This past week, I had the privilege of attending A.S. Katoch’s “Reading the Zodiac” group salon, where we discussed Gaston Bachelard’s mythopoetic essay “Constellations”. It was so touching to commune with a group of people interested in connecting with the stars beyond what is written in texts and established by the extant tradition. Much of Bachelard’s text is devoted to emphasizing the power of dreaming and following our desires when trying to learn the wisdom of the constellations. He claims that knowledge of the stars is “impeded by book knowledge” that forfeits our dreams for the sake of "‘knowledge’ that is as poor as it is lifeless’”.1 Not forsaking intellectual knowledge completely, he instead asks for “a balance between the imagined and the known,” which is “born in the solitude of the imagining being,” but, rather than rendering us completely alone, opens us up to the stellar beings that populate and light up our night sky. It “puts in our hands…these weightless chalices and these flowers that grow in space”.2
If you aren’t as familiar with the fixed stars, as compared to the planets, check out my introductory essay on The Mountain Astrologer for a taste of their majesty.
I created my Stellar Gnosis course and offer Fixed Star consults to help facilitate people’s own looking: my practice is made alive by connecting with the stars themselves and I love to help others build their own relationships with them as well.
Today, I will walk through some of my favorite ways to commune with the stars directly, to re-empower our own ability to gain their wisdom not through books alone but through our direct communion with the sky.
ways I open my soul to the stars:
Stargaze
“The stars belong to everyone
They gleam there for you and me”
The Inkspots
My first point of contact with the stars involved looking up. On a clear night, there are dozens of brilliant points to choose from and focus your gaze upon. Something I emphasize is that our desire matters: notice which star is calling your attention or drawing your eye and trust that that star is trying to speak to you. Say hello. Notice the feelings or images or messages you receive when gazing upon it. This is such a simple, intuitive way of spending time with a star that is accessible almost every night. If you have trouble identifying stars, consider getting a constellation identification app. I use mine all the time.
Ritual
Something I always encourage my clients to do is simply sit with a star. Because the fixed stars are much less studied than other branches of astrology, there aren’t many established methods of ritual but that also means you can’t really go wrong. I like to light a candle, make a water offering, maybe have some related ritual objects on my altar, and simply say whatever prayer comes to mind. If you have a certain intention or wish to know the star more deeply, then saying so can be useful. From there, simply meditate with the star. Notice the feelings and visions that come up. If you want help timing your ritual to when a star may be most near, my Stellar Gnosis lecture can help with that. From there, notice any other potent omens or occurrences that happen on that same day and night: often, these beings manifest well beyond the ritual space so be sure to take notes, even if you don’t know how something fits in.
Dreams
The above point leads me to my next point of connection: dreams. After a particularly potent Antares ritual, I dreamt of sitting on a raft in a lake and being drawn under the water into the murky depths filled with undulating seaweed. A woman who was floating amongst the plants had summoned me down. Instinctually, I became afraid and woke myself up but after the initial shock had worn off I realized that I wasn’t in danger at all: the woman was trying to initiate me. To confirm the deity contact, I looked at the chart for the moment I woke and saw Antares on the angle. Dreams are portals to a realm the thinking mind can’t touch. Stars can and will reveal themselves or give us wisdom through the visions of our sleep. Before going to bed, consider setting an intention to meet with a certain star. Say this intention out loud and, if you can, fall asleep repeating it to yourself. Try and record your dreams as soon as you wake for maximum recall. Or, just simply notice what comes up during a normal night and record the chart for the moment of waking; perhaps there are already stars that want to meet you.
It’s these kind of embodied practices that allow for the juice of the stars to really seep into us. I can tell you that Alphecca is a star of love, but that’s different than feeling the exact contours of her florid romance for yourself; that cannot be taught or given, only gestured to so you can meet her yourself.
My class on Stellar Gnosis was made to help facilitate such relationships. You can also book a fixed star reading for a deeper understanding of the stars constellating your life and instructions on how to meet them. The stars open us up to our poetic bigness, to the power of our dreams.
Book a consult to feel for yourself how truly they organize and guide our lives.
For now, I leave you with this: I’ve been going through the Collected Louise Gluck most nights lately and this poem in particular struck me:
Until next time,
Love,
Chloe
Gaston Bachelard, “Air and Dreams,” p. 176
Ibid. p. 177