Inner Makeup

Heart is Where Your Home Is: Season 2, Episode 4

Terah Kathryn Collins

Terah Kathryn Collins

On this episode of the Star Love Podcast, we welcome best selling writer, educator, and leading Feng Shui practitioner, Terah Kathryn Collins. Our conversation focuses on her latest book The Three Sisters of the Tao and how the sisters came to Terah offering invaluable wisdom. This episode provides a template for walking an enchanted path that can lead to a new worldview and also explores some practical ways to achieve balance.

Recommended Books

Link to Terah’s Work

Visit the Western School of Feng Shui to gain access to the Essential Feng Shui Practitioner Certification training, which is offered 24/7 online, and includes Terah’s live weekly support via coaching calls and a private student/teacher forum. The same training is also offered in a live classroom setting with the next one coming up March 1-7, 2020 in Sedona, Arizona.

Receive 10% off through the Essential Feng Shui Practitioner Certification Training through the end of the year (2020).

Western School of Feng Shui
www.WesternSchoolofFengShui.com

Other Books Mentioned

Image Credit: Peggy_Marco

Image Credit: Peggy_Marco

Star Love Podcast Season 2 Episode 1 Featuring Astrologer Janet Booth

J Booth portrait low res.jpg

Janet Booth

The Astrologer Who Helps You “Plan-It”!

For the opening episode of the second season of the Star Love Podcast, we welcome astrologer Janet Booth! I met Janet through my involvement with the Astrological Society of Connecticut, and we’ve kept up the connection ever since. We discuss her soon to be famous “Libra” shirt, our mutual love of Connecticut pizza, her business background, and the unique astrological techniques she employs in her work. The majority of the interview is spent exploring the transits of 2020 into 2021 and how you can apply these energies for your sun and/or rising sign.

This episode was recorded June 17, 2020. Please rate us on Apple Podcasts, and if you’re interested in sponsoring a future podcast, email Inner Makeup business manager James. To make a wish for yourself and support the continued production of the Star Love Podcast, click here.

Time Stamps for Time Keepers

0-6:07 Introduction

6:08-9:57 Janet’s career working in business administration and then astrology

9:58-11:56 The inspiration behind Janet’s website Astrology Booth

11:57-14:24 Janet’s and my mutual love of Connecticut style pizza

14:25-19:19 Janet’s unique approach to astrology

19:20-24:49 Astrology and the pandemic

24:50-28:42 Human nature and astrology

28:43-36:44 Shifting from major Capricorn transits to Aquarius transits

36:45-49:29 2020 Saturn Jupiter conjunction and recommendations for each sign

49:30-54:04 Mercury Retrograde

54:05-57:39 Janet’s famous “Plan-its” and how one can use the moon phases

57:40-end The planetary body Eris and closing remarks

Links and Other Resources

Visit Janet’s website, astrologybooth.com for a plethora of free content, including resources for 2021, free downloadable pdf’s with ratings for each day, a best and worst days list, and a retrograde bar chart called “On a Page”. You can also sign up on the footer of any page on astrologybooth.com to receive free occasional newsletters and free morning messages with the day's rating describing what the day might be like or how to utilize the planets' energies.

Here is a link to the article about Ceres, Pluto, and Eris mentioned on the podcast.

Star Love Podcast Season 1 Episode 11 Featuring Astrologer and Artist Anne Beversdorf

On episode 11 of the Star Love Podcast we welcome astrologer and artist Anne Beversdorf. Anne possesses a diverse background in education, library science, and is an accomplished artist, along with her considerable astrological career. We discuss Anne’s drive to succeed in her career life, her and her family’s creative background, and her unique approach towards the use of both Western and Vedic Astrology. Please rate us on apple podcasts, and if you’re interested in sponsoring a future podcast, e-mail james@innermakeup.net. To support the continued production of the Star Love Podcast go to the Leave a Tip Make a Wish Section and make a wish for yourself as well.

Showgirls Apologetics, Planets in Leo, and Expressing Yourself

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Image by Victoria Borodinova

At some point you’ve felt hesitant to express yourself. Self-expression can take the form of creativity, sexuality, romance, platonic love, or communication from the heart. The insecurities that prevent the aforementioned actions find their roots in a deeply primal place—the necessity to conform in order to survive, because if everyone did what they wanted, there would be chaos.

