Spring Blooms
on the wisdom of feelings, astrology through the body and spring plant watch
Hello friends,
I, like the weather, am cautiously stepping towards spring. It’s still endlessly entertaining to me how much my own experience can map onto something as obvious as the seasons. This winter, for example, was a time of drifting, formless, waiting for the next steps to congeal so I could feel like I was going somewhere. Now that I’ve officially broken out my denim jacket for the year (if only for a few sunny days) and the daphne, violets, cherry blossoms and magnolias have bloomed, I feel like I am finally *stepping out* again.
In addition to launching my first class on the fixed stars a few weeks ago, I already have a few other projects lined up, so stay tuned for that :) I’m already brainstorming and researching for upcoming classes, but for your sake and mine, will take the time I need to roll those out.
I’m also seeing more friends; going out for a drink on a Tuesday just because; taking walks around my neighborhood. I impressed a friend on a walk the other day by pointing out the edible plants I saw, reminding how much can accumulate over the years, meeting one plant at a time until the whole neighborhood is full of friends.
Spring Plant Watch:
Here are some of the friends you can find in this time of year (may vary may area)
Dead Nettles; while I’ve only seen the classic stinging nettles growing in deep forest, you can find their non-stingy counterparts in fields, backyards, sidewalks. They truly grow everywhere. You can identify them by their green leaves tinged with purple circling around a central stalk with tiny pink flowers. I have never used them medicinally, but love them as an earthy, leafy walking snack
Chickweed: named for being a chicken’s favorite snack, they always pop up under trees or on humble patches of dirt in the start of spring. They have a pleasant, sour taste that is great in simple salads, but make a tincture or oil out of them, which can be used externally for cysts and removing foreign objects or internally to help the thyroid and metabolism.
Violets: These are some of my favorites to encounter this time of year; you can eat the flowers and the heart-shaped leaves and I love using the flowers for an infused syrup. Emotionally, it heals grief, the doldrums, or anger.
Miner’s Lettuce: These look like little circular cups that hold a tiny bud in each. I see them under trees or in city forests and are a great trail snack, similarly light and slightly acidic like chickweed.
My attunement to the seasons reminds me of why astrology is so much more than memorizing signs and planets or knowing the vocabulary and technicalities. This past week we had our first eclipse of the year and even the cashier at the Plaid Pantry was telling us how emotional and cranky she’s felt the past few days. Everyone around me seems a little more tired, a little more volatile, and I can guarantee most of them didn’t know there was an eclipse happening.
That effortless sensation is where wisdom starts; accepting exactly what you’re feeling, even if it’s uncomfortable or you don’t think you should be feeling it. Clarice Lispector, Brazilian writer, wrote about the power of mere feeling in one of newspaper columns. She was walking down a street of shops, “thinking of nothing in particular”:
“I still had not realized that I was not really distracted but effortlessly observing things. I was being something very rare: free. I was looking at everything and at my leisure. Little by little I began to realize I was perceiving things. My freedom became a little more intense without ceasing to be freedom. It was not a tour de propriétaire, nothing of what I perceived was mine nor did I covet it. Yet it seems to me that I felt deeply satisfied with what I saw” (emphasis mine).1
The simple act of being present to the world, not clinging to the moment, nor wishing it were different, is not always so simple. It takes practice but it also is more complex than meets the eye. There’s deep feeling and freedom in this space— the freedom to face and interact with the world exactly as it is.
Taurus season, which we just began on the 20th, is a great place to remember the effortless wisdom of the body; the power of what is most natural and pleasurable to attain. As an earth sign ruled by Venus, Taurus is concerned with how beauty permeates the real world; how joy is a part of even the most mundane or productive parts of life. [If you want to learn more about Venus and pleasure, check out my newsletter on Embodying Venus]
So I ask you to take a few moments to check in with yourself. How are you feeling? Beyond the racing thoughts and expectations, that is really going on in you? What’s nice about astrology is that it can provide a way of connecting with the world that shows even your inner world is a collaboration with what is outside of you.
So I am goin to list some potential feelings brewing inside of you and talk about the current astrology that may be leading to this experience:
If you’re feeling energetically exhausted or on edge, we just had an eclipse a few days ago. This is one of the most drastic events in our sky, a literal shadow cast over one of ours lights. Make a salt water spray, lay down when you can and let yourself be a little messy. How you’re showing up is enough.
If you feel yourself extra protective of your loved ones or your boundaries are a little louder, then it may be Mars in Cancer. Mars prefers to be on the battlefield or places that require intense, cutting action. In Cancer, the warrior must hone its blade in the family home or familiar sanctum. While it may feel extra pokey, there’s also necessary conversations and a clarification of family ties happening. Take the steps you need to keep you and your own safe.
If you feeling extra confused, bogged down by work or making more mistakes, Mercury retrograde just began! This is a time where the planet of exchange, communication, details, business, writing, etc must take a wayward route to get where it needs to go. Don’t rush anything that requires thinking, writing, editing, communication, trading, and keep it as simple as you can.
Even if what you’re feeling doesn’t match anything listed above, it it still sacred information, connecting to some other part of the vast universe.
If you want help navigating your current experiences, want a cosmic road map for your current journey as well as help tapping into your secret powers and gifts, my books are open :)
I marry a spiritually-informed traditional astrology with an embodied, creative approach to understanding our complexities and highlighting our interconnection with the universe. I am an artist and mystic myself who loves to work with anyone who considers themselves creative, attuned, sensitive, powerful (or perhaps need some help owning those traits). I love people and my astrology sessions are a way to love on them in an organized, productive way (while still sitting with difficult truths). I would love to meet you :)
For now, I leave you this sentiment, which I’ve been tossing around for the past few weeks:
Until next week beauties,
Love,
Chloe
Clarice Lispector, Selected Cronicas, p. 357