Come hang with me in the 5th dimension
Today’s amble essay is special. Firstly, because I invited a friend to co-write it with me - please meet Lizzie Azzolino. Secondly, because it’s getting published on a Monday instead of a Wednesday. And thirdly, because we’re going down a rabbit hole that I feel weirdly protective and skittish about. Like I worry that I’ll be judged. But then I question whether I care about being judged. Guess what conclusion I drew.
I’ve become increasingly and quietly interested in astrology over the past few months. You could say, I’ve been a closeted astrology amateur. All that time, I’ve shared my double life with a few good people. One of them is Lizzie. As someone who is always incorporating new modalities into her life and coaching, she’s my Astro-haven. My Astro-sister. I like to imagine us both rocking to “Age of Aquarius” on our respective coasts while reading up on the ensuing Jupiter in Taurus (first in 12 years), which starts today and will last for a full year. Which is also the reason why this essay is getting published today. Obviously.
Lizzie and I are both interested in the energetic impact that the planets and the stars have on us humans. Neither of us is an expert. We intuitively feel there’s deep interconnectedness. We share a deep curiosity, which we’ve been exploring in a series of conversations over the past 6 months.
So this essay and capturing some of our thoughts about astrology is my coming out. So to speak. I don’t want to convince anyone about the merits of astrology. I simply no longer want to keep this part of me closeted. Because my belief is that when we share the parts of us that rather be hidden, we shine the light on incongruences that make us, us. And also it’s 2023 for f***’s sake and no one should feel like they have to keep any parts of them closeted. So here we go.
This is an edited version of a conversation we recorded with Lizzie shortly in the aftermath of the Scorpio Eclipse on May 5, and shortly before today’s
Lizzie: For most of my life astrology was one of those “things” I knew was out there, but I largely ignored it beyond knowing my Sun sign (Aquarius) and an occasional read of my daily or monthly horoscope. But, like all things in life, timing is everything; and last year was “the time” to give astrology a second chance.
October of last year was the start of likely the most significant transition in my life. I found myself expanding my sense of identity, what I’m doing in work and life and how I relate to the world. Like all transitions, it was and continues to be everything all at once: unsettling and exciting. I went down a Google rabbit hole looking for resources to both inspire and support me. One way or another, I came across an article about the meaning of your North Node and South Node in astrology, which reveal your soul’s purpose in life. The North Node is where you’re going, or where your soul wants you to go, and your South Node is where you’ve been. Exploring my North and South brought so many things into alignment.
Maria: It's interesting because when I think of the moment when things started to click for me, it was also learning about the North Node and the South Node. Also learning about the Rising sign which explained so much about my incongruences. The edges or parts of me are quite idiosyncratic. I'm a Taurus, with big Scorpio and Aries energy, and also a Libra thrown into the mix. Having the context around what each of those mean energetically and a new vernacular to describe how I show up in the world because of those, drew me in.
Lizzie: For most of my childhood and the majority of my adult life, I thought of myself as independent, intellectual, original, decisive, and focused. Very “Aquarius.” That was how I saw myself, in good ways and bad. But over the last several years, I felt that identity shifting in a significant way as I realized I had over-programmed my “thinking” and “doing muscles.” Learning about my rising sign, Pisces (fluid, emotional, sensitive) made me feel like it’s safe to embrace all of these new parts of myself. Astrology gave me a way of getting to know myself in a more intimate and complex way.
Maria: When I think of Astrology, I immediately see parallels to therapeutic modalities. Pointing out your patterns. Growing your self-awareness. Supporting your introspection. That’s the best way to think of astrology, in my opinion.
I was recently talking to a friend about astrology and she said something very interesting. The first time she went to get a professional reading, was the first time she felt truly and immediately seen by somebody else. In therapy, you may work with someone for months, to have them get to know you and to truly see you. But here you walk into a room with someone who's never met you, but somehow they know so much about you, just by knowing when, where, and what time you are born. That immediacy is really powerful to me.
Lizzie: And there’s so much more to Astrology than your individual natal chart. The other piece that I now spend even more time with is what is happening right now astrologically. Meaning, where the planets (and the Moon) are today. And I take all of it as information, because that’s what it is. It's up to me to decide what information I want to use and what information I want to put aside. There are times in my life where I feel intuitively called to explore what's happening astrologically. And then times when it's just not the thing that's going to be supportive for me.
Rather than feel bound by astrology – something that is fated or happening “to me” – I look to astrology to understand what this moment is most aligned to make possible energetically. We always have agency and can make conscious choices. It gives me confidence to make significant changes when astrology is working in my favor. Or, when there is a Retrograde I know that if I keep running into barriers, I should just stop and avoid forcing things. Ultimately I see it as a tool to help me use my energy wisely.
