The Sun's Dark Ooze

on mullein, torch-bearing and Venus in Leo

Creative Practice Consult Sale

Does your art practice have fun?

Do you make room for your creativity to play?

In addition to ruling our creative output, the fifth house also rules all which bring enjoyment and pleasure. The 11th century Arabic astrologer, Al Biruni, called it “the house of joy, clothes, pleasure and friends”. Houlding tells us that 12th century astrologer Ibn Ezra associates it with “pleasure, food, drink, gifts and diplomats”.

One thing about art: we need leisure time to make it. Not just to sit down and make art but to sense the world enough to find new inspiration and new iterations to capture the spark that only we can convey.

Making your leisure time an act of joy, however, is vital to the process of art.

It’s about exalting, celebrating your daily life as a site of potential and creative manifestation.

The act of celebration is a way of bringing our attention to the presence of the unseen and all its abundance. Celebrations make the mundane special, bringing out the holiness of the overlooked.

I made my Creative Practice reading to help people have more space, more fun, celebration, not just for their own enjoyment so that their art has the proper care and room to grow. I help find people’s soul offerings as well as the routines and rituals that will help bring their visions to life.

Now through 8/3 take 20% off my Creative Practice consult with code “GOLDEN”. Click the link in my below to learn more and purchase <3

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Happy Leo Season, my babes. This past Monday, the Sun returned to its fiery domicile, giving us more power and resources to lean into our unique genius, step into visibility and lead from a place of empowerment. Despite the hot dryness of the Sun in its own sign, I have been appreciating the cooling down of the summer.

While still sunny and warm, the temperatures have moved to from the 90’s and 100’s to the 80’s and below, like the heart of the Lion telling us it’s ok to come out. Take a walk. Have a meal outdoors. Enjoy the glow that keeps us alive.

I said goodbye to Cancer season by watching the Capricorn full moon rise redly over the beach with a friend and her pup. The next day, I made a Cancer III flower essence with the abundant mullein growing in the cracks around the industrial buildings close to my apartment. Also known as hag’s torch and syncretized with Hecate I felt so much magic come to greet me as I undertook the process to capture the feeling of this part of Cancer using mullein.

Did you know that when bugs bite into mullein stalks their plant resin turns dark and the planet emits a black ooze?

Did you know you can dip a dried mullein into wax and make a candle, evoking Hecate Phohsphóros, or her light-giving epithet? Accordingly, Daniel Schulke connects this plant with Saturn and also the Sun, specifically “a fire that burns best amidst a Saturnian gloom”.¹ Mullein is said to ward against demons, noxious spirits and disease, all sorts of maladies and malevolent creatures one encounters when traversing the dark.

Just as Hecate brought light to the darkness, perhaps, this Leo Season, we can bring darkness to the light.

Leo Venus Style

Venus has just hit 20º Leo, officially ushering in its stay in the final decan of the Lion. For the past few weeks, our sense of style, relating, and aesthetics has been influenced by the fiery, spectacular sheen of the Sun.

What is Venus in Leo all about? Let me give you a taste.

The Yavanajataka describes the placement this way:

Venus in Leo produces a man of little strength who is fond of his relatives and allies; a handsome man experiencing various pleasures and miseries; one devoted to the rules of good conduct followed by gurus and Brahmas; a man who obtains happiness by means of the attentions of women and associating with them, and who takes pleasure in his wealth; a man of business who is of no use in his intelligence and imagination, but receives instructions from others.

Lines like “man of little strength” and “a man of business who is of no use in his intelligence and imagination” is mostly likely due to the lack of dignity Venus has in this sign. While still mostly benevolent and following an upright code, Venus here must look to other, mainly the Sun, to conduct its actions. Rather than relying on her usual skills of harmony, charm and nurture, Venus in Leo must use its transcendent sense of self and personal ideals to guide its socializing and creating.

Themes around authenticity versus comfort; self versus. other; visibility versus blending in may arise.