Individualistic self-expression is often met with criticism. Yet the heavens right now suggest we make a move towards more personal expression. This is because the Sun finds himself in his home sign of Leo, the Sun being the basic self and divine spark that gives life. Enhancing this energy is Mercury, also in the sign of Leo, the planetary body that oversees roads, travelers, thieves, communication, and language. Leo is the sign of romance and creativity, so these powerful alignments help this shift. The height of these energies culminates on the morning of August 17th as the Sun and Mercury come together, energized by an intense, waning moon having just joined the Sun and Mercury in the sign of Leo. 

An example that demonstrates how pure self-expression can be chastised is the film Showgirls. Widely panned for its over-the-top, raw, and allegedly sexist material, the film has, in recent years, been reappraised as a serious satire as it progressed from initial failure to major success in the video rental market. There are many theories about why the film failed. One opinion is that it was advertised as an erotic film. But this was never the intent of director Paul Ver Hoeven as he maintains that he was trying to present an accurate portrait of Las Vegas decadence and the futile struggle to make it to the top through sex and power. 

I remember when the film was released. The boys were bragging that they had seen or were going to see Showgirls, subconsciously signaling that having public access to an erotic film, conspicuously consumed, was a badge of honor. But an over the top, non-erotic satire aimed to reveal the true workings of transactional sex and the reach for celebrity was surely set up to fail if audience members were led to believe it was a pornographic film. The boys, and the audience in general, would laugh. The failure of Showgirls was not a failure, however, and it achieved something notable and useful as provocative art is a marker of success, as Oscar Wile explained in the introduction to The Picture of Dorian Gray. Provoking a reaction from an audience at the very minimum disrupts the normal state of affairs. Oscar Wilde also tells us that “everything is about sex except sex. Sex is about power.” These are all Leo themes, as Leo is the sign that rules speculation, risk-taking, and entertainment. What risks are you taking or not taking? Is there a song you want to sing or a dance you want to dance from which you recently abstained? Showgirls was a way for its audience to skirt this question even though it was being posed directly to them. Director Paul Ver Hoeven’s intent was to create something over the top and hyperreal, and his rendering of the Vegas experience was proportionate to the real thing. It showed the humiliating and hilarious but accurate nature of unadulterated self-expression, self-expression that we all yearn to engage in but often times fail to achieve because we know the forces around us will make fun of us. How many laugh at a striptease but are actually turned on? It doesn’t have to be this way, however, as the Leo energy helps, telling us, “yeah, but so what! Do it anyways! Who cares what anybody else thinks?!”

This is the exact reason for the universal panning of Showgirls, that the protagonist Nomi Malone, played by Elizabeth Berkeley, dares to express herself nakedly, literally and figuratively, with wild abandon, and this is rejected by the audience and critics alike—an actual success, not a failure. Berkeley’s own astrology chart features a similar configuration to the one we’re experiencing right now, having fiery Mars, communicative Mercury, and a radiant Sun in Leo. Leo is the sign of expression, drama, theatrics, entertainment, recreational sex, speculation, and risk-taking, so her own celestial “Inner Makeup” makes her suited for the role of Nomi. Subconsciously, many filmgoers were remembering Elizbeth Berkeley as the teenage goody too shoe character Jesse Spano on Saved by the Bell who famously got addicted to speed and had a crazed meltdown, this being the type of Leo melodramatic style she brought to her performance in Showgirls. This was viewed as bad acting, but Paul Ver Hoeven has always held that he pushed Berkeley to those extremes and that it wasn’t due to a bad performance on Berkeley’s part. Berkeley in fact possesses a serious background in dance and has proven herself a capable theatrical actress, a gift exemplified by the strong planets in Leo in her chart. The character Nomi, by expressing herself in an unrestrained fashion, actually triumphs. In the film she starts off by finding work as a stripper at a club called the Cheetah (there is a club called Cheetah’s in Las Vegas). Ultimately Nomi supplants Gina Gershon’s character, Cristal, for the lead in a show called Goddess housed at the real-life Stardust Hotel (now imploded) by pushing her down a flight of stairs. There’s a carnal edge to show business embodied by Berkeley’s strong Mars. Thus Nomi, dancing with untrained “heat”, makes it to the top while the haters criticize her cheesy style as she makes her ascent to Goddess status. Getting the lead is a mixed blessing, as the owners of the show Goddess reveal that they have researched and uncovered Nomi’s past run-ins with the law that involved prostitution and drugs. Surviving in the real world is no different than surviving a Vegas show. 

