In ancient times, one goddess stood above all others, and her legend spanned many cultures over thousands of years. Inanna was the Sumerian queen of the gods, dating back to 4,000 BC.

You may be more familiar with the name Ishtar. She was the Akkadian, Babylonian, and Assyrian incarnation of the goddess Inanna, whose worship spread from the earlier Sumerian society.

Inanna’s mythology portrays her as a complex and powerful figure. She was revered as the Queen of Heaven and Earth and is often considered the goddess of love, beauty, fertility, and war.

If those concepts seem contradictory, remember that the most important areas of life in the ancient world revolved around fertility—not only that of humans but also of crops and livestock, without which even the strongest empires could fall into ruin by starvation and internecine competition.

While women’s roles ranged from limited to downright oppressed in many cultures of the ancient world, a surprising number of them cast goddesses in the important role of war deity, including ancient Greece, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Sumer, and Babylonia.

Inanna is also described as impetuous and power-hungry, and her romantic conquests were legion. Her most famous myth is her "Descent into the Underworld" to visit her sister, Ereshkigal, the Queen of the Dead.

The Seven Gates

The Underworld is protected by seven gates. At each gate, Inanna was forced to give up one of her royal items: her crown, her jewelry, her measuring rod, and her royal robes. By the final gate, she entered the Underworld naked and powerless.

The idea is that no one but the Queen of the Underworld has the ability to enter and exit the Underworld. Then as now, dying is a one-way trip. Just as humans are stripped of their worldly possessions and the trappings of their station in life when they die, the goddess Inanna had to give up everything, and enter the Underworld with nothing.

Sisterly Rivals

Inanna’s sister, Ereshkigal, is the dark goddess of the Underworld, another unusual occupation for a female deity in ancient times. When Inanna entered her throne room, her sister was angered by her arrival, and commanded her servants to strike Inanna dead, hanging her body on a hook.

Eventually, with the help of the god Enki, Inanna escaped the Underworld, but only by striking a bargain to offer up the life of her husband and consort, Dumuzi—and in some tellings, his sister, who were forced to spend half the year in the Underworld, a metaphor for the changing of the seasons similar to the Greek myth of Persephone.

The Venus Cycle

Inanna was revived and returned to the world of the living, symbolizing the cyclical nature of life, death, and resurrection. Her descent and rebirth is also symbolically associated with the orbit of Venus around the Sun, and the beautiful pattern it traces in the sky as it circles and retrogrades throughout its cycle as seen from the Earth.

From Earth, the orbit of Venus appears to trace a beautiful, five-pointed, petal-like pattern in the sky over a period of eight years. The planet’s geometric path creates a pentagram, which is why Inanna is closely associated with the Venus.

Video credit: Reddit

In astrology, Inanna’s descent into the Underworld mirrors the journey Venus makes as it moves between being the Morning and Evening Star:

The Evening Star (Descent): Venus shines brightly in the western sky for about nine months, representing Inanna ruling as the Queen of Heaven. When the planet drops toward the horizon, it symbolizes Inanna’s journey to the Underworld.

The Underworld (Disappearance): Venus disappears from the sky for about 60 to 90 days as it passes between the Earth and the Sun. This is the part of the myth where Inanna passes through seven gates into the Underworld, disappearing from life.

Astronomically, this is when Venus appears to to turn retrograde (backwards) in the sky, and hides behind the Sun’s glare from our perspective on Earth.

The Morning Star (Rebirth): When Venus reappears in the eastern sky as the Morning Star, she is a brilliant beacon of resurrection. This mirrors her escape from the Underworld and her return to the heavens, to preside as a symbol of war, triumph and rebirth.

Six weeks ago, on May 27, I was roller skating around Science World with my bestie, living my best life as we love to do all summer, when I fell and fractured my wrist.

I’ve fallen dozens of times over the years, so this wasn’t out of the ordinary—just the price of doing business—but this time I fell hard and caught myself by reaching back with my left hand, which impacted the ground in just the wrong way. I always wear wrist guards and knee pads but this time the wrist guards just didn’t do their job.

Luckily, I was carrying ice packs because we were planning on posting up at the beach and having a drink afterwards and I don’t like my drinks warm LOL so I immediately wrapped my wrist in ice and we skated carefully the rest of the way a spot by the water near my friend’s place in Yaletown.

Road Rashed

My left hip was also very badly scraped up from the gravel, so it was painful to sit. (If you’re not squeamish, scroll to the bottom for a gnarly close-up!) I was fuming with rage and pain and recriminations, furious that this had happened, yet still in denial about how bad it could be.

After all, I had fallen and sprained my wrists in the past, fallen and scraped up both outstretched elbows, fallen on my ass more times than I could count over the years. If you look closely, you can still evidence of years-ago road rash on both of my calves, right below where the knee pads protected me from breaking anything vital, but where my skin was still exposed. This fall didn’t immediately seem all that different, but that might have just been the adrenaline protecting me from total despair.

Dear CIty of Vancouver

That evening, I dictated a furious email to the city complaining about the intersection where it happened, near the entrance to Science World, which has been a total shit show ever since they expanded the bike lane last year but left a 30 m strip of tightly packed gravel instead of paving the entire lane.

So instead of continuing straight on the path, anyone on skates or rollerblades has to turn left across the incoming bike lane, before the gravel part, which happens to be right at the entrance where bikers, skaters, walkers, strollers, scooters, e-bikers, pets, and throngs of children and their parents converge.

Someone from the city eventually wrote back to explain that Science World is built over the water on a deck that isn’t strong enough to support a paving machine which is why that one stretch couldn’t be properly covered in asphalt. They’re planning to revisit that whole section in 2027 for what it’s worth.

Here’s what the intersection looked like during the FIFA World Cup madness, which would have made skating downtown these last six weeks extra challenging anyway…

When I got home that evening, Rodger insisted I go get an x-ray, but the idea of spending half the night at the busy downtown St. Paul’s Hospital emergency room was out of the question. I agreed to go first thing the next morning after checking in with work.

A day at Emergency

I got to the emergency room around 11:00 a.m., after telling my workmates what had happened and that I would be out for a few hours. It didn’t seem all that busy at first. I sat down and listened to an audiobook on my headphones, and went through my usual morning routine of Connections, Wordle, and all the Quordles…

Three hours passed before I was called in to the x-ray room, another two before the doctor came out to see me. He sent me back for another x-ray because the first two didn’t clearly show the scaphoid bone, which meant another hour, and another hour after that until he could see me again. It was after 5 p.m. by the time I got home.

The ER doctor was the only saving grace of the whole experience. He looked like a cross between John Malkovich and Matt Frewer, star of Max Headroom and sci-fi “hey, it’s that guy” from dozens of shows I’ve loved over the years.

He was very sympathetic as showed me the slight feathering at the edges around the bone on the x-ray, and explained that it was just barely fractured—not displaced, and not the scaphoid (the fragile tiny bone at base of the thumb), not even a hairline fracture. When I told him it happened roller skating, he smiled and said he wrote his dissertation some 30 years ago on rollerblading injuries, back in the day when the activity was just gaining popularity.

But all that bedside manner didn’t change the fact that I would have to be in a cast for 6 weeks. I felt like I was being being handed a jail sentence. I burst into tears and then immediately felt guilty, looking around at all the people in wheelchairs, having mental health episodes or overdosing, chronically ill people connected to IV carts, and parents with injured children…

But what can I say? I got all the way to my 53rd year without breaking a bone and, as they say, the worst thing that’s ever happened to you is the worst thing that’s ever happened to you. And this didn’t even comes close to the worst thing that’s happened to me—but in the moment, it felt like my summer was over before it began.

Casted

I went home with a splint wrapped in tensor bandages and an appointment with an orthopedic clinic for the following week, where I got my fancy waterproof purple cast, which stayed on for the next 5 weeks. Of course I got a manicure to match.

I immediately began researching the best way to get exercise with a cast on and found that they now recommend staying as active as possible, even lifting weights with your uninjured arm, which somehow prevents muscle loss in the injured arm, as unintuitive as it may sound.

I followed the internet’s advice and continued working out every morning 4 days a week, getting as much cardio as possible and occasionally bursting into tears when a beautiful sunny day (and my well-meaning bestie) beckoned me out to skate and I had to say no.

But I managed to get out to play disc golf a bunch of times, and spent hours laying in the sun in a beautiful park while Rodger practiced throwing discs. I’m wearing his shorts in the picture above because my road-rashed ass took two weeks to heal and wearing tight shorts was out of the question!

Here’s a ridiculous image ChatGPT made to keep my spirits up. Hey “not all superpowers wear capes,” am I right? LOL

Freedom!

The cast came off on July 8th, and the doctor said it has healed perfectly. He told me to stretch and that any pain or weakness I feel is just soft tissue swelling and stiffness from being in the cast. He told me I could resume my usual routine and activities with no restrictions besides common sense. If it hurts, slow down—otherwise, I’m free!

I haven’t been out skating yet, but in the next few days, it’s definitely going to happen. I’ve already been adding very light weights in my left hand at the gym, icing it afterwards to reduce swelling, and stretching as much as I can.

Feel the fear, do it anyway

One of my coworkers told me she has a pair of roller skates in her closet that she hasn’t used since falling and injuring herself decades ago, which is a really common story (that’s why it’s so easy to find skates on FB Marketplace, barely used!). She asked if I was scared of falling again.

Of course I am! I’ve always been afraid of injuring myself, and I’ve been incredibly lucky that it was always pretty minor scapes and bruises, but I love it so much that the idea of being too scared to do it is unthinkable.

I think we all have things in our lives that carry risks and downsides that might deter other people, but we willingly set aside our fears and do them anyway.

Besides, everyone I talked to while I had my cast on was surprised when I told them I had never broken a bone before. Mostly of them pointed out various extremities of their own and listed a lifetime of injuries in sympathy and commiseration.

I’ve already bought a pair of much more robust wrist guards, and I’m planning on avoiding the intersection where I fell, until 2027 when they fix that gravel pit in the middle of the bike lane. There are miles of other bike lanes and city streets to skate…

And for the non-squeamish, here’s that gnarly road rash close-up I mentioned earlier. Stay safe out there, everyone… but more importantly, get out there and have fun. Use your body, because you’re not getting the deposit back at the end anyway!

