the april newsletter

fallen planets and horoscopes you can sing to

The April Newsletter is technically last week’s post. If you’re a paid subscriber, you’ll be receiving this week’s horoscopes on Friday.

In anticipation of Venus’ grand sashay into Pisces yesterday, I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about the unique relationship between exaltation and fall. As of now, we find ourselves beneath a sky absolutely laden with exalted and domicile planets: Venus and Jupiter in Pisces, Sun in Aries, and Saturn in Aquarius, to say nothing of the Moon in Cancer in just another day or so. That is a whole lot of privilege and power to go around at once.

Without getting too deep in the etymology of it all, the Latin exaltare brings ex- and altus together, meaning “from within” or “out of,” and “high,” respectively. Exalted planets are ones that can be seen, observed, understood, believed; they are quite literally highly regarded. But what of planets in fall, their counterparts? I don’t believe in reframing absolutely everything, however, I do very much believe in working with what you/we have. Predictive astrology, I may practice; a fatalist, I am not.

“As above, so below” feels especially prescient when considering this particular facet of essential dignity. Whichever sign a planet finds its exaltation, its high honor, it then finds its depression in that sign’s sibling. An axis is indivisible, functioning in relation to itself—axes cannot be halved and properly evaluated piecemeal. Venus who finds its exaltation in Pisces therefore has its fall in Virgo. The Moon who exalts in Taurus, must fall in Scorpio. It’s symmetry. But is our general collective understanding of this symmetry reductive? I think so.

Planets in fall work from ground up, instead of top down like their zodiac partners. They are as supportive as the earth beneath our bodies, often silently so. They are a bed, a chair, something to lean on; they are the surfaces that beckon us to take a load off and allow ourselves to be carried. The more I’ve come to understand fallen planets as under-perceived and so, under-appreciated, I’ve also come to realize that a lot of the worst, most common vitriol levied at plenty of the signs can be very easily connected back to the planets and significations that sink deep into these wildly lush cushions—accusations of what a sign can’t do, or does poorly. Let’s take a look:

Libra, the fall of the Sun: inauthentic; collection of borrowed identities

Scorpio, the fall of the Moon: brooding, impenetrable lockbox; paranoid

Pisces, the fall of Mercury: gibberish monster

Virgo, the fall of Venus: professional nagger; hyper-critical, even in love

Cancer, the fall of Mars: conflict avoidant cry baby

Capricorn, the fall of Jupiter: soulless; unfeeling; faithless suit

Aries, the fall of Saturn: shortsighted; zero regard for future or consequences

Boring. Low hanging fruit. Uninspired. Barf. Is Pisces a gibberish monster, or someone who magics new language and meaning when expanding beyond the stock tongue provided? What I love about where my studies and observation have been leading me, is that it’s not exclusive to fallen planets. I am thinking about the impact of this particular debilitation and how it manifests within signs at large, regardless of the planets that may or may not be within them. It is not possible to “not have a sign” in your chart. In the whole sign house system, each one of these 12 babies is responsible for a particular domain. I want to spend more time paying attention to these areas and placements specifically, unearthing nuance and superpowers and affirmations people may have had trouble finding elsewhere, especially in the endless slog of online astro negging, where most of the astro-curious get their information.

Here’s a brief example of some of my writing and perspectives on the fallen planets, an excerpt from my contribution to the CUSP App on Venus in Virgo:

Offerings

I've a new consultation offering called Falling Signs and would love to talk with you about how you grapple with both hidden and salient unorthodoxy and why, exactly, that is so fucking amazing. Everyone is eligible for this session, as you do not need to have any fallen planets for it to work. Book a Falling Signs session.

If you do have a fallen planet natally, I also have a reduced rate offering where that placement and its antics are literally all we talk about. If you find yourself saying things like, "I don't know what my Scorpio moon in the 9th means," or “I don’t know what having Saturn in Aries means for me,” book a Fallen Planet session.

News

My books are now open for May and there are still slots available for April. May’s sliding scale codes are: flowers15; flowers20; flowers30. You can book with me here.

I’m releasing a co-tutoring offering with E.Y. Washington for the month of May, which I’ll share details on soon, but that means with regards to May, the only solo slots I have available are on Thursdays.

On Episode 1 of my new podcast Twelve Questions (it would mean the world if you gave it a listen btw), I sat with Zodiac Buzzed co-creator Déjà Lewis-Nwalipenja over Zoom and talked about her project’s Kickstarter campaign (successfully funded over the weekend!) but also a lot of pretty heady topics. TQ is not an astrological podcast! So far, I’ve recorded conversational eps with documentary filmmaker Sabaah Folayan (Whose Streets, Look at Me: XXXTentacion); staff writer at The Atlantic, Hannah Giorgis; comedian-actor-astrologer Odinaka Ezeokoli (Easy, Brown Girls); and astrology community saint, actor, and writer, E. Y. Washington. These episodes will be rolling out biweekly so stay tuned and please subscribe!

If you want to support the newsletter, feel free to sign up for a $5 subscription—paid subscribers receive weekly horoscopes and updates, free subscribers will continue to receive the monthly letters. If you’d like a subscription but can’t swing it right now, shoot me a quick message and I’ll add you to a comp list, no problem.