Another theme of Showgirls is the expendability of the dancers, whether at the strip club or a headlining show. No Showgirl is spared from the impermanence of the race to the top, just as the Stardust hotel was eventually demolished. Elizabeth Berkeley’s astrology chart features Pluto in Virgo, the planet of implosion in a servile sign. Nomi for her part does reject and emancipate herself from success, but the end of the film shows her hitchhiking to Los Angeles, indicating that the cycle of surviving, “high” and low, may begin once again. 

Nomi’s unique, home-grown dancing aesthetic helps her in the film but caused a fall for Elizabeth Berkeley in real life. As I said, the film was billed as something sexy, but it was nothing of the sort. As people laughed at Nomi, played by Berkeley, they were really laughing at themselves. We all have to sell something in order to survive, and the product each of us has to offer can be alternately outlandish, like an embarrassing dance, or conservative, or some combination thereof. Leo is also the sign of sales, so this applies to everyone needing to sell something through this tough astrological weather. What are you selling? Maybe it’s best to take yourself off the market and put your creative juices somewhere else, like singing in the shower or spicing up your sex life. The Showgirls audience ultimately achieved a catharsis but without achieving a true release of their daemons, good and bad, instead returning to the cycle of normalcy, the cycle of destiny. The Sun and Mercury in Leo, minus Elizabeth Berkeley’s Mars, offers an opportunity for just the opposite—a chance to simply let loose.

Bi-Weekly Moon Message Horoscopes May 17, 2020-May 31, 2020

Has the current state of affairs put a damper on your love life? If it hasn’t, shame on you! But seriously, the need for romance combined with a moment that requires unprecedented social separation is an abiding concern. Being trapped at home is probably magnifying your pent up physical desires leading to feelings of imprisonment. Every cloud has a silver lining, and astrology can supply that hopeful message from the sky. So what is that message? 

To understand messages in astrology one must first look to the planet Mercury, the Roman equivalent of Hermes the winged messenger. Though tricky, as Hermes is one of the great tricksters of mythology, he provides the key that unlocks the door to deeper insights. Mercury is in a good position through the end of May being in the communicative sign of Gemini, his home sign, but is said to dispose Venus who is not as much at home in the sign of Gemini where she currently finds herself. Remember planets occupy signs and the signs govern how the planets are operating. Putting it together, your mind is on love! So who can help? Eros. 

Eros was the son of Aphrodite, the Roman equivalents being Cupid and Venus. Eros can help you understand your erotic impulses by diving head first into what it is you’re truly desiring. Since these past couple of months have had you in chains at home, it’s a perfect time for some self-reflection, and a great opportunity to take care of business on your own. It’s critical to note that Eros truly is love, and love can mean physical pleasure, creativity, beauty, and/or affection. Over the next couple of weeks, Eros will be moving through Aries, sign of self-assertion, and Taurus, the sign of intractable earth. Take this chance over the next couple of weeks to analyze, express, and experiment with the nature of your personal erotic impulses. Then, like a sitting bull, collect the gains you’ve made. 

Aries: With Eros moving through your sign, Aries, and your sign of money, Taurus, you’re money! This is reflected in ancient astrology as the house of creativity and romance was where Venus found her joy. Venus is also money in astrology. Love doesn’t always have to be irrational, and when explore your own erotic self-expression, this opens up doors for you.

Taurus: Eros will be moving through your sector of spirituality and then your sector of self. The message is to let go of an old love. You can’t move forward in love and life without letting go of the old. The key is to value your own self-expression in areas of romance, and then you will experience a rebirth.