Maria: We had a very powerful Eclipse a few days ago. It was the first time that I was fully aware of a major astrological event like that. And actively preparing for it. Mentally and emotionally. Throughout the week, I made room - moved meetings, canceled social plans, created more space, went to sleep early. I think it's really helpful to tune into what is the vibe out there, as opposed to thinking: “Why do I feel so shitty? Why am I so low energy? Why can't I somehow push myself out of this weird funk I'm in?”
It is pretty comforting to acknowledge shit’s going down. Somewhere out there really far away. Planets are moving in and out of alignment. All of that energetic load is impacting us. Because it must be all interconnected. I read somewhere that the human body contains around 20 different elements, mostly made inside ancient stars. Our bodies are made out of the same material as the universe in which we float on this beautiful, blue planet, so we must inevitably be deeply resonant with the Astro-matter. Acknowledging that there’s a higher power that energetically impacts how I feel has been transformational since I hold a lot of very high expectations for myself. It's very hard for me to unplug, give myself a break, and chill the f-out. Knowing we’re in a moment of energetic transitions, helps me do just that.
In that way, Astrology allows me to explore spirituality disintermediated from gods, gurus, doctrines, rules. All of which have been show-stoppers for me. It’s made me more open to the idea that there are forces influencing our world, my life, in a way that might escape rational explanation. More feeling, less knowing. More intuiting, less proving.
Lizzie: I feel that we're starting to run into the limits of what we can know through logic or rational thought. My sense is leaning into our intuition is something that is going to become increasingly more important.
With the rise and acceleration of technology’s ability to do much of what we traditionally do with our thinking brains, we are being asked to reconsider who we are as humans. I see this is something that was always meant to happen. The acceleration of AI is here to teach us to tap into our innate human capacities that we’ve been underutilizing. We've over-programmed our thinking brains, and we've underused our ability to feel, to sense, to connect, and to deeply know in a way that comes from simply being human.
So many of the biggest decisions in my life I have made were based on intuition or knowing beyond logic. We're collectively being asked to learn to find new sources of intelligence and knowing right now – those that are hard for the logical brain to understand. And that’s ok. This will be a big learning curve for us all, but ultimately we can, and we will, grow. Right now, this is a lot of what I’m spending time with my coaching clients on: connecting to their inner compass. All of the answers we need are right here when we give ourselves permission to see them.
Maria: As I’ve been going down the Astrology rabbit hole - I learned that Astrology not only stems back to the very start of civilization in Mesopotamia in the 18th century BC (making it one of the oldest human disciplines), but also that it’s been a cornerstone of astronomical and mathematical discoveries across the ages. All that contribution and yet it still continues to be considered pseudoscience largely because nobody knows how to study it. As in - it has not been disproven as unscientific. Scientists deemed it unscientific because they couldn’t figure out a framework that would let them study it. I find that quite interesting. I wonder if that line of thinking is up for a redesign?
I also found an interesting study that showed that a belief in Astrology is what reinforces the self-belief about the traits one holds. It could be that Astrology works only in the minds of those who believe in it. Which might be the best kind of incentive to leverage Astrology for our own benefit. If we believe it and tune into these key astrological moments, we can potentially supercharge our trajectories and progress; or at the very least avoid tilting at windmills, and saving some time and energy. Surrender at its best. Surrender to the astrological moment, whatever that moment may bring, and reap the benefits of the energetic shifts that are occurring anyway.
Lizzie: What we believe to be true is true. Our beliefs shape how we see ourselves and how we see the world. This is something I feel very passionately about. If we believe the world is falling apart and we’re grasping to hold on, that is how we’ll experience life. If everything that happens is seen as a transformational agent, here to show us something that we’ve been ignoring for too long, then we can “let go” of using so much energy to hold on, and instead create space for something new to emerge. You know my love affair with the Pluto Return – something I originally feared, but now I know it’s here to help us transform. This has been one of the hardest times of my life, and as much as I try to fight it I know the universe is working in my favor. I’m even thinking of naming my soon-to-be puppy Pluto!
Astrology resources
Chani Nicholas birth chart to explore your personal astrology
Bracha Goldsmith for the most uplifting and hopeful perspective on astrology
Alina Alive for super-approachable monthly New Moon and Full Moon “things to know” and reflection questions
Pam Gregory for admittedly dense and deep (but powerful) views into macro astrology like this video on the US Pluto Return
Nellie Coffy’s substack Lightbeams that’s not straight up astrology, rather reflections and written slam poetry on the flow of life with some sprinkling of stars here and there
A beautiful poem “Facts about the moon” by Dorianne Laux
Astrology apps
Chani App - this is a really great resource, goes deep on your personal birth chart, but keeps things relatable and yet… poetic; it’s a bit pricey but worth the money (the free versions and free newsletters are still a really great resource!)
The Pattern - this is a beautiful app that designed to help navigate relationship dynamics through the lens of natal charts and astrological alignments, powerful not only for romantic relationships but all sorts of relationships
Co-Star - this is possibly the “trendiest” of the three apps, and probably the most surface level and most straightforward