MUSIC OF THE SPHERES

Mercury joins the Sun, Neptune and Venus in the Pisces jacuzzi. This is quite a switch for Mercury who is leaving his extended stay in cool, collected and cerebral Aquarius to now speak of feelings, dreams and imaginative speculation. I imagine these planets conversing to one another in images, painting in words, creating unusual connections and parallels as they pass the pipe between them while giving each other foot rubs. Mercury doesn’t discriminate with his usual precision in Pisces. Here s/he feels free to ride Jupiter’s horse without a saddle and without a destination.

A persistent, faint sorrow can haunt Mercury in Pisces. Oftentimes this delicate melancholy becomes instrumental in creating breathtaking passages out of words (Maya Angelou) or with penetrating song and lyrics (Billie Holiday & Nina Simone). Mercury in Pisces has a well inside that can feel all the world’s pain and all of the world’s joy. It can be heavy to hold this well until the native learns to share it with others (Mr. Rogers). Even then, like Kurt Cobain, expression is not enough.

Ruled by Jupiter, Mercury in Pisces people are drawn to the arts and wired for spirituality. The Pisces can chameleon into any sort of environment, understanding minds quite different from their own. This placement also lends itself towards magic. In Christian Astrology, Lilly writes that Mercury in Pisces or Sagittarius makes [wo]men given to magic…”. When planets are debilitated—like Mercury is in Pisces—their strengths can show up in other ways. We live in a culture that rewards the strategic and whip-smart mentat mind with standardized tests that reflect this bias. Mercury in Pisces right-brained emphasis lends itself to the magical field as well as to another country: one that’s saturated in poetry and longing.

Mercury enters Aries April 3rd. Enjoy the break from regular programming

The New Moon sows seeds of enchantment at 23° Pisces. This is the most mystical and magical lunation we’ve received in a long time. Conjunct Neptune at 20° and Venus at 19°, might this be a promise of hope, healing and unity? Fertilized in the mutable waters of Pisces, we’re in a season of change. Anything could happen.

Neptune’s presence here is important. We often find Neptune associated with illusion, deception, nebulous anxiety and lethargy. Perhaps it is. But Neptune is like the elephant being touched by a dozen blind men: they all understand it to be a different creature depending on where their hand meets the animal. My touches with Neptune have convinced me that Neptune serves as a matrix code hacker.

Pierre Teilhard De Chardin

Paleontologist, Jesuit Priest and visionary Pierre Teilhard De Chardin had Neptune, Venus and the Sun conjunct in his natal chart. Credited as a forefather of the Internet, he believed human evolution was based on an interconnected sphere of consciousness driven by the force of love. He envisioned a world where this global “sphere of reason”—the noosphere—would leapfrog us into the next stage of humanity. He wrote: “Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire.” Here’s another one: “Driven by the forces of love, the fragments of the world seek each other so that the world may come into being.” Can you hear his Neptune-Venus conjunction speaking? These statements reflect the idea of reaching a tipping point where humanity is united in consciousness, breaking through the barrier of separateness into a unified whole: a world wide web of empathetic connection where bionic potentials exist. Unity, dissolution of barriers and transcendence is all Neptune-talk.

Lynne McTaggart

Lynne McTaggart who writes on consciousness, physics and alternative healing modalities has a Neptune trine Venus in her chart. She studies the mechanics of collective focused intention in relation to illness, cleaning water, lowering violence and more.  

She’s curious about the quantifiable effects of entrained energy such as prayer across distance. In her experiments, she has demonstrated that virtual entanglement is real. There is a psychic internet where the yoked power of We concentrating efforts on a subject affects powerful change. Collective intention is The Force that can shape the world into a Xanadu. Similar to Teilhard de Chadin, McTaggart’s ideas of an interconnected intelligent universe expresses her Neptune.

The ruler of this Pisces New Moon, Jupiter, is at the very end of the 2nd decan of Aquarius. The tarot card associated with this decan is the Six of Swords. In the Rider Waite Smith version, we see a ferryman shepherding a hooded woman and a child in a little boat. They’ve left troubled waters and are headed towards a restorative shore. When this card appears, we’re leaving uncertainty, conflict and mental destabilization and have committed to Moving On.

Further, the Sun and Moon meet at the third decan of Pisces. The tarot card associated here is the 10 of Cups, a dreams-come-true card, replete with a happily-ever-after rainbow. I’d like to believe we’re moving from a time of choppy waters into a realization of what really matters here. In my highest of hopes, this New Moon heralds the awakening of a shared consciousness united in a frequency of love, paving the way for a brighter evolution.

After nearly two months of plodding along in Earthy Taurus, Mars sprints into Gemini tomorrow (9:30pm Central Time), finally freeing him from the sign based square to Saturn. These two have been engaged in a tense holding pattern for nearly the past eight months when Mars entered Aries June 28, 2020. The momentum picks up speed now as the traffic jam clears and Mars returns to his regular speed unencumbered by Saturn’s roadblocks. In addition, with more planets moving from fixed to mutable/cardinal this month, we can look forward to emerging storylines and fresh starts.

Mars in Gemini is cerebral, good at wordplay, and can be high strung. More than any other placement, Mars in mutable air can disseminate their opponent with words. This is a strategic placement for journalists, those involved in social justice, lawyers, and anyone who uses language to defend, fortify and dissect. As Mars fences through Gemini, we’d be wise to watch our thoughts and ground our bodies as Mars can agitate mental processes making us feel like we’ve drunk five coffees too many. On the other hand, Mars in Gemini can give our communication a kind of candid precision, helping us nail the idea mightily on the head, especially now until March 14 when his host Mercury is in Aquarius.

Meanwhile, Venus—under the beams of the Sun and thereby hidden (or discreet)—forms an enchanting sextile to Uranus tomorrow. Venus is going through her renewal process in a sign she exalts in. In addition, she is hosting Uranus in Taurus. This lovely connection between the planet of love ‘n connection with the force of disruption, surprise and freedom might be concocting some behind-the-scenes magic not ready for prime time yet, especially with the Moon in private Scorpio. Thursday’s conjunction between Mercury and Jupiter in forward planning Aquarius may bring some welcome news our way.

The Full Moon at 9 degrees Virgo leads us like the Hermit’s Lantern to progress we can commit to. The action packed months of January and February have brought us to a state of illumination, quite possibly through disruption and unanticipated changes. The invitation with today’s lunation is to declutter, simplify, prune and purify those areas that get in the way of optimal living. This full moon encourages us to roll up our sleeves and with laser beam focus: make it happen.

