ARIES
QUIET QUIET
Quiet often gets repeated as a command or is used as an action, softly silencing whatever noises are disruptive to what is about to unfold next. Quiet carves out a space for something specific to present itself.
Aries, this week you may find it important to carve out some quiet for yourself. Spend some time alone with your creative projects and whatever materials you use in that process. Something new or something specific may grow from the space you provide.
(9 of Discs/ Rags and Old Iron- Nina Simone)
TAURUS
THERE THERE
Once and you indicate a location, but twice is an expression of comfort. “There There” implies you are just where you are supposed to be- experiencing feelings and getting to a better feeling place from which to make your next move.
Taurus, this week you may find that the target you are aiming for is slightly obscured. Perhaps it is blurred by emotion as Venus, your ruling planet, is out of bounds in watery and sensitive Cancer. In any case, know that you are right on track and right where you need to be in order to easily make your next move (most likely some time after the retrograde).
(Son of Discs L/ Before the World Was Big- Girlpool)
GEMINI
NO NO NO
As the sunset the other evening I couldn’t bring myself to flip a switch. It didn’t feel like the thing to do. “No, no, no” I thought as if I was speaking to each lamp, every electrical suggestion. I lit three candles and let everything else grow dark. A particularly painful bout of menstrual cramps earlier in the day had left me feeling like a jellyfish without the stinging power. Nothing I’d determined to do that day had been done, my physical and emotional waves had effortlessly rolled over my rigid schedule, water will always win.
Gemini, this week may give rise to feelings bigger and stronger than whatever you’ve built to contain them. It may be necessary to say no to the things you traditionally would easily accept. Maybe you need to turn down one light in order to see another more clearly.
(IV Emperor Rev/ Where Do We Go From Here- Death)
CANCER
!!!
This is cheating a bit since an exclamation point is not a word, but three in succession is so common place these days that it seems an appropriate concession to the theme. This punctuation is often repeated as an expression of excitement or surprise. It reminds me of a Dennis the Menace comic, like it belongs in a thought or speech bubble accompanying a cartoon-person with eyes drawn like this: (((o o))). In many ways it conveys emotion more authentically than an actual word.
Cancer, this week you may find yourself in a dramatic situation or feeling dramatic about a situation. It may be helpful to turn all thoughts and words into punctuation to remind yourself of the feelings at the heart of the conflict and also to allow you to approach the situation with humor.
(3 of Swords/ Vincent Van Gogh- Jonathan Richman)
LEO
I…I…I
Sometimes you need to stammer a bit before you find a word to stand on, particularly when you are asserting yourself or changing your direction or the rules. It isn’t usually weakness or a lack of conviction that makes it hard to find the words or get them out, it’s the accompanying emotions.
This week, Leo, you may find yourself needing to make a change which is more supportive of who you are or how you’ve changed. Don’t worry about stuttering or repeating yourself until you find the words to convey the change you are desiring to make.
(V Hierophant R/ It’s My Life- Talk Talk)
VIRGO
YOUR NAME
Sometimes when I’m on the phone with an automated telephone operator, even if I’m alone in a room, I feel self-conscious saying my own name out loud. It feels even more strange if I have to repeat myself, “I’m sorry. I didn’t hear what you said. Please state your full name followed by the pound key.” When other people say your name or say it more than once, it is often to create intimacy or connection. Sometimes it is an expression of love or to let you know that they see or know you.
Virgo, this week you may find it a helpful exercise to repeat your own name out loud to yourself. You may be getting more familiar or comfortable with yourself in a new context. Perhaps you are also enjoying hearing others say your name, knowing it is an expression of love and recognition.
(XIV Temperance/ You Know Me Well- Sharon Van Etten)
LIBRA
WELL WELL WELL
At the point in the movie when this phrase is employed, our heroine has fallen into a seemingly impossible trap set by the villain. “Well, well, well,” the villain says, “What do we have here?” But the heroine goes on and so does the movie. A riveting escape or chase ensues and whatever the heroine set out to achieve is accomplished. “Well, well, well” is only the beginning of the end, with the end being a kiss, or a sunset or a high five.
Libra, you may feel this week that you are the well, well, well part in the movie. This is not the end, it is only the beginning of an end which will probably be followed by a sequel.
