Hello beautiful people and welcome to this dose of Celestial Goodness. As always, thank you for joining me in this space and on this journey. It has been a while hasn’t it. The last few weeks have been pretty busy for me, and as is the case, sometimes you have to triage the things that are happening in your life.
All of that and then some, but I am always thinking about this space thinking of things to share, and just reminders on the fullness of life despite what can sometimes feel like the world burning. So how have you been? Let me know in the comments! I would love to hear about anything delightful that has been unfolding in your world and in your space.
Now before we get into what this week is about, I want to just have us get present for a moment. Wherever you are, whatever time it is for you, and whatever you are doing (and if you are reading this on the blog vs. watching the video, I want you to read this intentional…meaning, I want you to give your attention to it, and then visualize it for yourself.) We are doing a check in. You may watch this week’s video here: https://youtu.be/6XCMgwT5iN0
If you can sit in a comfortable place and in a comfortable position, please do so now.
How does it feel to just sit or lay down or just to be?
How does it feel in this moment to not have anything really to do but just breath and be?
How is your breath? How are you breathing? Turn your attention to feeling yourself breath. How does your body move with your breath? Take in a deep but comfortable breath. Close your eyes if you need to, and just allow yourself to feel yourself breathing in and out.
As you do this, I want you to scan your body starting at your crown—the top of your head. Mentally move downward from your head all the way down. As you do this, do you feel any tension in any parts of your body? I generally hold stress in my shoulders and upper back area. As you are working your way down, I also want you to picture a golden light washing through your body, and easing away any tension that you might be feeling. Allow this warm light to linger at any places that feel tense or tight. As this light washes down though you, imagine that it goes right down through your feet and connects you to the beautiful, firm, solid, green Earth. You feel grounded and connected, and everything that has been creating any stress or tension for you melts away. The Earth takes it, and will transform it into nutrients for the soil.
You feel a sense of peace wash over you, and I just want you to mentally say “thank you” to the Earth. I also want you to tell your body thank you. Because we put our physical bodies through so much. Now thank your mind for all the thoughts and all the things that it has to process daily. Now if you can, put your hand over your heart space, and just imagine sending an extra infusion of love to your heart. The powerhouse of your organs; the one that keeps us going. Imagine your heart accepting this love and then sending some back out to you—but instead of just surrounding you alone, it cover the entirety of our world. Now I want you to think of one person who makes your heart smile. Imagine sending them an extra dose of love as well.
Now think of one thing that you are grateful for this week. It can be anything, even if is this moment, where you are creating a sacred space within yourself. Gratitude helps to center us. It is a moment that bridges the past, present, and future. Something has already happened that made our hearts sing, and we feel that thankfulness in the present moment, yet we know that we can experience more of these moments in the future. Focus again on your breath. How are you breathing now? How do you feel now. Take another deep but comfortable breath and open your eyes. Remember that you can check in with yourself anytime, and anywhere by just remembering to connect with your breath. Thank you for doing this with me.
Now this week, I wanted to talk a little bit about astrology and my deep love and appreciation for this subject. In over a year since I have had my channel and blog, I have talked about it a lot, but I haven’t really shared some of the information that I know. To be honest with you, I have been a little scared to put myself out there more as someone who knows about astrology beyond the basics. In reality, I have studied this topic and mythology since I was about twelve years old, and in the past year, I have increased my studies—taking classes, attending conferences, and learning more from some of the best teachers in the world. I have also been sharing some of my understanding of astrology with friends and family, and have even been reading their natal charts.
P.S. If you are interested in letting me practice on you, please reach out! So in overcoming one of my own fears—of what I really can’t tell you– I am just putting it out there to the world in this space that I am taking steps to become a professional astrologer (in addition to my regular work and side stuff haha), and that in coming years I will have a business that focuses on helping people learn more about themselves and how to navigate life by working with astrology and the cosmos. I will teach it, continue to learn it, and really dive deeper into something that I have loved for a long long time.
So what is astrology?
Everyone has probably heard the question, What is your zodiac sign? Zodiac means, “Wheel of Animals” in Greek and refers to the 12 signs of astrology. When people ask that question, they are usually referring to your sun sign. Most people know their sun sign. To know your sun sign, you just need to know the day when you were born. That is the sign that the sun was in on that particular day. So for me, I was born in the middle of December. At the time of my birth, the sun was in the zodiac sign of Sagittarius. That makes me a Sagittarius.
