astrology

My mother gave me a tarot deck to get me out of my own head. This eclipse season, two cards are asking me to do it again.

On August 12th, a total solar eclipse hits 20° Leo. It's the first eclipse on a new nodal axis, Leo and Aquarius, and it's not asking the same thing of everyone. Most eclipse content treats this like a horoscope: one paragraph, twelve sun signs, same vague "big shifts are coming" energy for everybody. That's not how it actually works. Eclipses land in specific houses of your chart, and which house depends on your rising sign, not your sun sign. If you don't know your rising s

Every space holds onto what happened in it. You’re not imagining it — you’re sensitive to energy, and that’s exactly what’s picking it up.

The Two of Cups Gemini III ends in ruins. A false idol, dressed as confidence, finally undone. In the first decan of Cancer we take a left turn towards a liminal space–one that represents attraction’s first gaze. The summer solstice opens onto the Two of Cups, Venus ruling Cancer, the Moon’s domicile, it’s natural house. It’s the nicest placement for this ruler–one where she governs with ease. The Golden Dawn’s Book T title for this decan, “Lord of Love,” is apt. The Rider-W

10 of Swords We leave the anxiety-driven insomnia of Gemini II and land at the completion of the Gemini cycle, here represented by the 10 of Swords—the card everyone hates to get. While the Tower may strike fear, there’s a finality to the 10 of Swords imagery that is somehow more frightening. Remember that we are in the land of swords—the death illustrated in the cards (what T. Susan Chang termed as “dramatic” — really, one sword would have done the job) is mental. The death

Gemini II: the 9 of Swords meets Mars’s 3 a.m. dread. A Decan Walk essay on consequence, anxiety, and the choices we can’t outrun — titled Drag Me to Hell.

Taurus III: the 7 of Pentacles meets Saturn’s mid-labor grind. A Decan Walk essay on endurance and unfinished success, anchored by Rocky’s Mickey and Adrian.

Six of Pentacles “No, no, you chose. You chose to get ahead. You want this life. Those choices are necessary.” — Miranda Priestly During a rewatch of The Devil Wears Prada ahead of the new movie, it occurred to me that opportunities are only gifts when we understand the motivations of the giver. Without that understanding, we lack the ability to employ discernment in deciding for ourselves — to “choose for ourselves,” as Miranda notes to Andy in Paris. Andy spent the better p

The Five of Pentacles / Taurus I: The Lord of Worry Decan Walk “You know, it occurs to me that the best way you hurt rich people is by turning them into poor people.” — Billy Ray in Trading Places In late April we’ve moved out of the fiery, Mars-ruled energy of Aries and into the grounded, Venusian Taurus. And the first decan doesn’t ease us in gently. In the northern hemisphere, it’s not all roses and sunshine yet. The weather is unreliable. The ground is still hard. The see

A Beltane Spread for the Scorpio Full Moon The last time Beltane landed on a Scorpio full moon was 1988. It was also the year the Edinburgh Beltane Fire Festival was born — a small group of artists on Calton Hill, lighting fires because the pressure of Thatcherism had built past the point of containment. The Iron Curtain was cracking. The roots started to shift under the Berlin Wall, leading to its fall the next year. The Scorpio moon showed what was buried. The burn came fir

The Four of Wands: The Lord of Perfected Work After the initial battle and climb of Aries I and II, we move into the last decan of Aries -- Aries III, which is like every 80s movie high school house party. A glorious celebratory moment where the fire of Aries is seemingly under control -- but there’s always a cost. Corresponding to the Four of Wands in the tarot, it looks festive and happy on the outside, but there’s inevitably some teenage girl crying in the bathroom. In thi