I am a consulting astrologer hailing from Melbourne, Bunurong country. My passion for astrology began as a youngster who was open to the curiosities of coincidence with a deep need to know why people did the things they did. You can read more about me at my website www.druish.com & book a reading in person or via skype.
As if 2020 wasn’t enough already. We’re again in the vulnerable terrain of eclipse season and it’s setting the stage for 2021.
Giddyup!
Video from @horsepars
Between now and the end of 2021 we have a total of 6 eclipses, predominately in the signs of Sagittarius and Gemini: the mutable magic weavers and truth seekers. Where are Gemini and Sag in your chart? This is where you’ll find the energies playing out…and play they will! If you have Sag Rising, Sun or Moon – extra heads up!
Along the Gemini-Sag axis we seek and explore. Gemini processes vast amounts of incoming data down into energetic information that allows for multifaceted expression and understanding. Gemini reflects duality, but the duality is always indicative of the one behind the two. There is no separation. The pitfall can be playing with the illusion by trying to fill the gap, the silence, the spaces where Spirit speaks with books, mind-numbing scrolling and too many tabs open. Gemini’s challenge here is to allow the listening, the receptive energy of communication, to orient itself in meaning.
Sagittarius on the other hand explores far and wide. It seeks to go beyond the limitations of this mortal coil and reunite a connection between what we’re doing here and the Divine meaning and purpose that drives it all. Hasn’t 2020 forced us to ask wtf we’re doing on this precious planet? Our fundamental security in truth has been skewed as we are inundated with fake news, algorithms and extremism at all ends of the political spectrum. As we peel back the layers of deception within socialisation, politics, institutions and anything we’ve been told to believe, the challenge for Sag here will be to reintegrate the truth while acknowledging the pains of being wrong and mislead.
Mark your calendars as we get hit with the truth stick:
Nov 30th 2020: Lunar Eclipse 8* Gemini Dec 14, 2020: Solar Eclipse 23* Sag May 26, 2021: Lunar Eclipse 5* Sag June 10, 2021: Solar Eclipse 19* Gemini Nov 19, 2021: Lunar Eclipse 27* Taurus Dec 4, 2021: Solar Eclipse 12* Sag
We’re on the last leg of what may feel like a marathon.
Mars – the planet of action, assertion and drive – has been held back in retrograde motion since September 9th. It’s been a battle of will, butting heads, red flags and extremism.
If you’re feeling fatigued right now, you’re not alone. It’s exhausting. This whole year is exhausting. Good news is that Mars will start to move forward (direct) again on November 13th. It’s not long now.
What we can all start to acknowledge that the world has significantly changed and that means that self care has changed, too. We need a long term strategy. Short sighted focus will only lead to burn out. Take it easy out there. Re-assess your game plan in true retrograde style and aim your sling shot in the direction you want because we will be released!
Anyone else feeling both wired & tired?! This Full Moon building toward a sparky connection with Uranus + Mars still Rx in Aries leaves me exhausted at the end of the day yet unable to sleep. How bout you?!
Uranus is turbulence. It’s chaotic & unpredictable…so sometimes the best way to utilise this energy is to dive right in: Chaos is the birthplace of Creativity. It can also feel like you’ve stuck your hand in the toaster so pick your battles…
The Full Moon will enhance what ever it touches. Be prepared for the high tide, the big feels & the illumination as the veil between the worlds recedes.
Thanks to @kookslams for the endless top notch videos
This time last year we moved through similar terrain.
Mercury kicked up its usual retrograde dust in Scorpio, and this in turn activated the ties that bind Millennials, Gen X and Boomers.
This article breaks down the astro-connections between each generation, their often unwanted similarities and highlights the intersections where learning and growth can take place.
Saturn will leave Capricorn on December 17, 2020 for an approximate 2 year journey through Aquarius. Those with planets in Capricorn (or any Cardinal sign – Aries, Libra and Cancer) have been feeling the brunt of this transit since December 2017. It’s been a lot, and it’s not to say that Saturn in Aquarius will be ‘better’ but it will at least be a change.
On the weekend at the AU Summit, an image of George Floyd’s murder was used in a presentation. From listening to QTBIPOC folks, specifically from Black communities, many have voiced that the image was retraumatising for Black audiences. The stark power imbalance in the image was also reflected in the lack of forethought and awareness on the part of the presenter. This situation could have been prevented and in this I appreciate the continuing conversations with Astrology University about how this unfolded and the steps they’re taking toward accountability and minimising harm in the future.