What garden of life are you tending at the moment?

• Aries is focused on schedule, daily routines, pets and/or illness.
• Taurus is cultivating romance, children and/or creative projects.
• Gemini is decluttering home and family issues.
• Cancer is nourishing learning, writing and/or sibling relationships.
• Leo is shining a light on finances and values.
• Virgo is purifying self, body and interface to the world.
• Libra is tending to hidden matters and time alone.
• Scorpio is engaged long term aspirations and/or friendships.
• Sagittarius is examining all things career and reputation.
• Capricorn is working at expanding themselves, perhaps via classes, travel or religious studies.
• Aquarius is analyzing debt, joint resources and/or their own psychological compulsions.
• Pisces is surrendering relationships of all kinds.

The Sun leaves the assembly of friends in Aquarius to dive into the calm waters of Pisces. If the Sun represents our plot line, the story for Pisces is transcendent bliss and unity consciousness. The inner compass for the fish points to spiritual illumination. Pisces has one foot in the 3D matrix and the other foot in a timeless archetypal world, often wondering which one is real, and if it really matters.

Pisces gift is empathy. They can take the place of anyone seeing through their eyes. This makes them natural actors, poets and writers, becoming the characters they inspirit for a while. Their empathy gives them the gift of connecting energetically as emotional ions pass through their permeable membrane where Pisces registers the feelings inside a home, through a photograph, or emotionally resonate landmarks where the spirits of the place brim over with stories to the sensitive enough to hear them.

Their empathy also gives them the ability to deeply engage with others and SEE them. There’s a Fresh Air interview with the director on Mr. Rogers where she speaks of him as energetically still. Time seemed to slow down around Fred Rogers as he was monumentally present. He had the ability to have anyone open up to him. This is classic Pisces—which with his Mercury, Venus, Moon and Sun in Pisces—he was. My guess is he already knew what was on the heart of people he engaged with as Pisces can feel through the words and into the spirit of the matter. With practice, they understand what their sensors are perceiving.

Austin Coppock uses the word confessor to describe Pisces. Whereas Sagittarius points his arrow to the external adventure, Pisces takes the journey to the inner realms. Both signs are ruled by Jupiter: Sag-Yang, Pisces-Yin. This is the heroic journey of uncovering the layers, connections, emotional webs, ancestral karma, and all that lies within to create the magnificent collage of Self. Pisces not only does this for themselves but for others as they make excellent healers, listeners, counsellors, energetic practitioners, and guides.

Pisces Rising? Hang in there! All the Aquarian energy is currently congregated in your Twelfth House of self-undoing. Meditate on Saturn, ruler of your 12th House, to move forward with integrity as you dive within to understand the patterns that have kept you blocked and bounded, like the woman in the 8 of Swords. This is a Swords journey for you right now, as you deal with coming to terms of how you can take personal responsibility for the Self you wish to inhabit.

We can sum up one of the manifestations of this energetic dance with the quote from Anais Nin: “And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”

Change is never easy. We resist shedding old comfortable skins as living a life of complacent mediocrity is much more predictable, safe and secure than redirecting our soul’s GPS towards our Blossom. Saturnian structures and responsibilities are important. They give our lives a scaffold on which to latch and grow from. But at times, they can begin to feel like a corset strung so tight, movement is restricted. It’s hard to breathe. The disrupting influence of Uranus rips open those tight strings allowing us to move in new ways.

In The Archetypal Universe, Renn Butler writes of Saturn-Uranus like this: “Conscious and deliberate freeing of oneself… breakthroughs in deep self exploration by becoming the resistance… Unexpected rewards for one’s pain… the surprising shift as personal suffering suddenly becomes archetypal in scope.”

Saturn square Uranus is the key signature this year. I have a feeling that many of us are in the process of blooming. Trust the process.

Art: Swiss artist Adolf Wölfli who invented a Uranian history for himself after a deeply troubling childhood where he transformed from orphan to Saint! He lived a tortured life, often inflicting the atrocities done to him on others. He became his resistance, yet offered his blossom through the outsider art he left behind. This piece entitled: The Eyeglass-Butterfly in India. The image is in the public domain.

There’s a scene in Curious Case of Benjamin Button where the Brad Pitt character (Benjamin) asks Cate Blanchett (Daisy) to stand still with him in the mirror and to savour the moment: “I wanna remember us just as we are now”, he says. It’s sweet and heart breaking: knowing that time slips through our fingers every minute… these precious moments will soon be gone. For Benjamin and Daisy, even though their souls are eternally bound one to another, time is cruel, allowing only a brief reunion in their physical lives as they “meet in the middle”… she ages while he grows younger.

I watched this movie for the first time over the past three nights as Saturn and Venus rendezvoused in the sky. I thought this exquisite movie was such a great testimony to Venus and Saturn: the limits of love imposed by time. Or, timeless romance. People with Venus Saturn aspects in their natal chart can speak to significant age differences in their relationship.

It can also speak to the heightened perception of the effects of time on beauty. I remember a client who had this conjunction in her chart. Despite being conventionally beautiful (I could easily imagine her on a magazine cover), she was insecure about her looks, always spending an enormous amount of time on her beauty regimine, terrified at the prospect of aging. Another client with the same aspect toned down her femininity. She was raised in a very restrictive environment where women weren’t supposed to bring attention to their looks and/or bodies. As a result, she spent her life hiding her beauty.

Saturn Venus can also speak to the contractual agreements we have in our relationships. Both Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward have Venus sextile Saturn in their nativity. They were married for 50 years! In the best of circumstances, these are the relationships that stand the test of time. Work and service to the partnership is put in over time reaping the results of longevity.

January 23, 2021—Planetary magic has become popular in recent years. Thanks to the revival of traditional forms of astrology alongside more accessible reprints of the Picatrix and Agrippa’s Three Books of Occult Philosophy, these practices are once again entering the astrological arena.

What is planetary magic? Put simply, it’s a bit like trapping lightning in a bottle. The lightning refers to favorable Celestial Rays emitted from the planet we have chosen to work with. The bottle corresponds to a physical object (like an emerald or a gold pendant) that locks in those Rays at a specifically elected time. Why trap lightning in a bottle or ensoul Celestial Rays into a talisman? Because it causes real change you wish to see in your world. Let’s learn more…

As within, so without

We’ve all heard the saying As above, so below. As within, so without. Most of us have a pretty good grasp on the second half of this maxim: As within, so without. We know that our outside world is a reflection of our inner world. If we’re holding a belief of lack and not enoughness, for example, it will manifest as scarcity. If we believe the world is full of abundance and there’s enough for everyone, we radiate our knowing from the inside out and experience ampleness in our lives. Our external surroundings arrange themselves to reflect our internal reality. So it is literally as within so without as the inner projects the outer.