Neurodivergence, Astrology, and the Power of Understanding

On a recent episode of the Starzology podcast I had the chance to interview Sarah Mireles, a clinical therapist based in Los Angeles who specializes in working with neurodivergent teens and their parents.

She’s not an astrologer, but she has found astrology to be a surprisingly effective tool for helping families better understand each other. After listening to our episode about addiction, she reached out and submitted a request to be a guest on our show, and I was immediately intrigued.

• Listen to the episode: Therapy and Astrology with Sarah Mireles

• Read more on Starzology.com: Therapy and Astrology

From the outset, we talked about the use of astrology as a metaphorical language. It’s not about predicting your fate or limiting your options—quite the opposite. It gives us a vocabulary to talk about our emotions and identities. It’s not about belief—it’s about what works.

The birth chart is one of the most ancient and nuanced maps of personality we have. So when Sarah told me she was interested in using astrology alongside evidence-based therapy to help parents see their children through a different lens, I knew we were going to have a fascinating conversation.

Not a Diagnosis, But a Map

Let’s get the disclaimer stuff out of the way first…

Astrology should never be used to try to tell if someone has ADHD, autism, OCD, or any other condition. Just like you can’t look at a newborn’s chart and predict their sexual orientation, or how long they’ll live. That’s not what it’s for.

Instead, the birth chart can offer another way of understanding how a person naturally thinks, learns, communicates, and experiences the world. It can indicate areas of strength, and areas of challenge, but it can’t predict exactly how they will express those gifts or handle those hardships.

Sarah talked about how parents often receive a diagnosis and suddenly have a name for the challenges they’ve been facing—which can be validating—but it doesn’t give them a framework for understanding who their child is as a unique human being.

Astrology can help provide that broader picture. But the key when combining astrology with therapy is to approach it like a roadmap, a tool for understanding, not as a way of labeling people or putting them in a box.

Different Brains, Different Strengths

We talked about the emphasis on differences rather than deficits. Every brain is different. Some people think in words. Some think in pictures. Some process information emotionally, while others need to take action, working their way through the issue before it makes sense.

Those aren’t problems that need fixing. They’re just different operating systems. The better we can understand our differences, the better our relationships will be. We may think very differently, but astrology can help us frame those differences in a way that fosters mutual understanding without stigma.

I’ve spent my life studying astrology, so I find this way of thinking incredibly natural. There are infinite, equally valid ways of moving through the world. How boring would it be if we all thought the same way?

Naturally, we spent quite a bit of time talking about Mercury, the planet associated with learning, communication, and thinking styles. An “afflicted” Mercury can often indicate early difficulties with learning, but fortunately, it’s a very fast-moving planet.

Using progressions, you can see how Mercury’s condition evolves over the course of a lifetime. What starts out as a challenge in childhood can become a strength in adulthood.

More about Mercury on Starzology.com:

• Mercury in the Birth Chart

• Mercury Aspects

Challenges and Gifts

In astrology, every placement has inherent strengths and challenges. As a Virgo, perfectionism is one trait that immediately comes to mind!

Perfectionism can be paralyzing, leading to anxiety and procrastination. The perfect is often the enemy of the good, and sometimes it’s easier to avoid committing to a project than to risk failure. But without perfectionism, we might never try to create anything.

My sewing projects, love of writing, art, burlesque, jewelry making—even roller skating, which is a hell of a learning curve! If I wasn’t obsessed with getting good at it, I might have quit after the first several hard falls on my ass. But here I am, eight years later, a much stronger skater and more mentally healthy because I powered through the setbacks, constantly improving. (Read about how I became a roller girl, if you haven’t already!)

The same is true of hyperfocus, emotional sensitivity, and many other unconventional ways of thinking. The same traits that create difficulties in one environment, like the classroom, can become extraordinary strengths in another.

Astrology, especially the modern, psychology-focused style practiced by Alison and myself, tries not to cast any placement as 100% “good” or “bad.” Everything exists on a spectrum.

Helping Parents See Their Children Differently

One idea that really stood out for me in my conversation with Sarah was the reminder that neurodivergent teens aren’t trying to be difficult. They’re often responding to overwhelming brain signals in the only way they know how.

That may sound simplistic, but it can be a profound shift in perspective for parents. Instead of asking, “Why won’t my child just do what I’ve asked?” they can begin asking, “What’s happening in my child’s nervous system right now?”

That shift can help parents see from the child’s perspective, and frame their interactions differently. By giving their child the benefit of the doubt, they can move towards a way of interacting that empowers the child, giving them a range of choices rather than ultimatums.

Tell Me a Success Story

Sarah shared a wonderful example from her practice involving a teenager who constantly resisted basic hygiene, like brushing their teeth. The parents were understandably stressed, but the more they pushed, the more their teen reacted with resistance.

Working with Sarah, they were able to shift their approach to one of understanding. It wasn’t about the act of brushing their teeth. It was about autonomy. Instead of doubling down with consequences and punishment, they tried something unintuitive: offering their teen options that respected their independence.

As soon as the teen felt more in control, their resistance gradually dissolved, and they were able to meet their parents somewhere in the middle.

This story is a beautiful reminder that building relationships is more important than enforcing rules, another belief that’s close to my heart.

Understanding Leads to Healing

Another theme we kept coming back to was compassion. Astrology isn’t about predicting your future or excusing antisocial traits (“of course I’m impatient, I’m an Aries”). It’s about understanding yourself and the people around you.

Whether we’re looking at a birth chart or working through challenges in a therapist’s office, we’re ultimately asking the same question: Who is this person, really? How can we relate, even when we disagree? Where do we meet in the middle, and how can I try to understand the areas of our greatest difference?

Astrology gives us a symbolic language for understanding, while also creating a buffer that avoids blame and stigmatizing our differences.

I thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with Sarah, and I think parents, therapists, astrologers, and anyone interested in human behavior will find it fascinating.

Listen to the episode: Therapy and Astrology with Sarah Mireles

Where to Find Sarah Mireles Online

• Sarah Mireles Therapy

• Contact Sarah Mireles

One of my favorite things about co-hosting the Starzology podcast is getting to meet intriguing people whose lives have taken very different paths, but which have led to an intersection with topics I find fascinating—in this case, astrology and tarot reading.

This month, while I’m recovering from a fractured wrist and unable to comfortably type with both hands, I’m reposting my recent series of interviews on the Starzology podcast, in case you missed them. Please make sure you’re subscribed wherever you listen to podcasts!

A Wide Spectrum of Guest Speakers

A few months ago, when we crossed a certain threshold in our monthly downloads, we got a flood of inquiries from potential guests to be on the podcast. I responded to most of them, whether or not they really seemed to have anything to do with astrology.

If you’ve been reading my last few posts, you will have seen my interviews with musician Mark Winters and astrologer Thomas Gazis. There were many others—including a party planner, a YA science fiction author, and more than a few niche self-help gurus—that never got past the initial exchange of emails.

Clearly, AI is doing some behind-the-scenes matchmaking, as well as writing the introductory letters (which is totally fine—I get it, no one likes writing cover letters!), but often the first question that came to my mind was “why us?!” But hey, if they think they would be a good fit, I’ll almost always reply and give them a chance.

So when someone reached out to us saying that Cardsy B (aka Rebecca), an astrologer, tarot reader, author, podcaster, and self-described “wellness witch” based in New York City, was interested in being a guest on our podcast, we were genuinely excited. I reached out, and we quickly scheduled an interview.

• Check out the Starzology post for more on this episode

• Listen to the episode: Cardsy B on Starzology

My Conversation with Cardsy B

This was a true meeting of the minds, and we immediately slipped into an easy exchange. One thing that made our conversation so engaging was how open she was about the challenges that ultimately led her to the dream of making a living doing what she loves full time.

After a devastating Saturn Return (which happens around age 28-30, when Saturn returns to the exact spot in its orbit where it was the day you were born) that brought personal loss, financial hardship, and the end of her marriage, Cardsy B rebuilt her life from the ground up, eventually turning her lifelong passion for tarot and astrology into a thriving career.

As we talked, I realized we had even more in common than I expected. We laughed and cringed recalling the dark chapters of our lives marked by our Saturn Returns. Hers involved losing her career, marriage, and financial security. Mine involved losing my job and being evicted from my apartment when I couldn’t pay my rent (the worst fear of anyone with Saturn in Cancer, the sign of the home!).

Saturn may be a tough teacher, but its lessons often—ideally anyway—provide us with a strong foundation to for the next chapter of our lives. By the time the second Saturn Return comes around, at the age of 58, hopefully we’ve internalized its lessons and find ourselves looking back on the first one as the crisis that turned us into stronger, more resilient, more independent versions of ourselves. #adulting lol

United in Badass

Which is not to say our conversation was all Saturn and gloom! I had to laugh when I learned that the first tarot deck she designed (her background is in advertising and graphic design) is called Badass Bitches Tarot, while my artwork has focused on Badass Goddesses for years. Clearly we share an appreciation for strong, inspiring women—and a love of profanity!

We talked about how Cardsy B taught herself tarot as a child, later discovering astrology through the zodiacal correspondences within the tarot. Today she blends astrology, tarot, and numerology in her client work, hosts the Hex in the City podcast, and is the author of The Saturn Diaries, a combination memoir and modern grimoire. Her second tarot deck, inspired by New York City witches, is currently in the works.

Toward the end of the interview, we discussed the turbulent astrological climate we’re all navigating this year and drew a collective tarot card for guidance. We agreed that the divination tools for which we both have an affinity are less about predicting the future and more about navigating life’s challenges with resilience, self-awareness, and compassion—for ourselves and others.

We could have easily talked for another hour, and we both agreed we’d love to collaborate again, so I’m hopeful this won’t be our last conversation!

If you enjoy thoughtful discussions about astrology, tarot, creativity, and the unexpected twists and turns our lives can take on the way to finding our true calling, I think you’ll really enjoy this episode. Give it a listen!

• Check out my previous post on Tarot Decks in my collection.

Find Cardsy B Online:

• Website: https://www.cardsyb.com/

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cardsyb/

• Podcast: https://www.cardsyb.com/podcast

I recently interviewed Greek astrologer Thomas Gazis for the Starzology podcast. In this two-part discussion, we did a deep dive into two areas of astrology that are close to Thomas’ heart, a relationship analysis technique he calls “latent synastry,” and mundane astrology, the study of nations and historical cycles.

