Vesta is the Roman goddess of the hearth fire, the keeper of the sacred flame, the goddess of hospitality and the home, as well as principles of ritual and sacred sexuality. As a virgin goddess who belonged to no one but herself, Vesta symbolized self-determination, choosing one’s own path, even if doing so requires rejecting the expectations of others. In the myths of Hestia—the Greek goddess with whom Vesta became syncretized—the gods Apollon and Poseidon both sought her hand in marriage. Hestia refused and asked Zeus to let her remain an eternal virgin, not in the sense of sexual chastity but in the sense of belonging to only herself. Zeus agreed, and she took her place at the royal hearth of Olympus. Hestia chose her own calling and in doing so committed herself to a life of sacred devotion.

As Venus makes a conjunction with Vesta—just days after stationing direct, and in a close trine with revolutionary Uranus in Taurus—you might consider: to what are you devoted? In what ways have you acquiesced to the expectations or desires of others—particularly in your relationships—and how might you commit yourself to a more authentic path? Venus is just emerging from its retrograde cycle, and it seems that one of the first ways we will be integrating the lessons of the last 42 days will be to return to our own desires, our sacred hearth fires, and commit to our own self-determination, even if doing so requires refusing or disappointing other people’s expectations. This does not mean a refusal of relationships or even partnerships with others, but it does invite us to no longer abandon ourselves and our desires, whether or not we are in committed partnerships.
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What do you consider to be your sacred calling? What if the altar of your sacred calling burns with the flames of your truest desires? In other words, you will know what you are here to do as you choose to devote yourself to your heart’s desires, trusting that they will light the path to which you are called.
 
[Image reads: 1 February 2022 Venus conjunct the asteroid Vesta at 11º Capricorn in light lettering on a dark starfield]

Erotic Ecologies + Embodiment: Maps for Making + Revelation
A Threshold Event hosted by home—body

I am very excited to be participating in this public conversation “Erotic Ecologies + Embodiments” at 1:30pm eastern on February 13, 2022. This event will be hosted by Mary Grace Allerdice with guests Alkistis Dimech, Anicka Austin, and myself. 
We will be exploring connections between the erotic and creative embodiment, the erotic as a way of seeing and knowing the world(s) of which we are a part, the power of the erotic, and more.
In addition to the live discussion, we'll dedicate 20-25 minutes to answer questions specifically from the live audience. 

This event is FREE and open to the public.
You can sign up here.
I hope you join us!

I was recently delighted to sit down for a conversation with Kelly Surtees of Kelly's Astrology. Kelly is one of my astrology teachers and mentors, and I am a teaching assistant in many of Kelly’s online courses. We sat down to discuss what the Sun and the Ascendant mean in a birth chart, and ended up discussing differences between ancient and modern astrology, the nature of personhood, the foundations of a feminist understanding of astrology, and more. The video is available on Kelly’s YouTube channel, and I am so grateful to be able to share a conversation I found so rich and satisfying with you all!

On January 11, Mars in Sagittarius will make a square with Neptune in Pisces, both at 20º. Mars often describes fiery, assertive, driven, and even divisive action, and in Sagittarius, this can be directed toward expanding one’s territory, striking out beyond familiar borders, and conquering that which demands courageous adaptation. However, as Mars squares Neptune, we may find ourselves charging into a tidal wave that sweeps us off our feet, swirling us around and disorienting our plans. It might be challenging to accomplish your intentions around this aspect. At best, you might surrender to the current, adjust your plans to move with the tide, even if it takes you off course. With Jupiter in Pisces ruling both Mars and Neptune, it does feel as if there is some oversight, some promise or potential that even if you find yourself wrestling with the waves or surrendering to their force, this confusion might lead the way to something greater than you could have anticipated.
 