As above, so below.

When we think of As above, so below, we’re now reflecting on the heavens and the earth. For example, we know that when Pluto and Saturn aspect one another in the sky, they catalyze societal decay, breakdown, and regeneration here on Earth. We can look back to the beginning of WWI at their conjunction in 1914, the outbreak of WWII during their square in 1939, and the Vietnam War at their opposition in 1965. In 2001, the opposition of Saturn and Pluto coincided with the terrorist attacks 9/11. And as we all know, 2020 has been a year that changed life as we knew it as we grappled with a worldwide pandemic that uprooted and transformed our lives. Pluto and Saturn came together in January of 2020, once again reflecting their significations here on Earth.

So below, as above?

If the heavens and the earth are reflections of each other, not only will celestial conversations reflect here on earth, but occurrences on earth will be reflected in the heavens. This two-way exchange of energy is the key principle in planetary magic. We can create a Sun talisman, for instance, that prompts the Sun to sympathize with us. The talisman behaves like a mini-Sun we carry with us that attracts solar qualities such as visibility, confidence, success and wisdom.

How does it work?

Renaissance philosophers believed that the Cosmos was connected through sympathies and correspondences. Each of the seven visible planets emitted Celestial Rays. Not unlike “color by numbers”, a coloring exercise where each number corresponds to a specific color, these Rays activate objects—people, plants, animals, metals, events, etc—consonant to them. This is especially true if the object, such as a piece of silver or gold, bears an image associated with the planet.

Yet this magical talisman cannot be created at any random time. Rather, the astromage waits until the planet is especially strong and favorably positioned in the heavens. This means it can take years to find an auspicious election, especially for the slower moving planets. Since the talisman will transmit the Celestial Rays present during its creation, the astromage wants to ensure the quality of those Rays are the purest representation of the planet they are working with.

Once a magical election is found, the astromage will use the metal associated with the planet to make the talisman as well as place or carve the magical image associated with the planet. Voila! Lightning in a bottle! Now the talisman transmits the planet’s energies attracting more of its correspondences to the wearer. Whereas a Sun talisman will attract visibility, confidence, and success, a Venus talisman will draw Venusian things such as love, friendship, harmony and peace.

Why the Ritual?

Part of the astromage’s practice is ritual. Greek philosophers believed ritual was a way the magician could attune themselves to divine energy. Since one of the main tools the astromage uses is her own body, it’s important to maintain a pure signal. As I prepare to create a Saturn talisman in April, for instance, I have begun attuning myself to Saturn by observing Saturn on his day, Saturday. I adjust myself to Saturn’s frequency by wearing black, fasting, giving charity towards Saturn’s people (the elderly and poor) and reading Renaissance astromage Marsilio Ficino! When the April election comes, I will perform the ritual of saying the magical words over an altar of Saturnian objects and incense, again to elevate myself to Saturn’s frequency.

Honoring my teacher

Even though I’ve been practicing astrology for years, astrological magic entered my life in 2019. Since that time, I have been very active in learning and participating in planetary magic. Last July, I created a Sun Talisman and have been recording its results for myself and the other people who purchased it. I also petition other planets I am working with on a weekly basis. I’m still a novice. Like astrology, it takes many years to gain proficiency in planetary magic. With this in mind, I would like to thank my teacher, Nina Gryphon, for her dedication and her teachings. This article is a result of what I learned from her. It only feels appropriate to acknowledge her influence in my practice.

IMAGES

• A modern reworking by American artist Laurie Lipton of one of the illustrations in Splendor Solis, a 16th-century alchemical manuscript
• Photo by Daniel Seßler on Unsplash
• Sun Talisman and accompanying booklet photographed and created by me.

January 19—As the days begin to noticeably lengthen in the Northern Hemisphere, the Sun enters Aquarius. Ruled by the outermost traditional planet, one of the Aquarian themes is exile. Saturn represents notions of beyondness, outside the pen of comfort and stability, and those places that are unconducive to life. Out here, strewn into the unflinching winds, we often find the outcast, the non conformist, and the wayfarer.

One Example

The upcoming indie film Nomadland follows the story of a widower who after the death of her husband and the catastrophic effects of the Great Recession has lost everything. As a 60-something, she joins others—migrant castaways living in cars and vans like herself—in the incessant hunt for work. Uprooted from jobs, homes and comfortable lifestyles, these modern day nomads represent the very real conditions many Americans, including elders, live with. As we near February when an assembly of planets will join in Aquarius, I hope that one of the first issues the new US administration tackles is the rights of the homeless and nomadic populations.

Nomadland is being hailed as a modernized Grapes of Wrath. Interestingly, both Steinbeck and director-writer-editor of the film, Chloé Zhao, have their Venus in Aquarius. This placement can relate to the outsider. It has the ability to connect insiders to isolating themes thereby deepening perspectives and healing divisions.

Whenever I talk with clients who have significant Aquarius energy, they relate to feeling as though they watch from the outside. There can be a profound individuality that borders on aloneness (not loneliness). Even though we often speak of Aquarius as a humanitarian sign, it’s not so much as a connection to people as it is to the ideals that connect us all. Aquarius Sun Ed Abbey hinted on this individuality when he wrote on the pristine spaces in nature. It was here, in the majestic quiet and land left-alone that he found connection to the sacred. Perhaps for Aquarius, refuge is not found in belonging to the spelled out letters on the page, but more in circulating the white space that surrounds them.

The twelve houses acts as fields of experiences for the planets to express their significations. 1st House themes include:

• Appearance
• Image
• How others see you
• Persona
• Interface

Besides appearance, persona and the other points above, planets in the 1st House can speak to life’s beginnings, formation of character and early childhood. For instance, Saturn in the 1st often signifies early responsibilities and feeling older than you were when you were a child.

We also look to the 1st for overall vitality, health, and shape of body. For example, Moon in the first or Cancer Rising often gives a round, full face. One client with Mars in the 1st suffered from frequent rashes as a child.

Planets in the 1st House play a staring role in the native’s life. Mars in the 1st House will want to assert itself. Venus will want to connect, beautify and harmonize. The Sun in the 1st House must express its solar quality, often in a hero’s journey type of way.

When planets transit through the 1st house, we experience their significations as well. Jupiter might bring us expanded opportunities as well as expanded waistlines. Saturn ushers in recognition and promotion as well as added responsibilities and challenges. Uranus transiting the first is often a revolutionary time in our lives where everything changes: our jobs, our relationships, and ourselves.

