From the flowers blooming (aka plant sex organs!) to the weather warming, May is a month for delight and desire …
Named after the Earth Goddess Maia, or Maja, who represents passion, wishes, and playfulness, the month of May brings a slow burn after Ostara’s April spark. With the same root as the word “majesty,” Goddess Maia represents the peak of spring’s fertility and blooming.
Throughout history, May has been a month of celebrations, and in Roman, Greek, and Celtic traditions, Goddess Maia has represented sexuality, creativity, and growth. In ancient Greece and Rome, the first and fifteenth days of the month were particularly sacred for honoring her. And in Celtic traditions, Beltane or May Day rituals focused on feeding the senses. During the holiday, unmarried men and women jumped over bonfires wishing for partners and fertility, and the Maypole was originally a tree tied with flowers and ribbons, which represented the wrapping of female energies around the phallus.
Goddess Maia also has an asteroid named after her. Astrologically, Maja is currently hanging out in tight conjunction with Neptune in Pisces. Making for a dreamy and romantic month ahead in May 2018 …
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Tap into your own playful and sensuous Spring nature by finding Maia in your own chart. Wherever she’s placed, you’re invited to offer your wishes for more blossoming this month.
Below are questions to consider for reigniting creative sparks and growth with Maia’s help …
**To find Maia/Maja in your chart, go to astro.com, enter your birth information, choose “Extended Chart Selection,” scroll down to “Additional Asteroids,” and type in 66.
1st house// Where do I lack purpose or intention in my life? How can I become re-inspired?
2nd house// What makes my heart beat faster? Is it specific people, activities, being outside?
3rd house// Which books, media, or resources provoke or scintillate me? Conversely, which ones dull my senses or excitement?
4th house// How do my emotions put me into contact with my artistic process? How can I use them as fuel for my own fire?
5th house// Where and how do I experience my creative spark? What makes me shine and light up?
6th house// What habits or routines help me stimulate my imagination? How can I add them into my day-to-day rituals?
7th house// Have I been putting aside my own creativity because I’ve been focusing too much on others? Instead, can this relationship put me in touch with my own muse?
8th house// What kindling is missing from my inspiration fire? Do I need more nurturing, community, or time alone?
9th house// How can I re-create my own life vision and come more into alignment? Are there places I need to expand into or explore physically or emotionally?
10th house// Where have my passions been left behind in place of responsibility? How can I commit more to my own passion projects?
11th house// When and where do I come into contact with my creativity in the world? Is it through others or alone?
12th house// How can I move out of wishful thinking and fantasy around something I care about? What concrete actions can I take?
It’s time to upgrade your normative notions of Valentine’s Day date nights. Lucy North tells us why why February is the most feminist month … Art: Naro Pinosa
It may still feel cold outside—but Spring is coming! And this precious period of in-between is actually a key time of year to tap into the Divine Feminine through the ancient practice of co-creating with Gaia, the seasons, and nature.
While many of us have sold ourselves to the Monday-Friday lifestyle, the origins of these days actually connect us to Divine Feminine energy. After all, Monday is actually “Moonday” and Friday is dedicated to the Goddess Freyja. The Divine Feminine is both the beginning and the end, and a reminder of our power to break free and make time be whatever we want.
In response to the seven-day week of patriarchal DOING, here are seven reasons to reclaim February as the most powerfully feminist month …
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1// V.Day Actually Celebrates Your Erotic Sovereignty Before it was renamed by the Roman Catholic Church, Valentine’s Day was originally known as “Freyja’s Day.” Freyja was the Pagan Goddess not of romantic, but of erotic love, and on February 14th women would hand out cards to as many men as they desired.
Transcending the gender stereotypes of today, women were seen not only the gateway to new life, they were considered at one with the desire, love, and sexual energy that runs through nature. Reclaiming this celebration of women as desire itself (rather than objects), realigns us with our ability to create anything we want.
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2// 28 Days Means Lunar Power Before being scrapped by the Church, the year adhered to the Goddess calendar—meaning there were 13 months and not 12, which reflected the 28 day cycle of both the Moon and womb.
Being only 28 days long, February is the only month of the year that still respects the Goddess calendar, and honors how the seasons and year really flow. This month, treat your womb like a second heart (whether or not you have a literal or metaphorical space there). Listen … what does it want to birth?
3// Imbolc Challenges the Madonna-Whore Complex The pagan calendar marks February 1st as Imbolc—an important step towards March’s Spring Equinox. This is the time to release some of our 9-to-5 programming in favor of a kind of “land feminism” that lets us co-create with the upcoming Equinox’s tantric energy.
The Celtic Triple Goddess Brigid, synonymous with this day, is the Queen of the Underworld, the Mother of all beings, and the Mistress of the Elements. Whether it’s the sacred prostitute, the Divine Mother or the snake in the garden of Eden, the Divine Feminine holds and honors it all. Think of February as a time to break free from the pain of having to be “one type of woman”—and to exchange archetypal constraints for a wildish knowing.
