Like any hot girl, I have long had an affinity with the moon. One of these manifestations is a tattoo of my natal moon phase on my left hand. I was born when the moon was in her disseminating phase, still fat but losing light. One way I understand this is: being happy in the dark.
One way this manifests is through my devotion to Hecate. Just this past week, three of my clients had a significant placement in the third decan of Cancer, which is typically devoted to her, goddess of witchcraft, the crossroads, magical plants, keys, the underworld and dogs. She is a death goddess associated with the dark phase of the moon but she is also a goddess of desire, being the only deity over which Zeus has no dominion. She can send plagues and famine but she can also take them away or grant the desires of her devotees.
Spending time with her via poppies, the Sphere and Sundry/BPAL perfume, hymns and moon-gazing is a way of gathering wisdom the way I prefer— from within the dark cavern of the body. Audre Lorde tells us this where poetry— and new iterations of ancient ideas— comes from:
These places of possibility within ourselves are dark because they are ancient and hidden; they have survived and grown strong through darkness. Within these deep places, each one of us holds an incredible reserve of creativity and power, of unexamined and unrecorded emotion and feeling. The woman's place of power within each of us is neither white nor surface; it is dark, it is ancient, and it is deep.
This passage feels like a Hecate spell.
Beyond her connections with the moon, her association with Hades and poisonous plants also makes her a deity of Saturn. These two planets bookend the 7 visible planets. The moon is the quickest, and signifies our daily, ever-changing structures — mood, appetites, bodily feelings and messages. Saturn, the slowest visible planet, demarcates the boundary between the seen and the unseen. They represent all that limits, confines and demarcates.
Together, we see a goddess who thrives in ever-changing structure, much like one of her potent symbols: the crossroads. You also have someone that, like the moon itself, is relatively close to earth and thus, at least in my experience, fairly easy to access. This characterization is supported by one of her epithets: Epiphanestate, meaning “most manifest one”. This name originates from “Her frequent and intense epiphanies to Her worshippers,” as Chelydoreus tells us.
If you want a magic that’s practical, grounded in the everyday, and potent, I believe the moon and, Hecate specifically, are great places to start. I believe Kaitlin Coppock summed it up best in her writeup of her latest Moon in Cancer release:
Not all magic feels like witchcraft or is witchcraft; even if a “witch” happens to be doing it. A lot of astrological magic lacks the characteristically intense, semi-spooky, adjacent place-and-time vibe that witchcraft does, but MOON WORKINGS are almost always an exception, because the Moon governs that type of path + practice. And it resonates with many witches religiously working Lunar cycles, often to the exclusion of other transiting factors.
This weekend, with a Mercury Cazimi in the third decan of Cancer, is a great time to begin spending time with Hecate and the moon; a reminder that magic is right here, most manifest in our bodies and daily lives.
🍇 Love Parade 🍇
I went to a wedding last week for first of my friends to get married. It was a beautiful affair; I knew everyone would be dressed gorgeously; the food was great (there were seven cakes); the weather perfect; the love palpable.
I didn’t expect to cry but as soon as I saw the groom walk down the grassy aisle to the front, the gauzy fabric of his dress shirt billowing behind him, I lost it. The light between the bride and groom was gold. Time after time, everyone who made a speech commented on how happy the bride and groom have made each other from the moment they entered each other’s lives.
As someone born when the Lot of Spirit was in Taurus, ruled by Venus, beauty and love are crucial parts of my spiritual life. I felt that when, during the late night bonfire, a wedding guest who I had just met told me that I probably have a great singing voice, especially my head voice. As Taurus rules the throat and is commonly associated with singing, I took it as a signal from my daimon. Especially interesting because singing has long been an inward thing to me; funny to have a stranger guess something about me I don’t even talk about with friends.
What I am trying to say is: the Lot of Spirit will tell you plenty about the contours of your spiritual or unseen life; what the divine is pushing you towards. Abu Ma’shar tells us that it indicates:
the nature of the soul, the condition of the bodies effects upon the soul, the values and creed of a person, the prophecy of God-consciousness, hidden matters, secrets, the inner thoughts… and the impulses of a person. (source)
Consider the nature of the planet and sign ruling your Lot of Spirit and what sorts of spiritual experiences you’ve had. Do they fit with the themes and energies associated with that planet and sign? Can you use that planet and sign to help guide your understanding of what your spiritual life looks like?
And you want to learn more about the lot of spirit, may I recommend the work of Dan Waites, Kira Ryberg and @sadalsvvd.
Creative Practice
For me, my spiritual life looks like seeing each meal I make, each conversation I have, each backyard vibeout session, as a form of art, even if it dissolves once I look away. It’s why I begin my art-making with an offering and a prayer and see my inspiration as a direct hit from the divine.
With my Creative Praxis Beta reading, I wish to bridge the gap between the artful and the divine. By examining your 3rd, 5th and 9th houses, alongside any significant muse asteroid conjunctions, we’ll see what role art and the divine play in your everyday life and what particular art you have to give us (regardless of medium). We’ll talk decans, fixed stars, and whatever the muses have to say.
Beta readings close at the end of the month. Book now to secure lowest prices.
So I leave you with this, a reminder that most high-minded, seemingly far-off things are actually not that hard to understand if you just show up with your own senses and body and just try.
Until next week loves,
Chloe
That first line and last image 😂👌
Super interesting and lovely post (not that it comes as any surprise) ✨