I wrote the title to this issue when I was sitting in a feeling of having lost all hope last week. And even though I’ve moved through the wave and have come out the other side of it, I kept it as a signal for those of you who still feel stuck.
I’m known for having “delusional” faith that everything will work out. I love that part of myself and will not let it go without a fight.
So the rest of this issue is not going to be about how everything feels hard. It will be an exploration into the astrology behind what feels like a collective loss of faith and the new places we need to start looking to find it again.
As a perfect segue, I’d like to share a conversation I had with Andrea Andree for her podcast Aligned and Powerful. We talked about why I broke up with astrology, what brought me back, and what I believe this new chapter of my work is in service of.
This episode is for you if you are an astrology skeptic, astrology enthusiast, or simply want to gain a deeper understanding of what the Cosmic Experiment is really about.
It also somehow hints to the solution I arrived at after my crisis this week, so if you listen closely there are clues woven throughout it.
If you host a podcast and want to talk to me about astrology, spirituality, the intersection of inner work and outer life, or anything adjacent, just reply to this email.
One more thing I want to note before we get into the meat of this issue is that not everyone is having a bad time right now. I’m hearing a lot of noise about how heavy and confusing everything is, how everyone feels lost and stuck in this liminal space between who they were and who they are becoming, and while that’s valid, I think hearing the same thing from every direction is causing us to just accept things as the way things are, which only adds “disempowered” to the pile of negative feelings we’re already suffocating under.
So I want to briefly share stories from three people I spoke with this week who are having a completely different experience in hopes that they serve as evidence that things can turn around for you, too — likely in ways you’re not expecting:
One friend has a business blowing up in a way she always envisioned but never was able to quite figure out how to achieve. All she did was make the slightest shift to her business strategy and went from prioritizing 1×1 sessions to focusing more on group and community classes. And not only is the business becoming more successful, but she’s genuinely enjoying the work she’s doing.
Another friend left me a voice note about how she had been looking for freelance work as a copywriter while worrying how she was going to be able to stay in her new house after an unexpected breakup. Then out of the blue she connected with the founder of a growing startup with a mission that’s perfectly aligned with her values. And while she wasn’t looking for a full time job, they happen to be looking for a full time copywriter and now she’s in the second round of interviews.
My nail technician, who I will also call my friend because I spent hours with her every month, is shutting down her business here and moving halfway across the country to follow what she can only describe as a feeling of “opportunity”. And while her clients will miss her terribly, she could not be more excited for her new chapter and the way things are all falling into place.
Yes, Uranus brings swift and sudden changes, but they don’t have to be bad. The magic is there. You might just need to start doing things differently to find it.
How I Actually Use Astrology
The way I use astrology now is basically the inverse of how I used to and how many astrologers use it today. I always found it frustrating that we’d be flooded with predictive forecasts about upcoming transits, but once we were actually in them and experiencing the effects, astrologers were already posting about the next big transit. It was exhausting trying to keep up both as a creator and a consumer of that content. Not to mention difficult to understand because it didn’t give us enough time to integrate.
Since my breakup, I use astrology in a way that may seem backwards to most people. I rarely look at upcoming astrology to attempt to predict what’s coming. I mention on the podcast that I don’t even look at the astrology of the upcoming month to pick the “best” day to do something anymore.
Have you seen that reel floating around instagram with the guy saying “I need a white girl with a nose ring to tell me what planets are making me sad” and she replies, “Earth”? While that meme is meant to poke fun at astrology, it’s accurate to how I view it. Astrology is a tool that can help us understand why we are having experiences, not cause them.
So now I look at what’s happening within and around me first. I pay attention to how I’m feeling, the conversations I’m having, and situations I’m facing and notice the patterns woven through those experiences. Then when something is repeating or gets really loud, I go study a chart. Life shows me where to look, and astrology gives me the language to understand it.
This past week, the pattern that became loud and clear for me was a loss of faith.
Upgrade to keep reading
"These articles are brilliant. They're so different from anything out there. Revolutionary."
Join for $10/month