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4// Pisces Season Wants You to Wombifest As the Sun enters the final zodiac sign of Pisces on February 19th, right before the birth of the new astrological year, it’s time to create a nourishing, protective womb that will enable you to tap into the oceanic source of all life.
This means retreating from the “busy-ness” of everyday life, and setting some boundaries to re-connect with your soul. Just like a mother that needs to retreat for the last month of pregnancy, create a safe space for you as Divine Mother to meditate, breathe, make love, self pleasure, journal, paint, sing, do yoga, and eat well. Rest in the womb and let your Divine Child emerge!
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5// Saturn in Capricorn Spells Sacred Union Time 2018’s sees the Goddess month of February with Saturn in the sign of Capricorn, spelling out the start of something huge for the Divine Feminine. Capricorn is technically a “yin,” or feminine sign, but it’s also cardinal, with a mountain-building, masculine energy that asks us to blend action and intuitive knowing.
The Divine Masculine can only come THROUGH the Divine Feminine. It will only come through an open heart and the womb of collective feeling—and, yes, as with any birth, through pain. Women and those who embrace the Divine Feminine have been socially okay’ed to feel more of this, so we must lead the way. This integration asks us to do what we love by taking action, and watch the fear fly away.
6// The Aquarius New Moon Catapults Us Into Fairy Territory When people are told they’re “away with the fairies,” it’s almost a derogatory comment. We say it’s time to celebrate our visits with the fairy realm!
With a New Moon in Aquarius on February 15th, it’s time for the Divine Feminine to swoop high, dream big—and to astro travel our dreams into the 3rd dimension. This New Moon also ends the longest complete lunar month of 2018 (the last New Moon was on January 16th, giving us 29 days, 18 hours, and 48 minutes). Mama Moon is giving you extra time to push on through, with a clear focus on new beginnings.
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7// Mama’s Wide Open During Eclipse Season With January 31st’s Super-Blue-Blood Lunar Eclipse bonanza, and the upcoming Solar Eclipse on February 15th, the first two weeks of Feb see us in the middle of two incredibly catalytic aspects. It’s like the universe has its legs wide open in breach position providing a gateway though which we can birth projects, artistic endeavors, networks, and relationships that reflect our divine purpose.
Goddesses: F is for February, F is for Fertility, F is for the future. Reclaiming feminist February means pretty much get it on with the universe!
Lucy North is a writer, healer, and artist. She will be running a Goddess Healing Circle in honor of Freyja this Tuesday, February 13th, at The Alchemist’s Kitchen in New York. ClickHERE to reserve your spot. She will also be holding an “I’m Every Woman” Goddess Circle at RA MA New York on Sunday, 25th February. Find out more and reserve your space HERE.
In keeping with their Sensory Guide to Taurus Season 2017, Cara George & Bess Matassa of Mojave Rising channel a slumber party for each sign…Main images: Satellite Paris SS17
Let it all burst into brilliant bloom! Taurus season invites us to fully feast at the lush, tropical table of our own unshakeable value. The zodiac’s buxom bovine bombshell asks no less of us than the sexy, stalwart trust that this Earth is on our side. So sit down, settle in, and savor the flavor of a dinner party with no end. You’re absolutely, ALWAYS, worth it and there’s always more than enough to go around.
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The keyword: Flourish
The song lyrics: “The only two things in life that make it worth livin’/Is guitars that tune good and firm feelin’ women/I don’t need my name in the marquee lights/I got my song and I got you with me tonight/Maybe it’s time we got back to the basics of love”- Waylon Jennings, Luckenback Texas (Back to the Basics of Love)
Check out our Taurus Season Playlist, complete with earthy anthems, sensuous songstresses, and savory slow jams.
Valentino SS17
The color palette: luxe, buttery, candy box shades of cream, caramel, deep pink, and pure gold.
The style: Caesar’s Palace meets West Texas roadhouse—bombastic medallions, button-down denim, voluminous Dallas dos, worn-in leather, malachite accents, and studded belts.
The scents and flavors: overripe and headily hedonistic—tuberose, truffles, Mexican chocolate, dark cherries, sweet blonde tobacco, and musk.
The healing: directly embodied and sensorily complete—tasting menus, buffet brunches, love making, and horseback riding.
Want more juicy cosmic insights and sensory explorations? Arrange an astrology reading or private event with Mojave Rising here or follow them on Instagram.
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Sensuous Invitation of the Month: Slumber Party!
Ruled by Venus, Taurus season invites us back into the boudoir to harness the pure power of private pleasure. Our Venus sign reveals both what we seek in relationship and what we must learn to value in ourselves. This month, just say yes to exactly what turns you on and let it lead you straight to the heart of your truest desire. Below, your sign-by-sign guide to snuggling between the sheets…
***New to your birthchart? Discover your Venus sign here!
Venus in Aries Taurus season invites you to celebrate a fresh, minimalist approach to feeling good in your body. Slumber Party: Strip it down completely with naked solo sleeping on a Japanese tatami mat.
