Hello friends. A few words about me for the benefit of new readers. I am devoted to Land, Stars & Mystery. I explore connections between human and other-than-human and weave Nature, myth and magick into my offerings. I am a certified Western Astrologer and Life Coach. I’ve been reading star maps for over two decades. Currently, I am researching LUCK🍀 and how it shows up and plays out in the birth chart. My books are currently open for astrology and tarot readings.
There is a family of house sparrows with their white striped wings living within feet from my “office” window. Around 8 in the morning they fly out and don’t return until the gloaming. I counted five house sparrows last week. Today, however, nine lined up on the boundary wall. It appears more than one family is nesting in the exterior ventilation fan box.
I became painfully aware last week during Venus’ sitting at 29ª Virgo that I was holding onto stressful feelings. A tightness in the belly. I keep landing on one word, grief, but I have no doubt anger and worry are in the mix of feelings…but also gratitude.
So much gratitude.
For my health, my family, my work, the bees, the flowers, the indescribably delicious smell of petrichor, the house sparrows…
Last week, I showed up for client readings but between them I could do little more than sit with the trees, talk with friends and read lines of poetry (like this poem by Marge Piercy)
Venus on that final degree opposed Neptune in Pisces exactly and clients and friends were talking about liminal spaces - occupying a space between times. Of course. I too feel like an astronaut floating above the Earth waiting to be pulled back into the space station.
This sense of waiting but at the same time awareness of some sort of deconstruction going on is Neptune on the anaretic degree in their home sign of Pisces.
Then on the day Mercury stationed direct and the Moon opposed Pluto, the tension moved up from my belly and into my head. A day long headache that felt like a rain cloud. Magnesium didn’t help. Advil didn’t help. Yet, I was incredibly productive. I posted letters that were gathering dust in a corner of the kitchen island. I completed a medical test. I vacuumed. I wrote.
I am a creature of habit. I am one of those people who gets up and makes the bed before doing anything else and then the day progresses as a series of ticks on a to-do list. There is an order and a rhythm to my daily life which keeps me tethered and sane. (Natal Moon in the 12th house)
That said, I crave what writer Paul Kingsnorth calls “severance” in his wonderful book Savage Gods. New faces, new vistas, new ideas, new words and so every now and then I find myself on the road, usually with my husband. This past weekend we were in the backcountry where there is no cellular service. We packed water and sandwiches and bear spray. We followed the Squamish River beyond the 32km mark (we know this because bold yellow signs are nailed to tree trunks) and tried not to think too much about grizzlies and cougars. We came across a mossy mound in the shape of a snake at an empty campsite where a long island gave the illusion that the river had split in two.
Today’s New Moon in Virgo at 6:55pm speaks to this…
When you think you’re “not doing” you are still in motion, still - yes, actually - doing something. When you think you’re “being lazy” or when you’ve “taken time off” to read a book in a hammock by the lake or float in a body of water thinking of nothing other than the blue of the sky above you, you are doing something and … something is being done to you.
There are a lot of people who will disagree with what I am saying here. They will say there is such a thing as a state of nondoing. They will argue that periods of pause and silence equal nondoing. But, staying silent is in itself, an action.
There are two states of doing. Some of our “doing” is quantitative and usually stems from craving. Wanting attention, recognition, praise… often it is an “unconscious” type of doing. This DOING has also been drummed into us. If you’re not doing doing doing then you’re not productive, not useful…(this serves the money economy).
Qualitative doing comes from knowing what you must do at any given moment. This type of doing is the doing that the world needs now more than ever. It comes from paying attention.
Journal reflections for today’s New Moon
Am I doing things out of habit? Or,
Am I attending with sensitivity (Sun-Moon in Virgo opposite Saturn in Pisces) at the right time to what requires my attention?
+++
Thank you for being here.❤️
I’ll be back in your inbox tomorrow with this week’s astrological weather and words on this month’s eclipse (17 September, partial lunar eclipse at 25º 40’ Pisces).
Recommened reading:
The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know is Possible by Charles Eisenstein
Thank you for your helpful reflections and for sharing the Marge Piercy poem. It reminded me of Martyn Joseph - a singer/songwriter I admire - and his song 'Here Come the Young'.