Gemini: You may be hit hardest by this transit as you desperately, like a child, want love. You’re looking towards social networks, but clearly that is not an option right now. You’re best bet is to wait, hope for brighter days, and trust in the universe. If you stop trying so hard, good things can happen.

Cancer: “Everything is about sex except sex. Sex is about power” – Oscar Wilde. This applies to your career and your hopes for your career. Of course, sexual harassment guidelines need to be followed, but there is no denying the power of sexual self-expression as a means to gain power. Workplace fantasies can be sublimated into true career advancement. 

Leo: While international travel has come to a halt, this doesn’t mean you can’t fantasize about a tryst that happens abroad. Sometimes the way to enlightenment is by experiencing internal ecstasies as opposed to traveling through time and space to get to them. You are a naturally expressive sign, so disclosing some of your fantasies gives you the attention you’re seeking.

Virgo: Out of all the signs, you have the best chance to probe the darkest recesses of your erotic impulses, making deep psychic gains. The subconscious is now understood by psychologists as the driving motivation of our actions. Acting on these impulses carries its risks, but has its rewards. Exploring these uncharted waters in solitude can be frightening but illuminating.

Libra: This is not the time to hold back on the relationship front. A partner will be like Cupid, shooting arrows at you. Let your heart be pierced, and reap the rewards from this fall. Merging with this partner helps you expand your horizons and go farther than you would have otherwise.

Scorpio: Stop and breathe in the fresh air. Platonic love is the key for you. The flowers, the clouds, a cup of espresso—these things and activities are how you experience love. As one of the most intense, and often times sexual, signs of the zodiac, this might be a challenge. Focus on simple, daily delights, and you’ll find the love you’re seeking. 

Sagittarius: Out of all the signs this month, Cupid’s bow really hits you. Enjoy this, as you are usually the one shooting arrows, as you are the archer. Allow yourself to use the romance that blossoms over the next couple of weeks as a chance to experience yourself on a purely personal level. That might sound strange. After all, isn’t love about two people? But erotic self-expression is just as important for your partner as it is for yourself. 

Capricorn: Though you’re probably the sign most interested with your public reputation, some love on the home front is the astrological doctor’s order. Home cooked meals and slow burn romance touches the heart and takes you away from the massive changes and losses you may have been experiencing. Cupid’s bow helps. Look at this as a pivot, and find good fortune where you least expect it. 

Aquarius: You are one of the most social signs of the zodiac, so these past couple of months have been difficult for you. However, love on the family front, especially amongst siblings, really helps here. Family love returns you to a deeply satisfying place like no other. Use the window of this transit to see that family connections are the most critical in life.   

Pisces: Love and money really do go together, according to astrology. This is usually reserved for Venus, but her son Eros has something to say. Think about what you value sexually and this can inform how you approach finances and generally the resources you have to work with. Objects hold energy too, and electric attraction to them should not be discounted. Beauty and the recognition of beauty is a kind of eroticism. 

Star Love Podcast Launch: Episode 1 Featuring Tracie Storey

Photo Courtesy of Rakicevic Nenad

On the debut episode of the Star Love Podcast, we welcomed Tracie Storey. I met Tracie at the Astrological Association of Great Britain’s 2019 Conference, and we became fast friends under an intense Scorpio full moon. On the show, we discussed how Tracie fuses astrology, sound therapy, and more through her practice Elemental Resonance. We also explored how early on she studied classical music while also making mix tapes from what she heard on the radio. She was then inspired to pursue a career as an international DJ but later, wanting to find peace from the beats, Tracie transitioned to her current career, and on this podcast, we offer a few examples of her sound work that you can experience yourselves, live. Visit her website to explore Tracie’s offerings including meditation events, unique products, and her album, also entitled Elemental Resonance. Visit here youtube page to start working with some of her techniques.

Moon Messages for the Next Two Weeks

Thanks Reynaldo for this beautiful photo. At the time of this article being published, the moon is, like the photo, in the waxing gibbous phase.

Corona. What just came to mind? Of course the virus that has caused mass disruption on a global scale that is entirely unique to this moment. I say unique because the world at this point is more interconnected by media, transportation, and economies than ever before. Thus, when a modern virus appears, it can spread literally and spiritually, by nature and fear.