Venus in Taurus Taurus season invites you to let luxury be totally necessary and lead you all the way back home. Slumber Party: Wrap yourself in a bearskin rug by a roaring hearth and lie down on a bed of rose petals.
Venus in Gemini Taurus season invites you to delight in your desire for playful communication and curious encounters. Slumber Party: Deck out bunk beds with cartoon sheets and invite a bestie to join in a nocturnal gab fest.
Venus in Cancer Taurus season invites you to savor the lineage of all your past loves while staying open to the present. Slumber Party: Sink into memory foam and let your emotional history feel buoyant and supportive.
Venus in Leo Taurus season invites you to settle into luscious loyalty and commit to embracing and exposing exactly what you are. Slumber Party: Experience straightforwardly sprawling slumber with classic cotton sheets.
Venus in Virgo Taurus season invites you to celebrate your desire for discernment and your romantic integrity that doesn’t give it away for free. Slumber Party: Rest on the interwoven intricacy of a well-fashioned hammock.
Venus in Libra Taurus season invites you to fuse your clear-minded thinking with some more impulsively collisional romps. Slumber Party: Discover an unexpected Murphy Bed or pull-out couch with a new lover or friend.
Venus in Scorpio Taurus season invites you to let your desire for intensely intimate encounters become your most potent gift to the world. Slumber Party: Enjoy a torrid roll in satin and silk, whether solo or partnered.
Venus in Sagittarius Taurus season invites you to discover a sense of security even in your adventurous desire for transience. Slumber Party: Hit the road with the campfire containment of a weather-ready sleeping bag.
Venus in Capricorn Taurus season invites you to completely trust in your 24-karat value with absolutely no proving. Slumber Party: Dominate a California King with sheets of the highest thread count.
Venus in Aquarius Taurus season invites you to revel in your penchant for eccentric experiences while also pausing to process. Slumber Party: Take a nap on-the-go with a zebra print neck pillow as you prepare for the unknown journey ahead.
Venus in Pisces Taurus season invites you to explore the limits of your physical body and lovingly embrace every last sensation. Slumber Party: Pull an all-nighter and take in the shifting light, sounds, and smells of the world as it rests.
Want more juicy cosmic insights and sensory explorations? Arrange an astrology reading or private event with Mojave Rising here or follow them on Instagram.
Sagittarius season is an invitation to explore our innate wildness, and expand our personal Universe, say Cara George & Bess Matassa of Mojave Rising…
Sagittarius season hoists us up from the underworld and sends us racing out onto the open plains of our own exuberant BECOMING. The zodiac’s expansive equestrian spills her blossoming vines over walls and across the borders of previous limitations, as she urges us to extend our adventuring to off-road spaces we couldn’t have imagined even in our wildest moments.
So pack your carry-ons, saddle your ponies, and let the wind throw back your hair. Your wildness cannot be broken or tamed or lost or found, but is constantly being born through the very air that you breathe. Fall in love with the blood coursing through your own veins and then let this love run faster and faster out across rich golden fields under carpets of pink stars.
Because baby you were born to run. And where we’re going, there are no roads.
The keyword: Locomotion.
The song lyrics: “Oh girl, dancing down those dirty and dusty trails/Take it hip to hip, rocket through the wilderness/Around the world the trip begins with a kiss”—The B-52s, “Roam”
Check out our Sagittarius season playlist, complete with wide-open anthems, road-trip rockers, and exploratory psychedelia.
The color palette: Nomadic hues fit for a full-on bacchanalian feast. Saffron, mustard, glitter-dusted taupe, and gypsy jewel-toned amethysts and rubies.
The style: Traveling circus performer meets Rio carnival queen on Route 66. Feathers, sequined unitards, untameable patterns, rich tapestried fabrics, and body-con mobility complete with cowboy boots and Canadian tuxedos.
The scents and flavors: Spiced, smoked, and hedonistically heated—warm curries, smoked trail mix, campfire, beef jerky, ancho, cinnamon, and cedarwood.
The healing: Exuberantly excessive and exploratorily expansive. All-night dance parties, adventure traveling, lost weekends, multi-course meals, and urban scavenger hunts.
Sensuous Invitation of the Month: Dance party! (by sign, below).
With Chiron stationing direct, and Venus joining Mars in Aquarius, Sagittarius season 2016 is infused with a call to face our pain head on and shake it out onto the dancefloor to be transformed under strobe lights. This month marks a radical opportunity for moving energy through our bodies, re-envisioning “the way things are,” and rediscovering deep meaning in places of seeming hopelessness.
Each sign can sample its own brand of kinetic expression as we let our bodies collide and celebrate the sheer exhilaration of movement and ever-unfolding change. Let’s werk!
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ARIES Sagittarius season invites you to relinquish some of your single-pointed focus as you journey towards the joyous buoyancy of infinite possibilities. Dance Party: Parkour. Solitary, assertive explorations that also rely on feedback from the built environment.
TAURUS Sagittarius season invites you to infuse your deeply sensual pragmatism with some grand futuristic schemes and dreams, however eccentric. Dance Party: Belly-dancing. Getting low and getting down with a fully-embodied practice that’s both rooted and nomadic.