Perhaps not coincidentally, these are also two topics I find fascinating! In case you missed these interviews, make sure you’re subscribed to the Starzology podcast, and check out the original posts linked below for more details and all the specific charts discussed.

I’m reposting several interviews here this month while I’m recovering from a fractured wrist, which makes typing with both hands a challenge.

Part 1: Latent Synastry Chart Comparison Technique

Listen here: Latent Astrology with Thomas Gazis
Read the Starzology post to see all the charts mentioned in this episode

In this episode, I spoke with Thomas Gazis about his innovative concept of latent synastry, a technique that reveals hidden compatibility between partners whose charts might appear mismatched at first glance.

Gazis explains that many successful couples do not fit traditional astrological expectations based on Sun sign compatibility. Through decades of observation, he noticed long-lasting relationships between seemingly incompatible signs like Taurus–Aquarius or Cancer–Libra.

To explain this phenomenon, he developed the idea of archetypal affinities—connections that arise when planetary placements in houses express the energy of particular zodiac signs.

For example, someone with the Sun in the 5th house may embody Leonine qualities, as the 5th house is naturally Leo’s house, while a Moon in the 8th house may express Scorpionic depth, since the 8th house is the natural house of Scorpio. These parallels can create powerful bonds between partners even when their Sun signs clash.

Gazis illustrates the concept with examples from well-known couples, showing how house placements and planetary connections can replicate sign archetypes and create deeper compatibility. He also emphasizes that synastry should never be judged by Sun signs alone.

Progressed Charts

Another theme we discussed is the importance of progressed charts in relationship analysis. As we constantly evolve throughout our lives, progressions reveal how we grow and change over time. As two people’s progressed Suns change signs over the course of 30 years, for example, the emotional and psychological dynamics within their relationship will naturally transform as well.

Beyond technique, Gazis reflects on the deeper meaning of intimate relationships. Rather than existing purely for happiness or entertainment, he argues, intimate partnerships serve a profound evolutionary purpose, requiring individuals to transcend ego and undergo personal transformation.

We agreed that modern dating apps risk reducing relationships to transactions like online shopping—or worse, gambling—weakening the mysterious and transformative qualities that these meaningful connections hold in favor of a system that serves the algorithm and keeps people swiping for the next dopamine hit.

Part 2: Mundane Astrology

In the second episode, we turned our attention to mundane astrology, which is the application of astrology to the study of nations, world events and historical cycles.

Listen here: Mundane Astrology with Thomas Gazis
Read the Starzology post

Gazis explains that his approach has been shaped by influential thinkers like Dane Rudhyar and Richard Tarnas, while also drawing on his own decades of observation.

We discussed how the cycles and connections between the outer planets describe distinct historical trends and political movements, while their transits through particular signs reflect shifts in collective human experience.

In particular, he emphasizes the significance of outer planets moving through the final quadrant of the zodiac—Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces—which are considered the collective or societal signs.

Gazis shares his long-standing concern about the implications of Pluto’s movement through these signs. While many astrologers have celebrated Pluto’s entry into Aquarius as a harbinger of innovation and democratic progress, Gazis argues that Pluto’s destructive influence must always be considered.

Similar to the way Pluto in Capricorn saw a global breakdown in once-trusted institutions and authority figures, Pluto in Aquarius will intensify darker collective dynamics, including technological warfare, social upheaval, and heightened global tensions in the areas of AI, automation, the meaning of collective truth and the divide between haves and have nots.

Planetary Resonance Cycles

Another major theme of our discussion is the idea of planetary resonance cycles, particularly a roughly 500-year pattern Gazis has identified in which several outer planets return to similar zodiacal positions.

He notes striking parallels between current planetary placements and those present in the early 16th century, when European colonial expansion began reshaping the world. He talks about how he feels Europe is now entering a period of cultural and geopolitical decline.

Throughout our conversation, Gazis illustrates how studying historical parallels in planetary cycles can help us anticipate major collective developments—from global conflicts to shifting centers of cultural power—while reminding us that the full meaning of these planetary patterns often only becomes clear in hindsight.

For More Thomas Gazis Online:

Gazis is a prolific writer and astrologer, covering political topics and exploring a variety of astrological techniques. Check out his website here:

• Thomas Gazis: Science Astrology

Next Week:

I’ll be reposting my interview with New York based astrologer and tarot card reader Cardsy B! It’s a great conversation, so I’ll see you back here next Saturday.

In the meantime, make sure you’re subscribed to the Starzology podcast!

A couple of months ago, I started a new series of interviews for the Starzology podcast, of which I’m a cohost. I’ll be reposting those interviews here over the next few weeks while I recover from my fractured wrist, which makes typing very difficult. Please make sure to follow us wherever you get your podcasts, and subscribe to the Starzology newsletter to get the latest episodes every Sunday.

In this episode of the Starzology podcast, I spoke with musician Mark Winters, whose unusual path to music began in the world of engineering and physics. Mark originally trained in aerospace engineering and worked extensively with computational fluid dynamics and advanced mathematics.

Listen to the episode: Mark Winters on Starzology

Early Origins

Although science came naturally to him, creativity was never far away. As a child he was influenced by both sides of his family. His grandmother wrote poetry and painted impressionistic landscapes, while his grandfather was an electrical engineer who also created detailed pen-and-ink drawings.

Mark’s musical journey began unexpectedly in 2011 when he decided to learn guitar as a surprise anniversary gift for his wife. Performing a song for her proved to be a transformative moment that sparked what he describes as an “obsession” with music.

Since then he has fully embraced songwriting and performance, even completing two major tours last year that included 120 shows and roughly 20,000 miles of travel on each tour.

Check out Starzology’s post on Mark Winters’ chart

Mark’s Chart

During the conversation we explored how Mark’s astrology chart reflects this blend of discipline and creativity. With Capricorn rising and Mars in the first house, he has a determined, self-directed drive. His Leo Moon in the seventh house speaks to his joy in performing and sharing music with others.

Several planets in the eleventh house, including Neptune, Uranus and Venus in Sagittarius, suggest collaboration, community, and an expansive artistic outlook. Mercury conjunct Uranus helps explain his flashes of creative insight, while Venus conjunct Jupiter in the twelfth house reflects his tendency to develop artistic ideas privately before sharing them.

Mark also described his songwriting process, which blends analytical thinking with intuition. Free writing, vocal training, and poetic lyric development help him balance the scientist and artist within him.

Brought Together by AI

When I asked Mark how he discovered the Starzology podcast, he explained that he uses AI-generated recommendation lists while on tour, to find new podcasts to listen to during those long hours on the road.

A month later, when Mark came through Vancouver, I checked out his show at the Heatley with a couple of friends, and we took a picture together.

Find Mark Online:

Mark Winters Music

Mark Winters YouTube Channel

Mark Winters on Instagram

Starzology Interviews

If you’re interested in astrology, you can find all the episodes on the Starzology Podcast website. You can also listen and subscribe on Apple Music, Spotify, and YouTube (audio only).

Next week, I’ll be posting a recap of my interview with Greek Astrologer Thomas Gazis. Here’s an AI-generated collage capturing the spirit of these two interviews. :)

Why Revisit?
I’m unfortunately recovering from a fractured wrist (the left one, but still!), which makes typing pretty uncomfortable. I’ll be sending out new blog posts, like I did last week, but I’ll also resend some older articles to give my right hand a break over the next five weeks. Enjoy revisiting this exploration of one of my favorite topics, popular neuroscience!

The Mind and the Brain

I'm absolutely fascinated by how the human brain works, and many of the books I own are some variation on this theme, from Malcolm Gladwell to V.S. Ramachandran, Oliver Sacks, Jill Bolte Taylor and a myriad of other doctors, historians, scientists and popular science writers.

The topics cover a huge spectrum: the history of neuroscience, brain surgery and chemistry, mental health studies and the ever-changing categorizations of mental illness, research into abnormal minds, genius vs. madness, altered states of consciousness, psychedelic science, nootropics, mind medications and mood drugs, neuroplasticity, developments in psychology, psychoanalysis, intelligence tests, personality tests, MKULTRA, brainwashing, propaganda, and everything in between.

Book Tour: The Red Shelf

• Altered States by James Hughes

• Reefer Madness by Eric Schlosser

• Strange Brains and Genius by Clifford R Pickover

• The Magic Thread by Richard Idemon

• The Book of Pluto by Stephen Forrest

• For the Journey by Laurie Strong

• The Mind and the Brain by Jeffrey M. Schwartz, MD and Sharon Begley

• Fear and Loathing in America by Hunter S Thompson

• Awaken the Genius by Patrick K. Porter, PhD

• Debt the First 5,000 years by David Graeber

• The Corporation by Joel Bakan

• Cosmic Trends by Philip Brown

• Love Signs by Linda Goodman

• At the Point of a Cutlass by Gregory N. Fleming

• Pad: the Guide to Ultra-Living by Matt Moranian

If you read enough popular science books on the brain you will come across many of the same tropes and stories over and over again, like the story of Phineas Gage and the horrific accident that caused an iron spike to be driven through his brain, resulting in personality changes that ruined his personal life but benefited the study of neuroscience almost immeasurably.

The gorilla basketball attention test, BF Skinner and his behavioralist research, Pavlov's dogs, the Stanford Prison experiment, lobotomies and electroshock therapy, the notorious experiment where participants were asked to shock fellow testers and raised the voltage to deadly levels just because they were instructed to.

Many of these tropes come with serious caveats and the true stories are often much murkier than the single-paragraph or chapter takeaways would have you believe. I've often thought about making a brain science bingo card with a square for each of these studies or stories that have become widespread to the point of cliché in popular science writing. Another common topic is previous misunderstandings or debunked theories...

​​​​​Top five brain myths

1. The 10% trope Probably the most popular misnomer these books like to debunk is the idea that we only use 10% of our brain, now understood to be the result of a misunderstanding of historical studies. MRIs (magnetic resonance imaging) now provide visual insight into the parts of the brain at work when we do certain tasks, or imagine doing them, or view or hear certain stimuli.
   
   The various parts light up in beautiful, mostly predictable patterns. We now understand that while we don't use 100% of our brains all the time, if you test the same person over a wide enough range of areas, you will eventually see very nearly all the brain light up at some point.