[Image reads: 11 January 2022 Mars in Sagittarius square Neptune in Pisces in light lettering on a starfield that fades from a reddish tint to a teal tint]

As Venus moves into the heart of the Sun on January 8—a condition known as cazimi—we are halfway through Venus’ retrograde in Capricorn. What this retrograde cycle holds and describes for each of us will be unique to our own charts, but Venus’ general significations of love, desire, pleasure, union, beauty, aesthetic harmony, and justice are under review in the cardinal earth domicile of Saturn. This may be a time when you have been reflecting on what it means to love in ways that are sustainable and enduring, reviewing the deep structures of your commitments, and reassessing the boundaries that allow you to love well. As Venus makes its inferior conjunction with the Sun, it finds favor and resources that may have felt scarce over the last several weeks. This is a moment of renewal as Venus becomes a morning star, even as it continues to move retrograde over the next several weeks, still hidden beneath the beams of the Sun. The lessons of this retrograde may come into some measure of greater clarity or focus today. Pay attention to the dynamics unfolding in your relationships, your desires, and your sense of beauty and justice. Venus will not emerge from under the beams of the Sun until around January 18 and will not station direct until January 29—so this journey is not yet over and all that has been undergoing review beneath the surface has not yet been revealed. But as Venus makes this conjunction on January 8, we are moving through a significant turning point along the way.
 
[Image reads: 8 January 2022 Venus Cazimi at 18º Capricorn in dark lettering on a bright spot within a dark starfield]

​Juno is the Roman goddess of the feminine, marriage and commitment, the counterpart to Jupiter and protector of the community and the state. Astrologer Demetra George describes Juno as “the principle of relatedness and commitment to the other,” “one’s capacity for meaningful relationship and commitment to another person.”
On January 7, Venus will make a conjunction with the asteroid Juno as part of Venus’ longer retrograde journey. Our capacities for commitment within our most significant partnerships are being woven into the larger process of reflection and review described by this Venus retrograde.

Feminist philosopher Judith Butler writes on the subject of love and commitment: 
“Commitment would be the agreement to commit oneself anew, time and again, precisely when circumstances change. And this would mean changing the concrete meaning of commitment as circumstances change … if commitment is to be alive, that is, if it is to belong to the present, then the only commitment one can make is to commit oneself again and again. ‘I love you and I choose you again and again.’ I did not just choose you once, but I continued to choose you, and what there is of me in my speech is given to you again and again through this speech act, declaration, vow, and promise, one that binds me to you in the present, whatever present that happens to be.”
 
As Venus makes this conjunction with Juno, you may find yourself assessing your commitments, committing yourself anew, once again, making your commitment to those you love alive in this present moment, choosing those you love again and again. Doing so may require considerable reflection, asking the questions: why is it that I choose this love, this commitment, now again? How can my love be more than simply a habit or pattern and instead emerge as a clear choice under these current conditions?
Venus will make another conjunction with Juno this year, at 21º Aquarius on March 28. You may notice reverberations between these two connections on January 7 and March 28.
 
[Image reads: 7 January 2022 Venus Rx conjunct the asteroid Juno at 19º Capricorn in light lettering on a dark starfield]

As the Sun enters Capricorn on December 21, we observe Yule or the Winter Solstice in the northern hemisphere—the longest night of the year, as the Sun crosses the degree of its maximum southern declination, when the north pole is inclined furthest from the Sun. It’s a time for turning inward, for honoring the fallow period of winter, for drawing close to those we love and creating light and life with one another to see us through the darkness. It is also a moment of rebirth for the Sun, as from this point the days will gradually grow longer.

This year as the Sun enters Capricorn, it joins Mercury, Pluto, and Venus, just a few days into its retrograde and still closely conjunct Pluto. This Venus retrograde invites us to reflect on our commitments, examine the ways that power operates in our most enduring relationships, unearth the ways in which we re-enact our experiences of trauma or harm in our patterns of relating, and build foundations that can support our ability to love well. At the time of the Sun’s ingress into Capricorn, Mercury is also conjunct the asteroid Juno, the queen of heaven and goddess of loving commitments. How do you express you love to those with who you are committed? How do you commit yourself in words to being in practices of love, even when they require work or facing what might be difficult? This is the context into which the Sun is moving as we mark the start of winter.
 