As an angular house, the 1st is a very active and significant part of our chart. Natal as well as Solar Return placements and transits will always have a visible impact when they’re located here.

The twelve houses acts as fields of experiences for the planets to express their significations. 2nd House themes include:

• Money and finances
• Possessions
• Earning and spending habits
• Material security
• Self-worth

The succedent houses—2, 5, 8 and 11—support the houses they follow. The 2nd House (our money, possessions, and financial security) backs the 1st House (the field of Self).

We can look to the sign on the 2nd to see how the person might earn money, their spending habits and also their values concerning their possessions. For example, someone with Aries on the cusp is a self starter and has an entrepreneurial signature in acquiring income. Cancer on the 2nd is a bit more cautious with money and wants to ensure there’s a solid plan for the future in place.

Planets in the 2nd House express themselves in the realm of finances, spending habits and establishing security. Jupiter can be a signature of wealth if the rest of the chart confirms affluence. Bill Gates has Jupiter conjunct Pluto in the 2nd. Saturn in the 2nd often signifies delays or obstacles to earning and keeping money; oftentimes this person believes that one must work hard for every penny. Again, we look to the entire chart to confirm these delineations and also the aspects the planets make themselves from the 2nd House.

Self Worth

There’s a psychological underpinning to the 2nd that reaches beyond our bank accounts and assets. This part deals with feelings of our own self worth. We can have all the money in the world; but if we don’t believe we deserve nice things, our impoverished consciousness disallows us to spend on ourselves. Whenever I see Chiron in the 2nd, this is often an indication that the person grew up in an environment where they felt as though they were a burden or that finances were tight at home. They learned not to ask for things. There’s usually a despairing script around money and self-esteem that is tightly bound together.

When planets transit through the 2nd House, we experience their significations as well. Jupiter might bring us a bump in our paychecks or an unexpected monetary gift. Saturn might ask that we watch our budget and save while Mars transiting the 2nd often sees us spending more than we usually do. Even if you don’t have any planets in the 2nd House, transits will activate this area. In addition, whenever the ruler of the 2nd is activated by transit or progression, you’ll see the impact in your pocketbook.

The twelve houses acts as fields of experiences for the planets to express their significations.  3rd House themes include:

• Communication
• Journaling and writing
• Siblings
• Neighborhood
• Short journeys

After we’ve encountered ourselves in the 1st House and focused on resources needed to support us in the 2nd, we move on to our immediate environment, the 3rd House.  We can think of a bird hatching out of her shell.

• She encounters herself as a distinct entity separate from her mother (1st). 
• She then recognizes the nest as shelter and understands she requires food in order to survive (2nd).
• Soon after, she makes her first attempts at flying out of the nest to discover her neighborhood and augment her world view. This is the territory of the third 3rd House.

Learning

In the 3rd we learn by inputing more experiences into our growing minds. Our views begin to expand outside the nest into the classroom, the neighborhood, and in our immediate environments.  We observe others, imprinting social rules and appropriate conduct through playtime. The 3rd House corresponds to our school years. We find our siblings in the 3rd and anyone who would sit at the little table (vs the grownup’s table) during family get togethers. Dana Gerhardt writes that the 3rd House “is not so much a house of things as it is a zone of activity. The way a plant reaches for light, in our 3rd house, we reach for the world with our minds.”  This is the house where we keep our cosmic sponges to soak up our environment in order to lay down the tracks of our cognitive models.  Not surprisingly, writers often have an active 3rd House as do podcasters or those of us who work in communication, including school teachers.

Communication & Self Expression

The sign on the cusp of the 3rd House tells us a little bit about how we communicate and process information. A person with Taurus on the 3rd—a fixed, Earth sign—appreciates practical information with a lot of examples. Not only will they communicate this way, but they can better absorb it as well. Gemini—mutable, Air—can switch conversations mid-stream, always circling back as if they have tracks of information all playing at once. Cancer—Cardinal water—is motivated to nourish and feel nourished through communication, appealing to the emotions.

Transits to the 3rd House and/or Solar Returns with a 3rd House emphasis will find us picking up a new interest, enthusiastically plunging into the deep end to learn everything we can about it. We keep our minds fresh and active by feeding this house.

The twelve houses acts as fields of experiences for the planets to express their significations. 4th House themes include:

• Your private self
• Home
• Ancestors & Heritage
• Parents
• End of life

The Egyptians believed that upon death, the Soul returned to the underworld where it began its process of regeneration. Just like the Sun that rose in the morning, reached its vibrance at mid-day, declined in the West to return to the hidden hemisphere before reuniting with the West, the Soul too had a cyclical pattern. This regenerative hidden place is the 4th House.

Roots

The 4th House is where we know our deepest selves. This is the ground from which we come from: our parents, our ancestors, our bloodline. The 4th House bears the karmic gifts and baggage we’ve inherited that’s held in our substrate. We can think of the 4th as the roots and the 10th as the fruit of a tree. Similar to a tree’s root system, our heritage and deep past is covertly communicated to and through us like the network of latticed fungi that’s crucial to the well being of a community of trees.

We can look to the sign on the 4th to see what the early home environment might have been. With Gemini, perhaps there were two homes or multiple caretakers, or the parents immigrated from another Country. Someone with Pisces on the cusp might come from a family of artists and musicians, whereas Virgo can speak to physicians or a home where health was emphasized. The 4th signifies the end of life as well. 4th House Gemini might live in two cities (or countries) near the end of their life. Sagittarius will find that the world is their home, traveling from one place to another to widen their life experience.

Planets in the 4th

Planets in the 4th House speak to conditions in the home environment as well as to the parents. Traditionally, the 4th emphasized the father; later, modern astrology related this house to mother or to the parent that provided more of the caretaker role. With Mars in the 4th, there might have been conflict or violence in the home. Uranus suggests instability and/or a lot of moving around. Venus can indicate beauty and a harmonious environment. Neptune: substance abuse or a skeleton in the closet. We would look at the entire chart to see if it supports these statements. We also consider the aspects these planets make as well as aspects and location of the 4th house ruler.  For instance, if Mars is located in the 4th and squaring the Moon, we have a second indication—a hard aspect to the Moon—that there was conflict in the early home environment.