GEMINI Sagittarius season invites you to go even further in your curious search for information, as you sample far-flung philosophies and belief systems, and begin to take a stand. Dance Party: Break-dancing. Responding to street culture and pledging yourself to the pavement.
CANCER Sagittarius season invites you to take your looniness out of its shell as you experiment with sharing your creative process with the wider world. Dance Party: Pole-dancing. Sensual self-pleasure that’s unabashedly unafraid.
LEO Sagittarius season invites you to share your generous, pulsing heart with people outside of your usual circle and to let yourself be changed through these collisions. Dance Party: Roller-disco. Hot-blooded, glittery glamour on wheels complete with rainbow lights and necessary negotiations between sequined skaters.
VIRGO Sagittarius season invites you to let it all come undone as you leap headfirst into the experience without painstaking preparation. Dance Party: Irish step dancing. Intricacy and rapidity that springs into action from the ground up.
LIBRA Sagittarius season invites you to rock the boat as you push towards complete honesty, even when it’s far from diplomatic. Dance Party: Synchronized swimming. Idealized aesthetics meet rugged physicality and strong-willed teamwork.
SCORPIO Sagittarius season invites you to mix your darkness with light as you trust into both the gravity and levity of this luscious adventure. Dance Party: Flamenco. Raw intensity that harnesses the glorious sensation of passionate living.
SAGITTARIUS Sagittarius season invites you to both revel in your wildness and seek committed conduits for your restlessness. Dance Party: Wedding dances. From the electric slide to the macarena, sampling the full-range of party moves while celebrating romantic loyalty.
CAPRICORN Sagittarius season invites you to experiment with some healthy excess as you relax some of your ascetic measures and feast on the world around you. Dance Party: Ballroom dancing. Structure, tradition, and classical cool take to the floor with opulently majestic gowns and footwear.
AQUARIUS Sagittarius season invites you to release from what’s “right” or what “should” be, and dive into the experience of unfolding meaning without creating calcified rules. Dance party: Modern dance. Interpretive, fluid maneuvers that push the edge of what’s possible in an embodied form.
PISCES Sagittarius season invites you to fully release into the sensation of boundarylessness as you break down the walls between yourself and the world. Dance Party: Crowd surfing. Giving your body over to the intangible faith that you will always be supported.
Discover more about Mojave Rising and their work at Mojaverising.com
Scorpio season invites us to embrace the power of personal transformation, say Cara George & Bess Matassa of Mojave Rising…
Hillary (Sun in Scorpio), Vintage Photo
Scorpio season tempts us to descend into our own trenches with curious headlamps as we mine the rough and ready diamonds of our most intensely intimate desires. It’s a month for reckoning with past patterning, for cleaning out our basements, and, through this fearless process, discovering the immutable essence that can never be stripped from us.
The zodiac’s ferocious femme fatale challenges us to celebrate every damn part of ourselves and to learn to withstand the endless cycles of desiring, having, and losing, in all their messy, primal glory. So take a deep breath, step into your sharpest stilettos, and get ready to get raw. You are light and darkness and mind and spirit and guts. You are smoke and ash and ripe tropical flowers and everything that dies and everything that comes back. Can you handle the seasons of your life? Hell yes, says the Phoenix.
The keyword: Reckoning.
The song lyrics: “This is the part of me/That you’re never gonna ever take away from me, no!/Throw your sticks and stones, throw your bombs and your blows/But you’re not gonna break my soul”—Katy Perry, “Part of Me”
Check out our Scorpio season playlist, complete with stripped-down songstresses, exposed anthems, and hardcore feels.
Harper’s Bazaar2014
The color palette: Macabre boudoir shades fit for a Cleopatra queen. Think oxblood and burgundy, oxidized metallics, burnt gold, black glitter, and classic kohl.
Grace Jones inA View to a Kill
The style: Bulletproof Bond girl meets Alexander McQueen in the 1970s underworld. Think bodysuits, plunging zippers, louche loungewear, see-through lace, daring cutouts, and garter belts mixed with vinyl and leather.
The scents and flavors: Heady, nocturnal, and powerfully primitive. Think tuberose, oud, un-pitted olives, black cherries, raw meats, and after-dinner liquors.
The healing: Full-throttle archeological excursions and no-holds-barred carnality. Everything from closet-cleaning and oceanfront metal detecting, to sex-positive parties, pole-dancing classes, mixed martial arts, and mud wrestling.
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Sensuous Invitation of the Month: Time Travel (by sign below).
With Scorpio and Capricorn planets coming into conversation with Sagittarius and Aquarius energies, and Neptune stationing direct, Scorpio season 2016 has a back-to-the-future vibe that urges us to time travel into our own past lives. As we sift through our emotional archives, we can re-envision habitual grooves with tough tenderness, look passionately at all that it has taken to bring us here, and launch ourselves forward with both seasoned maturity and daring wildness.