But the principal meaning of corona, different than the one that initially popped into your head, is the outermost region of the sun’s atmosphere that becomes visible during an eclipse. When I learned this, I struggled to ponder what the astrological symbol of corona could mean. I did a little digging and found out that the sun’s atmosphere made visible during an eclipse is comprised of plasma. The last solar eclipse occurred in December, right around the time Coronavirus was ramping up. Most would interpret this as an ominous sign, but many of the great astrologers and diviners teach us to find the silver lining when the heavens look difficult. After some more research, I found that scientists are looking into the plasma of recovered coronavirus victims to develop treatments. That would truly be something if a difficult eclipse also held the metaphorical clue to its abatement. 

On a personal level, I think the coronavirus calamity can be interpreted as a symbolic call to reconnect with home, family, and all things that nourish us. The north node of the moon, which indicates karmic future, is suggesting as much by continuing her transit through the emotive sign of Cancer.

Aries: March 21 - April 19 

By now, it comes as no surprise that your social life has hit the wall. This is reflected in the heavens as the saturnian influence of the planet Saturn has just combined with the aggressive force of Mars in your sector of friends. The best thing you can do is reasonably rely on technology to keep you in the loop while focusing on siblings and neighbors to sate your in person social needs. This will help with social distancing as well as it will focus on a smaller number of interactions that are more meaningful anyways.  

Taurus: April 20 - May 20

Regardless of the disruption you’ve been experiencing, this is a good time to think about your finances as it relates to career. Interestingly, even though the world has been historically upended in the last few weeks, you have been feeling something on a similar level for almost two years. This relates to your work life, and the best way to handle surprises is to adapt to them. Lean on a group of girlfriends to help you sort through these issues—personal, professional, and financial. Though these matters will not resolve themselves instantaneously, the next few weeks will give you a window about how best to carve out your public, individual, and financial path forward. 

Gemini: May 21- June 20

You’re feeling the itch to travel, but clearly that is not going to happen right now. Your best bet is to put those urges to more local endeavours. When was the last time you played a video game, sat down to read a book, or even played chess or checkers with a partner? These activities will give you the fix you’re needing. And, you won’t miss the trip you so desperately thought you needed. 

Cancer: June 21 - July 22

The personal growth you’ve been experiencing over the past year and a half changes at the beginning of May. The shift will occur from the self to a oneness with all that is—in other words, your spiritual world. The interesting thing is that this doesn’t mean renouncing modern society and living in a monastery. What is the hidden, spiritual part of you that connects to the collective consciousness is your fun side! You need to make time to retreat and have a dream world that is childlike and fantastical.  

Leo: July 23 - August 22

You’re feeling the urge to balance your checkbook. The reason this is a challenge is because joint finances with a partner are not clear. I have a feeling this partner is being elusive and possibly deceptive around these matters. This has been happening acutely during the past Mercury Retrograde, the surrounding weeks, and even now. However, this is a long term cycle from 2011-2026. There is an upshot to this—what are your dreams as far as your shared resources with all your partnerships? When you get some clarification around that question, the confusion dissolves.  

Virgo: August 23 - September 22

You’re being your usual Virgoan self—critical, meticulous, and worrisome. To make matters more difficult, a partner is behaving just the opposite—dreamy, out of touch, and unfocused. The best thing you can do is juggle the practicality of what you need romantically while understanding that trying to control others rarely works. A little madness and magic will do you good anyways. 

Libra: September 23 - October 22

Your daily routines and working life have been marked by a lack of clarity since February. You feel like you’re out of focus not only individually but how you relate to society at large. This has generally been a phenomenon since 2011. The best thing you can do, especially since you are at homebound, is take a hard look at your immediate surroundings, change what needs to be changed, let go of what is karmically dragging you down, and reallocate resources that need to be adjusted. This will put things into focus for you.   

