ANNOUNCEMENTS
Books are open!
With the Taurus / Scorpio eclipses truly put to rest for another nine years, for many of us it’s time to unpack the “hero’s journey” we underwent for the last 18 months and get a handle on our new heroic identities.
Check out my offering THE METAMORPHOSIS:
Changes
This recent eclipse season ushered in a new beginning on the other side of a 1200 mile drive to the Treasure State and prompted me to reevaluate how my astrology practice needs to quantum leap how it helps you achieve alignment, focus, and fulfillment through astrology as a strategic tool.
Going forward, my practice will shift into a hybrid that integrates my work as a consultant for brand strategy, business and IP development, and operations and administration with astrology as a timing and self development tool. My renewed mission is to make astrology a tool available to as many people as possible for personal alignment, focus, and fulfillment. (Watch this space for more announcements.)
With that said, as of today, updated pricing for my services went live. These changes bring my rates into parity with my peers who provide similar services.
FOR NOVEMBER: My Substack Subscribers who are not already clients (Clients — check your inboxes for a separate announcement) will have two ways to access the old rates:
GIFT CERTIFICATES
Purchase a “It’s Personal(ized)” gift certificate to use for your Natal Analysis. (Good for one year from purchase date.)
PROMO CODES
Promo code NEWCLIENT for $28 off a Natal Analysis and DEEPDIVE for $177 off of The Deep Dive.
A TEST DRIVE
A 10 minute reading that's a great way to explore if we should work together. Great for a quick look at your chart or an area that might need some attention. Offered on a by donation basis with a suggested minimum of $25.
THE DISPATCH
ON THE IMPORTANCE OF SKIN
It’s the Fastest Way to Get Saturn on Side
Be good to your skin. You’ll wear it every day for the rest of your life.
—Renee Rouleau
Saturn Standing Still
Back in June, I blasted out a post regarding how to use Saturn’s retrograde through Pisces (Containing the Imperceptible) … Now, we’re finally on the tail end with Saturn standing still in the sky and about to station direct on Saturday, November 4th.
The next couple of days are a great time to review how you’ve spent the last 5 months eliminating the distractions that create resistance, disconnect you from receiving the blessings the Universe perpetually pours into you, and block your ability to effortlessly channel light and grace into the world.
Look at what’s been eliminated or taken away — or, what you’ve learned you have to phase out once Saturn goes direct — and thank it for its service in helping you become the wonderful person you are before releasing it.
Now, look at what’s on your docket. It’s this that Papa Saturn will give you every resource and the discipline to birth into manifestation once he goes direct. Learning what you need to enter into states of flow will be essential.
BUT, remember, Saturn is standing still. So, you might feel a sense of frustration that things aren’t rolling forward in the Capricorn and Aquarius parts of your life especially if you’ve been doing deep work to re-form the internal structures of how you perceive, think, and respond but not yet seeing that mirrored in your external reality.
Over the weekend, this video popped up on my YouTube feed and seemed a perfect “checklist” post Taurus / Scorpio eclipse cycle and pre-Saturn direct.
Where Does Skin Come In? A Blast from the Past
When I was 32, I was convinced that I had to “put away childish things” (aka my career as a storyteller) and do something “adult” and “Saturnian”. At the time, I was working as a Research Analyst and Portfolio Administrator at a prominent private equity firm in one of its funds managing $5 billion and looked around me to see everyone making so much money and leading such materially abundant lives. So, I decided to apply to Business School.
One of the essay questions what was mattered most to me. My answer at the time was “my skin”. Clearly, the admissions readers did not find my skin allegory very compelling. I didn’t get into any of the schools I applied to despite high GMAT scores and letters of recommendation from people on those schools’ Board of Directors (but that is not the point). Regardless, I still stand by my response. There is nothing more Saturnian than skin as 32 year old me would like to share with you:
Embarrassed by the flippancy of my initial answer, I had attempted to write on "nobler" topics, but every time the question played out in my head, the keyword "matter" stuck. The query wasn’t about the intangible; otherwise, it would ask "What is most important to you?" "Matter" implies the palpable. Meriam Webster, states that English usage of the word is derived from the Latin maten·a (a physical substance), which in turn is taken from mater (mother) -- the source of physical embodiment.
Without an envelope of flesh, physical embodiment cannot take place. Skin is the barrier through which we are perceived by society and with which we interact with reality. However, these are esoteric rationalizations to mask a former debutante's-obsession. It isn't conceit. Rather my egoistic relationship with my largest organ is the child of pathological hypochondria and of the fact that I am an unabashed sybarite.