ARIES Scorpio season invites you to go deep or go home, as you sink your hands and teeth into your life with both your characteristic vigor and a recommitment to endurance. Cosmic Era: The Middle Ages—chainmail, ferocious fencing, and burning the candle at both ends.
TAURUS Scorpio season invites you to notice where you hold back from transformation in the name of security, and to experiment with overturning and renewing. Cosmic Era: The Industrial Revolution—rapid expansion, innovative optimism, and earthy pragmatism.
GEMINI Scorpio season invites you to temporarily fold your butterfly wings and practice digging in the dirt as you go far beyond the surface to investigate the inner workings. Cosmic Era: Ancient Egypt—sarcophagi, the River Styx, and intricate pyramid building.
CANCER Scorpio season invites you to collide with another person’s feeling landscape as you practice stepping outside your own emotional core and honoring the inner world of another being. Cosmic Era: The Renaissance—humanism, artistic perspective, and emotional rebirth.
LEO Scorpio season invites you to fuse your passion for pleasurable exposure with a more risky self-revealing that brings absolutely all of you into the light, even the not so glittery pieces. Cosmic Era: 50s Vegas—dice rolling, nuclear testing, and the casino-floor courage to bare it all.
VIRGO Scorpio season invites you to play with power dynamics as you mix your capacity for cautious humility with a long-overdue seizure of the throne. Cosmic Era: The Tudor dynasty—crown jewels, divine rule, and the occasional beheading.
LIBRA Scorpio season invites you to plunge headfirst into the messier aspects of partnership as you take your penchant for relating into more radical territory. Cosmic Era: The Roaring 20s—voting women, speakeasies, and romantic revolution.
SCORPIO Scorpio season invites you to recognize where your capacity to understand the more primal parts of the human experience leads you to clam up, shut down, or withhold, and to practice not holding back one bit of your intensity and reveling in the full range of your feelings. Cosmic Era: 70s New York—the birth of disco and hip-hop, explosive street life, and graffitied expressions.
SAGITTARIUS Scorpio season invites you to repurpose past pain and use your high-spirited, free-wheeling levity to adventure into your own darkness. Cosmic Era: The Enlightenment—individual liberty, scientific discovery, and open debate.
CAPRICORN Scorpio season invites you to loosen your grip on your usual emotional control centers and discover the strength in what you may consider weakness. Cosmic Era: Southern Cali in the 60s—surf, sea breeze, and rose-colored love-ins.
AQUARIUS Scorpio season invites you to turn up the heat on your cool, analytical approach as you experiment with the beauty in blood, sweat, and tears. Cosmic Era: Ancient Rome—sumptuous feasts, gladiator clashes, and exploratory sexuality.
PISCES Scorpio season invites you to notice when your need for retreat becomes unnecessarily reclusive, and to practice becoming intimate with everything that surrounds you as you fall deeply in love with the world again. Cosmic Era: 90s Seattle—world beats, emo crooning, and slacker idealism.
Libra season invites us to soften and play with polarities, say Cara George & Bess Matassa of Mojave Rising…Homepage main image: Awave Awake
Libra season asks us to strap on our lightsabers, corral our unicorns, and celebrate both the ever-elusive quest and the already-realized ideal. It’s a month for playing with polarity, equilibrating between extremes, and recognizing that we contain even that which we claim to disavow.
The zodiac’s high-minded empress reveals both the perils and pleasures of building castles in the sky, as she switches between rose-colored glasses and magnifying specs. Her ultimate gift lies in the gap between sleeping beauty visions and early morning reality, where the full range of our humanness lives.
So let’s make a wish, grab each other’s hands, and take a leap across the cavernous divide with all our glorious, dynamic contradictions in tow. The good, the true, and the beautiful may truly be in the eye of the beholder. But we’ve got the compassionate courage to stand face-to-face.
The keyword: synergy.
The song lyrics: “Hey now, hey now/Don’t dream it’s over/They come, they come/To build a wall between us/We know they won’t win”—Crowded House, “Don’t Dream It’s Over.” Check out our Libra season playlist, complete with aspirational anthems, synth stylings, and polarity points.
The color palette: sophisticated, clear-headed shades and ballerina pastels. Think gray, navy, black & white, icy mints, pale violets, and slipper pinks.
The style: French New Wave meets Royal bridal shower—clean lines, classic cool, and simple trench coats collide with white satin, velvet brocade, ruffles, and empire waists.
The scents and flavors are eye-opening citruses, culinary pairs, and candied confections—lemon Pellegrino, sweet-salty snacks, and tea-time petit fours.
The healing: anything that’s energetically and aesthetically equilibrating—yin/yang yoga, art museum and topiary garden wandering, photography classes, and hot/cold saunas.
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Sensuous Invitation of the Month: Weather Patterns (by sign below) With Mercury and Pluto stationing direct in earth signs, Mars entering Capricorn, and Venus entering Scorpio, Libra’s high-minded idealism gets an infusion of crystalline clarity, and the willingness to work with the “real” world exactly as it is. It’s a month for invigorating our sense of responsiveness as we use current climatological conditions to build our castles in the sky.
