Hello bbs,
It was my birthday on March 4 and (as I’ll write about more below) I’ve been sick all month. I woke up last week and thought, “Wow, it’s March 13 and I haven’t really worked since March 1.” (upside down smiley face emoji) I rarely get sick so this is a confusing state for me. I’m slowly getting back into routine and picking my writing back up here. Look out for something at the end of this week on Eclipse Season (oh boy it’s coming — the first eclipse in Libra is on March 25) and another essay by the end of the month on The Sixth House. Two of my favorite topics. Very excited to share.
I’m sharing reflections today on my last trip around the Sun — age 34 and my 11th house year, and also talking a bit about Saturn (per usual).
I still have some room on my books for March! April books will open at the end of this week. If you’re a Pisces or Aries, this is a great time to get your Solar Return reading (we can talk through yours just as I’m going to talk through mine), and for a limited time, I’m opening my Saturn Return readings back up. These are for anyone born with Saturn in Pisces—check here to see if that’s you!
As always, I’m still doing weekly forecasts on good fortune! and will have some exciting announcements about classes and events in the next few weeks :)
I must be real with you, when I heard Kacey Musgraves’ sing “My Saturn has returned…” as the opening line of “Deeper Well,” my eyes rolled to the back of my head. First of all, I know how old Kacey Musgraves is, and she’s not in her Saturn Return; she’s six months older than me.
“Our Saturn Return peaked well before the pandemic, bb,” I thought.
But after getting through the shock of the astro jargon drop—which, no shade to Kacey, I think she’s the most legit spiritual of the pop girlies and I love her music; “Slow Burn” is maybe the most beautiful song ever and her new album is delightfully animist—I realized “Deeper Well” isn’t about being in the Saturn Return. (We’ll leave the live blogging of the Saturn Return to Ariana Grande, who went through the peak of hers in 2023). “Deeper Well” is actually about the Saturn sextile, the processing that comes when we can shed some light on wtf happened during the Saturn Return. From a distance.
So I'm sayin' goodbye to the people
That I feel are real good at wastin' my time
No regrets, baby, I just think that maybe
You go your way and I'll go mine
It's been a real good time
But you got dark energy, somethin' I can't unsee
And I've got to take care of myself
I found a deeper well
My own Saturn sextile goes exact today (March 18). Saturn has now reached 12º of Pisces, two full signs away from my natal Saturn at 12º Capricorn.
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I turned 35 on March 4. 35 is a 12th house year, a place in the chart associated with isolation, retreat and mental health, and poetically, I got sick on my birthday and started the year stuck at home with the flu. I rarely get sick (exalted Venus in the sixth house of dis-ease gives me some privilege there), so I took this flu as a loud sign from my body/the universe to rest. Now almost three weeks later, I’m still recovering. One of the things I’ve come to know about myself is that as much as I project strength, I’m actually very sensitive. I sometimes need a lot of time to get over things. I’m trying to internalize that that’s ok.
As someone born during the waning moon phase, who’s always in some kind of integration mode, I think more than making predictions, one’s Solar Return (or astrological birthday) is a great time to reflect on the past year. Celebrating my birthday season in isolation has given me a lot of time to consider all that’s transpired since my last Solar Return. This is my attempt to make sense of 34.
One of the simplest and most profound techniques we can use to both predict and reflect on a personal year is Annual Profections. Annual Profections take the idea that every year is connected to a sign and one of the 12 houses of the birth chart. When we’re born, the first house, or the sign of the ascendant is activated, and at each solar return, we move onto the next sign and house through a 12 year cycle. I think of these 12 year cycles as movements in the symphony of life. Every 12 years we return to the sign of the ascendant and get to ask “Who am I?”. We ask that question very differently at 36 than we do at 24 or 12, or at 48 or 60 or 72 or 84. Then what happens in the years between is what allows us to even ask the question.
34 is an 11th house year. It is the penultimate chapter of the cycle that begins at 24 (the same cycle that takes a turn at 27 and culminates at 33). The 11th House, called Good Spirit by the ancients, is the house of friends, allies, groups, dreams and visions. The 11th House is where we form alliances, build our audience, and play the hits for the fans.
My 11th House is Leo. Each year, whatever planet rules the activated sign becomes our time lord—or most impactful planet—for the year. Tracking that planet’s transits gives the year a shape. During my Leo year at 34, my plant was the Sun. 34 was my year of sunbathing. The Sun, our life force, is generally thought of as “neutral” in astrology. Not inherently good or bad. Though many astrologers will point out that the Sun will burn you and for that reason alone is a malefic. The quality of a year depends not just on what planet is ruling the year, but also on where that planet falls in the individual chart. My Sun is in Pisces in the 6th House. The 6th House is what the ancients called Bad Fortune, the house of labor, maintenance, thankless work and managing dis-ease.
Can you have a bad year even when you’re activating a good house?
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