Activations

When planets transit through the 4th House, we experience their significations as well. Jupiter might bring us a new addition to the family: a birth or perhaps someone moving in. When Mars transits through the 4th, we might be motivated to finally get to the home improvement project we’ve been putting off. We can look at our Solar Return chart to see energies available for our year: Uranus and/or Pluto usually indicate a move or major renovation to the home.  Even if you don’t have any planets in the 4th House, transits and Solar Return placements will activate this area. In addition, whenever the ruler of the 4th is activated by transit or progression, you’ll see the impact in your private life.

The twelve houses acts as fields of experiences for the planets to express their significations.  5th House themes include:

• Creative self expression
• Courtship and dating
• Love affairs
• Children
• Fertility

When we feel as though something is missing in our life, we can usually find it in the 5th House. The 5th House is where Venus is said to have her joy.  This is the house of pleasure, of fun, courtship, and children. This is the house where we come alive by pursuing our passions and creative instincts.

The 5th House contains the light that nourishes our growth if—like a house plant—we turn ourselves in its direction and follow the 5th House lead. In the 5th, we unapologetically rewild ourselves to our basic human nature that wants to create, dance, sing and, most of all: love.

Children

The 5th House often represents our biological children. We can look to the sign on the 5th to understand the tone of our experience here.  For instance, Cancer’s innate approach is to nourish and protect. Gemini encourages curiosity and communication whereas Sagittarius parents with an adventurous heart while encouraging her/his child to find meaning in their experiences.

We look to the fifth for questions pertaining to fertility as well. In general, water signs tend to be more fertile whereas Leo, Gemini and Virgo on the 5th House cusp might have to take extra steps to conceive or have children later in life. We would look at the entire chart to support this.

The 5th House represents not only our biological children, but creative children we birth like books, art, screenplays and the inventive projects that reflect our inspired spark within. With Virgo or Capricorn on the 5th, we might find that we excel at structuring our creative drive, tending to details, and exerting discipline and boundaries when it comes to our passion projects. A 5th House Pisces might find her creative outlet in music, poetry or film whereas Aquarius might birth her cerebral children in the creation of science fiction works or technology.

Activations

Our 5th House comes online in a variety of ways:

1. We have planets in the 5th and this is where they strut their stuff
2. A transit or progression triggers the ruler of the 5th
3. By progression: The progressed Moon or Sun enters the 5th House
4. By profection: Profections is a traditional technique that elevates one house every birth year. We are in a 5th House profection every twelve years.
5. The Lord of the Year is located in our 5th House in our Solar Return and/or we have a packed 5th House for our Solar Return.

Years ago, when my progressed moon was transiting through the 5th House, I fell in love with one of the most significant people in my life. Other clients I work with became pregnant during their 5th House profection or when their Solar Returns featured Jupiter or the Moon. Even if your 5th House is empty, it will still show up in your life when activated.  And thank goodness: we can all use the spark, love, and joy that this House of Good Fortune brings to our lives.

The twelve houses acts as fields of experiences for the planets to express their significations.  6th House themes include:

• Illness & injury
• Daily routines
• Everyday work
• Subordinates
• Pets

Are you a list maker? I am. One of the first things I do every morning is write a list of what I wish to accomplish during the day. This list taps into the one of the core themes of the 6th House: everyday routines. It’s clocking in and the daily grind. It speaks to our work environment and how we prefer our hours to unfold.  For instance, Cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn) on the 6th House cusp seek to initiate and respond whereas fixed signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius) appreciated a steady day with predictable events. Mutables (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces) roll with the punches, adapting to whatever comes down the pike.

Even though we look to the 10th House for career and social reputation, the 6th is connected with work because here we find our lists and routines that fill our days. Our co-workers belong here as do the people we hire (dog walker, house cleaner, personal assistant, etc).

Illness

Whereas the 1st House speaks to our physical constitution, health and vitality, the 6th House indicates illness or injury. The ancients regarded the 6th House as one of the unfortunate houses. This is the house the Sun enters when setting, symbolizing a decline of the life force. Planets occupying the 6th as well as the cusp sign can indicate health conditions.

I recently worked with a client who was born at night and has Saturn in the 6th House. Saturn is especially challenging in night charts and can often manifest as injury or illness. This client had Taurus on the cusp of the 6th. Taurus is a fixed sign, often indicating a long term, chronic health condition. One of the main topics this person wanted to talk about was health. So here’s what I did so we could map out distinct times when health problems might arise:

• Uranus entering Taurus signifying breakthroughs or changes to her health.
• Major transits to her 6th House Ruler Venus. Whenever Venus is activated, the topics of her houses—Taurus and Libra—are triggered.
• 6th House Profection year. This is when the topics of the 6th are highlighted. I write more on this in the column below.
• Solar Return emphasis in the 6th House and/or Venus activated in the Solar Return

By matching these windows of time to her health history, we were able to contextualize the stress that accompanies her condition and also understand when she will feel better.

Planets in the 6th

So what if we have planets in the 6th? Are we meant to be sick or subordinate?  No, thank goodness. Sometimes, like the client I mentioned, there are health challenges. But what I have found is that people with a 6th House emphasis exhibit a high level of health awareness.  If they aren’t a medical professional themselves, they optimize their health and set a great example for the rest of us. These are the yoga instructors, the fitness coaches, and lifestyle influencers.

In modern astrology, we align the 6th House to the idea of service. There’s not only a focus on optimizing health, but on purifying the spirit so that the 6th House heavy beneficially serves others just by showing up. The 6th House is the last house the planets occupy before moving above the bottom half of the chart into the 7th, the House of Others. We can think of planets here of doing the important work of purifying, perfecting, developing, and bettering ourselves before we go out to meet the world. In the 6th, we’re getting ready to put our best foot forward as we enter the 7th.

The twelve houses acts as fields of experiences for the planets to express their significations. 7th House themes include:

• Intimate Relationships
• Business Partnerships
• Marriage
• Frenemies
• Clients and customers

In houses 1-6, we explore the self. We begin with our core identity in the first, our resources in the second, our conditioning and local environment in the third, roots and family in the fourth, our need to express and shine in the fifth, and optimizing our daily routines in the sixth. Once we cross over into the seventh, the focus shifts from ourselves to the other.

When John Donne penned “No Man is an Island”, he was making a 7th House statement. Here is where we find all kinds of relationships—business, legal, small groups, significant others, marriage, clients—and the contracts, conflicts and benefits that go with them. Interestingly, friendships belong in the 11th House, not the 7th.

Planets in the 7th

We can look to the sign on the 7th to see the kind of people you attract in your life and also your approach towards relationships. I’ll speak more to this in the column below. Planets in the 7th express themselves through relationships. For instance, Uranus in the 7th requires a lot of space and freedom in relationships. Mars in the 7th can point to conflict on one end and inspired action on the other. I’ve had more than a few clients with Mars in the 7th who married someone in the military, police force or fire department.