ARIES Libra season invites you to soften your gaze as you incorporate compromise that still feels courageous. Weather pattern: Morning mist—let yourself get a little bit lost in the haze as you experiment with slow navigation without forcing forward.
TAURUS Libra season invites you to get full-on Venusian as you revel in the sweet sensations of ideological and sensual love in all its forms. Weather pattern: Blue skies—celebrate the majestic aesthetics of an absolutely perfect day.
GEMINI Libra season invites you to settle some of your endlessly curious chatter and exercise judgment in a way that feels liberating rather than stifling. Weather pattern: Sunbeams—stand directly in the path of the sun’s rays and watch how these solar streaks illuminate a single patch of ground.
CANCER Libra season invites you to adopt perspective on closely-held emotional narratives and to step outside your story without losing any of your penchant for poetics. Weather pattern: Crisp & breezy—let the subtle dance of wind inspire you to become gently unstuck.
LEO Libra season invites you to loosen fierce personal identifications as you recognize the self in the non-self. Weather pattern: Partly cloudy—trust that the sun still lurks beneath the ever shifting white fluff, even when it’s unseen.
VIRGO Libra season invites you to experiment with the sweet sense of collaboration without always having to work it out alone. Weather pattern: Humidity—notice how its closeness to your skin can feel safely supportive rather than oppressive.
LIBRA Libra season invites you to acknowledge the polarities that exist within you as you sample both ends of the spectrum with ease. Weather pattern: Daybreak—bear witness to the darkness that comes just before the dawn.
SCORPIO Libra season invites you to balance your desire to penetrate beyond the veil with a little faith in wide-eyed magic. Weather pattern: Chasing rainbows after the storm—celebrate the gorgeous luminosity that can come after turbulence.
SAGITTARIUS Libra season invites you to fuse your penchant for emotional honesty with a truth-telling that considers the consequences for others. Weather pattern: Lightning storm—harness your electrical energy while understanding how these bolts work with the storm and lessen as it passes.
CAPRICORN Libra season invites you to marry your keen sense of the difficult with a full-hearted celebration of goodness and ease. Weather pattern: Downpour—recognize the beauty in the overcast as sheets of rain soften and wash things away.
AQUARIUS Libra season invites you to equilibrate your radical eccentricity with an occasional blending that’s in service of the whole. Weather pattern: Nightfall—let yourself feel deliciously small as you witness the vast, star-studded sky.
PISCES Libra season invites you to celebrate the mystical beauty of your most ethereal dreams while moving towards coalescing them into solid form. Weather pattern: Hail—Investigate how these mysterious waters congeal into solid shapes.
Virgo season brings an invitation to revel in the details, say Cara George & Bess Matassa of Mojave Rising…
Virgo season asks us to sharpen our tools, clarify our intentions, and get back down to the sweet labors of love that just feel good in our bodies. The zodiac’s so-called “virgin” is actually a fiercely self-contained sensualist who’s married to her own internal code, trusts deeply in her distinctiveness, and finds delicious divinity in daily detail.
It’s a month for relaxing into the subtlest material pieces of our lives—from savored flavors and ephemeral scents to watching the way the light hits the pavement just so—and for relishing in the feeling of processual work that moves with the rhythm of what is without having to prove anything at all.
The astrological Queen of the intricate and the refined reminds us that we are a part of every last thing that surrounds us and that every last thing absolutely matters because heaven is most definitely a place of earth.
The keyword is Alignment
The song lyrics are: “I’m every woman/It’s all in me/Anything you want done baby/I’ll do it naturally”—Whitney Houston, “I’m Every Woman.” Check out our Virgo season playlist, complete with considered lyricism, wild women, and pop gravitas.
The color palette: soft metallics and shifting sands: salmon pinks, rose golds, light caramels, and pure silver.
The style: 1930s Greta Garbo meets Southwestern naturalism: refined yet rustic glamor, caftans paired with high-heeled boots, intricate art deco jewelry, nude lips, loose braids and buns, copper lockets, and just enough coverage to spark the sensuous imagination.
The scents and flavors: simple trusted tastes, herbaceous blends, and medicinal elixirs. Think rosemary, camphor, fresh bread, bergamot, tisanes, and hot cobbler carefully concocted with seasonal fruits.
The healing: considered, refined, and earthily aligned. Try tasting menus, perfume making, Marie Kondo-style closet cleansing, or even the slowly revelatory art of burlesque dancing.
Sensuous Invitation of the Month: Interior Design (by sign below)
With Mercury stationing retrograde in Virgo, Venus and Jupiter entering Libra, and the final Saturn-Neptune square, it’s a month for getting our houses in order, making use of the materials on hand, and bowing at the altar of aesthetics. For letting the material world refine our values and bring us all the way back home to what we truly love. From Barbie dreamhouse jacuzzis to Southern country kitchens, it’s time to realign our environment with our interior selves, and to move majestically and naturally through the spaces that surround us.
