Spring continues to wind up its steady coil in my part of the world— the sun peeks in and out of misty rain clouds and the colors of the season carry on, brightening and multiplying. Cherry blossom petals have begun to litter the streets and everywhere I turn are familiar white and magenta magnolia blossoms, the kind I grew up with on the other side of the country.
Last week, in the last sunrise before the sun moved into Aries, I made my first flower essence of the year. My approach was different from those I’ve made in the past because it was not made merely because of proximity. In the past, I worked with any flower I could find nearby or in my backyard: this year, I am asking the flowers to speak back.
My teacher, Liz, emphasizes only working with flowers that “give you permission,” which can be a nebulous thing to ask for from a being that never speaks in human language. But I’m finding it easier than I thought. It’s different than simply following my own preferences or likes— there are plenty of flowers I love with whom I am not meant to work right now. When I approach my beloved daphne, its fragrant blooms telling me spring is here, I only feel mild interest, nothing keeping my longer than a greeting. Perhaps another time, she seems to be saying, but not today.
Honestly, the more I think about the essence-making process, the more it feels like dating. Like a person, a flower can seem interesting or idea on paper, but what is really the deciding factor is our mutual chemistry, another word for ~vibes~. The question of “vibes” can seem a silly one but I take it with utter seriousness. My vibe senses can pick up on someone’s shadiness before my mind can, as well as our compatibility. The word “vibe” arises from “vibrations,” or pulses of energy that aren’t seen but *felt*.
For too long, I took romantic rejection as some judgment on my character or my worthiness. But, like with flower essences, there can be a million reasons why a person isn’t right for me right now— and none of those reasons have to do with my inherent value. Plus, when a flower isn’t for me, the bodily feeling is undeniable. I feel queasy, repelled, like there’s a cacophony when our energy bodies meet. Sometimes it’s just a simple check-in and no real feeling follows. Like so many crushes who refused me a straight answer, that lack is a message too.
When a flower really *is* inviting me in, I can’t stop thinking about them. I see them everywhere. I get powerful omens when I ask permission to work with them. My energy body just feels right, natural, when I’m around them. There’s a calm and flow to my aura that tells me there’s something between us worth exploring.
When the connection is right, it’s easy, no forcing necessary. Even our actual date, the essence-making process, is filled with perfect syncs that tell me we are really creating something together for reasons beyond my forcing or yearning— this medicine is glad to be born.
I had this experience with periwinkle, my latest floral lover. Seeing and greeting them felt so natural, I could almost feel the flower rejoicing back at me. I would notice it everywhere, run my fingers over the lowdown purple blooms. When I asked a nearby patch if I could make an essence with, the shadow of a bee feeding on one of the flowers touched my shadow. My heart was at ease. On top of all that, the star I was working with at the time, Alkaid, also has a long connection to periwinkle. It all felt so aligned.
Spending time with them that final Pisces season morning was also an effortless experience. It was still sort of early, so no one else passed by the patch. Squirrels frolicked up nearby trees. Around the time I felt like the essence was completed, construction began nearby. The more I read about periwinkle’s signification, I realized how in sync its medicine was with my own needs.
What makes the difference, then, between choosing a compatible flower or person and wasting my time on one that can’t give me what I want or need, is me trusting my own intuition, how something lands in my body. That information isn’t frivolous or prohibitive to my flourishing but creates the foundation upon which I can bloom with ease.
Could I see dating like the flower essence process? That those who aren’t for me just aren’t my medicine right now, and vice versa? Just like I don’t begrudge my beloved daphne and violets for saying no last week, can I feel into my body when I’m with someone new and accept when our current vibrations don’t match?
The flower is the sex organ of the plant, after all — of course it lends itself well to amorous metaphors.
If you want to practice seeing romance like flower courting, try going on a little nature walk around your neighborhood. Notice how you feel when you’re around the blooming flowers— not if you think they’re pretty or if you know a lot about them— pay attention to how their presence impacts the feelings in your body. What does it feel like when they invite you closer, versus if they want space, or are just indifferent? This may take time and patience— learning the language of flowers is an intimate, relational process.
You deserve to only spend your time with beings who enhance your natural vibrations, your ease.
🪞My April Books are Open🪞
I am currently offering 20% off my Creative Practice Consults, now through the end of Venus in Pisces on 4/6 with the code VIOLET— but you can book for any time in the next month!
Creativity and spirituality has long been intertwined in my life. Thanks to this connection, I am actually able to make art without ego but play and curiosity. I am able to see art as a stream to which I tune in rather than something I must forge on my own. But in this capitalist, puritanical world, these practices can seem inaccessible or frivolous.
The world needs your art. There are spirits who are dying for you to speak back.
By exploring the 3rd, 5th, and 9th houses, we will identify what your ideal creative and/or spiritual practice looks like. We will talk about your creative hopes and dreams and devise ways to make those dreams a reality.
In addition to exploring the houses of creativity and spirituality + their rulers, we will also be using my pioneering system for understanding the Muse asteroids, based on the 9 Greek goddesses of art. By seeing which muses are prominent in your chart, we can fill in more details about your unique creative expression as well as understand how a ritual, spiritual practice— the sense that you are never creating alone.
This reading is for any and all artists, spiritual practitioners and those who believe in the vivifying power of enjoyment.
You can also book a natal, timing or fixed star reading with me for April :)
The 5th House and Your Style
Recently, I published an excerpt from my latest guidebook “Styling with the Stars" Vol. II” about how to use the 5th house of your chart to add more color or fill in your unique personal style. I’ll share it with you now.
Called “Agatha Tuche,” or house of “good fortune,” in Greek, it holds all the positive things that can befall our physical life— from children to romance to the creative process.
Much of the 5th's significations come from its designation as the “joy of Venus,” or the house where the lesser Benefic finds happiness. Thus, you get all manner of beauty and adornment, among plenty else, within this part of the sky.
You can look to the 5th house much as you would of Venus: it adds more information about what sorts of clothing and styles you may enjoy and find supportive to your outward manifestation of self.
There is also an element of creativity and play with the Fifth House: the planets in or ruling the fifth may show what styles you find yourself experimenting with or using to expand your sense of self, as represented by your rising sign.
To delineate: Look first to the ruler of your 5th house, then any planet within this house to understand your sartorial aspirations and pleasures
Learn more about the 5th house and the other parts of the chart that define your signature style by checking out my latest guidebook, "Styling with the Stars Vol II".
For now, I leave you with this inspiring article by Katy Kelleher on the color periwinkle, which also speaks heavily on the plant itself:
Until next week,
Love,
Chloe