2. "X" kills brain cells Then there's the myth that neurons are inevitably decimated by time, drinking, drugs, etc. It was previously thought that the number of neurons we had were set and died off over time to the point where mental degradation after a certain age, or as a result of drinking, partying, etc. was inevitable.
   
   Now we know that moderation is the key to most things, and a healthy diet, exercise, good genes, keeping your brain active through education, novel experiences and social connections, plus a little bit of luck, can go a long way towards protecting brain health well into senescence.

3. Right brain/Left brain You'll often see right brain vs. left brain thinking described as a myth but really it's more like a useful metaphor used by self-help gurus and creatives to describe a person's orientation toward either analytical, verbal, linear thinking (left hemisphere) or abstract, creative, spatial and holistic thinking (right hemisphere).
   
   While it's technically true that both hemispheres of the brain do equal work in most normal brains free of specific damage to one hemisphere, it's also absolutely true that there are specific, hemispheric differences and that certain regions control certain types of thought and function.
   
   The brain is all about division of labor at its most efficient and beautiful. For an amazing illustration of exactly how this works, and what happens when it suddenly doesn't, watch Jill Bolte Taylor's mind-blowing TED Talk on her "stroke of insight."

4. The "chemical imbalance" cause of mood disorders This is less a myth than a wickedly successful marketing campaign that became so widely adopted, many people think it's a fact. Back in the day, the fledgling SSRI industry used this catchphrase to market antidepressants, and now they're prescribed to tens of millions of people for whom life in our late-stage capitalist dystopia has failed to be the endless joyride of adventure, achievement and acceptance they were somehow led to believe it should be.
   
   Worse than that, entire generations have grown up thinking it's okay to prescribe speed to millions of children just because they don't like to sit still in class. Don't get me wrong... depression is real, anxiety is real, your problems are valid! Everyone is different and everyone deserves to be happy.
   
   But millions of kids addicted to speed before they've even hit puberty? That's not evidence of a "chemical imbalance," it's a red flag of a society in free fall.

5. Our brains are more complex than the galaxy There's an oft-quoted statistic that there are more neurons in the brain than there are stars in the night sky, which turns out to be (only) a slight exaggeration.
   
   The human brain is incredibly complex, with current estimates putting the count of neurons at about 86 billion, compared to 200 to 400 billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy. Still pretty fucking impressive if you ask me.

Understanding ourselves

These days, the brain is most often compared to a computer and we talk about our brains in terms of computing power, glitches, system overload, random access memory, maybe even defragging the hard drive, LOL.

My grandmother noticed this back in the early 90s and told me that when she was in school the human body was often compared to an automobile, a relatively new technology in the 1930s when she was in school.

The digestive system was compared to the combustion engine, ingesting fuel and outputting energy, etc. We humans are perpetually inventing systems in our own image, and those inventions go on to become metaphors we use to better understand ourselves.

As much as we've learned about the brain over the last 150 years, and as amazing as recent developments have been in terms of neuroplasticity, brain computer interfaces, the ever-expanding array of mind-altering substances, mood and behavior drugs, microdosing psychedelics, etc., what's most exciting to me are the breakthroughs yet to be made...

Cranial implants granting miraculous abilities to people suffering from paralysis, revolutions in the treatment of patients in comas, novel methods of enabling people to communicate despite speech impairments due to brain damage, potential cures for Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and dementia, novel treatments for concussions, traumatic brain injury and brain cancer.

Even the potentially terrifying concept of reading people's thoughts via computer, recording your dreams and AI-assisted telepathy are absolutely fascinating. For me, learning about the brain is like learning about outer space. It fills me with wonder, curiosity and optimism for the future of humanity... precious commodities in this day and age, or any, really.

The Norns are a trio of female giantesses in Norse mythology who shape the destinies of both gods and humans. They’re similar to the Fates—or Moirai—in Greek mythology, but with a hard, Northern European edge: older, colder, and considerably less accommodating.

They sit beside Urðarbrunnr, the Well of Fate, beneath Yggdrasil, the World Tree, tending its roots and weaving the world tapestry from threads representing the lives of every person and deity. By drawing water from the Well, and packing clay around the trunk of the tree, they prevent its roots from rotting.

Urðr (Wyrd) represents the past. Her name is associated with fate, destiny, and that seemingly incidental collection of choices and events that brought you to this exact moment. She governs what has already been woven into the world tapestry. A fate once woven cannot be altered; your destiny must simply be met with courage.

Verðandi represents the present. Her name means “becoming,” making her the Norn of the eternal now, the point where possibility hardens into reality and your carefully laid plans collide with the cold, hard facts of life. Her name is derived from the Old Norse word “verða,” meaning to become.

Skuld represents the future. Her name translates as “debt” or “that which is owed,” suggesting that the future isn’t a blank slate so much as the bill that eventually comes due. In true Norse fashion, this is both factual and incredibly ominous. Skuld is unsurprisingly the most feared of the Norns.

While her two sisters weave the threads of destiny, Skuld often rides out onto the battlefield as a shield-maiden to determine who will die in combat, and to ferry the bravest of the slain to Valhalla, the VIP afterlife reserved for heroes.

The Norns don’t merely predict the future, they create it. And gods are tied to their fates every bit as much as humans are. Even Odin, the Allfather, who sacrificed an eye for wisdom and, like so many patriarchs of ancient myth, was always looking for cosmic loopholes, couldn’t overrule them.

In the hands of the Norns, your fate isn’t just about what will happen to you. It’s about the tangled relationship between past, present, and future. It’s an ever-changing tapestry, and our lives are the strings that create it. Our life strings come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. They may be short or long, faint or bold, but they’re all woven together in infinite complexity.

The Future

The Norns would definitely disagree with Sarah Connor’s advice to her son in Terminator 2: Judgment Day: “The future's not set. There's no fate but what we make for ourselves.“

The Norns’ version of this modern aphorism might be something like, “The present is still being written, but the future and the past are intertwined. Not even the gods can escape their fate.”

The Norns in Popular Culture

The Norns appear quite often in modern books, movies, and TV shows, and even video games. This may be because they’re among mythology’s earliest examples of the idea that your future is shaped by your past and present choices, not just the whims of the all-seeing gods.

It’s a surprisingly modern concept, wrapped in a myth of three giant women sitting under a cosmic tree, quietly deciding the fates of gods and humans alike.

Götterdämmerung — (“Twilight of the Gods”) is an opera by Richard Wagner, first performed on August 17, 1876, which opens on the three Norns weaving the rope of destiny and discussing the fate of gods and mortals. It is one of the most famous modern retellings of the Norns outside the original myths.

American Gods — Neil Gaiman’s 2001 novel, on which the Bryan Fuller TV series was based, draws heavily on Norse mythology. In the TV show, the Norns tend the roots of the World Tree during Mr. Wednesday’s vigil, and help supervise Shadow Moon’s sacrificial hanging.

The Sandman — In the iconic comic book series, Neil Gaiman merges the three Fates of Greek mythology with the Norns and the Furies, so that the become a single entity, the ultimate triple goddess. They are omniscient sisters representing the Maiden, Mother, and Crone who spin, measure, and cut the threads of fate.

God of War Ragnarök — In this 2022 game, the Norns appear as powerful seers who challenge Kratos’ assumptions about fate and prophecy. The game’s interpretation is particularly clever because the Norns don’t simply predict the future through magic; they understand people so well they can anticipate their choices.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla — Another popular role playing game that incorporates the Norns and the Well of Fate into its mythological storylines.

Vikings — This Norse themed TV series (2013-2020) frequently references fate, prophecy, and the woven destinies of its characters, echoing themes traditionally associated with the Norns.

Recently, a few of my favorite ongoing series wrapped up their very successful second seasons with announcements they’ll be back for just one more. Paradise and The Last of Us will call it quits after their upcoming third seasons, while Silo will end after four, but they’re filming seasons three and four simultaneously to preserve the kinetic arc of the trilogy of novels on which the show is based.

Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy more of a good thing just as much as the next person, but I respect the hell out of creators who have enough restraint and artistic integrity to map out a cohesive narrative and stick with it, even when success dangles the temptation of an endless run, which almost never ends well.

Best of the Least

Some of the best TV dramas of all time have ended intentionally, on their own terms, after an incredibly strong and comparably brief run of three seasons:

1. Legion:
   The platonic ideal of a perfect three season arc. Criminally underseen, with even diehard Marvel fans unaware this masterfully original standalone series ever existed. Legion was so creative, so cool and weird, it made you feel as batshit crazy as the main character at times, questioning what if anything you were watching, was “real.”
   
   Arguably that kind of plate spinning magic is unsustainable on a long enough timeline, but creator Noah Hawley never planned to keep it going indefinitely. Go watch the trailer and if you’re still not convinced, I’ll drop it… Maybe.

2. The Leftovers:
   Every season of this show wrapped up in a satisfying conclusion that would have left fans wishing for more, but not bitter that they were left with unanswered questions or unfinished character arcs. They told us upfront, we’re never going to answer the BIG question this show is based on. Then they took us on a wild ride with an emotional pay off that was better than we could have hoped.

3. The Killing:
   If you could hang with with the initial trauma and bleakness of the first episode, which delivered an emotional gut punch, and promised unprecedented levels of unrelenting, rain-soaked darkness and suffering, this show held together on the pure, intense chemistry of its co-stars, Joel Kinnaman and Mirielle Enos, and a stellar supporting cast that included Michelle Forbes, Peter Sarsgaard, and Brent Sexton.

4. Dark: Tailor-made for the generation that was primed to think in multiverse terms, this show was unbelievably smart, challenging, brilliantly crafted, and utterly baffling. Despite its insanely convoluted multiple-timeline story, which by season three was like a madman’s murder board of interconnected quantum plot lines, Dark stuck the landing exactly as intended, leaving no doubt that every step was intentional.

5. Happy Valley and Broadchurch: Two of the most perfect British crime dramas of the mid-2010s. Broadchurch stars the impeccable David Tennant and Olivia Colman. If you haven’t seen these shows and you love a tightly-crafted, perfectly acted murder mystery that ends exactly when it should, I highly recommend both.
   
   The British have always understood the value of a shorter, more impactful arc that leaves the audience sated, not overstuffed.

Cancelled Too Soon

If you were looking closely at the header of this post, you may have noticed that I included Hannibal, one of my favorite shows of all time. The lush cinematography, the gorgeous musical score, the mythic absurdity of murder and cannibalism on the surface, with the not-so-subtle subtext being the ultimate impossible love story… Serial killers as tragic Olympian gods/monsters.