Consciously, I know that skincare is inherently simple and drugstore brands will yield adequate results (as many a dermatologist will remind you — don’t fall for the hype and marketing ploys). Yet, I cannot resist the siren calls of the look of a well-designed package, the rich feel of emollient cream, and the scent of expensive perfume! However, in the past couple of years, I can proudly say that I've simplified. My goals for my skin are basic and realistic: A) Continue the remission of cystic acne; B) prevent disease; and C) learn how to age gracefully.
Discipline, rather than the hocus pocus of a hundred dollar jar of scientifically unsubstantiated promises, is the key to success. My skincare regimen will bookend my days until I'm unable to care for myself: Wake up, shower (exfoliating every inch of my body within reach), wash face, brush teeth, tone, moisturize and protect with a UVA/UVB sunscreen. Make-up is omitted for the sake of more sleep, which results in skin that doesn't need masking or enhancement. Extra morning sleep, in turn, balances out the fifteen minutes sacrificed at night to: floss, brush teeth, wash face again, and apply a retinoid and moisturizer. These external measures are merely maintenance.
Beautiful skin is the result of internal health -- a maxim espoused by Chinese medicine, and born out by my own experience.
At the age of twenty-six, in the late fall of 2001, circumstance delivered a genetic inheritance I would've rather returned to sender — karma is a bitch like that a lot of times. Cystic acne transformed my relatively unproblematic skin into a landscape of pustules, crusty scabs and deeply situated, painful, red lumps. The predisposition comes from my father, who was disfigured by it in adolescence. Adding fuel to the fire, hormone imbalance plagued me as my gynecologist tinkered with pharmaceutical therapies to control my endometriosis to stave off the laparoscopy I couldn't afford. Top the conflagration with three months of stressful events: I finally realized that it was fiscally ill-advised to continue pursuing a career as a theatre director since freelance Production Assistants don't get health insurance as part of their $60/day package; my relationship of five years broke up at the same time my parents disowned me; and, finally, about a month later, 9/11 turned life upside down.
I threw good money after bad on ineffective solutions. In desperation, after months of looking like the elephant woman, I sought out a dermatologist regarded as an expert in adult acne. She put me on a two year journey to rectify the internal mechanisms triggering the acne and to restore my confidence so I could interact with society, which does indeed treat you like a freak when you don't appear "normal". Still, the cystic acne is only in remission.
At 32, after a routine skin cancer screen and a discussion about maintaining my remission, my dermatologist ruled that the "signature" beauty mark on my left cheek had to be removed. The biopsy revealed abnormal cells. The doctor informed me that I have a predisposition towards skin cancer (inherited from my mother.) It could've been worse, he said, but my vigilance and a lifetime of compulsive sunscreen application helped minimize overall sun damage.
Who knew my girly preoccupation would protect my life?
For all my flippancy, life really cannot exist without skin. As an organ, skin's purpose is to shield against the initial invasion by disease and/or injury and to indicate overall health to potential mates. More broadly, skin's appearance defines race and shapes cultures for a visual species that reacts instinctively to perceived external differences.
However, as much as it divides, skin connects through touch. Without skin, the "strife between the spirit and the flesh" (the fundamental struggle of our species) ceases to exist. Caring for our individual skins is a perpetual balancing act between the internal and external. Without attending to what matters most (i.e., skin) how are we to go beyond the boundaries posed by our physical circumstance to move on to the pursuit of those intangibles which are most important to us?
Hydrate, Moisturize, and Stay Disciplined
I didn’t even realized that Libra dominant-ness was writing a whole ode to Saturn, but Saturn is our skin in a literal way. As Saturn becomes unstuck, the structure that a skincare routine (both internal and external) creates the space in which Saturn can turn ideas into matter in your life.
When you show up consistently and count on the fact that results take time, Saturn rewards you with gifts that nothing can take away from you.
So hydrate, moisturize, stay disciplined, and persist!
You are BEAUTIFUL!
THE TAKEAWAY
What does your current skincare routine consist of? How does it help to structure your day and keep you embodied and present in a constructive way? How does your relationship (or lack thereof) to your skin create redirections (e.g., inflammations, dryness, imbalances) that call you to focus on fundamentals? What can you do to optimize your relationship to your skin so that you enter flow states more easily and consistently?
Let’s Play
Schedule a session and we can discuss how your chart is a “play chest” waiting for you discover the fun and games it can give you!