ARIES
HEADPHONES
One of the first things I learned in a college course I took on hacking electronics was how to turn headphones into a microphone. It was surprisingly simple, but more than the physical act of transforming one into another, I was drawn to the idea that a tool for listening and a tool for speaking were essentially the same tool. These particular headphones, the ones in my junk drawer, are the kind that are supposed to fit your ears, but these don’t fit in mine. In fact, they are extremely uncomfortable to use for any length of time and I only keep them as back up incase I can’t find my other headphones. Maybe one day I will make better use of them and finally turn them into a microphone.
Aries, you have likely been listening long enough to the things around you that you finally have something to say about what you’ve been hearing. Now would be a good time to turn your headphones, or at least the ones in your junk drawer, into something which will allow others to hear or experience your insights.
(Shaman of Swords/ All Apologies- Lorde)
TAURUS
CANDLES THAT LOOK LIKE CRAYONS
Remember jumbo crayons? Maybe you don’t have to remember them, maybe you are looking at a set right now. They still exist, but I haven’t seen them since the early 90s. The candles in my junk drawer are the same general size and shape of those jumbo crayons. The lid of the box says, “Megacandles.” Below that it says, “8 candlesticks,” but there are only 6 in the box, two have been used, two have been lit. Jumbo crayons were always for big ideas, or to outline something big, probably on butcher paper, maybe to trace my body or someone else’s. I remember starting with jumbo crayons, but eventually I wanted to get more detailed and have more variety in terms of color and there were usually no more than 8 colors in the jumbo box.
Taurus, this week, this moon, in your sign, is for starting something new. You don’t have to finish with the same tools you started with, you are only being asked to begin. You just have to light the candle or pick up the crayon. You could even start by tracing something that already exists.
(2 of Wands/ The Beginning- RuPaul)
GEMINI
LETTERS TO PEOPLE WHO USED TO LIVE HERE
Weeks ago I was expecting a letter from a friend. Every day I would go to the mailbox hoping to find it, but the cranky metal box was only a vase for a bouquet of advertisements. One day I lifted the lid to find nothing but letters addressed to former residents of my apartment. It seemed like a cruel joke, even the ghosts were getting mail. Those letters now pad my junk drawer, but they are symbolic of something you may experience this week, Gemini.
Mercury, your ruling planet continues to travel out of bounds, meaning that it is not comfortable following the straight and narrow and neither are you. What you are looking for may not be as obvious or easy to find as it could be under “normal” astrological weather conditions. Mars in Gemini will soon join Mercury out of bounds asking you take action that may not follow convention or prescription. If you keep going to the mailbox, expecting to find a message for you, you may only find something addressed to someone else, someone who used to be in your position, but took a very different route. This week do not get trapped under a feeling of obligation or rules that someone else has written. Now is the time to consider where you really want to go and what you really feel compelled to do.
(V Hierophant/ Stone Is Very Very Cold- Spell)
CANCER
TEALIGHTS WITH MAYBE ONE QUICK FLAME LEFT IN THEM
There are three metal tins in my junk drawer that used to hold Colombian coffee. In my attempt at organizing, I shoved a bunch of partially used tealight candles in one of the tins. There is still wax in each cup, but the wicks look spent. I would guess that if I lit them I might get a three second flame out of each one. I’m sure I kept them for this reason, for the three seconds they have left to spare. But in terms of a candle you can use, their lives are over. I think they originally provided ambient light when I took a relaxing bath a few months back so maybe part of what I’ve kept in that tin was the memory of an experience to which they made a significant contribution.
Cancer, this week you leave the past behind you. You can light the candles and let them burn out on their own, but you seem aware that their function, their place in an experience you once had is no longer available or accessible with these tools. Mentally, this week, you move on and prepare yourself for new light and fresh sight.
(10 of Swords Rev/ Ominous Cloud- Broadcast)
LEO
TWO ROLLS OF TAPE- DUCT AND MASKING
Duct tape, according to wikipedia, is used “in situations that require a strong, flexible, and very sticky tape.” Apparently I haven’t run into very many of these situations because the roll is almost unused. The masking tape on the other hand has about a quarter left on the roll. According to wikipedia, masking tape was invented to provide a “gentler adhesive” one which won’t take up paint. I’m mostly a “gentle adhesive” kind of person, I’m not interested in pulling up paint, but the duct tape I keep around because I know that I will eventually run into a situation which requires something stronger, more flexible and very sticky.
What am I talking about? Tape? Yes and no. Yes AND no, Leo. This isn’t a week for throwing one thing out for another, for consolidating your tape. This is a week for multiple uses. This is a week for being flexible and strong when needed and providing a gentler adhesive when the situation demands it.
(2 of Discs/ Earth Song- Truck)
VIRGO
A VERY POWERFUL FLASHLIGHT UNDER A STACK OF NAPKINS
It is what it is, Virgo- A very powerful flashlight under a very thick stack of napkins in my junk drawer. It doesn’t belong to me, I actually put it in this drawer so I wouldn’t forget to give it back to the person who originally gave me the napkins. But I did forget. I would probably remember it in an emergency, if the power went out. My first thought would likely be, “Thank god I have this flashlight” and my second thought would be, “Thank god I have this VERY powerful flashlight.”