Hannibal started out at a nine and sustained an incredibly intense pace for two seasons, only to crank up the emotional impact and blood-soaked, surreal-gothic imagery to 11 in the third season.

It did indeed end after three seasons, but not because the showrunner Brian Fuller, or any of the ridiculously talented cast (including Mads Mikkelson, Hugh Dancy, Gillian Anderson, Laurence Fishburne, and Gina Torres, among others) wanted it to.

Bryan Fuller meant for Hannibal to last at least four or five seasons, and die-hard fans are still holding out the faintest hope that one day they’ll come back to wrap things up like an exquisite meal of mysterious origin, not on the literal cliffhanger that ended season three. (It was still one of the best season finales of any show, ever.)

It’s absolutely mental that this show ran on NBC, given what they got past the censors. Somewhere, in an alternate universe, we got the Netflix or HBO version of this show, and I often wish we lived in that universe.

Mindhunter didn’t even make it to season three before the cost of production outweighed the benefits of viewership. Maybe in 2017 and 2018 there was just too much excellent television out there to compete, and this perfect gem of a series got lost in the shuffle. It’s still on Netflix for anyone who hasn’t seen it, and you can burn through the entire series in a weekend.

On the Other Hand

I’m not saying there’s anything inherently better about a short three- or four-season arc. Some other excellent shows, like Severence, Fallout, and The Pitt, have just been renewed for a third season, and show no signs of slowing down or wrapping up any time soon. Long may they reign!

Many of the best shows of all time took five or six seasons to tell a complex, and completely satisfying story. Think The Wire, Breaking Bad, and The Sopranos. Succession and The Good Place were four seasons, and Mad Men was a perfect seven.

Comedies are a completely different animal. The Simpsons has been going strong (your mileage may vary) for 36 seasons. South Park, 27. Granted those are animated series, so they don’t have to worry about an aging cast or salary demands.

Although the best comedy series—say Parks and Recreation, 30 Rock, Cheers, Friends, Veep, Hacks, and so on—mix laughs with pathos, allow their characters to evolve over time, and introduce new cast members, maybe even change locations to keep things fresh, they always rely on formula and repetition, whereas dramas must constantly move the story forward.

A Multiverse of Meh

For years, the Hollywood machine has leaned into more is better, the “cinematic universe” approach, churning out content based on existing IP and pumping more and more money into its successful franchises until we grow to hate them.

Consider the vitriol that Marvel Studios faced when announcing Robert Downey Jr., who heroically died as Iron Man in Avengers: Endgame, would return to play Dr. Doom. The message from superfans was clear: sometimes it’s better to stay dead.

Why struggle to conceive and market a brand new idea when you can remix and repackage a long-dead, fondly remembered series (Arrested Development, Dexter, Frasier, Roseanne, That 70s Show, Twin Peaks, Will & Grace)? Because the reanimated corpse never comes back the way we remember them.

And then there are the endless spin-offs and reboots of shows we once loved, which keep hitting the “continue” button long after the magic is gone. Even the most devoted Star Wars fan must, at some point, think enough is enough.

But when a show’s popularity outpaces its creativity, it can hobble along without a clue where it’s headed long after it should have ended. The toxic blend of greed and hubris (Game of Thrones) or sheer delusion (The Walking Dead) can squander the love and devotion of a massive early success until, by the end, what we once adored is a shambling, undead shadow of its former self.

The lesson to show runners? The same as every zombie movie teaches us. Kill off your darlings before they turn into something grotesque.

Did I miss your favorite short-run television masterpiece? Tell me in the comments!

Mami Wata (literally “Mother Water”) is an African goddess of fresh water, often depicted as a mermaid or snake charmer. She’s revered in Central, West, and Southern Africa as a symbol of fertility, abundance, health, and wealth.

Mami Wata represents the dual nature of water, without which life as we know it would not exist, but water in excess or in the form of a hurricane, storm surge, or flood, is among the most destructive forces on earth.

Earth and Water

In astrology, earth and water are the feminine elements, while air and fire are masculine. Earth gives life and shape to matter; it is stable and supportive, giving form to living structures and nurturing all the flora and fauna that rely on it for sustenence.

Earth in the form of soil produces plant life, the basis of the entire food chain, while earth in the form of mountains seems unyielding and eternal until the primal forces beneath it cause it to shake, erupt, and explode in catastrophic violence.

Water takes the shape of whatever vessel holds it. Without the molecules that form water in our atmosphere, no life would exist on our planet. It would be a barren, wind-swept wasteland like Mars. Even the most seemingly passive bodies of water contain the building blocks of life and, at the molecular level, water is constantly in motion.

Water covers over 70% of the globe, from the vast oceans to the mighty rivers, to the millions of lakes and streams, and all that water is connected through the rain cycle that replenishes and distributes it like the lifeblood of a living organism.

Take away our salt-laden oceans, which make up 97.5% of the water on earth, and only 2.5% of the water supply consists of fresh water. A further 68% of that exists as glacial ice at the planet’s poles.

Water is Life

Understanding this, we begin to see what the ancients instinctively grasped, that fresh water is the single most important element to our survival.

Human beings can only survive for a few days without water. Depending on environmental conditions, general health, and other factors, a week to 10 days seems to be the maximum.

There are of course outliers and anecdotal accounts of people surviving several weeks without water, but that is highly unusual. Our bodies are made up of around 70-75% water, so the longer we go without it, the faster our organs and living systems break down.

But since the dawn of recorded history, mass death has also been associated with an abundance of water. Nearly every religious tradition has a flood myth, where the earth’s inhabitants were inundated and swept away, whether as punishment for their sins or as the result of capricious deities who cared little about human suffering.

The big three human necessities are food, water, and shelter, and shelter is often designed to shield us from the incursion of water. We built our first towns and cities on the banks of rivers because that’s where the earth was most fertile. Later, those tributaries made essential travel and trade with other civilizations possible.

Water is Power

But rivers are capricious and unpredictable providers, flooding when the rains come too fast, and sweeping away the fragile settlements that cling to their banks for survival. When the rains are too sparse, the rivers dry up and the people that depend of them starve—or adapt, learning to store grain and cure meats to last them through the dry seasons.

In this way, the cycles of water contributed to our evolution, not only feeding our (quite literally) thirsty brains, but making us into a species that thrived because we learned to plan; to document the rise and fall of the water table, to track the flows of rivers, and to dig wells so we could ultimately harness the element of water.

For much of human history, the most powerful rulers were those who gained control of those life-giving waterways. Inventing seafaring vessels, mapping trade routes, creating irrigation and sewer systems, aqueducts, and indoor plumbing to name just a few of the massive contributors to human innovation involving water, which enabled our species to rise to the top of food chain.

Now, fresh water cools the massive server farms that power the internet, the digital infrastructure that powers our modern world. Turn off the water supply, and our global systems of communication, governance, and finance would grind to a halt as quickly as an electromagnetic storm could turn off the power.

Mami Wata

So let’s all take a moment to express our gratitude to the goddess who rules the capricious and incalculably valuable element of water. But let’s not forget, she’s also a seductive and mesmerizing mermaid, who has a lot to say about the double-edged sword of female power.

Strength comes in many forms, and soft power—the power to influence, to charm, to entice, to cajole—can be used to greater effect than the brute force of fury and fists when wielded with malice, or carelessness.

Female Power

“My love for you is like a candle.
Forget me, and I’ll burn your fucking house down.”
— Internet meme

So Mami Wata is a goddess who rules the most powerful and unpredictable element on earth, but she’s also a singularly feminine deity. She doesn’t concern herself with war or creation on a grand scale; she rules the realms typically associated with female power; beauty, seduction, attraction, intuition, and the desire for wealth and comfort.

Men (and women) are ruled by their passions, and those passions can easily lead them into temptation, jealousy, and destructive actions. The mythologies of the world are full of stories about the horrors enacted by men (and women) in the name of unrequited desire. The history of the world is the history of desire, of one group coveting the assets of others, and of the powerful rulers who conquer each other to possess them.

Mami Wata is all about the power of desire, and great responsibility comes with that kind of power. All kinds of power command respect, because every form of power—physical, emotional, sexual, financial, intellectual, or elemental—can be used for good or for ill.

The moral of these stories is part empowerment, part warning. Pray to the goddess for the riches and rewards that you think will make you happy, but beware you don’t abuse that power once you attain it.

Check out my RedBubble shop for Mami Wata and other badass goddess products.

The photos I shared a few weeks ago were taken backstage and by Fubarfoto, which sets up automatic cameras at the front (and sometimes back) of the stage to capture dozens of pictures throughout the performance.

The professional photos (taken by David Jacklin) and video (courtesy of one of my fellow butterflies, Jess Roh) always come later, sometimes long after the glow of performing has faded away.

Glitter Crash

That “fading away” has a name in the burlesque community, the “glitter crash.” It’s defined as that empty, post-performance feeling of malaise and melancholy that you inevitably feel after the weeks of practice, rehearsals, putting your costume together, and finally getting to perform to a room full of strangers, friends, and family, are over.

The immediate feeling is a combination of relief and elation, as the last of the pre-show adrenaline floods your system with endorphins. You can finally relax for the first time, after weeks of memorizing choreography and hours of last-minute practice and watching the rehearsal videos backstage.

You’ve drilled that one turn you kept messing up so many times, added more sequins and jewelry, eyeliner and hairspray, played on your phone to distract yourself, tried to avoid drinking too much water because the more anxious you are, the more you think you have to pee anyway…

Then you’re filing up the stairs to wait in the wings (in your literal wings, in this case), listening to the music of the performance before yours, checking to make sure all your crew is together, making nervous small talk until you hear the applause that means you’re up next…

And then you’re onstage. You remember to smile, you nail all the moves, or sometimes you don’t, and that’s okay (but this time I did!). The audience roars and cheers with approval, and that’s it—it’s over so quickly.

If your brief moment on stage came at the beginning of the show like mine did, you can change into civilian clothes and stand at the back of the hall, have a drink, and watch the rest of the show, cheering and whooping along with the audience as the other performers take their turns.

Aftermath

But the next day, there it is, as you’re putting away your costume pieces and cleaning stray glitter off the bathroom counter—that feeling of “now what?”

