take up space in your mind without contributing to growth. Right?

The communication expert went on to say that while it’s a challenge to axe out fillers, it’s entirely possible. I remember listening to a favorite astrologer of mine being interviewed a few years ago. The conversation was littered with fillers. It was so bad, it was hard to listen to. Imagine my surprise when I heard her speak recently and the fillers had vanished! She sounded 1000 times more confident. She later mentioned that after that first interview, people had criticized her constant injections of like. Even though the feedback hurt, she took it to heart and worked hard to eliminate those verbal potholes.

This is much like Virgo’s relentless drive to refine, tweak, and polish until excellence and expertise are second nature. Virgo doesn’t seek perfection for its own sake but rather for clarity, efficiency, and service. It distills the messy and the muddled into something precise, functional, and deeply useful. Just like stripping away verbal clutter makes communication stronger, Virgo teaches us that removing what’s unnecessary—whether in words, habits, or routines—creates something sharper, more deliberate, and ultimately more impactful.

Where Saturn comes in

Conjunct the Sun and opposite the Moon, Saturn’s presence in this lunation asks us to face reality. Saturn works over the long term by deleting and setting boundaries, just like saying more with less. Saturnian processes requires effort and time, relying on discipline and persistence. Saturn wants us to commit to the changes we want to see in our lives, often showing up when we’re sick of being sick and tired. In this case, the change is coupled with Virgo’s call to do better, raise our standards, and edit out the filler no longer serving us. That takes work.

What happens then? Similar to the harmonious conversation this lunation makes with Uranus, we open our lives to more freedom and alignment. Imagine what your schedule would look like without the ums, ahs, and soos clogging up your time—lean, intentional, high-caliber, and actually energizing.

With Mercury, the planet resourcing this eclipse, hitting pause, we’re in revision mode. It’s a time to sift through and rethink what matters in the long run, stripping away distractions and sharpening our focus. The eclipse sets the stage for a reset—one where we exchange fluff for substance and clutter for clarity. This spring, ask yourself: How can you purify your routine by eliminating filler?  The small steps you take now will shape a future of deliberate intention.

February 27, 2025 at 4:44PM PST—Grab your broomsticks! March sweeps in with some of the most pearl-clutching astrology of the year! Mars may have recently wrapped up an emotionally turbulent retrograde in Cancer just four days ago, but won’t exit his post-retrograde shadow until May 2nd. This means we’re still in the integration phase, navigating the emotional debris left in his wake.  And now, Venus and Mercury are stepping into their own retrogrades this month, just as we buckle in for Eclipse Season. If that wasn’t enough, Neptune is making a grand entrance into Aries, ditching the Pisces’ mystical water veil for Aries chainmail to forge heroic ideals in an iron-willed Zeitgeist. But before we charge ahead, we have a deeply reflective Pisces New Moon inviting us into stillness so we might gather ourselves before the tides really start to turn.

Pisces in Overdrive

Let’s take a moment to acknowledge that Pisces is buzzing with celestial activity right now! As mentioned above, Neptune, who entered the mutable water sign back in April 2011, is packing up his trident, preparing to drift into Aries for a 7-month trial period at the end of the month. His departure is like the tide pulling back after years of imprinting the Piscean shore, revealing both the glimmering treasures of artistic and spiritual insight alongside the sea-foam remnants of illusions that once seemed so real.

Meanwhile, Saturn has been hard at work since March 2023, chiseling maturation, wisdom, and responsibility in Pisces with his signature toolkit: tough challenges, reality checks, and boundary enforcement. The place of our chart that houses Pisces has had a rough go of it.

And what about Jupiter, Pisces’ celestial landlord? Jupiter’s been camping out in Gemini since last May, where he’s been a bit too distracted and under resourced to fully tend to his Pisces and Sagittarius tenants.

Then there’s the North Node, which moved into Pisces in January, bringing its insatiable hunger for growth, destiny, and more. Known as Rahu, the Dragon’s Head, it’s forever reaching, forever craving, a bit like the desire to hold on to dream fragments slipping away before they can take shape in our memory. And where the nodes go, eclipses follow! Until the final eclipse in Virgo landing February 2027, we’ll be navigating unexpected plot twists and moments that catalyze big changes in the houses that hold Pisces and Virgo in our charts.

As Pisces swirls and shapeshifts through the bustling tide of activity in its double-bodied waters, a New Moon emerges, guiding us into a new chapter in a part of our chart that is ripe for renewal.

Eight of Cups

Today’s New Moon rises in the first decan (10°) of Pisces. The tarot card that corresponds to this decan is The Eight of Cups, aka “The Lord of Success Abandoned”. In this card, a lone traveler steps away from eight chalices, venturing into the unknown under the cover of night. With only his staff and gut instinct to guide him, he’s on a mission to find meaning and emotional fulfillment that current circumstances didn’t bring. Draped in a red cloak—symbolizing his passion and primal urges—he follows an inner pull as he sets out into the night, a symbol for unconscious drives and trusting instinct. Sometimes, the call to leave is louder than the comfort of staying, and the Eight of Cups is that moment—the quiet, resolute decision to seek what truly fulfills.

More often than not, when this card appears, people are on the brink of major changes in their lives. Even though life looks good on the outside, there’s an unmet need for meaning and purpose urgently beckoning within. At times, pulling the Eight of Cups has signaled prioritizing an inner, invisible desire over more concrete material concerns.