The brilliant bell hooks, who is now a Black feminist ancestor, writes in All About Love: New Visions, “Love is an action, a participatory emotion. Whether we are engaged in a process of self-love or of loving others we must move beyond the realm of feeling to actualize love. This is why it is useful to see love as a practice. When we act, we need not feel inadequate or powerless; we can trust that there are concrete steps to take on love’s path. We learn to communicate, to be still and listen to the needs of our hearts, and we learn to listen to others. We learn compassion by being willing to hear the pain, as well as the joy, of those we love.”
May we all recognize love as an action, moving beyond the realm of feeling to engage in the practice of loving, learning to communicate, to be still and listen, to hear the pain as well as the joy of our own hearts and the hearts of those we love.
Blessed Yule.
 
[Image 1 reads: Astrology of the Wheel of the Year Yule Winter Solstice 21 December 2021 in gold letters on a dark green background of flowers and stars. Image 2 shows the chart for the Sun’s ingress into Capricorn on 21 December 2021 in Columbus, OH.]

Several months ago, I had the opportunity to discuss one of my all-time favorite artists, Meredith Monk, through the lens of her natal chart with astrologers, colleagues, and friends Drew Levanti and Òscar Moisés Díaz.
​You can listen to our whole conversation on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G43kSBGrtA4

While no longer the mathematical midpoint between the autumnal equinox and the winter solstice, Samhain is a time at which we celebrate the symbolic passage from the point at which daylight and nighttime were equal through the increasing darkness toward the longest night of the year. It is the witches’ new year, the ending of one cycle and the beginning of the next. It is a time when the veil between the worlds is said to be thin, when we honor our beloved dead and the inescapable truth that death is part of Life.
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This year as the Sun sets on October 31, the Moon in Virgo is in the Waning Quarter phase, surrendering its light and moving deeper into shadow. It is also separating from a trine with Uranus in Taurus. Sometimes the process of letting go of what is no longer necessary for our journey leaves us trembling, shaken and unsettled as we part ways with what is no longer ours to carry.
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The Sun in Scorpio is separating from a square with Saturn in Aquarius. What comes into view as you move beyond the places you never thought you would pass? Sometimes the only way through the barricades of rigid ideology is the swim deeper beneath the surface into the depths of where our established logics no longer hold.
Mercury in Libra is applying to a trine with Jupiter in Aquarius. How can you practice your most generous communication—both speaking and listening—with the living and the dead? What becomes more possible when you not only speak in a voice that is already more than your own but listen that way as well?
Venus in Sagittarius is conjunct the asteroid Juno, the Queen of Heaven and wife of Jupiter. You may find that as we move farther into this dark season, you long for the commitments capable of holding the wildfires of your passions. To whom are you devoted, and how do you sustain the blaze of love and desire within the partnerships to which you are committed?

May you release what is no longer yours, dive deep beneath any unyielding formations of your rational mind, practice listening and speaking in ways that are larger than any individual self, and devote yourself to love that can carry you through the long nights ahead. Blessed Samhain.
 
[Image 1 reads: Astrology of the Wheel of the Year Samhain 31 October 2021 in gold letters on a dark green background of flowers and stars. Image 2 shows the chart for sunset on 31 October 2021 in Columbus, OH.]

​The Sun enters Cancer at 11:33pm eastern on Sunday, June 20, marking the Summer Solstice in the northern hemisphere—called Litha in the witches’ Wheel of the Year. The Summer Solstice is the longest day of the year, at which point the days begin to grow shorter and the nights grow longer. From the peak of its strength, the Sun begins to move toward its symbolic death and rebirth at the Winter Solstice. This year, as the Sun moves into Cancer, its ruler the Moon is in Scorpio, the sign of its fall or depression. The brightest light of the year is revealing where our needs feel unmet, the places that feel neglected or abandoned. The Moon is in the waxing quarter lunation phase, a time of pressing through resistance, overcoming challenges, and establishing the viability of this cycle—proving what is possible even when the support we may be seeking feels absent or unavailable. The Moon is also square Saturn and opposing Uranus in Taurus, wading through the residue of this week’s exact Saturn/Uranus square. Our foundations may feel shaken and unsteady. But the Sun is also applying to a trine with Jupiter in its domicile of Pisces, and it is co-present with Venus in Cancer. Provision may not come from the sources we expect, but there are resources available to us is we follow where the currents are carrying us. As that which you have been grasping is shaken from your trembling hands, surrender to the flow, moving in the direction of abundance rather than clinging to the places where it feels as if there is never enough. May we each trust that our lives are simply tributaries streaming into tides that nourish us even as we pour ourselves into them. As we move from the longest day toward the longest night, may we remember that we are never alone.
 