This, and innumerable situations like it, highlights the need for QTBIPOC voices to be amplified in all spaces, specifically in the astrological community. The importance of equity to be in practice and not only in concept cannot be overemphasised. It is the responsibility of organisers and astrologers collectively to recognise how white supremacy permeates everything from institutions to relational dynamics, society and politics, and to actively make ongoing changes and be accountable for harmful actions.
Systemic racism has not sidestepped the astrological community. Astrology has been handed down to us through a white, cis-heteronormative, patriarchal framework. The books that we learn from have been written with a severe lack of intersectionality. As a gender-queer person, I have had to insert myself into astrology texts from the moment I picked one up 20+ years ago. For astrologers reading this, can you list off the top of your head 10 BIPOC astrologers who wrote books between 1900-2000? There is an obvious lack of representation of diverse voices. As organisations are pressured to diversify, the true test will come when marginalised voices become centralised, when those voices are heard, valued, and sought after.
The intergenerational dynamic at play will also take great dedication to find points of connection and healing. The test facing the Boomer generation is to remain receptive and open to being challenged, and then being open to change. The younger generations have inherited a world with an expiry date, where everything from toothpaste to ancient wisdom is available with the click of a button. Online naming and shaming can send an alarm out beyond the scope of our community but it can also narrow the opportunity for healing.
Up until now, it has primarily been marginalised communities highlighting injustices while simultaneously taking the brunt of violence. The work it requires to undo, unlearn and unpack the ways in which we consciously and unconsciously contribute to violence and oppression is a lifetime dedication. As our collective consciousness transitions, the more we engage with inherited power dynamics the more we can see how insidious white supremacy, patriarchy and capitalism are. It’s often uncomfortable, but it’s also where the greatest learning can occur if we can remain open.
As Venus completes its 2020 retrograde cycle and steps out from the shadow phase this week, it also completes its connection with Neptune. This dance has been active since May when the common sense of quarantine and masks started to disintegrate into the terrain of a violation of rights.
Neptune blurs the lens, and with Venus it can feel sooooo gooooood! It can confuse, glamorise and hold “the good” above all else. This is what spirituality culture holds onto when it focuses on peace, love and positivity while actively ignoring any contribution or benefit from systemic oppression.
Watching AOC fearlessly wave her sword at the insidious power of patriarchy gives image to Venus as a morning star; a skilled fighter and warrior seeking to restore balance to injustice.
AOC brings Venus as a Morning Star into the House.
At the same time however, Neptune held sway this week as a movement in Turkey, aimed at highlighting the link between political corruption and high femicide rates, was co-opted by those eager to break up the catastrophic 2020 feed of civil unrest with their best black & white selfie. Instead of the challenge offering agency to those seeking to avoid having their image on page 3 of a newspaper as victim, like Pinar Gultekin, it became a challenge to find the truth and to see who still gave a shit about women in Turkey when it no longer benefited them.
This week Poland also announced its plans to leave the Istanbul Convention, a treaty aimed at preventing and combating violence against women. Not surprisingly, Turkey ratified the Convention just prior to the last Venus retrograde cycle in Gemini in 2012. #cantmakethisshitup
This morning star phase will continue until March 2021 when it again crosses the face of the Sun in Aries along with Chiron. Venus in Gemini is a messenger, and at its best Neptune can inspire. Hopefully this is a reminder for us to continue to understand the power of the device in our hands – that it can both harm and heal, inspire and co-opt and deregulate your own brain function so that you start thinking in an alternate pattern. Gemini as an air sign offers moments to take a breath, to find both your voice and to know when its time to listen and receive. #handlewithcare
Venus Retrograde cycles last approximately 40 days and 40 nights, taking us on both a personal and collective journey to face off with our shadow and those rejected, lost parts of ourselves. Venus started this descent on May 13th and will pass through the heart of the Sun on June 3rd.
Image by Ryoji Iwata
We’ve all heard modern astrology give Gemini a bad wrap: it’s two faced, never present, talks too much etc… but what is embedded in Gemini’s mythology is an underlying theme of loss, grief and reconnection via a journey that can take us to the edges of the Cosmos; the twins, Castor and Pollux, are on a perpetual search for wholeness via their relationship with one other.
