from the devil to the star

hello friends, and welcome to aquarius season.  

a quick reminder to check out my recent posts on the numerology of 2023, finding the fool, current client readings, and my brand new email course. i would love to work with you.

are you as tired as i am? between mars retrograde and mercury retrograde, i'm completely wiped out, scrambling for anything solid to wrap my hands around. as we shift from the devil to the star, from capricorn to aquarius season, and as mars and mercury finally station direct, i personally am looking to find a sense of security again, to see the light at the end of the tunnel, to believe in something better after so many months of struggle.

aquarius is associated with the star, an archetype of hope, wonder, and faith. but in the major arcana, of course, the devil's wildness doesn't just ease gently, effortlessly, into the star's optimism. instead we have a period of change, of catastrophe, of free fall, living in between: the tower, our card of mars and movement. we stumble through the dark before we find our way back to the light, wander through shadows and smoke before emerging, transformed, on the other side.

just like its numerological companion of the chariot, the tower demands authenticity, forcing us to see the truth of our circumstances. realities are breaking open, cracking wide, expanding sometimes faster than we can keep up. and as overwhelming and bewildering as this sensation can be, the tower also represents something that has been building, something that cannot be avoided or ignored any longer.

it's easy to fear the tower. but rather than seeing this card only as a looming catastrophe, i prefer to think of the tower as a release valve. so much pressure has been building up, with changes and balancing acts, revelations and restrictions, new discoveries pulling us forward while familiar coping mechanisms drag us backwards. and after the tension of the devil, after taking responsibility for our choices or denying that we had anything to do with any current friction, the tower comes in to break things open, to shine light into the cracks.

the tower creates opportunities for movement that isn't calculated, reminding us of our capacity for improvisation, creativity, spontaneity. but the thing that we don't always like to say out loud is that sometimes in these moments, hope is hard to feel, hard to find. sometimes, we hit rock bottom with the tower, instead of soaring high above the destruction. neither is good or bad: they simply are places we go, as part of the necessary process of change.

but regardless of how these moments strike us, the star sits on the other side of the lightning and flames, shining softly beyond the storm. no matter how long it takes us, that gentle starlight always reveals itself, reminding us of our capacity for dreaming.

how do we find hope in freefall?

you are stronger than you think, friend. you are more than what you create, more than your accolades, more than your productivity. your very existence is a miracle, a gift, a kernel of magic that has the potential to accomplish literally anything.

whether you're flying through the sky or sifting through the wreckage, i promise that eventually, that light will find you. hope will find you.

the star is shining, patiently waiting, whether you can see it or not.

for more on the star, aquarius, and the cultivation of hope, check out my latest round of tarotscopes over at autostraddle. wishing you a beautiful, restorative, and faith-filled aquarius season, friends.