ARIES
“It is really exciting when this happens b/c it means I am connecting to my intuitive roots. With the roots all animals have to the earth b/c we are all connected and it just means that there is a language available to us if we relax and don’t even listen b/c listening is an action. You just let the information come in like the tide it will come in all by itself and you don’t have to pull it in or push the water in any direction.”
Aries, this week, you may be compelled to speak or to express yourself in some way which, like a breath or the tide, feels quite natural. Let it out, say or express what it is you feel compelled to say or express, because it is likely part of the “language” available to us all but not always accessible to all of us simultaneously.
(Shaman of Swords/ Wordy Rappinghood- Tom Tom Club )
TAURUS
“Ugh, pipe smoke. Take your own word to heart. The birds are making music, a jam session. There is a burger food truck over there. I said I wouldn’t eat it but now my stomach is growling. I know who is smoking the pipe, it is the guy in the DWP vest. Which I actually kind of like. It seems cool to smoke a pipe while you are fixing a water leak in the pipes.”
Okay, whoa, this one is obviously from the “ex-stream of consciousness.” But somewhere in this garble is something you may experience this week, Taurus. It may start by acknowledging all the things and people and smells in your environment and then acknowledging how you feel about all of those things. “Take your own word to heart.” From there you can decide if you need to move away from a bad smell, or satiate your appetite.
(6 of Swords L/ Ping Pong Affair- The Slits )
GEMINI
“I feel so frazzled this morning. I can feel the wheel of Saturn, cranking me up a slow turn of the wheel like a bingo caller with one of those baskets of wooden letters. I can’t seem to stop thinking of everything I need to do. Everything I should be doing. I am sipping tea.”
Gemini, this would be a good time to ground yourself in the material world. With Mercury retrograde in a fellow air sign, you may feel somewhat scattered this week. I’m not sure what I meant in the above passage about “Saturn cranking me up,” I can only assume I was talking about my impending Saturn Return. Wherever you are in your Saturn cycle, the planet is currently in Sagittarius, your opposing sign, further emphasizing the need to slow down and examine the direction your life is taking or the direction in which you are taking your life. Despite your long list, sipping tea might be the most important thing you do all week.
(III Empress L/ Mama Told Me Not To Come- Odetta)
CANCER
“I was just breezing through my Thoth book again. My favorite are the Fool and the Tower. The Fool says, “The True Self is the meaning of the True Will: know Thyself through Thy Way. Calculate well the Formula of Thy Way. Create freely; absorb joyously; divide intently; consolidate completely. Work thou, Omnipotent; Omniscient, Omnipresent, in and for Eternity.” Then the Tower says, “Break down the fortress of thine Individual Self, that thy Truth may spring from the ruins.” Okay that is all I will copy here. I have so much energy for new things. I’m excited about life. Hopefully that is not just the cappuccino talking.”
Okay, so this isn’t very stream of consciousness, but I thought it was surprisingly relevant as it was the Fool I pulled for you this week, Cancer. You might be tempted to write off your impulsive urges as “just the cappuccino talking,” but these urges, in fact, come from a much deeper place, from “Thy True Self.”
(O Fool Rev/ Nine Hundred Miles- Barbara Dane)
LEO
“The second dream was that my cousin and I and all our parents were going to an island near Baja to go snorkeling. I was frantically scrounging around trying to find snorkeling equipment before the helicopter came. I couldn’t find anything except one flipper and a mask. The mask had what looked like pubic hair inside the nose area. I couldn’t wait to get to the ocean to rinse it out. The island was really small and the water was vast. I felt nervous about being dropped on the island.”
Leo, this week, an activity which is supposed to be fun or relaxing might have you feeling anxious instead. You may be tempted to point to a pubic hair in your snorkel mask as the culprit, but the real shift is likely something less apparent. Perhaps you feel unprepared for the changes taking place in your life. Consider that you don’t actually need any equipment at all to enjoy yourself in the ocean.
(3 of Wands L/ Hello Stranger- Julia Holter )
VIRGO
“I feel like shaky bones. I need to exercise more. I need to go to yoga and dance and do all sorts of things to improve my well-being. I need to look at the list of needs and decide which needs aren’t being met. Also if I’m bored I need to figure out another activity that doesn’t involve giving creepy people your phone number. I need to get off my sprint plan and switch to verizon. I feel so crazy about the future. What is it? What do I need to do now to prepare for the future?”
I don’t remember writing any of this so it is particularly funny for me to re-read it now. Virgo, I highly recommend you make a similar list of needs, not as a way to point out the things you are neglecting (as I did here), but to show yourself how many of your needs are actually being met right now. This might help relieve any anxieties you have about the future.