(XX Judgement L/ Miranda- Angel Olsen)
SCORPIO
NIGHT NIGHT
This is something my grandfather used to say to all of us kids and grandkids as we would head off to bed. Sometimes he would say, “Night, night, see you in the morning bright.” I found it strangely comforting. A friend of mine, who I occasionally call Mrs. Piggle Wiggle because she is an amazing babysitter, told me that being afraid of the dark is an actual phase in a child’s development. The wikipedia entry on this fear actually states quite beautifully that, “fear of the dark is usually not fear of darkness itself, but fear of possible or imagined dangers concealed by darkness.” When my grandfather said, “Night night,” I knew it was a promise that he’d see me in the morning, that I’d make in through the night to see the “morning bright.”
Scorpio, this week you may be surrendering in the same way you surrender to sleep and the dark every night, with the knowledge that there will be a “morning bright.”
(10 of Swords Rev/ Almora Sunrise- Ariel Kalma)
SAGITTARIUS
YEAH, YEAH, YEAH
Turning 20 was rather disappointing. “Why?” a friend asked. “Because now no one will ever say, ‘she did all that’ or ‘she did this and she’s not even 20.’” I don’t know why I decided 20 was the cut off for youthful accomplishments, I suppose because it meant I was officially no longer a teenager. I can easily laugh about this now, but what I have noticed about getting older is that it is harder to accept that there are things I am still learning, things people younger than me may already know. My friend Zackary once said in a discussion about her art, that she tries to think of everyone as children because it is easier to feel compassionate towards them. This has stuck with me and I try to use it on myself too when I find a harsh voice in my head saying something like, “You’re almost 32 and you still don’t know such and such?”
Sagittarius, this week as Saturn lingers at the first degree of your sign and Mercury delivers messages from the past, you may find yourself painfully acknowledging that something you thought you already knew, something you were tempted to just say, “yeah, yeah, yeah” to, like a teenager to an adult or maybe even an adult to a teenager, is actually a lesson you are still trying to integrate. Go easy on yourself, we are all children.
(IX Crone L/ Something- Phyllis Dillon)
CAPRICORN
HOT HOT HOT
This phrase may have been employed in every food chain commercial ever made. I think the idea was to remind you of all the possible connotations of the word hot: hot temperature, hot sexy, hot popular… The way I use it most often, however, is when I’m getting in the bath and the temperature is inevitably too hot and I say to the water, “Hot, hot, hot, hot..” until my body acclimates.
Capricorn, you may find yourself coming into contact with every possible meaning and iteration of a word and also employing it when you need to acclimate to a new situation. In general, this week, it may be important to balance between your physical and emotional needs, tempering one with the other.
(8 of Cups/ Steve Polyester- Ava Luna)
AQUARIUS
OK OK
If you’ve ever given or received a pep talk than you know that the response is not always very notable at first. The person’s face (or your own, if you are receiving the talk) typically relaxes, but there may not be any other indication that the words helped turn the person towards perseverance. In high school I was the recipient of several of these helpful speeches delivered by my older brother. Visibly these talks took me from tears to releasing a few words on a sigh, “ok ok,” but emotionally they were far more impactful and got me up off the couch or floor many times.
Aquarius, this week you may find yourself feeling slightly deflated. What is it you feel you can’t do and what would it take to move you from frustration or stagnation to accepting that you are fully capable of moving what may feel like mountains when viewed from down in the dumps or even just the couch?
(2 of Wands Rev/ Don’t Let Me Down- Solange)
PISCES
HA HA HA
For some reason, early in my introduction to texting I felt inhibited about typing the words “ha ha” or “ha ha ha” to indicate laughter. I think I thought it was “cheesy” or that it sounded sarcastic and so I would always punch out, “That is soooo funny!” or “I’m laughing so hard I’m crying!” Because I also felt that “lol” (laughing out loud) or “rofl” (rolling on the floor laughing) did not convey that I was actually laughing out loud since these abbreviations were and are so commonplace. Now there are simple emoji’s which express these sentiments and I felt similarly resistant to using them to express myself when they first became popular. But because texting has replaced a good portion of verbal phone communication, I’ve had to let go of my hang ups (no pun intended) and embrace the “cheese.”
Pisces, this week you may be feel shy or worried about appearing “cheesy” (aka vulnerable) in your communication with others or just in the communication of your ideas. Now, with Mercury in Retrograde, it may be a good time to get comfortable with a new form of expression or a new idea you have been chewing on. You don’t have to completely embrace it, just ease into the possibility.
(0 Fool Rev/ Days To Come- Bonobo)