Activations

When planets transit through the 7th House, we experience their significations as well. Jupiter might bring us more clients. Since the 7th is our significant other, sometimes a Jupiter transit brings benefits to the partner. When Mars transits through the 7th, we might find ourselves getting into arguments and stirring up the dust a bit. On the other hand, we could be motivated to put more energy into cultivating our relationships, both business and personal.

We can look at our Solar Return chart to see energies available for our year: if our 7th House has a number of planets in it, this part of our life will be busier than usual.  Even if you don’t have any planets in the 7th House, transits and Solar Return placements will activate this area. In addition, whenever the ruler of the 7th is activated by transit or progression, you’ll see the impact in your relationships.

The twelve houses acts as fields of experiences for the planets to express their significations. 8th House themes include:

• Death
• Wills and inheritances
• Debt and taxes
• Other people’s assets
• Mental Anguish

The 8th House can feel like a Debbie Downer. But I’d like to offer you another perspective. Astrology is a language of time that utilizes the concept of light. Ecclesiastes tells us there’s a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted, and on and on. The Houses that aren’t directly tied to the life-giving Ascendant by one of the five ptolemaic aspects—the conjunction, sextile, square, trine and opposition—do not receive light. Hence, these houses often deal with topics that are the declining part of the “times under heaven”. The houses that do not aspect the Ascendant are the 2nd, 6th, 8th, and 12th.

Shadow

Planets in the 8th House can express themselves by dealing with shadow material. Since this house is not oriented towards the light, planets here can feel more intuitive and underground. Oftentimes, we find energy healers, coaches, and therapists with 8th House placements guiding others through their subconscious processes. An 8th House planet aspecting the Midheaven often expresses itself through the work of the native.

Other People’s Money

If the 2nd House (resources, wealth, money) supports the 1st (self) then it’s easy to understand why the 8th House (other people’s money and shared assets) would support the 7th House (our relationships). Planets here can symbolize the capacity to earn money from 7th House people such as clients. They can also speak to your significant other’s finances. To get a full picture, we would want to look at the condition of the Ruler of the 7th to see how well it’s able to provide for the topics of the 8th House.

Activations

Our 8th House comes online in a variety of ways:

1. We have planets in the 8th and this is where they strut their stuff
2. A transit or progression triggers the ruler of the 8th
3. By progression: The progressed Moon or Sun enters the 8th House
4. By profection: Profections is a traditional technique that elevates one house every birth year. We are in a 8th House profection when we are 7, 19, 31, 43, 55, 67, 79, 91 years old.
5. The Lord of the Year is located in our 8th House in our Solar Return and/or we have a packed 8th House for our Solar Return.

When we know 8th House topics will be taking center stage for us, we shouldn’t expect doom and gloom. I’ve seen this time play out in several ways for clients:

1. Paying off debt(s)
2. Getting finances in order
3. Going into debt/bankruptcy
4. Preparing a will or talking about end of life issues
5. Someone dies
6. Receiving an inheritance
7. Volunteering with hospice
8. Partner’s finances come into the spotlight as there can be changes or discussion around making changes.
9. Unexpected money (like a stimulus check)
10. Dealing with tax issues more than usual
11. A psychological journey where person faces their fears and works on personal development. People often begin therapy at this time or take a therapeutic journey (i.e. sacred planets)
12. Becoming a therapist, shaman, life coach, or guide for others working on their shadow.

The 8th House may be known as the House of Death, but where would we be without death? The 8th House, like all the other houses, are part of the natural cycle of life. The best way to enter 8th House times are with a sense of curiosity and understanding that these experiences will evolve us, not unlike a darkroom where images are developed.

The twelve houses acts as fields of experiences for the planets to express their significations. 9th House themes include:

• Travel
• Foreigners and far away places
• Higher education
• Publishing
• Religion

The ancients believed that as the Sun rode his chariot across the sky in diurnal motion, he was most powerful just after midday—in the 9th House—when his heat would be felt the strongest.  The Sun has long standing associations as chief of the gods. It is for this reason that we give subjects such as divination, wisdom, prophecy, the quest for meaning and higher learning to this house. We include long distance travel as it broadens our perspective. In addition, the cadent houses (3, 6, 9, 12) in traditional astrology represented places that take us away from home.

Expressions

Planets in the 9th House express themselves by delving into the mysteries of life either on a spiritual, psychological, or philosophical level. We often see people who were raised in strict religious environments turn from the dogma they grew up with to carve their own spiritual path.  People with significant 9th House planets or whose Midheaven falls in the 9th are naturally drawn to the divinatory arts such as astrology, tarot, and geomancy. Preachers, missionaries, gurus, inspirational speakers, spiritual coaches, teachers, professors, lawyers, publishers and philosophers all belong to this house. Folks with an energized 9th House activity are drawn to these professions.

Activations

Our 9th House comes online in a variety of ways:

1. We have planets in the 9th and higher learning and/or spiritual questing is where they express themselves
2. A transit or progression triggers the ruler of the 9th, the planet that rules the sign on the cusp of the 9th
3. By progression: The progressed Moon or Sun enters the 9th House
4. By profection: Profections is a traditional technique that elevates one house every birth year. We are in a 9th House profection when we are 8, 20, 32, 44, 56, 68, 80 and 92 years old. Here’s a chart. Note: the last newsletter gave incorrect years for an 8th House profection.
5. The Lord of the Year is located in our 9th House in our Solar Return and/or we have a packed 9th House for our Solar Return.

When your 9th House is activated, you might:

1. Travel internationally
2. Decide to go back to school
3. Take a comprehensive astrology class
4. Hang up your shingle as a tarot reader, especially if your midheaven is in the 9th
5. Be involved in the legal system
6. Sign up for a spiritual course or certification
7. Publish a book or your dissertation
8. Go on a year long quest to find yourself

To me, the 9th House is the most expansive of the twelve. This Temple of the Sun finds us striving and yearning for the inspirational realms where we are closer to god, whatever that means to you.

The twelve houses acts as fields of experiences for the planets to express their significations. 10th House themes include:

• Career
• Reputation
• Social Standing
• Life Path
• Visibility

The angular houses—1st, 4th, 7th, and 10th—are the most powerful in the chart. Planets in these houses are able to express themselves with more influence than in succedent (2-5-8-11) or in cadent houses (3-6-9-12) . Of the four angular houses, the 1st and the 10th are the strongest. Planets in the first speak to a person’s character and physicality whereas planets in the 10th speak to one’s path in life and what they’re known for.  We can liken the 4th and 10th House axis to a tree: the 4th is our roots whereas the 10th is our fruits. When Jesus said “Ye shall know them by their fruits” an astrologer within earshot might have piped up, “And by their 10th House!”