I was really tempted this time to jump right into another show. I almost joined a 5-week class with Melody Mangler, but in the end, I decided to wait. She has another class coming up later this summer, which sounds amazing… something about mermaids, so more on that later!

I did take a one-off class at Passion and Performance with the exceptionally talented Kyra Taylor. You can see a video of that here:

Almost Summer

For now it’s almost summer and I’m spending every sunny afternoon skating or sitting on patios with friends, attending daytime raves, biking, and laying in the sun. This is the season I live for!

As many of you know, I recently started a new contract as a Marketing Manager for a quantum computing company. It’s a fascinating field on the cutting edge of physics and engineering, and I’ve entered at a time that’s ripe for innovation and discovery.

What is Quantum?

First, let’s define “quantum” in this context. The dictionary (okay, Google AI lol) definition is: The smallest discrete, countable unit of any physical entity, such as energy, light, or matter.

Quantum physics is the fundamental study of matter and energy at the atomic and subatomic scales, where classical physics laws do not apply.

In science fiction, quantum technology is often used as a device to explore the concept of parallel worlds, or the “multiverse,” where infinite versions of our reality exist side by side (so to speak) and can be accessed in some way.

The mechanism of access can be physical (i.e., through some kind of machine, vessel, portal, device, etc.) or mental; through hypnosis, psychedelic drugs, dreams, near death states, actual death, or a combination thereof (technological upload, consciousness swapping or splitting the self into multiple versions, etc.).

Quantum Fiction vs. Quantum Reality

But that’s not what I’m here to talk about today! The implications of quantum computing are endlessly intriguing, but no more intriguing than the mind-bending sub-genre of science fiction exploring the idea of multiverses vibrating around us in infinite iterations.

Delving into the speculative futures that may unfold as we learn to harness and manipulate quantum entanglement for good or ill, these stories investigate what can go wrong when our human need to tinker with the building blocks of reality comes up against our need to make narrative sense of our lived experience.

Best Quantum Books (Fiction)

• Anathem – Neal Stephenson

  A philosophical masterpiece exploring parallel worlds and quantum cosmology.

• Dark Matter — Blake Crouch
  A physicist is pulled into an alternate version of his life and forced to confront the cost of the path not taken, then infinite paths, as he fights to return to his own reality.

• The Gone World — Tom Sweterlitsch
  A federal agent investigates a murder tied to branching future timelines and an approaching cosmic apocalypse. Quantum Leap meets Annihilation.

• The Man in the High Castle — Philip K. Dick
  An alternate-history world hints at deeper parallel realities beneath the surface.

• Recursion — Blake Crouch
  A technology that allows people to relive memories begins rewriting reality itself, collapsing time into overlapping loops. Propulsive and cinematic, a literal race against time with catastrophic consequences.

• Ubik — Philip K. Dick
  From the O.G. master of dark, mind-bending science fiction. Reality starts to break down after a mission goes wrong, leaving characters unsure what’s real.

Best Quantum Graphic Novels and Comics

• X-Men (especially 90s–2000s) – Days of Future Past, Age of Apocalypse, etc. I grew up reading Marvel comics long before the movies, so my brain was primed for the multiverse through my favorite “children of the atom.”

• Spider-Man (Spider-Verse arcs) – Multiverse chaos with a dose of charm and wit.

• Black Science – One of the most intense, unique, brilliant comic series I’ve ever read. Dark, violent multiverse hopping with a flawed genius father trying to reunite his family and save the universe that his invention put at risk. I’m holding out hope for a wildly ambitious TV adaptation (Noah Hawley would be perfect).

Best Quantum Movies

• Coherence – A dinner party turns surreal when a passing comet causes reality to split into overlapping versions. Low-budget, incredibly clever storytelling.

• Donnie Darko – Not driven by technology, but undeniably quantum-adjacent, this story explores tangent universes through teen angst, existential dread, sacrifice, and inevitability.

• Everything Everywhere All at Once – Chaos, identity, family, and love—meaning of life type stuff set against the infinite recursion of multiple worlds.

• Primer – Ultra-low-budget, brutally realistic film about engineers who accidentally build a time-affecting box through a quantum glitch.

• Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse – Arguably the most joyful multiverse story.

Best Quantum TV Shows

• Dark – A German masterpiece weaving time loops, connected families, and multiple worlds—one of the smartest sci fi series ever made.

• Counterpart – Parallel worlds spy drama starring JK Simmons.

• Dark Matter – Based on the exceptional novel—quantum technology pits a family man against his evil tech bro alter ego, across infinite possible worlds.

• Devs – Dark, philosophical thriller about a secretive quantum computing project that explores the nature of free will, determinism, and technological immortality.

• Fringe – Investigates strange phenomena tied to alternate timelines, parallel universes, and experimental quantum technology.

• The OA – Multiverse as spiritual/experiential “find your tribe” quest. Starts out darker than most, ends hopeful and life-affirming (but on fucking cliff-hanger, arghh!). Also, that crazy circle dance thing! If you know, you know…

• Quantum Leap

  A scientist “leaps” into different people’s lives via a quantum experiment in a dark and distant future, to “put right what once went wrong.” Not textbook quantum science, but a classic that deserves a place on any list of mind-bending sci fi.

• Rick and Morty – Animated comedy meets quantum chaos. Bizarre, bold, and beloved—one of the smartest, weirdest multiverse explorations on TV.

• Travelers – Time travel, consciousness hopping, looping consequences, trying to avert the apocalypse Terminator-style, and with so much heart. Characters whose pain you felt. The series finale was devastating.

• 12 Monkeys – Not all time travel is quantum, but I’ll throw this one in for the sheer batshit levels of entanglement that layered season upon season until it felt unsustainable. It didn’t jump the shark, it blew a hole right through the shark and powered through another two seasons before its ultimate finale.

Quantum Nonfiction

Last but not least, I’ve been doing a lot of studying since I started my new contract last year. It’s no easy feat, bringing my art student, sci fi nerd ass up to speed on just enough cutting edge physics to make myself useful to the Marketing team.

Learning the lingo, separating the hype from the science, and getting myself steeped in the world of quantum so I can help translate the fantastical wonders happening behind the scenes in the lab into the wider world.

Here are some of the sources that helped me wrap my mind around one of the most esoteric and inscrutable branches of modern science.

• Quantum Supremacy — Michio Kaku
  A big-picture, future-focused, less technical primer about how quantum computing could reshape the world in the next decade.

• Michio Kaku: Quantum computing is the next revolution

  The bite-sized YouTube version of Quantum Supremacy.

• Quantum Computers Explained: How Quantum Computing Works
  Animated Deadpool and Wolverine explain quantum computing. Totally up my alley, and also endorsed by one of my colleagues who knows her shit.

[All images by ChatGPT]

I read a lot of books. An entire wall in my living room consists of a massive bookcase stacked from floor to ceiling with hundreds of books, almost exclusively non-fiction. I spend my daily workout and my twice weekly hour-and-a-half commute to the office with my headphones on, listening to audiobooks.

I use the Libby app from my local library to download audiobooks, as well as Spotify Premium (although their monthly limit of 15 hours of listening time enrages me). The Libby app recently began keeping a timeline so you can go back and see how many books you’ve checked out every year, and my annual tally since 2018 hovers between 100 and 150.

Which is not to say I actually finish all those books, which would be almost impossible… I mean, there are 52 weeks in a year, so that would mean I’m averaging 2-3 books a week… Okay, that’s actually very possible. LOL But I also listen to a lot of podcasts and binge a lot of TV, so it’s safe to assume I’m abandoning quite a few of those books mid-listen.

Nonfictionado

For years, I was a strict non-fiction snob. It’s not that I didn’t respect fiction, but for me it’s the same as listening to music, which I also have trouble doing unless I’m at a show watching a band I like, or at a club dancing. For me to enjoy it, it has to match my mood perfectly or it’s just frustrating noise, not entertainment.

With the best non-fiction, you’re carried along by a single point of view, which unfolds and educates you about a compelling niche reality, revealing and exploring a topic in depth and leaving you smarter and more well-rounded, like a trip to a foreign country.

Some of my favorite audiobooks of all time are explorations of subject matter I never would have considered interesting before I read them. Five perfect examples are:

1. Fire Weather by John Valliant — I wrote about this amazing book last year. It chronicles the 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire, and delves into the geology of the Alberta oil sands and the history of our relationship with fire, before laying out all the reasons they're becoming more and more disastrous and unpredictable. The writing is excellent, and it reads more like a propulsive apocalyptic novel than nonfiction.

2. The Whale Warriors by Peter Heller — A gripping account of the author’s ride-along with Sea Shepard Conservation Society, the radical conservationist org created by environmentalist icon and great spirit bear incarnate, Paul Watson.

3. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot — Long before it was turned into a movie starring Oprah Winfrey, this book is one of the best examples of novelistic nonfiction, revealing insane facts that seem impossible but are 100% scientific truth, layering mystery upon revelation, character conflicts and resolutions, leaving you intellectually enriched without letting your attention lapse for a moment.

4. The Wave: In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks, and Giants of the Ocean by Susan Casey — An investigation of massive rogue waves, which were once elusive to the point of being doubted by the scientific community. Casey’s research combined with accounts of surfers and sailors who encountered them reads like an adrenaline-fuelled adventure novel.

5. Almost any book by Annie Jacobsen. I wrote about Nuclear War: A Scenario last year, but if you’re not in the mood to be scared shitless about the more-present-than-ever threat of global nuclear annihilation, I would recommend you start with Area 51: An Uncensored History of America's Top Secret Military Base.

Have We Strip-Mined Reality?

Somewhere along the way over the last few years, nonfiction started to feel less like a goldmine of historical and scientific revelations and more like an algorithmic formula. I blame Malcolm Gladwell and the Freakonomics guys. Just kidding… but not really.

They were at the forefront of the nonfiction renaissance of the mid-2000s, with blockbusters like Blink and The Tipping Point gaining a huge audience and making social science a wildly popular genre, the hot new beach read for anyone who wanted to feel smart while being entertained.

The genre is still thriving 20 years later, but the new offerings are less about revealing cool hidden connections that unlock the mysteries of life, our bodies and brains, the hidden levers of society and history, or whatever, and more about optimizing your life.

Legions of copycat social science writers flooded the market, all but ruining reality-based writing, commodifying and flattening the genre that once felt like a life hack, into, well, just hackery. (Also, “life hacks,” ugh.)