Scorpio: October 23 - November 21 

Through the end of June, you’re getting a glimpse into the future of what your home life will be. Your intensely driven to make realize this vision, but future insights are not the present. By the end of 2020, you’re able to start actualizing these goals, but it will still be an effort through 2023 to make all this happen. The key is to stay somewhat emotionally distant from the process while acknowledging your emotions with regard to the situation. Focus on the fundamentals down to the water and electricity—flow, literally and metaphorically, and realize that though the future isn’t the present, how you feel in the present leads you to the future you desire. 

Sagittarius: November 22 - December 21

Watch out for fights on social media with siblings and possibly neighbors. It’s tough to be isolated, and technology is no substitute for in person, human interaction. However, business driven media’s main objective is to fan the emotional flames of the passions between human beings, so be wary of engaging with others on this level. However, the upshot to this is a chance to reflect on what truly motivates you and those around you. 

Capricorn: December 22 - January 19

The losses you’ve been experiencing personally in the past year and a half come to a close in May. Through material losses come spiritual gains. You carry these experiences into the next year and the half, and you have a real chance to experience a spiritual awakening. You become liberated from the things in your life that are the source of your undoing, namely your ambitious nature. 

Aquarius: January 20 - February 18 

Through the month of June, you have the choice of going down one of two paths. The first path is adopting a conservative, slow approach that has you walking into the future by obeying the laws of time and karma. Or, you can yield to an unrestrained passion of trying to improperly launch yourself into the future with less than stellar results. This glimpse into your future self that ends in late June takes material form in late 2020 and will remain through early 2023. Which path you should choose seems obvious to me. 

Pisces: February 19 - March 20

Your physical state that might seem in flux right now gains more sure footing by the second full week of April. At that point it would be a good idea to think about how you want to achieve harmony on the home front. You have a nice opportunity to have some fun, sweet, loving energy come into the house. Come the second full week of May, you’ll be glad you set your mind to your dwelling as opposed to other fantasies that take you away from what really matters.  

 During these tumultuous times, an astrology reading can provide guidance, psychic relief, and hope. Go to the contact section to book your appointment.

Full Moon in Bed

Original Link from Elephant Journal

I awoke blissfully broken. Over the weekend the moon screamed but now finds herself waning in the mansion Purva Phalguni, the former reddish one. This Nakshatra symbolizes a bed where rest and relaxation reside, but as I surfaced, I found anger and frustration, the red fire raging and warning. This Nakshatra bestows abundance and marital happiness that leads to solipsism. Western astrology would say today’s moon indicates an emotional need to purge. East meets West, pleasure and purity merge. As the moon declines over the next couple weeks, empty yourself, make time for reasonable comforts, and remember that the moon symbolizes moodiness, but the Chinese hold that the moon creates order. 

Is it Fate or Free Will?

I recently gave a lecture at the American Italian Cultural Center in NOLA, the topic exploring the spiritual dimensions of three major Italian films. For all of you astro buffs out there, there was a massive amount of transiting 9th house activity in my astrology chart, the area concerning travel, both literally and figuratively, and higher knowledge and learning. I was struck by the complex and paradoxical nature of the directors’ spiritual and faith orientations; for example, Federico Fellini was a lifelong Catholic yet consulted the I-Ching, an ancient Chinese system of divination, and also recorded his dreams dogmatically. He, under strict supervision, took LSD to gain insight into different realms, yet learned through some of his dreams that though he often played the part of a rebellious child, he appreciated the check of the church on his creative machinations.

What ultimately interested me, though, was Fellini’s admonition that one shouldn’t always consult such tools as I-Ching or astrology, and if one did, he ran the risk of being paralyzed by an idle, overactive mentality. Interesting, in astrology, the 12th house, arguably the most spiritual of all, symbolizes isolation but also spiritual freedom from the material world; so, perhaps confinement isn’t always so bad. Yet Fellini had an inarguable point, namely the intent, and perhaps even the spirit of consulting a higher, mysterious power has as much to do with the act of divination itself, whatever the method.

Which brings me to the greatest of all the questions: is our existence governed by fate or free will? This question has animated virtually all cultures over all time. It seems the more ancient you go, the more a culture believes in fate. But with the rise of Western civilization, science, and modern religion, and the subsequent discovery and reinterpretation of the laws of nature (notice I did not say mastery of nature), many of us lead incalculably more comfortable lives than those even one hundred years ago. But the questions still remains, what is fate, and what is free will?