Expressions

Planets in the 10th House are a bit like working dog breeds: they need to engage in meaningful work. Venus in the 10th wants to create beauty and bring people together. She might be happy as an artist, designer, or in public relations. Mercury wants to spread the news. Mercury in the 10th is an excellent placement for a new announcer, journalist, or author.  Mars, the god of War, works out his fire in the military, emergency room, the police department and as a chef with fire and knives. A happy 10th House planet is one that’s is able to express itself through career and calling.

Even more helpful is looking at the sign at the 10th:

• Fire signs  Aries, Leo and Sagittarius need freedom to pursue goals, the ability to do their own thing, and require inspiration in their work.
• Earth signs Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn consider stability and security in their career. They want reliability and something they can count on
• Air signs Gemini, Libra and Aquarius are motivated by mental stimulation, connecting to people and ideas, as well as variety in their career.
• Water signs Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces are nurturing, intuitive, mystical and often involved in healing environments.  They connect on an emotional and/or creative level in their work.

Activations

Our 10th House comes online in a variety of ways:

1. We have planets in the 10th and we’ve put them to work in our public life/career
2. A transit or progression triggers the ruler of the 10th, the planet that rules the sign on the cusp of the 10th
3. By progression: The progressed Moon or Sun enters the 10th House
4. By profection: Profections is a traditional technique that elevates one house every birth year. We are in a 10th House profection when we are 9, 21, 33, 45, 57, 69, 81 and 93 years old. Here’s a chart.  
5. The Lord of the Year is located in our 10th House in our Solar Return and/or we have a packed 10th House for our Solar Return.

When your 10th House is activated, you might:

1. Marry
2. Divorce
3. Get credentialed (i.e. PhD, J.D., MSW, MLS, MPT, LPN, etc)
4. Gain visibility for good or bad
5. Step into a leadership role
6. Move forward in your career
7. Retire
8. Experience 15 minutes of fame
9. Become a parent or grandparent

I often advise clients to step into their power when their 10th House is activated: go for that promotion, plan a wedding, invest in creating more visibility for yourself, retire! Jupiter transiting my 10th House over two years ago was one of the reasons I decided it would be a propitious time to officially step into astrology full time. Working with the astrological timing to make major changes keeps the wind on our backs while flowing in the direction of the current. We make life transitions with more grace and ease.

The twelve houses acts as fields of experiences for the planets to express their significations. 11th House themes include:

• Friends
• Support and benefactors
• Hopes and dreams
• Alliances
• Ambition

Roman poet and astrologer Marcus Manilius claimed the 11th House was even more fortunate than the 10th because planets in the 11th still had a ways to go to reach the highest heaven. The 11th is a fortunate place indeed.  Known as the House of Good Fortune and the House of Good Spirit, planets in this house are climbing their way up into the midmorning sky via diurnal motion to crest the top of the mountain in the 10th. These are aspiring planets, ones that have their eyes on the prize and their hearts afire. The House of Good Fortune is where our ambitions lie alongside the people and the social organizations that can help us get to our promised land.

Expressions

Whenever I see a packed 11th House, I know that friends and/or organizations are an important part of the person’s life. Oftentimes, their work is done in concert with a group of people. It takes a village to sustain an 11th House person and this village can be composed of fellow activists, band members, and/or sangha.

I recently joined Peloton so I could attend live bootcamp, strength training and yoga classes from home. As I was setting up my profile, I had the option to include hashtags to identify other people like me: my tribe or as Marc Antony says, Mi Gente!. Some of the top groups were #blacklivesmatter #PelotonNewbies #PelotonMoms #PelotonWorkingMoms #Peloton4Wine.  All of these collections of people are an example of the 11th House.

The Sign on the 11th House Cusp

We can look at the sign on the cusp of the 11th to tell us about the approach towards friendship and/or how we accomplish our goals.  Capricorn on the 11th is ruled by Saturn. This person may have few friendships in their life but they are solid and endure for a long time. On the other hand, Gemini on the 11th is a friend to everyone. These people usually have many friends from different walks of life.

If the 11th House cusp is a…

• Fire sign  Aries, Leo and Sagittarius need freedom and inspiration in their friendships. They approach their goals and ambitions as conquests and great adventures.
• Earth sign Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn consider stability and solidness in their friendships. They factor in reliability, consistency and practicality in their approach to their goals.
• Air sign Gemini, Libra and Aquarius are drawn to friends who mentally stimulate them. They want a variety of friends. The research and learning process plays an important part in accomplishing goals.
• Water sign Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces want nurturing, intuitive, and emotionally supportive friends.  They access their dreams from how it makes them feel, employing their creativity every step of the way.

Activations

Our 11th House comes online in a variety of ways:

1. We have planets in the 11th and we’ve put them to work in our public life/career
2. A transit or progression triggers the ruler of the 11th, the planet that rules the sign on the cusp of the 10th
3. By progression: The progressed Moon or Sun enters the 11th House
4. By profection: Profections is a traditional technique that elevates one house every birth year. We are in a 10th House profection when we are 10, 22, 34, 46, 58, 70, 82 and 94 years old. Here’s a chart.  
5. The Lord of the Year is located in our 11th House in our Solar Return and/or we have a packed 11th House for our Solar Return.

When your 11th House is activated, you might:

1. Prioritize your friend(s)
2. Join an organization
3. Become a member of a group # PelotonNewbies
4. Wake up to the dreams that have fallen asleep inside
5. Aquire stepchildren or have them play a more important role in your life (11th is 5th—House of children—from your partner: 7th house)
6. Get motivated to achieve your goals

The twelve houses acts as fields of experiences for the planets to express their significations. 12th House themes include:

• Self Undoing
• Hidden enemies
• Repressed energies
• Solitude & Seclusion
• Karmic purification

Just like the 8th House that we looked at four newsletters ago, the 12th House does not “see” or aspect the Ascendant. The Houses that aren’t directly tied to the life-giving Ascendant by one of the five ptolemaic aspects—the conjunction, sextile, square, trine and opposition—do not receive light. Hence, these houses often deal with shadow and decline. They operate in a more covert way, often taking time to express themselves in our lives. The houses that do not aspect the Ascendant are the 2nd, 6th, 8th, and 12th.