(XIV Temperance/ Penelope- Lizzy Mercier Descloux)
LIBRA
“Yesterday I killed a pigeon. I ran over her with my car. Maybe it was a him. They* were very big. I buried them by Dodger Stadium, pigeon heaven. I think they will rest in peace there. I got a little plant to plant on top and (Name) put a passion flower on the grave. It was very peaceful. I feel so guilty about it still.”
Libra, if you reduce the story detailed above to symbols you may see how it relates to your week this week. You may be struggling with a difficult situation, trying to make it right, but even after all is “said and done” after the “pigeon” is buried, the feelings surrounding the situation will likely remain. For feelings there may be no grave, but time and acknowledgment can help to dilute them.
*Plural form used here as gender neutral pronoun
(5 of Wands/ Dance to the Beat of Moody- ESG)
SCORPIO
“I think I am still tired. There is something to be said about writing before you are awake enough to think, but it does make for a lot of misspelled words and words with mistaken identities. I never wanted to be boxed in anywhere.”
One thing about free writing is that it allows you to see the way your mind jumps from one idea to the next and also allows you to see the flexibility of the mind before you give it a chance to set. Even pausing with your pen can give you time to decide you are not using a word correctly, but sometimes using the wrong word, shows you its versatility.
Scorpio, this week you may be judging yourself harshly, worrying you are doing the “wrong” thing, or using the wrong word. Don’t box yourself in anywhere. Trust what you feel compelled by and drawn to, even if it comes in a stream of consciousness, before your mind has a chance to set.
(XX Judgement Rev/ Nice- Kleenex)
SAGITTARIUS
“Once I stole a rubber grape from a bad restaurant in Wisconsin. All the adults had ordered the fish, thinking it was fresh, thinking it was from the Great Lakes. But while my cousins and I were poking around in the parking lot we discovered a dumpster full of empty boxes of frozen fish, the kind you get at a supermarket anywhere in the entire country. I was in a bad mood because I was sick of eating fried food.”
Sagittarius, seeker of truth, this story and passage seemed appropriate for your sign as well as in synch with the astrological indications for the week. You may once again find yourself at a crossroads where what you want and desire differs from the collective, from what you are “supposed” to want. As a kid it made perfect sense to get mad and then get even for having to eat fried fish by stealing a rubber grape or announcing to all the adults that their fish wasn’t fresh, but this may not be the best tactic for you anymore, Sagittarius. There are options open to you now that may not have been available to you as kid. Try standing at the crossroads and turning yourself in circles until you find where the sun is shining.
(V Hierophant L/ No Stranger Am I- Norma Tanega)
CAPRICORN
“I’m working for (Name) at 9:30 am which isn’t that early, but I could have used a few more winks. I’m not sure if I’m using these pages correctly. I feel like I’m using them as a diary and I think maybe they are supposed to be more of an exercise in writing. Yawn! So sleepy still. So are the cats. Leaves of grass. Blades of trees. Our lives are here for waking up and I am trying, I am trying my best.”
Capricorn, though famed for being extremely hard on yourself, it seems that this week you have found a place of peace in your struggle up whichever mountain you’ve set out to climb. You might find yourself saying things like, “Well, it is what it is.” There is perhaps an acknowledgment, or a surrender to the understanding that you are doing your best.
(XII Hanged One/ I Didn’t Know What Time It Was- The Crampton Sisters)
AQUARIUS
“It is that time of day when all the kids are getting out of school. I remember it like a smell. It was a time of day when I was on my own almost all alone except for the other kids walking home from school or the crossing guards.”
Aquarius, it may not only be that time of day, but that sort of week for you too. You may encounter the same sense of freedom, that kids often feel when the final bell rings after school. With Mercury Retrograde in your sign, you might experience the effects more acutely than other signs, but not as much in the way of hang ups and delays, as perhaps just a feeling of freedom from restrictive schedules or plans.
(Daughter of Wands/ Soda- Azealia Banks)
PISCES
“The vine keeps growing and I wonder if my mind is expanding at the same rate or if my brain is running on a loop and there is a part of the loop that feels fresh, but it is still my comfort zone.”
Pisces, I could actually use this weeks entire theme as an example of what you might experience this week. Sharing writing that I normally don’t even re-read myself definitely had me stepping outside my “comfort zone,” which is where you may find yourself this week. As a very intuitive and sensitive water sign, you may feel that most situations require a certain amount of vulnerability from you. But it is possible that those situations are still part of your comfort zone. You will likely feel the difference this week in some form or another, but know that this is also an indication that you are expanding and exploring new territory, which is also how bravery is often defined.
(Son of Swords Rev/ Show Me Love- Robin S)