I wrote wellness horoscopes for Buzzfeed again, this month. These scopes were my favorite to write in a while, but I think I’m still struggling with the loss of meaning that results when poetic language is edited for mainstream palatability. For now, I let that conflict lead me to song and lyric—please enjoy!

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Twelve Questions for April, in Song
Read for your Sun, Moon, Rising, Mama, whatever—

Aries
Exalted Venus in the 12th

I walked across an empty land/ I knew the pathway like the back of my hand/ I felt the earth beneath my feet/ Sat by the river and it made me complete/

Oh simple thing, where have you gone?/ I’m getting old and I need something to rely on/ So tell me when you’re gonna let me in/ I’m getting tired and I need somewhere to begin/

I came across a fallen tree/ I felt the branches of it looking at me/ Is this the place we used to love?/ Is this the place that I’ve been dreaming of?/

Oh simple thing, where have you gone?/ I’m getting old and I need something to rely on/ So tell me when you’re gonna let me in/ I’m getting tired and I need somewhere to begin/

And if you have a minute, why don’t we go/ Talk about it somewhere only we know?/ This could be the end of everything/ So why don’t we go somewhere only we know?/ Somewhere only we know

— Somewhere Only We Know, Keane  

Taurus

Exalted Venus in the 11th

How does it feel being in these arms?/ What’s it really like to be loved?/ I’ve been alone now, how long/ Have you ever loved the way that I have?/

And I have often wondered who/ Who could love you the way I do?

— Call Me When You Get This, Corinne Bailey Rae

Gemini

Exalted Venus in the 10th

Look what the cat hauled in/ Me and a couple friends/ Don’t need to settle down/ My body don’t know how/ Right there I see you looking/ Sure hope that you’re not tooken/ Don’t get lost in the crowd/ This place just so damn wild/ Go ahead and floss your ice/ Go ahead do what you like/ I’m feeling just as fly/ Do you hear your song tonight?

— Dance Tonight, Lucy Pearl

Cancer

Exalted Venus in the 9th

Didn’t cha’ know, didn’t cha’ know/ Tried to move, but I lost my way/ Didn’t cha’ know, didn’t cha’ know/ Stopped to watch my emotions sway/ Didn’t cha’ know, didn’t cha’ know/ Knew the toll, but I would not pay/ Didn’t cha’ know, didn’t cha’ know/ That you never know where the cards may lay/

Time to save the world/ Where in the world is all the time?

— Didn’t Cha Know, Erykah Badu

Leo

Exalted Venus in the 8th

Winter’s cold spring erases/ And the calm by the storm is chasen/ Everything good needs replacing/ Look up, look down, all around, hey satellite/

Satellite headlines read/ Someone’s secrets you’ve seen/ Eyes and ears have been/ Satellite dish in my yard/ Tell me more, tell me more/ Who’s the king of your satellite castle?

— Satellite, Dave Matthews Band

Virgo

Exalted Venus in the 7th

Ready, set jet/ But she never gets far/ Listen to your skin/ From the seat of my car/ Two centipedes stuck/ In one glass jar/ The longest wave/ 

Waiting on the wind/ To tell my side/

Whatcha want?/ Whatcha need?/ Do you love?

— The Longest Wave, Red Hot Chili Peppers

Libra

Exalted Venus in the 6th

Pop quiz/ Tell me where we first kissed/ Tell me where my spot is/ Tell me if I like it, love it/ Or could it be/ The the stranger is me/ Have I changed so drastically?/ Is it I want more for me/ And you remain the same?

— Stranger In My House, Tamia

Scorpio

Exalted Venus in the 5th

There’s something about the look in your eyes/ Something I noticed when the light was just right/ It reminded me twice that I was alive/ And it reminded me that you’re so worth the fight/

My biggest fear will be the rescue of me/ Strange how it turns out that way/

Could you show me dear/ Something I’m not seeing?/ Something infinitely interesting?

— Echo, Incubus

Sagittarius

Exalted Venus in the 4th

I know there’s a big world out there like the one I saw on the screen/ In my living room late last night/ It was almost too bright to see/ And I know that it’s not a party if it happens every night/ Pretending there’s glamour and candelabra/ When you’re drinking by candlelight/

What does it take to get a drink in this place/ What does it take, how long must I wait?

— This Place Is A Prison, The Postal Service

Capricorn

Exalted Venus in the 3rd

Do you need some love in your lonely world?/ ‘Cause I believe you’ll like it where the moon/ Twinkles on the watery horizon/ How do I get you there? So so ashamed to be lost for the words To let you know that I’m sincere/ The pleasuries are all on Treasure Island/ How do I get you there?

— Treasure Island, Azealia Banks

Aquarius

Exalted Venus in the 2nd

Just how deep do you believe?/ Will you bite the hand that feeds?/ Will you chew until it bleeds?/ Can you get up off your knees?/ Are you brave enough to see?/ Do you wanna change it?

— The Hand That Feeds, Nine Inch Nails

Pisces

Exalted Venus in the 1st

I’m in the hall already, on the wall already/ I’m a work of art, I’m a Warhol already/ On another level, on another plane already/ H-O-V I got my own lane already/ I done cooked up the rock already/ So why the fuck can’t y’all get hot already?

— Already Home, Jay Z