ARIES Virgo season invites you to infuse some of your full-throttle thrill seeking with a careful consideration that strategizes before leaping and allows the world to sometimes have the first move. Design Inspiration: Release into the dazzling sensation of the world infusing the interior by clearing the area around your windows and treating them as pieces of art à la Julius Shulman’s iconic 1960 photograph of the Stahl house.
TAURUS Virgo season invites you to trust that you already have more than enough of what you need and to tap into your ability to repurpose what you already have into something gorgeously useful. Design Inspiration: Channel the restored farmhouses of Taschen’s Country Interiorsas you dig into your soul dirt by repurposing objects, reupholstering prized furniture pieces, and reveling in local rummage sales.
GEMINI Virgo season invites you to return to the sensations of your body as you learn to read and value environmental cues as much as you do intellectual ones. Design Inspiration: Relax into treehouse dreams with Joel Allen’s British Columbia masterpiece sourced entirely from craigslist materials, and experiment with small seasonal shifts in your own space by mixing indoor with outdoor- even if it’s just tricking out your fire escape with sparkling lights or placing found stones in your sink basin.
CANCER Virgo season invites you to celebrate distinguished solitude as much as you do emotional relationship. Design Inspiration: Channel the DIY solitude of converted sheds by creating a space of your own—whether it’s affixing glow-in-the-dark stars on your ceiling for private night dreaming, or cordoning off a corner of shared space entirely for yourself.
LEO Virgo season invites you to step away from the proscenium as you relax into behind the scenes labors without always having to show yourself. Design Inspiration: Conjure the inward-facing glitter and sparkle of the Madonna Inn’s bombastic Barbie bathroom by decking out your boudoir with jewel-encrusted toiletry boxes, and writing yourself impassioned lipstick messages on your mirror.
VIRGO Virgo season invites you to rediscover the wild sensualism of your inner witchy woman who follows her own credo. Design Inspiration: Evoke the high-quality, woodsy wildness of the fur, fire, and open air bathtubs of Palm Springs’ Sparrows Lodge with a singular, luxe design piece made from natural materials like a marble slab, bamboo soap dish, or wool rug.
LIBRA Virgo season invites you to discover the “beautility” in your world by blending your idealized aesthetic sensibilities with down-to-earth usefulness. Design Inspiration: Channel the majestically utilitarian Library of Congress with organizational pieces that are also decadent and gorgeous.
SCORPIO Virgo season invites you to marry your emotional intensity to material complexity as you investigate the intricate detail of the world that surrounds you. Design Inspiration: Explore the elaborate Art Nouveau design of the Parisian metro system by experimenting with patterned wallpaper or trompe l’oeil at home.
SAGITTARIUS Virgo season invites you to take your passion and make it happen as you delight in the earthy sensation of grounding your most far-flung visions in the material world. Design Inspiration: Motor west with inspiration from Route 66 in Tucumcari, New Mexico, and invite the open road into your space with 50s Americana kitsch design elements.
CAPRICORN Virgo season invites you to celebrate the process of refinement without this having to match internally or externally imposed standards. Design Inspiration: Move towards the sensations of slow cooking and process-based work by conjuring warm Mediterranean-style kitchens through decoratively usable rotating spice racks, hanging fruit baskets, and dishes affixed to the wall.
AQUARIUS Virgo season invites you to trade in some of your panoramic thinking for delicious attention to detail. Design Inspiration: Delight in the futuristic efficiency of the tiny house movement and play with proportion in your own space with terrariums or dollhouses.
PISCES Virgo season invites you to step out of the endless seas of possibility to practice the art of discernment. Design Inspiration: Strip down with spiritually-aligned Japanese minimalism and infuse this practice in your own space by cleansing one room, or building your design around a singular object or color.
The planet of love, money and luxury goes retro this week. Star Sign Style’s Kimberly Peta Dewhirst has 10 ways to make this Venus retrograde work for you…Images: The Bedroom by Tasmin Jade Donaldson via Behance.net
Romance, fashion, friendship, affection, intimacy, sweet moments and all the girlie things (think: sugar, spice, all things nice), are ruled by the goddess / planet Venus. The same goes for money and your bank balance, and all things sensual (beautiful scents, pleasing art scenes and landscapes, valuables, material wealth, riches etc.)
And she’s all set to do an about turn – a.k.a. begin a retrograde cycle – from July 25 – September 6.
Before you freak out at the sight of the “R” word (man has Mercury retrograde got some explaining to do), Venus retrograde could actually be a good thing for your relationships, your indulgences and your bank balance.
While Mercury rules all things communication related (technology, social media, commerce), it makes sense that the confusion that accompanies this planet’s retrograde phase can throw us some seriously frustrating curveballs.
But with Venus retrograde, we can expect our sensual nature to be activated and investigated, as we are asked to contemplate, reflect on and review what and who we love, how we show affection, flirt and attract a mate. Also, our relationship to money, our sense of self-worth, and attitudes to abundance.