The author of the famous Moment of Astrology believes that astrology as the Queen of all systems of divination allows us to negotiate with the heavens. We might not ultimately decide our fates, but we do get to negotiate. I take this a step further and submit that the reason (pun accidentally occurring) we get to negotiate is because we accept chance and fate in the form of things like astrology. One is born at a specific time and place, the heavens transfixed in a moment, the seed that ultimately flowers into one’s existence. Yet coming to an astrology session means a momentary suspension of one’s supposed free will agency and that by consulting and asking a different, oblique, and arguably higher power for guidance, one gains free will agency. I’ve been holding as of late that it is no “I” as an astrologer who performs astrology, but I is “I” who learns and studies astrology and in the moment of an Inner Makeup session, performs a reading. This is akin to a musician who learns his craft through practice and then performs a piece of music or an actor who studies his lines and then recites them in a play. This is certainly not the egoistic “I” of free will.

Yet again, by suspending one’s self, the self actually becomes empowered in a circuitous turn of events, akin to a suspension of disbelief during the witnessing of a performance or work of art, a momentary slip of the inquiring mind, and the gaining of insights that come from within, or somewhere else, that lead to a transformation of the self. 

Might Fellini have been onto something? That how we approach such matters is just as critical as the matter itself? As the poet Rilke famously asked of us, Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.

This theme led me to recall an old episode of the Twilight Zone, Nick of Time, now available on Netflix where a young, newly-wed couple becomes stranded in a small Ohio town and discovers a “Mystic Seer” machine/napkin holder in a local diner. We are introduced to the wife who brandishes a confident, striding attitude whereas the husband (a young William Shatner) fashions a much more brooding, anxiety-laden attitude towards everyday affairs. The husband is up for a promotion at work, and after consulting the Mystic Seer, who spits out a slip “it has been decided in your favor,” he hurriedly rushes to a pay phone to call his employer. He learns through the grapevine that he has received the promotion, fulfilling the prophecy of the oracle. The husband consults the oracle obsessively over a variety of matters with varying degrees of ambiguity and accuracy, but nevertheless the couple comes to believe in the oracle, that is until they decide it is better not to consult it rather than consult it and to follow the wife’s initial buoyant “take life as it is” attitude vs. the fatalistic, fearful attitude of the husband. The episode closes with another couple who apparently consults the Mystic Seer machine habitually and are portrayed as addicted and entrapted, in astrological terms by twelfth house matters. 

Which brings me back to Fellini’s charge that one shouldn’t consult methods of divination too much and that intent has a lot to do with the outcome especially where self-fulfilling prophesies are concerned. But this still leaves open the question of fate vs. free will. We like to think, think being the operative word, that we have free will. But the material sciences, and/or spirituality, have taught us that within and outside of ourselves there is much more going on beneath the surface. Regardless, does the mind, especially our conscious perceiving mind, have the ability to govern fate? I believe yes, but the percentage is small. Also, as Carl Jung noted, when the conscious ego becomes inflated, when we try to become gods controlling fate, we are invariably slapped back down by nature via tragedy. Yet this does not imply an entirely deterministic existence.

If we have the ability to freeze phenomena, like an individual’s birth as symbolized through a natal chart, through the art of astrology, at least for a moment, we are gifted a glimpse into something beyond space and time because a birth chart, and any astrology chart, is a snapshot in time—but it doesn’t stop time. It is a chance to reflect and glean new insights garnered from a process largely governed by chance. This is where I’ve struggled a bit. Is chance deterministic? Is there a set order of numbers, directions of particles, and movement of light that is destiny? Yes and no, because we know that when we look at something, the observer effect, we change it. However, that does not mean we receive a blank check for free will, and regardless of our perspective, massive forces forever flow beyond our control.

So again, it goes back to Fellini, who started as a gag writer and artist, and in his words, ended up a philosopher. In astrological terms, this progression would look something like Gemini to Sagittarius, curiosity to knowledge. The only question is, what are your questions? And will you love them enough to believe in them and hopefully receive divine revelation? Or, will you fearfully seek the answers that may never come?