There are 12 signs of the Zodiac: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces. And there really is a beauty to the Zodiac. We won’t dive into that today, because this really is more of a dipping your toe in! But know that especially in Classical Astrology, there is depth, symmetry, and a true beauty to the structure of the cosmos. I hope that as I share more of this material that you will see it, and be able to apply it in your own life.
Now, that still doesn’t tell us what astrology is. Different people have different quotes for telling you what astrology is because it is truly a vast subject, but there are two that I really love. The first is from Christopher Penczak. He said:
“Astrology is the science and the art of interpreting the heavens and its relationship to phenomenon upon the Earth. Bodies and movements within the heavens correspond to power and forces within ourselves and our environment. When patterns are too personal or immediate, looking at the “bigger picture,” of the heavens, and calculating patterns in the past and patterns to come give us a greater understanding.”
The second is from a class that I took with Rick Levine. He shared this quote:
“Astrology is firstly a discipline of mind, a technique for the development of holistic thinking. The study of the cyclic patterns of astrology places the mind in the habit of constantly perceiving things as wholes, rather than as unrelated parts. An understanding of astrology makes the mind aware that what is happening at any given moment is just one point, just one moment of an entire cycle of complex and intricate relationships. It gives one an objective awareness of the unity of all things, the conscious realization that all things are in some way intimately related to everything else.” – Michael Meyer, “A Handbook for the Humanistic Astrologer”
What I gleaned from both quotes and my own studies is that there are patterns to life, and if we study and understand these patterns we can have a greater understanding not just of the world around us, but also of ourselves. Self-awareness is such a wonderful tool for making our lives richer and more meaningful. I also have to point out that in all major civilizations and cultures there has been some form of practice of Astrology. It all used to be clumped together with Astronomy, but over the years they were separated, with Astronomy becoming more scientific and recognized, and Astrology falling to the way of parlor games and fluff. Not for me though—it is still very serious stuff. That being said, there is a fascinating history, and there are a multitude of different astrological systems, and viewpoints out there about on this subject matter. For me, astrology has helped me to make sense of life when things have gotten wild and crazy, or when there has been nothing at all happening.
And we do hear about astrology in popular culture, especially as with this coming week we are getting ready to head into another round of Mercury Retrograde. I did a whole video on Mercury Retrograde, but I will offer my usual advice here. When most people hear the term Mercury retrograde, they clamp up and groan—oh no, my technology is going to break down, my travel plans are going to go haywire, and I better not sign off on anything major. Why is this? In Roman Mythology, the God Mercury was known as the messenger god. He ruled over communication, technology, travel, commerce, and luck. He was also a notorious trickster, hence why sometimes in retrograde times, it feels like someone is playing a trick on you! Mercury’s Greek counterpart is Hermes, and his Egyptian counterpart was the God Thoth or Djehuty—God of Wisdom.
I hear the complaints about Mercury retrograde all the time, and my response is always the same. Treasure the time. It is a divine gift; it is a time to seek inner wisdom. It is a time to reset and to slow down. Because Mercury is very close to the sun, it retrogrades very frequently in relation to the Earth. It does this about 3 or 4 times per year for about 3-4 weeks. When a planet goes into retrograde motion, astrologers say that it impacts the psyche internally. Instead of tapping into the planet’s energy externally, we must go on an inward journey to gain certain lessons and blessings.
One of the best analogies that I heard for Mercury Retrograde was this. If you drive your car every day, what is going to happen? Before long, it will need service—new tires, an oil change. Humans are the same way. We also need times of rest, time to recharge. When Mercury retrogrades and we suffer delays, we are sometimes forced to slow down, to see things from a different perspective, and to rest. Most astrologers suggest that in retrograde periods we should do things that begin with RE. REST. RECHARGE. REJUVENATE. REVISIT. REMIND. REVITALIZE.
So, this is what I am also encouraging you to do this week. Take time to sit with yourself, to check in, and to make sure that you are feeling connected to source and to your center. Practice gratitude, and remember that we all have a role in helping to craft the world that we desire to see and to be a part of. The past weeks have been beautiful, but there have also been heartbreaking moments in the world. You feel those things especially when you remember that we are all truly connected. Astrology helps me to remember this. It reminders me that we each have a role to play. So it is important that you do what you can, where you are to help the overall energy of the world, and you help do that by knowing yourself deeply, and also staying grounded and loving. You cannot pour from an empty cup, and the retrograde is here to remind you of that! May the stars shine brightly over your week, and may it be an amazing one indeed.
Celestial Goodness 