It’s the fitness bro-ification of popular nonfiction.

Back to the Fiction

So lately I’ve found myself reading fiction again, but it’s been a bumpy ride. I have way less patience for badly written fiction than nonfiction, and a vibe mismatch is an instant deal-breaker.

All through high school and college, I read a ton of science fiction. Authors like Philip K. Dick and Robert Heinlein were among my favorites, and I was constantly searching the library for new material, and bringing home stacks of weathered paperbacks from used bookstores.

In the days before online bookstores and libraries, downloadable audiobooks and easy access to thousands of reviews to help shape your reading list, finding good books was a total crapshoot.

But used books were so cheap, it didn’t matter if only one in five were a hit. I could take the misses back and trade them in for credit on my next visit. Finding a new author I clicked with wasn’t just the ultimate dopamine hit, it unlocked a new side quest: find everything they’ve ever written and read them all!

Thank god for the internet and AI

With Libby, Amazon, Goodreads and now, AI, it’s never been easier to find books, movies and TV shows perfectly matched to your exact taste profile. Some of my most interesting and helpful conversations with ChatGPT have been those where I gave it examples of books or shows I loved, and asked for recommendations.

Here are some of my favorite recent fiction reads:

• Dark Matter, Recursion, Run, and Upgrade by Blake Crouch

• Wool, Shift, and Dust by Hugh Howey (and Silo, the excellent TV adaptation)

• Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang

What’s on your nightstand, beach bag, or headphones these days? Tell me in the comments!

Collage by ChatGPT

Last night was the annual Garden of Delights extravaganza hosted and conceived by Melody Mangler. I was part of the group performance that opened a night that included violin, opera, ballet, contortion, pole, cyr wheel acrobatics, zouk dancers, singers, and numerous burlesque icons.

Our little group of butterflies, from left to right: @kayla420luv, @kaykaylalalaa, @chex.mix.spins, @jess.m.roh, @subject_magic_expert, and me, @mspinkdotnet.

As is often the case after nights like these, I’m delightfully exhausted, mentally and physically, and feel inadequate to the task of processing it all into a compelling blog post.

There will be more photos and videos dropping over the course of the next week, so I’ll save that for next Saturday. Enjoy a few shots today while I recover, courtesy of @fubarfoto and @melodymanglerproductions.

Thanks for reading, everyone! See you next week.

Lady Meng, also known as Meng Po (whose name means “Dream”), is a significant figure in Chinese Buddhist folklore. She is associated with the realm of the afterlife and she oversees the “Pool of Forgetfulness” or “Pool of Oblivion” in Diyu, the realm of the dead.

After a person dies, their soul undergoes a process of reincarnation, but before being reborn, they must accept a drink from Lady Meng. Her mystical potion makes them lose all memories of their previous lives, which ensures they are reborn with a clean slate.

The only thing a soul carries from one incarnation to the next is its karma, like spiritual metadata.

Lady Meng is usually depicted as a compassionate figure, assisting souls in the transition between death and rebirth. Devotees may seek her assistance through prayers or rituals to ensure a smooth and favorable journey to the next life.

No Time to Forget

For those of us still very much embedded in our current incarnation, there is almost no greater fear than forgetting. The missed connection, the unset alarm, the panicked realization, to late, that we have neglected our obligations, or worse, let our loved ones down.

We live in a constant state of anxious attachment to the gears of the clocks that rule our lives, the morning rituals, the work calendars and class schedules daisy-chained with appointments, meetings and tasks, milestones and deadlines.

We strive to be on time, to be thoughtful and remember birthdays, anniversaries, bill payments, setting dates and reminders to connect with friends and family, subscribing to apps and services that promise to keep us aligned. Counting reps and calories, tracking sleep and recording dreams in the hopes of achieving the most elevated possible state of health and happiness.

Stealing Time

The most terrifying diseases of old age are those that take our memories, erasing our lives long before their physical culmination, the cruelest affront to everything we strive for through a lifetime of attention and repetition. Forgetting is a fate worse than death.

And there sits Lady Meng at the end of it all, dipping her ladle in the Potion of Oblivion, saying, now is the time to let go. And we drink, like the caterpillar driven by instinct to weave its cocoon, a tomb of its own making, from which it will emerge a totally different creature.

It’s almost incomprehensible what happens inside that cocoon; the transformation of fibers and cells into a liminal state that bears no resemblance to its previous form. It’s not that the caterpillar grows wings. It is that everything that was caterpillar breaks down into a kind of goo, then reconstitutes as a butterfly. Total transformation.

Who knows if the butterfly “remembers” its previous life. Perhaps it’s better to forget.

Midnight Butterflies

If you’re going to be in Vancouver on April 17, you can see me and my posse of butterflies opening the Garden of Delights show, a night of magical performance and transformation. Doors open at 7 pm, show starts at 8.

The Celtic Amazon

Scáthach (pronounced SKAH-hakh), whose name means “The Shadowy One” or “The One Who Strikes Fear,” is a legendary warrior queen and teacher of warriors in Celtic mythology. She lived in Scotland on the Isle of Skye in her fortress, Dunscaith Castle, where she trained heroes in martial arts, including spear combat.

In addition to combat training, she was considered a prophetess, a sorceress, and in some tales, a guide for the souls of warriors who died in battle, like a Celtic take on the Valkyries, the Norse death maidens who haunted the battlefields and shepherded the souls of the most valiant warriors killed in battle to Valhalla, where they lived out eternity drinking and feasting—surrounded, one assumes, by badass viking women.

In some stories Scáthach was portrayed as a rival to another legendary warrior woman, her sister Aífe.

Celtic mythology is chock full of badass warrior women. The rival sisters mentioned above were part of the Ulster Cycle, a body of Irish medieval legends featuring heroes and mythical kings set in what is now Ulster in northern Ireland, and Leinster in the east.

The Morrigan

The most famous of all the Irish war goddesses is actually a triple goddess called The Morrígan, also known as the “Phantom Queen” or “Great Queen.” She is a shapeshifting war goddess, associated with fate, prophecies, birth, death, sorcery and sovereignty over lands and livestock.

She is usually characterized as a trio of sisters named Badb, Macha and Nemain. Each aspect of the triad represents different facets of war and fate. Badb is associated with prophecy and can take the form of a carrion crow, foretelling death on the battlefield.

Macha is linked to sovereignty and may appear as a crow or a raven, and is considered a formidable protector of her people. Nemain is often associated with frenzy and panic in battle.

In her shapeshifting capacity, the Morrígan can take the form of a beautiful young woman, various animals, or warriors on the field of combat, but most often she appears as a crow, surveying the battle from above and predicting the violent deaths of her enemies.

Real Life Warrior Women

Perhaps it isn’t surprising that such formidable female figures exist in Celtic mythology, given the history of the regions that spawned these legends. In real life, famous Celtic female warriors include historical figures like Boudica, who led a massive uprising against Roman occupation in 60 AD.

Her rebel army was made up of around 120,000, and they killed an estimated 80,000 Romans and Britons, taking no prisoners as they fought against the invaders. After their eventual defeat, Boudica poisoned herself so as not to fall into the hands of her enemies.

Another is Princess Gwenllian ferch Gruffudd, a 12th century Welsh rebel who raised an army against the Norman invaders and was killed in battle, her death inspiring others to rise up in revolt.

And let’s not forget Grace O’Malley, the 16th century “Pirate Queen of Connacht,” who commanded three ships and two hundred men, plundering English ships on the high seas. She was so prolific that Queen Elizabeth I put a bounty on her head and considered sending the royal fleet against her.

She was captured in 1577, but after being released as part of a prisoner exchange, went back to a life of piracy, and ultimately became a privateer, committing legal piracy under the banner of the English flag.

Aries Season

April is of course Aries season, and this year there is a pileup of planets in Aries, not just the sun, which visits the fiery sign from March 20 to April 19 every year. This April, we’ll have the Sun, Mercury, Mars, Saturn, Neptune, and Chiron all in the sign of Aries. On the 17th, the new moon in Aries brings the count to seven.

So it’s only fitting that we celebrate some of the fiercest female fighters of myth and legend, who embody the fiery spirit of rebellion and the strength and skills required for battle. All of these are symbolized by the Mars-ruled energy of Aries.

For most of us, these martial qualities are metaphorical, such is the luxury of modern life. But we can all appreciate the discipline and dedication of the battle-ready warrior, and the selflessness of those who put their lives on the line to defend their people, their freedom, and their way of life.

War has always been a part of the human story, and women have traditionally fared very badly in times of war, bearing the burden of loss and grief, and rarely experiencing any of the glory.

But Aries is also the sign of the martial artist, the firefighter, the athlete, and the daredevil performing stunts and breaking records in sports like free climbing and deep sea diving. Aries women are also highly represented in stand-up comedy, who make their living doing something that is the stuff of nightmares for most normal people.

The lesson of Aries season is not “be fearless” because if you feel no fear, there’s no bravery in taking action. Face your fears, risk failure or ridicule, trust your training, and take the leap.

Buckle up, everyone. This April is shaping up to be a fiery one.

I just returned from seven days in Mexico, my first time visiting the country. We landed in Cancun, spent one night and then drove to Playa del Carmen, where we spent the rest of the week, with one day trip by ferry to the island of Cozumel.

The sun and sand were a tonic for my rain-addled winter brain, resetting my senses and fortifying me for the last few weeks of spring before the inevitable and always greatly anticipated onset of warmer weather in Vancouver. Our summers and falls are epic here, but god, the rainy season is a mind killer!

In addition to sprawling by the pool every morning, swimming in the ocean, eating the most amazing fresh foods and walking everywhere with a drink in my hand (Palmar seltzers, 36 pesos, around $3.00 CAD from 7-11… if you know, you know!), one of my favorite things about Mexico was the abundance of public art.

Mural Culture

I had long been aware of Mexico’s thriving culture of street art, stemming from the post-revolutionary mural paintings commissioned by the government after the 1910 Revolution to foster national identity. Those murals often featured workers, indigenous history, and folk heroes of the working class.

It’s another thing to be immersed in it, to see the sheer variety and ubiquity of art on every street corner, outside of shops and restaurants, lining the walls of construction sites and public parks, and adorning new hotel and condo developments.