Check the house that Leo occupies in your chart to determine which are of life will be beautified and tackle these themes over the next month.

When in Leo, Venus’s aesthetic moves away from harmonizing and towards standing out.

Leo Venuses care very much about visibility and will use their clothes to direct attention accordingly. If they want you to notice them, their clothes will ensure you do. If they want to escape attention, they can do that as well.

Leo Venuses care about authenticity. Fashion for them becomes a meditation on the self and what it means to create an exterior that gives people a good idea of their intimate essence. That can look a million different ways depending on the native’s sense of self.

Leo Venuses care about showing up and showing out. They understand the assignment. Thy are drawn towards sparkly, show-stopping statement pieces that inspire others to go all out with their wardrobe. Even when dressed more casually, they know the value of fun makeup, cool accessories and eyewear to enhance a more cozy outfit.

Also, don’t underestimate the raw power of their hair! Like the lion itself the mane of Leo Venuses is often the main attraction.

Venus in Leo Through the Decans

Leo I (0-10º): A Saturn-ruled decan, here we see both the power and the limitations of visibility. The directing of attention via one’s clothes was a common theme with these natives, in either extreme. Some used niche graphic tees to signal to other fans of the same artist to limit attention while others dress in golds and lush colors to stand out.

While the Sun on its own knows its shine and power simply because he exists, Saturn asks that you work to prove yourself. As such, many seemed drawn to the styles of people not just for what they look like but what they do: think musicians whose songs inspire you or those who share in your cultural heritage.

Saturn’s simplicity also makes the style of these natives a bit more streamlined and effortless than that other Leo Venus decans. Though gravitating towards bright, light colors, many favor comfortable, functional garments that allow them to move and dress easily.

Leo II: The second decan of Leo is ruled by Jupiter in both systems. While the previous decan had to limit and contract, the second one asks us to use our wardrobe to move into our fullness. Leo II Venus natives succeed when they include all of themselves in their wardrobe for the world to see and appreciate.

As such, the style of Leo II Venuses must be broad enough to include all of the facets of the native. They can blend multiple aesthetics into one outfit— Jupiter loves combinations— or cultivate many different styles that they can pull from on a given day.

There’s an evolving quality to the style of this decan, matching the constant shifts and growths in the self-definition of Leo II Venus natives. A Jupiter-ruled face in the sign of the Sun wants to be able to see itself in as much of the world as possible. As Jupiter is the planet of union and commitment, we often see these natives trying out unexpected combinations or using their garments in experimental ways.

Leo III: This double-Mars decan of Leo knows its power and is here to maintain it. The images associated with this face depict fearsome, rapacious figures dead set attaining their desires, like the “laborious, intelligent” man from Ibn Ezra “with delicacies in his mouth and meat in his hand”. Here we see the glow of the victor, prize in hand, maintaining his reputation. With Venus here, what is maintained is their show-stopping style and fashionable reputation.

There can be a sporty, rebellious edge to the style of these natives: think colorful tracksuits, cheeky lingerie and ripped jeans. The martial influence of this decan also adds to the more casual bent of this decan: Mars likes to do things and wants to wear clothes that facilitate their movements

For this decan, style can be competitive: can you maintain your rep as the most stylish person in the room? Lucky for Leo III Venuses, they have a natural tendency to dress up and stand out, so their crown is often uncontested. Even when dressed down, they still make an effort to look cohesive or put together. I love this decan for making your style loud, impressive and inspiring.

Learn more about Leo I and the other Venus decans by checking out Styling with the Stars Vol. III. Click the link in my bio to learn more and purchase <3

For now, I recommend this interview by Megan Agnew with Hannah Neeleman, Mormon influencer, homesteader and so-named leader of the “Trad Wives”. I found it in an interesting peek into the gender, labor, as well the currency and objectification that comes with being aspirational as a woman in our society.

Until next week,

Love,

Chloe

1. Daniel Schulke, “The Green Mysteries: An Occult Herbarium,” p. 308