The Sun and Their Scribe
plus a call for fundraising, fixed star analysis, and twitter account readings ??
Supporting the Community
Before I dive into the bulk of my newsletter, I wanted to share this fundraiser first. I first cam across Alyssia’s work when they spoke at the 2020 Queer Astrology Conference. I find it fitting that they named their practice “Praxis Astrology” because I have long admired their true embodiment of their values through astrology and activism. It’s because of them that I see the 6th house as a place of solidarity and collective action against the oppressive forces of capitalism.
We often call the 6th house the place of crisis and, unfortunately, Alyssia is in one right now. She was recently laid off on top of being charged thousands for a crucial dental procedure. She is in urgent needs of funds to keep herself fed, housed and healthy.
If you want to support a vital community member, now’s your chance! Any amount is helpful and if you cannot donate, consider sharing the link with others. Community looks like supporting those who need it. Step up for yours, or, even if you’re not a part of the community, support someone who should not have to crowdsource for her survival. You can find out more about the fundraiser here.
The Sun and their Scribe
For months it seems, my conscious and unconscious mind have been churning over the connection between Mercury and the Sun.
This inquiry originated when I found out that, for most of history, the Sun was the planet of “intellectual light, the organ of mental perception,…high priesthoods,” (Valens). For most of my astrological career, I was taught Mercury was intelligence. This quick-moving sign governs language, translation, exchange; the ordering and use of facts. Jupiter, too, made sense as a planet of wisdom but the Sun? The central self and ego? Our public reputation and loftiness? What did that have to do with intelligence?
The Sun, as the center of our solar system, and divine source of light, centralizes and reveals. While I believe the Sun governs our own personal “genius” (commit to your own bit hard enough and the whole world changes, etc) it is also the divine light of spirit that exists within us all. It is the Spirit before the Word. Ali Olomi tells us that “the Sun governs dreams and Gnosis, direct connection and knowledge of the future”— all of the ways we immediately perceive the divine, though separate from our ability to distill and communicate that experience. How many times have you heard from the mouth of a master or experienced for yourself that the truth of this life, of your experience, is ineffable, impossible to express? And how many times have you attempted to explain it anyways?
That fumbling translation of divine experience into words or practices is what Mercury lives for. Mercury never strays more than 28º from the Sun; they wish to be a faithful scribe to the voice of Spirit, though they are never without their tricks. And even if you are hesitant to place wisdom on a higher power, don’t you have certain convictions that you just know even if you can’t explain it? Or how about a moment of mysticism, the world peeling back its mundane layer to reveal its teeming light? How can you explain that? How can other people truly understand what you experienced? I think of tiny Chloe, watching the particles in the air shift and move; now I can see all the world shimmer. That’s the feeling of the Sun; the experience of the divine, the lofty, the mystical, that can neither be explained or taken away.
One thing I am trying to say (again and again) is that: wisdom is big
But that’s not to discount the mysticism of Mercury. After all, Ptolemy lists them, along with the Moon, as the primary indicators of the soul. I’ll be getting into all their spiritual qualities for my next newsletter, where I discuss Mercury in this soulful context. Become a paid subscriber to get the download straight to your inbox.
I am also working on a Soul-centered reading that’s part character/temperament delineation, part archetypal Hero’s journey evaluation. I basically want to honor your interiors and highlight your inner gifts.
In the mean time, I would be happy to explore these topics and more through natal, year ahead and fixed star readings. If you are an intellectual or creative who wants to use their mind for the divine but needs some guidance to begin, I am forever your girl. My books are open for October and stay tuned for November opening!
Why is she like this?: Keke Palmer Edition
For months I’ve also been thinking about actress Keke Palmer, in part for her undeniable charisma and standout role in Jordan Peele’s "Nope”. But I also think her astrology, particularly her fixed stars, do such a good job of describing her being.
I keep coming back to this clip of her, which I believe sums up her ineffable energy.
Tiktok failed to load.Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser
But what do the stars have to say?
So Keke is a Cancer rising ruled by Moon in Sagittarius; this connects her with changeability, comfort, emotion and a certain measure of ferality; the Sag sun adds a buoyant optimism to her persona.
For her fixed stars, I always look at the Heliacal rising and Setting stars first; these bookend and form the path for life as well as identify your helper daimons. Her heliacal rising star is Sualocin, the primary star in Delphinus, the dolphin. Like its namesake animal, this star is known for imbuing an intelligent friendliness; a sort on ingenious curiosity which helps them find new solutions.
Her H.S. star is Acubens, star in Cancer, which speaks to an essential optimism or the desire to give life to the world, knowing that death is just one part of the cycle that always eventually returns to life.
I feel like this buoyant intelligence shines through so strongly for Miss Palmer; her first breakout hit was playing a child spelling bee contestant! Her governors of the soul agree; both Jupiter and Mercury rule her Moon and Mercury, respectively, which Ptolemy tells us makes a native “of good mind, good at counsel. political, beneficent, fit for guardianship, good-natured, generous, fond of the multitude, shrewd, successful, fit for leading, pious, religious, skillful at business, affectionate, fond of family, well-educated, philosophical. dignified:. I love when different techniques sing the same song. I love when the stars help us see the beautiful depths of each person. Book a reading with the link above to find out how your stars alter and enrich your life.
Twitter Account Mini Readings?
Did you know that your Twitter account keeps track of its exact moment of creation? Did you know you can cast a chart for your Twitter account’s inception and use it to understand your online persona? Some friends and I were looking and marvelling at the accuracy of ours and I thought: what if this was a reading?
I am toying with the idea of offering thirty-minute readings the delineate how you show up on Twitter, or Instagram, as well as what topics, vibes, aesthetics, etc would be good for you to engage in for both yourself and your goals. I would probably start offering them once Mars goes retrograde because i want them to be a revision or second look at your presence; how can you use your account’s chart to shape your actions and make your posts, your offerings, in order to reach your goals?
💻If you’re interested in me offering Social Media mini reading, let me know in the comments! Along with anything in particular you’d like from the reading. 💻
And with that, I leave you with this description by Marsilio Ficino of activities that put us “under the influence” of each planet, a form of embodiment or alignment:
Always remember that through a given affect and pursuit of our mind and through the very quality of our spirit we are easily and quickly exposed to those planets which signify the same affect, quality, and pursuit. Hence, by withdrawal from human affairs, by leisure, solitude, constancy, by theology, the more esoteric philosophy, superstition, magic, agriculture, and by sorrow, we come under the influence of Saturn. We come under the influence of Jupiter by civic occupations, by those occupations which strive for honor, by natural philosophy, by the kind of philosophy which most people can understand, by civil religion, and by laws; of Mars, by anger and contests; of the Sun and of Mercury, by the pursuit of eloquence, of song, of truth, and of glory, and by skill; of Venus, by gaiety and music and festivity; of the Moon, by a vegetable existence. But keep in mind this difference between them: the more public and grand exercise of one's wits pertains to the Sun, the more private and that given over to skill and ingenuity rather to Mercury.
Until next week,
Much Love,
Chloe
A VEGETABLE EXISTENCE