An Altar in Every Moment
on the magic of flower essences and a note on Venus and dignity
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My work calls in all artists and practitioners making their art, which is their life. those practicing being soft and journaling and seeing the beauty of life and love with their hearts and their creative impulses. Dirt mystics who visit the forest or sea to go to church and worship the trees they meet. Who know their life is a spell but maybe don’t see the writing on the wall yet. Those who take walks, knit for fun and bake elaborate cakes for no reason. Who are well read and have a weird relationship to the internet and want to feel more spiritually connected to their world. Eternal lovers and romantics who don’t always have a place to put All That Feeling. Perhaps they still have doubts to assuage. Perhaps they want a better sense of direction or why they are the way they are.
My readings, ranging from natal and timing to fixed star soul readings and creative practice consults, all speak to the soft, intimate, wild part of you— where we love and feel and create from. My work is here to tell you that all of it is important and vital to your becoming.
Click the link in my bio and book a consult to reconnect with your Source.
Flower Essence Files
An obvious statement is that astrology is all about timing. It tells us the moment we are born has meaning that reverberates beyond that discrete instance; that when we choose to begin something influences how it continues to unfold over time and what it will be.
From this idea is born electional astrology, or the choosing of the most auspicious time to do to something based on the alignment of the planets. Depending how important an event is in your life, the rules of electional astrology can be quite exacting. You must look at the Moon’s condition and aspect, the ascendant, chart ruler and midheaven — and beyond— and try and satisfy as many optimal criteria as possible.
I can attest that electional astrology is powerful and works. But while part of me gets use out of ruthlessly discarding charts as not good enough, another part of me likes to appreciate the potential for magic in every moment, regardless of the current planetary positions.
Enter flower essences. Though heavily influenced by the time and place that they are created, their magic is not limited by what is good or bad in the current sky. Perhaps because they draw their power from terrestrial materia, rather than ensouling a celestial spirit into a physical object like a talisman, I find that the power of flower essences is less about dryly calculating the “best” time to do something but rather about trusting that the right time will find you if you let it.
The process of making flower essences, in other words, is one of intuition, of letting the world co-create something with you.
Every time I make a flower essence, regardless of the astro-weather, I experience palpable magic. My most recent ritual was no exception. I have been making a flower essence for every decan as the Sun passes through them, so this week I made one for the first decan of Gemini.
After looking and noticing, I felt daisies flirting with me, particularly, those found at a nearby elementary school where I walk my dog. One afternoon, I was making my way there after school had let out. Gemini is known for its activity, multiplicity and youthfulness. The first decan of Gemini, in particular, is about indulging all of your diverse interests and allowing yourself to get pulled in many directions at once. I consider this decan the most “stereotypical” Gemini placement, as it revels in duality and the chaos of holding many details in your mind at once.
While there are usually just a few other people walking their dogs or using the playgrounds, the day I made my essence multiple baseball teams were practicing on the school’s diamonds. Talk about activity! In keeping with the Gemini seed, I kept seeing double: one bird swooping above the tree line and then another. Two poles jutting out of the ground not far from my essence site. Two black dogs playing and rolling around.
When I’ve taken my essence over the past few days, I have been bombarded with enthusiastic conversations with words tumbling out of everyone’s mouth; joyful activity amidst minding ever-shifting details; moments of beauty and grace that also taught me something new.
Of course I have to spend more time getting to know this daisy essence but time is what I have.
On Venus and Dignity
Below is an excerpt from Styling with the Stars Vol. III:
One way I see Styling with the Stars Vol. III is as a love letter to Venus in all her forms.
I wanted to show people the creative potential in their Venus placement, regardless of its dignity or debility, that beauty is found everywhere. Is that not what Venus teaches us? To always find the intimacy and glamour in all things?
So today, I thought I’d share some thoughts on how dignity works and manifests itself.
One of the primary ways we assess the power and ease of a planet is through its essential dignity or debility. An angular Venus in Pisces will have more ease, comfort and resources to do Venus things than a cadent Venus in Aries. Venus with triplicity dignity, Venus in Capricorn, for example, or a rejoicing Venus (i.e. in the 5th house) will have a middling amount or power. A peregrine Venus, or one withoutdignity or debility, will have to use unexpected methods and resources to meet its needs. But I believe planetary dignity is more complex than “this Venus is good” and “this one is bad”.
Let me first start by saying that any and every Venus decan can and does dress well. I found multiple well-known style icons for every Venus decan placement. One thing spending such quality time with Venus through these 36 faces gave me was an appreciation for what a dignified Venus actually looks like. According to medieval Islamic astrologer Abu Ma’shar, Venus signifies “cleanliness, luxury, and socialness…pleasure and love of all variety…peace-making, harmony…appreciation of the body, sensuality…beautiful appearances, beautiful clothes” as well as “adornment”. Beauty is thus but one priority among many for this planet. Venus also wishes to relate to others, find harmony, feel good, and highlight its natural assets. I found a surprisingly few number of style icons in some of the decans where Venus is exalted or domiciled because Venus on her own is not necessarily of the nature to stand out with her clothing. In Taurus, for example, a sensual earth sign, comfort and a certain naturalness pervaded its decans. Libra, an air sign, very carefully curates and balances the elements of its look to be a pleasing as possible, which is not always the formula for a statement look. Pisces speaks to the whims and shifting tastes of the love planet, allowing it toinclude many disparate styles into one’s sense of fashion, but one could also attribute that element to Pisces’s domicile lord, Jupiter, ever the maximalist.
Funnily enough, there are plenty of style icons with debilitated Venuses, perhaps because they have to learn to make their own rules and stand out with their looks, something Venus on her own does not necessarily prefer. Aries and Scorpio are both ruled by Mars, planet of boldness and confrontation, which yields the perfect formula to turn heads, even if not everyone understands what you’re going for. Venus in Aries demonstrates what it takes to be a bombshell, as well as how to turn your style into a way of staking out your sovereignty and power. In Scorpio, Mars’s nocturnal domicile, we get our beauty with an air of mystery and dark glamour. Venus is in fall in Virgo, a Mercury-ruled sign because in the realm of the messenger, the goddess of love must sweat the details and sift through its many thoughts and preferences to come up with something cohesive. But Venus in Virgo also teaches us the complexity in simplicity and how we can think about our style beyond our aleatory moods.
When peregrine, or without major dignity or debility, Venus is on a side quest of sorts, as my friends have put it. She must subsume her natural desires under the tools and actions available toher in a given sign. Saturn-ruled Venuses (and Venus in Saturn decans) are more concerned with functionality, timelessness and professionalism than looking cute. In Mercury’s sign, Venus determines its style cerebrally and chaotically, using fashion as a form of exploration. While a Sun-ruled Venus wants to stand out and be seen (or at least is very concerned with visibility), Moon-ruled Venuses want to be comfortable and embody nostalgia and mystery in their looks. When Jupiter, the other benefic, rules Venus, he has her focus on maximalism, power-clashing and taking up space with her looks, opposing her usual restraint.
For Venus on her own, simplicity, combined with clean aesthetics, well-made garments and intentional, not-overwhelming adornments, are the pinnacle of beauty. But, as I will emphasize again and again, I do not believe one style is better or more worthy of attention than any other. If anything, this project has helped me appreciate Venus in all her faces and all the diverse desires, moods and selves we can transmit through our clothes. There is absolutely no value judgment to your Venus and no limit to its potential to dazzle and attract.
If you want to honor your Venus, regardless of its location, and appreciate how its contours affect your innate sense of style, Styling with the Stars Vol. III is for you.
Until next week,
Love,
Chloe