One word of warning, however. If you hear people complaining during a Mercury retrograde phase that they messaged the wrong person and lost their mobile phone, during Venus retro listen out for and beware making outlandish declarations of love, and avoid extravagant purchases made on a whim.
Here are ten ways to make this Venus retrograde phase work in your favor…
1. Reassess What Beauty Means To You Venus rules how we dress up and beautify ourselves and our surroundings – in fact, you can look to your Venus sign for clues on your personal style. When Venus retrogrades you can remodel your choices, and this is a great time to create a mood or inspiration board to redefine your personal tastes.
Do NOT however book in for a drastic haircut or get the decorators in just yet – this is the contemplation stage. Wait till Venus goes direct to make any major changes (dates below).
2. Review Your Finances As Venus rules over money, the retrograde period is prime time for rebalancing your books. But hold off implementing any financial overhauls – this period is for reevaluating your commitments, tying up loose ends, and revisiting old debts. It could be a great time to go and get a refund and have people pay up, or likewise to reimburse or repay any debts that have been hanging over you.
3. Resist The Lure Of Luxe Just as buying electronic equipment isn’t advisable during Mercury retrograde, you’re better off waiting to buy any luxury goods and beauty related purchases now. Avoid large expenditures where fashion and frivolities are concerned – this is not the time to pull together a capsule wardrobe of ‘investment’ pieces, and definitely not on credit. Your instincts about what’s worth the splurge could be off during this period, so stick to window-shopping.
It could however be a great time to manifest and attract some beautiful vintage or second-hand pieces into your life – think flea markets, and antique fairs. One mans trash is another’s treasure, as the saying goes, and people could be reviewing their valuables during this time.
4. Research Your Purchases One way to use the Venus retrograde to you advantage when it comes to shopping, is to know the true value of what you’re buying and make an informed choice. It can be a great time to barter and bargain, as long as you’re the one in the drivers seat (and you’ve researched the returns policy).
5. Retreat From The Dating Scene Projects, relationships, people and businesses all carry an astrological imprint, and a relationship commenced during Venus retrograde could get off to a repetitive or exasperating start. At best you could have a long, drawn out honeymoon period, while a suitor could seem far more magnificent, charming and fabulous than they really are. Then, when Venus resumes normal function the rose tinted glasses come off.
If you do meet somebody, don’t trust the heat of the moment during the Venus retrograde. Instead, enjoy the flirtation stage and plan to commit when the planet goes direct.
6. Re-evaluate your relationships If you’re in a relationship however, Venus retrograde offers you an opportunity to resolve any issues with your partner and recommit – if you’re wed you may even decide to renew tour vows!.Reaffirm your love, rekindle and reignite the romance, rejoice…and reproduce! Now is the time to reassemble the jigsaw of your relationship to create a more beautiful picture.
7. Remember The Good Times Venus retrograde speaks of past relationships coming out of the woodwork (that goes for both romances and friendships), and reminiscing together actually be therapeutic, especially if you’re ready to go back and dig up treasures from the past. Ensure a reexamination is positive by appreciating the good times, even if you acknowledge that you aren’t right for each other now. Seek gratitude for the happiness you experienced in that moment. But if you DO decide an old flame could be reignited, the Universe could well support you now.
8. Revisit Your Passions Venus favors feminine hobbies, and you may rediscover a love of jewellery making, beauty and fashion, make-up and hair, baking, flower arranging and interior decoration now.
With Venus retrograde in the creative sign of Leo (the majority of the time) the energies throughout the retrograde period are particularly supportive for recreation and play. The Numinous Temple of Venus is a perfect place to explore this energy, and you can check out all the upcoming events and workshops here.
9. Rethink The Sweet Stuff Sounds silly but if you suffer from sugar cravings, Venus retrograde could be just the time to tackle your habit! Venus rules over cakes, biscuits, sweets (candy) and chocolate. There are so many documentaries on the hazards of this highly addictive substance (I’m talking about the refined white stuff – not sugars found in fruit), and once you research and reeducate yourself on this subject, this could be a supportive phase to regain control over a sweet tooth.
10. Reinstate Femininity Invite the divine feminine into your world and cement its presence with this Venus retrograde. Dedicated some quality time to friendships with the women you love, taking time to really appreciate their soft yet strong attributes – embrace womanhood and what it means to be an empowered female today. Regroup or plan a reunion with your girls, recollect and celebrate them and why you value their friendship. Repair and patch up relationships that are lacking.
Your star dates as follows…
• Venus enters the shadow period Sunday 21st June • Venus goes retrograde – Saturday 25th July • Venus goes direct Sunday 6th September • Venus is out of the ‘retrograde zone’ by 9th October 2015 – phew!
Author Kimberly Peta Dewhirst would love to hear your stories to support her growing understanding of the Venus retrograde period. Email: [email protected] with your birth data (time, date and place of birth) and details of your Venus retrograde experiences. (All information will be kept confidential)
Numinous community art project and interactive altar The Temple of Venus is a space dedicated to celebrating and healing anything that falls under the remit of the Goddess planet, and is open until August 19.