This Gemini Season has been like a fresh breeze amongst the decay. It invited in some playfulness for us to reconnect after being quarantined, and some levity amongst the seriousness of it all. As fleeting as this may feel, it’s not separate from the Venus Rx cycle currently moving through Gemini’s terrain, so keep your sails up!
Like Gemini, Venus also takes us deep into our psyche, digging up old stories of love and loss, highlighting what is unresolved and reminding us of where healing and release are required. In true Gemini style, it’s a double dose.
This week Mercury switched gears and ingressed into Cancer. Being the driving force behind Gemini, this change in temperament adds another layer to the Rx cycle. Cancer has an undeniable survival instinct; try standing between a mamma bear and her cubs and you will understand the fierce protectiveness that imbues Cancer. You will not see the weakened, overly emotional figure that patriarchy has attempted to undermine Cancer (and femininity) with.
With Mercury in Cancer at the helm, Venus Rx is tugging at our core sense of home and belonging; we can’t experience one moment of grief without it triggering all the rest. Cancer remembers. It has intimate, emotional bonds with the past that weave through the threads of now. It’s the warm embrace you give a friend or loved one you haven’t seen in too long. It’s the memories that flood back when looking at an old photo. It’s the people you bring close to you who feel like family. Cancer offers a safe nest for survival. Together we’re stronger, but going forward we must remember our past.
With the USA doing its shadow work on the world stage, offering us the macro-micro view of ourselves externally, we’re witnessing what it looks like to not feel safe, to have the grief of the past ever present in our now. People who feel supported don’t loot. People who are treated equally, with respect and dignity don’t need to burn down police stations. People who are listened to don’t get pushed to desperate measures to be heard in their deepest grief.
Indigenous communities constantly hold up the mirror for us to acknowledge our complicity in stolen land, stolen generations, displacement and the generational trauma inherent in being disconnected from home and culture. Hong Kong is illuminating the power of state over people, the ripple effect that lack of sovereignty brings and what disempowerment can drive people to do for survival. These narratives are happening everywhere, on the world stage and in our daily lives.
While these ongoing issues occur outside of these Rx cycles, they are signposts on our current trajectory and Venus Rx always comes through and exposes what lies hidden.
This week we are descending with Venus. We’re in the phase of the cycle where Inanna is stripped of an item of clothing at each of the seven levels down into the Underworld. We’re being stripped back, our shadow is being exposed, our grief is echoing all grief everrrr, bringing up aspects of the past we might have hoped had been laid to rest.
Gemini reminds us of the finality of death and the eternalness of grief, that you can bargain with the Gods for change but the scars remain. We may be able to film everything now and utilise technology for change, but that means nothing if we remain detached from facing our own place in the story, our own separateness.
The Twins of Gemini are two pieces of the one whole, seeking union and release from the pain of separation. Now is not the time to look away or deny what’s coming up. It’s a soul retrieval on a collective level. The small things we all do in our personal lives can only have a ripple effect across the collective, across time.
NEW MOON TODAY at 2* Gemini, in the sign of the Twins on the 22nd!
Personally, I’ve appreciated the levity that all this Gemini energy has ushered in. 2020 has been a hard slog for most of us – be it physically, psychologically, relationally, no one has been spared, but the playfulness of this witty air sign is a welcome change. This may not be true for folks with predominant Water and Earth in their chart…
Neptune is pretty heavy in the mix right now adding to the changeability that Gemini basks in. Neptune can add a glow of denial, illuminating insight or a crash landing as we try to cash our reality checks! It might feel hard to get anything done as our energy and attention is scattered and easily distracted, so either scrap the project for another day or break it down into bite sized pieces. Just don’t push it.
The sky is pretty much a bag of mixed lollies; You’ll win some, you’ll lose some. With the potential for some crossed wires and misunderstandings, be extra clear and vigilant with communication and allow for some playful exchanges. What we will lose is the presence of Venus in our night sky as it descends to pass through the heart of the Sun under the gaze of an eclipse. Wave good bye on the 23rd/24th if it’s still visible at your location.
Our Venus Retrograde workshop remains open for sign up if you want to jump in. You will receive all of the back catalogue of emails, daily horoscopes, magical inspirations and the opportunity to learn more about Venus in your chart as it moves through this cycle.
I hope you’re staying safe out there, wherever you are.
Click the image for more info on the Venus Rx workshop