Challenges spark resourcefulness

The New Moon is in a Jupiter ruled sign and is closely configured to its ruler by square. Squares create friction that forces action, and while they can feel difficult, they also provide opportunities for growth and resolution through effort and adaptation.

Jupiter’s condition is key to understanding how he’s influencing this New Moon. In Gemini, he’s in detriment, meaning he’s working with a bit of a disadvantage—like a chef who has to whip up a meal with a limited pantry. He’ll need to get creative to serve up those big ideas. Planets in fall and detriment often have to get scrappy to make things work, finding unexpected ways to express their essence. Even though Jupiter is under pressure from a square and his current placement, he’s still up for the challenge, ready to deliver his themes of meaning, purpose, expansion, and gratitude—just what the red-cloaked traveler in the Eight of Cups is seeking—even if he has to dig a little deeper to make it happen.

Moving Beyond Comfort

This month may feel a little bumpy, but it’s also brimming with chance for real change—change that nudges us closer to the heart of what we’re searching for. Sometimes, we have to turn away from what’s familiar and take a first step into the unknown to find what we’ve been quietly craving. The Pisces New Moon is that invitation, calling us to leave the safety of what’s known and step into the mystery of what’s next. It’s about shedding complacency and trusting that the next chapter holds something special even if we can’t see it yet. Where in your chart is this New Moon asking you to take a brave, little step forward?

• Aries Rising—The New Moon is in your 12th House
  Behind the scenes, privacy, spiritual interior, hidden enemies.
• Taurus Rising—The New Moon is in your 11th House
  Friends, networks, sangha, hopes and dreams.
• Gemini Rising—The New Moon is in your 10th House
  Career, social reputation, public life, what you’re known for.
• Cancer Rising—The New Moon is in your 9th House
  Travel, religion, philosophy, world view, higher education, publishing.
• Leo Rising—The New Moon is in your 8th House
  Shared resources, inheritances, death, deep psychological processes.
• Virgo Rising—The New Moon is in your 7th House
  Significant relationships, clients, partners, collaborations.
• Libra Rising—The New Moon is in your 6th House
  Work environment, employees, health, schedule, routines.
• Scorpio Rising—The New Moon is in your 5th House
  Children, sex, love, dating, self-expression, pleasure.
• Sagittarius Rising—The New Moon is in your 4th House
  Home, family, roots, land, emotional foundation.
• Capricorn Rising—The New Moon is in your 3rd House
  Siblings, communication, learning, local environment.
• Aquarius Rising—The New Moon is in your 2nd House
  Money, resources, earning and spending.
• Pisces Rising—The New Moon is in your 1st House
  Self, appearance, identity, persona.

February 12, 2025 at 5:54 AM PST—Earlier today, the Full Moon in Leo took center stage, but instead of a regal roar, it let out more of a halfhearted “meh.” With the Sun, Moon, and Uranus locked in a T-square showdown and moody Mars in a squabbling square with Chiron, we’re all feeling a bit like frayed wires—sparking, short-circuiting, and occasionally zapping the people around us. To make matters more dramatic, the Sun, Venus, and Mars are in signs outside their comfort zone with Venus connecting on the battlefield and Mars slashing down memory lane. Nerves are raw, tempers are shorter than usual, and even the most unbothered among us might feel a little off kilter.

Getting through it

This lunation lands in the last decan of Leo, which corresponds to the Seven of Wands—a card that practically shouts, “Hold your ground!” The tarot image says it all: a lone figure standing firm, gripping his staff with fierce determination as unseen forces press in. He’s so caught of guard, he doesn’t even realize he’s wearing two different shoes! Mars rules this space, and with that comes fire and friction. Disputes flare, resistance rises, and the need to defend our very sense of self feels unavoidable. Courage is necessary, but so is sheer stamina. You don’t have to win the war today—you just have to get through it.

Possibly one approach to get through it is to understand that a shadow aspect of the Seven of Wands is a sort of win-at-all-costs mentality. It’s the call to arms and defensive position that is draining the battery of Leo’s charm, creativity, and shine. Ceres—the asteroid that governs how we give and receive care as well as how we navigate loss and renewal—is tightly entwined with the Sun in this lunation. Conjunct the Sun and Mercury in Aquarius, Ceres urges we can nourish ourselves and others with a more detached stance. She reminds us that we’re all free agents with our own perspectives—and that even if they don’t align, perhaps there’s wisdom in the contrast. Maybe differing viewpoints aren’t obstacles, but pieces of a larger mosaic, each contributing to a broader understanding.

Final thoughts

This Full Moon in Leo is a lot. But before you dramatically fling yourself onto the fainting couch, take heart—Leo energy is still playful, still creative, and still eager to shine. We might take a cue from Ceres, who reminds us that even in the midst of chaos, there’s power in stepping back, gaining perspective, and letting everyone (including ourselves) move through their own process.

As Mercury and the Sun drift into the mutable waters of Pisces within the next week, the emotional floodgates may open. Don’t be surprised if you go from fierce to full-on compassionate in record time. Let yourself feel it all, but maybe keep the dramatic monologues to a minimum at this time unless you’re actively auditioning for something. 😊