Virgo, don’t wait until there is an emergency to remember your light, your ability to illuminate certain things by focusing on them. You don’t have to do or be anything other than you, but try not to hide who you are under a stack of napkins or anything else.
(Son of Wands L/ What A Day For Me- Harumi)
LIBRA
A PENCIL WITH LITTLE OR NO ERASER
This pencil is from The Standard hotel in Los Angeles and so it says “The Standard” on it which as far as pencils go it is…standard. It does everything it is supposed to, which is to write on paper or paper products. It no longer erases mistakes however, something it used to do. Now if you were to try and erase something it would probably trace the line you erased with another line or smudge. If you use this standard pencil, you will have to surrender to your mistakes, you will have to let the mistakes show you what else they can be or become.
Libra, you may be used to feeling that you can easily undo or change things if they aren’t going your way. This week see what happens when you don’t go back or try to return to a blank page, but instead move forward and allow any “mistakes” to show you what they can become.
(XII Hanged One L/ Journey Within- Fred E. Scott)
SCORPIO
A BASKET THAT LOOKS LIKE A PINWHEEL OR THE SUN
This is one of my favorite objects. I can’t remember where I first found it, but I have always loved it and now there is a small hole in one corner from loving it so much. It isn’t very big and it is an unusual shape so it is hard to know what to put in it. It would be a good place to put things that weigh very little or nothing at all.
Scorpio, this is a good week to think about things which weigh nothing at all, things which are as light as a basket and evoke balloon-like, uplifting feelings like love and joy.
(XIX Sun L/ The High- Kelela)
SAGITTARIUS
A CLAW
Is that what it is called? It is a hair accessory probably developed in the 80s or maybe before and I’m slightly embarrassed about how often I use it. I usually try to position it so that you can’t see it, so that it looks like I’ve successfully piled all my hair on top of my head with very little effort or object. I’m sure the claw was never intended to be seen outside of a salon, it was a tool, another hand to hold the hair away while the barber or stylist cut it. I’m not sure from where my shame around this object stems. I think it might have something to do with not wanting to be perceived as lazy, or ignorant. But I have yet to find a suitable replacement. When I’ve attempted a more traditional hair piling method, I find I have to hold my head very still, otherwise the whole style unravels and shoots pins. I trust the claw, the claw is a helping hand or another set entirely.
Sagittarius, this week don’t be too hard on yourself about the method or means you use to achieve your goals. How you get to where you are going is important, but let the situation show you what it needs…like maybe a helping hand or a claw.
(VII Chariot/ I Say A Little Prayer- Aretha Franklin)
CAPRICORN
A 9V BATTERY FOR A SMOKE ALARM
A few months back an inspector came to our apartment building and demanded that three alarms be installed in each apartment: 2 smoke alarms and one carbon monoxide detector. One morning around 6 am one of the alarms started to chirp. It was loud and sharp like an audible pin prick to your ear drum. In my groggy fog I was unable to determine which alarm was making the noise so I disarmed two of them by removing the battery and wiring and the sounds stopped. This battery, cast into my junk drawer, is a remnant of the incident. It is also a reminder that I have not resolved the situation. The casings to both alarms are still dangling from the ceiling unable to fulfill their assigned duties.
Capricorn, this week you may feel a little disconnected and out of sorts. There is a solution or maybe more than one to the difficulty or difficulties currently gnawing on you or perhaps incessantly beeping in your ear at 6 am. The solution or steps required to reaching a solution may be simple enough, but the accompanying feelings might not be as easy to navigate or sift through. Give yourself time to sort it all out.
(XIV Temperance Rev/ We Can Work It Out- Twice As Much)
AQUARIUS
A VINTAGE COIN PURSE I MET WHEN I WAS 17
I think it was originally from the 60s or 70s, but I found it a thrift store in Iowa when I was 17. I had just come back to Iowa from Brazil and something about it seemed symbolic of a new direction I was looking toward. This has happened to me periodically thorough out my life, an object or an item of clothing will become symbolic of something I’m trying to change or way of being I’m hoping to adopt. When I found the coin purse I was trying to be more tough, more snappy, I was learning to say no. I carried it with me through the next few years of my adolescence, a period a therapist would later refer to as an “agitated depression.” It still snaps, it still says yes or no, open or closed, the way I wanted to and did back then.
Aquarius, now may be good time to recall some old wisdom, an old piece of advice or even an old heirloom that you once gave a purpose and a meaning. You may not use it in the same way, but the general idea could be helpful to you as you figure out how to move through this next period of growth and change.
(6 of Wands Rev/ Don’t Let Our Youth Go To Waste- Galaxie 500)
PISCES
BIRTHDAY CANDLES
There are certainly a lot of candles in this drawer, these particular ones are for you Pisces, because, similar to your current situation they mark time and achievement. These candles are curly and brightly colored to be festive, to announce themselves, the cake, the party, the transition from one year to the next, from one age to the next, from one day to the next. This week, you may feel that you are coming closer to lighting these candles. Perhaps it isn’t time yet, but if you keep moving forward in the direction you’ve been headed you will get to the party, the celebration and the knowledge that you can’t go back. What you’ve gained, you’ve gained, whether it is age, experience or likely both.
(XI Strength L/ The Waiting- Angel Olsen)