Our life isn’t filled with doom and gloom if we’re 12th House heavy. But we will have a deep understanding of suffering and the unseen realms through our own path or in our work with others. Since planets in the 12th House aspect the Midheaven, a positive way to channel their energies is through our work.

Womb of the Soul

In her book, Finding Our Way Through the Dark, Demetra George calls the 12th House the “womb of the soul.” The 12th serves as an incubation phase between lives where unfinished business from the past fuses with future intentions. This part of the chart holds our seeded aims for this lifetime. Often, the unfinished business is not our’s alone, but karmic hangovers from our ancestral line. The 12th carries inherited karma and there it lies, waiting to be lived out and released through the native’s life.

We look to where the ruler of the 12th resides in the natal chart to understand where these energies are expressed. If the ruler is conjunct the midheaven, we see a person whose life work revolves around bringing to life these unresolved complexes. In the the ruler of the 12th resides in the 5th, healing can come through parenting ones own children or through children of ones mind as in creative pursuits. A good example of this is Johnny Cash whose 12th House Ruler was located in his 5th House of self expression.

Apoklima

The 12th House is a cadent house. The Greeks called the cadent houses apoklima, which means “falling” or “decline,” because they fall away from the powerful angular houses. One way this plays out is that planets in the 12th can act as a sort of blind spot for the native. They can also feel repressed. For example, Mars in the 12th can lead to heavy procrastination and/or hidden anger. Someone with this placement has to work on constructive ways of managing their energy and time as well as appropriately releasing frustrations.

On the other hand, planets in the 12th often prefer being behind the scenes. They can be very active, but would rather not be in the limelight. We can think of them as off-stage, working from sight but nonetheless quite active. Along the same lines, 12th House people require a lot of solitary time to recharge and replenish. They crave time to themselves especially after periods of active engagement with others or in the public eye.

Metakosmios 

Metakosmios refers to in between places. The void between worlds. The 12th House is such a place. In this liminal space, divine contact can occurs. The Greeks believed these were the places of prophetic dreams. 12th House states that take us behind the veil. People with 12th House placements often carry gifts of extra sensory perception. Their intuition is extraordinary. They’re often involved in energy work or healing and are able to go beyond what is present to our normal perceptions.

The Twelfth House is indeed a place of mystery. In it, we find Pandora’s Box filled with our greatest self sabotaging tools as well as the treasures that diffuse our ego and connects us to the divine. The best advice I can give for those who walk this terrain is to do so with reverence and self-awareness.

Years ago, I read Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. Gilbert wrote the popular book “Eat, Pray, Love” that was subsequently turned into a movie with Julia Roberts. Lesser known is her intriguing book on creativity, Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear. In the book she writes about disembodied ideas looking for hosts to midwife them into the world. These ideas, or “energetic life-forms” as Gilbert calls them, are propelled by the strong and simple desire to exteriorize. “And the only way an idea can be made manifest in our world” shares Gilbert, “is through collaboration with a human partner. It is only through a human’s efforts that an idea can be escorted out of the ether and into the realm of the actual.”

I loved this line of thought. For a long time, I wondered about what kind of disembodied entity would want to collaborate with me. Would I recognize magical inspiration if it tapped me on the shoulder and whispered in my ear, “I pick you”? And then back in March, I met a big one.

As we all know, March 2020 saw the closing of schools and businesses around the globe. The world began going into lockdown as COVID disrupted just about every part of our lives. During this time, the only place I regularly visited was the soccer fields where I could let my dog run. My dog, a Red Heeler rescue named Yara, had befriended Poppy, a rescue dog belonging to a charming British woman, Nicola Allan. The dogs would play, and we would talk.

At 35 years, when one is building a career, Nicola was unsure about her commitment to law. In fact, she didn’t want to work as a lawyer anymore and had her heart set on children’s illustration. I know how she felt. Two and a half years ago at age 50, I had walked away from a perfectly respectable career as a research librarian. I just couldn’t engage in work that didn’t capture my imagination anymore. Despite raised eyebrows, I had sold my belongings in San Diego to hang up my shingle as an astrologer, tarot reader and (as of late) talisman maker in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.

Nicola and I had a lot in common. We were both willing to take a chance on our passion as we rooted in a new country. As our dogs ran around the field and we got to know one another, The Creative Muse entered the space and began eavesdropping on our conversations. I believe at some point, she decided we were the midwives that would bring her into the world. Nicola’s law work was drying up and she was more than ready to illustrate. I finally had a project to pour my years of tarot experience into. When Nicola shared that she had always wanted to illustrate a tarot deck, I had no control of the words that blurted out of my mouth: “Why don’t we do a children’s deck together?”

I like to think that in the imaginal realm, where disembodied ideas flitter from human to human, a great celebration ensues when an idea has found its person, or in our case, people. It’s been an unlikely collaboration: a lawyer turned illustrator meeting a librarian turned astrologer at a soccer field in Central Mexico. But I believe magic operates in the currency of the unexpected and synchronistic conversations.

Faunabelle Tarot launches on Kickstarter December 19, 2020

As far as the project goes: Nicola and I will launch our deck December 19, 2020 on the crowdfunding platform, Kickstarter. If successfully funded, this will be a gorgeously illustrated indie tarot deck for children and the young at heart. The words are inspired by the gentleness of Pema Chodron, like warm honey in traditional tarot tea. Our goal is that this tarot deck simply exists. We’ve named her Faunabelle Tarot. Faunabelle’s goal is to engender more kindness and self-compassion in children and their parents.

Take a look and/or follow Faunabelle Tarot on Instagram! Please consider supporting the Kickstarter; gift certificates are available as well. If we succeed, Faunabelle will make her grand debut in the material world in June 2021. I imagine there will be a spectacular cosmic Quinceañera upon her success.

Having stationed direct two days ago, Mercury’s reticular activating system is booting up in a sign that remembers everything. Cancer may not always speak her mind, but she feels things deeply. As a Cardinal sign, Cancer is responsive and will address the challenge, even if she has to come at it sideways.

With Mars having just passed over Chiron in Aries—another Cardinal sign—trauma from the past may have erupted recently wearing a new guise. This Chiron-Mars duo squares Mercury plunging a dagger into the vulnerable past that holds medicine wrapped in a memory gauze of hurt. Remember: body and mind are always looking to become whole. Yesteryear can resurface now and be dealt with as the old wounds are felt as grief or rage in the body.

If this resonates with you, see if you can sit with it and acknowledge those parts that need to be witnessed in love. Mercury in Cancer along with today’s Taurus Moon know how to do this.