[First image reads “Astrology of the Wheel of the Year: LITHA, 20 June 2021” in golden letters on a dark green field of flowers and stars. Second image shows the chart for the moment of the Sun’s ingress into Cancer, and reads “Litha, the Summer Solstice, 20 June 2021, 11:33pm, Columbus, OH, USA”]

June 14 is the second exact square between Saturn in Aquarius and Uranus in Taurus. Saturn is retrograde, and the Moon is in Leo, making an exact T-square with them—opposing Saturn and squaring Uranus. Without essential dignity here and heavily maltreated by the opposition to Saturn, this aspect with the Moon could be especially hard on our bodies and emotional well-being. Remember the pleasures that have sustained you before this moment, the desires that have taken you down revolutionary pathways, but also be prepared to create considerable space for rest and recovery this week. Seek support whether from movement practices, somatic healing, bodywork, sexual healing, or co-regulation with other bodies where you experience grounding and trust. With Saturn retrograde, we might find ourselves dragged backwards or regressing through pressures and conflicts that we thought were already overcome or resolved—or perhaps reliving old fears or tired narratives that limited or foreclosed what we could feel. Like buildings swaying amidst an earthquake, we must cultivate flexible, enduring tensile strength—strong enough to hold on and flexible enough to remain standing. These squares between Saturn and Uranus this year are teaching us lessons in resilience, how to come into right relationship with change, where to commit to holding stable shapes and where to resist rigidity in order to open to radical change.
 
[Images reads: SATURN SQUARE URANUS 14 June 2021 in chartreuse letters on a brown background.]

​Jupiter is still in Pisces until July 28, but stationing retrograde later this week.
Several nights ago, the Moon was in its domicile of Cancer, applying to a conjunction with Venus, both receiving a superior whole-sign trine from Jupiter. It was a night for ritual and reverence, connecting with these celestial bodies and inviting their support.
May abundance and ease find each of you in the midst of all of that we are struggling for.

On June 10, there will be an annular Solar Eclipse at 19º Gemini—9º from the North Node. This eclipse is conjunct Mercury retrograde in Gemini and square to Neptune in Pisces, both of which are signatures for potential confusion, misunderstanding, and miscommunication. Mercury is within one degree of its inferior conjunction with the Sun — moving into the heart of the Sun or cazimi. It could be that just as we come to some kind of clarity regarding Mercury’s retrograde, a shadow is also revealed, a side of the situation that we could not see before.
 
Do not expect to fully understand the events around this eclipse and anticipate that more will become clear with distance. Gemini is often concerned with information and communication, gathering and synthesizing data to develop a particular point of view. But at this eclipse, these are precisely the kinds of processes that may experience disruption.
 
Remember, eclipses can describe unpredictable events, sudden or dramatic changes unfolding in different areas of life. Most often, solar eclipses—which occur when a new moon is within close proximity to the Moon’s nodal axis—describe significant or dramatic beginnings. These events can unfold suddenly or over the next six months. Look to the signs in which the eclipses occur in your own chart to see which areas of life they might be describing. If they occur within a tight orb—I use 3º—of a planet or angle in your natal chart, these eclipses are more likely to indicate more significant events in your own life.
 
[Image reads: SOLAR ECLIPSE IN GEMINI 10 June 2021 in yellow-grey letters on a dark background]