Every day we tried to explore a little farther from our hotel in Playa del Carmen, which was just off the bustling tourist hub of 5th Avenue, heading as far south as the Cozumel ferry station, and past 54 Calle Norte to the north (about two miles). We also ventured several blocks inland to the east in search of local flavor, which is where we found our favorite taco trucks. I think I’ll miss them most of all!

Everywhere we walked, we encountered bursts of color and mythical narratives in the form of public art, a rich backdrop of visual texture under the radiant Caribbean blue sky.

Artistic Themes

Some of the main themes of the mural art we saw in Playa del Carmen were Mayan history, Mexican folk heroes like Frida Kahlo, and art that celebrates the blending of life and death (sugar skulls, mystical animals, etc.). There is also a collective style called Pinta o Muere that transforms damaged spaces into artistic, colorful murals.

One day by the pool, my friend commented that even the cracks in the walls and the vines snaking down through the trees and around the bars on the patios lining the courtyard seemed like artistic touches. It was as if even the decay of manmade infrastructure had something to convey about beauty, and the way we carve civilization out of nature but are never truly separate from it.

Frida Kahlo

One of Mexico’s most famous cultural icons, Frida Kahlo (1907–1954) was best known for her deeply personal, vibrant self-portraits blending surrealism and realism, and celebrating indigenous Mexican culture. Her paintings explored themes of identity, pain, and post-colonialism, and her face can be seen everywhere in Mexico.

Art at Home

Vancouver has made great strides in embracing public art over the last couple of decades, sponsoring mural festivals and commissioning paintings for new buildings and parking lots. I always stop and photograph my favorites to document them.

I took away a little piece of the art of Mexico in the form of a new tattoo, as did my partner (his first!). Shout out to the artists and designers at Cleopatra Ink who plied us with tequila shots and marked our skin with symbols we’ll carry with us forever.

My Skin is a Canvas

My partner, the Scorpio, chose a beautiful line art depiction of a scorpion to adorn his calf, and I chose a tribal sun (I know, so retro! But that’s how I roll). Now I can carry the sun with me through the rainy months as a constant reminder that my natural state is under its life-giving golden rays.

The Myth of Medusa

Medusa was once a beautiful young woman, the only mortal born among the three Gorgon sisters, until she incurred the wrath of the goddess Athena.

She was seduced by the sea god Poseidon in a temple of Athena, who punished the sacrilege by turning Medusa’s long hair into writhing snakes, the very sight of which turned men to stone.

While clearly a punishment, it’s interesting how the curse also turned Medusa into a powerful weapon against the male gaze, ensuring the original crime against her could never be repeated.

Medusa’s End

The hero Perseus was tasked with slaying Medusa as one of his quests. With the help of divine gifts from the gods, including a reflective shield from Athena, Perseus was able to approach Medusa without directly meeting her petrifying gaze, beheading her while she slept.

Medusa’s terrifying likeness was immortalized as a symbol in ancient Greek art and later in Western culture. Her severed head adorned Athena’s shield (maybe as a gesture of recompense?) and the tale of her transformation from beautiful woman to fearsome monster have an enduring fascination that continues into the modern era.

Moral of the Story

Seen in a certain light, the myth of Medusa doesn’t exactly age well into the post-MeToo era, or the self-proclaimed era of Badass Goddess feminism for that matter. We may feel compelled to rail against the ancient patriarchy, or demand to know why Athena would punish a poor innocent girl rather than rapey Poseidon, but that misses the point of the myths.

The gods were never meant to be models of good behavior. Athena may be the goddess of wisdom, but she can be every bit as capricious and narcissistic as the next god when it comes to taking personally a slight against her divine domain.

Just ask poor Arachne, the mortal woman whose only crime was weaving beautiful tapestries, a skill for which her only worthy competitor was Athena… and no one competes with the gods and gets away without paying a price.

Arachne was transformed into a spider for her hubris, and let that be a lesson to us all about the dangers inherent in being too good at a thing.

Garden of Delights

This is the time of year when I strive to be good at many things, one of which is performing in Melody Mangler’s annual Dionysian celebration of spring, Garden of Delights. If you’re planning to be in Vancouver on April 17, come check it out!

This will be my third year of dancing in the group performance that opens the show. Last year, we were sun worshipers beckoning a solar deity to bring back the light, appropriately enough, staged to “Waiting for the Sun” by The Doors. You can read all about that and see pictures here.

You can watch the video here:

This is also to say that the next few weeks are going to be a little crazy for me. In addition to rehearsing every Saturday in preparation for the show, I’ve been interviewing people for the Starzology podcast. You can subscribe on Apple Music and Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

You can also listen right on the Starzology website, where Alison posts her blog every week with charts and supporting information about every episode. My interviews will be posted on Wednesdays starting March 25 with a musician named Mark Winters, who reached out to us after our episode on music in the birth chart.

Spring Break

And, if all that weren’t enough, I’m taking a trip to Mexico next week! I’m so excited to experience several days sun and warmth in the middle of what has been a relentlessly rainy, cold winter in Vancouver.

So next week’s post might be a little short. :)

We’re right smack in the middle of Pisces season (February 19 to March 20), so it seems only appropriate that we devote some time to extolling the many virtues of this watery, dreamy, intuitive, empathic sign.

Pisces is a mutable (meaning flexible) sign ruled by Jupiter and Neptune, which is the astrological equivalent of having Mama Cass and Sid Barrett for parents.

All the textbooks will tell you Pisces is poetic, artistic and expressive, deeply spiritual, but a tad unreliable and oversensitive, on account of all those messy feelings.

Pisces Problems

Let’s get right to the point, shall we? Pisces is up there with Scorpio and Virgo when it comes to being maligned by people who don’t know anything about astrology. Maybe it’s the symbolism, two fish perpetually chasing each other’s tails, that doesn’t exactly scream credibility.

But it’s also a fact that Pisces is right up there with Scorpio and Capricorn for being maligned by astrologers (who should know better!). Maybe it’s because Pisces have an unenviable place at the end of the zodiac, native to the 12th house of hidden enemies, prisons, hospitals, and “self-undoing.” [shudder]

Even that phrase “self-undoing” puts modern astrologers in an icky state of mind. On the one hand, we don’t want to be prescriptive, implying doom and gloom. We want to support and encourage, not predict. We want to explain in empowering, positive terms, not like those nasty old fortune tellers who give astrologers a bad rap.

But sometimes you just have to call the kettle black, and the truth is, Pisces is the sign most closely associated with some deeply uncomfortable (and uncomfortably deep) concepts, like addiction, mental illness, institutionalization, and yes, suicide.

Even religion and belief in the supernatural, also associated with Pisces, are not the kinds of things you’re supposed to bring up on a first date, or even a first consultation, even though they’re every day realities for most people.

The End of the Line

Let’s face it, these folks are holding up the end of the zodiac, a hero’s journey of cosmic proportions, with all the questions and contradictions inherent in “endings.”

Is this all there is? What does it mean? Who am I really, if I can play all these roles so convincingly? Does my empathy doom me to a life of service and bearing witness to people at their worst? What responsibility do I have to others, just because I can feel their pain as if it were my own? What about my pain?

To the Death? No, to the Pain

And there it is, that question of pain. That of everyone around them, of the world itself, the unbearable cacophony of the fear and trembling of 8 billion-plus humans suffering their own individual torments on a daily basis, not to mention all the animals (dear god, the suffering of the animals! It’s a wonder every Pisces on earth isn’t vegetarian, although a great many are) and then there’s the unquiet souls of the dead, to whom many Pisceans feel a direct connection.

What happens to a fragile, empathetic soul when they can tune into the suffering of others on a global scale—when, in fact, they can’t tune it out—despite the inconvenient way that it can make things like getting dressed and commuting in rush hour traffic, watching the news (dear god, the news!) and just being alive so unbelievably… painful?

Well, that’s often where addiction comes in… and that thorny topic of “self-undoing.” Is it really self-inflicted when bearing witness to so much pain makes self-abnegation, even annihilation, an act of mercy?

The Great Wall of Water

Most Pisces people don’t self-destruct, though. They simply put up a wall between themselves and the world, a valiant act of self-defence which signals, however subtly, do not enter. They are masters of compartmentalization. They’ll be the ones to execute any acts of “undoing” behind the wall, thank you very much.

That Pisces “wall” can take many forms, but they’re often the only way to protect their own sanity. Pisces doesn’t get nearly enough credit for being one of the most enterprising and entrepreneurial signs, but overwork is a very common wall they put up to avoid dealing with other people’s baggage.

Sorry, too busy building my empire to deal with this right now. The everyday minutiae of other people’s lives can be a little too much for Pisces, you know, the minutiae like returning texts and keeping appointments that most people just call “life.”

Another Pisces wall is that flighty, flaky, forgetful facade. They know what people say about Pisces, so if people want to believe they’re just so “out there,” can you blame them for leaning in when it gets them out of situations where they’d rather not be anyway?

Ah, but what do I know? I’m just a Virgo with no planets in Pisces, my opposite sign. Pisces is the energy I understand the least in the entire zodiac. There’s nothing in my chart that even hints at what those depths of emotion must be like to live with. My only water placements are Scorpio rising and Saturn in Cancer (which isn’t nothing, but it’s certainly not Pisces).

On the Brighter Side

They can be insanely creative, and prolific in so many different media, you wonder if they ever find time to sleep. They often have an effortless charm that comes across like a Cancer on their best day mixed with a Gemini on a day when they got their meds balanced just right.

People find themselves obsessed with the Pisces person in their life without really understanding why. They’re not especially available, or overtly flirtatious, they just seem to draw you in with that abyssal gaze and suddenly they’re confiding intimate details of their life in a hushed voice and you feel chosen.

Weeks later, you may wonder if you dreamed the whole thing. They haven’t spoken of it since, and everything seems fine on the surface. They are masters at seeming fine on the surface, even as they effervesce with apologies for some momentary lapse in engagement or theoretical failing on their part. They offer blanket apologies just in case they’ve wronged you in some way, or feel they may in the near future.

Big Pisces Energy

I could babble on in abstract terms all day, but sometimes a list of names really is worth a thousand words, so let’s wrap this up with a celebrity roundup of some of the most famous and infamous Pisces peeps in history.

• Kurt Cobain, late great prince of grunge

• Alexander McQueen, designer of exquisitely decadent, edgy couture

• Michelangelo, painter of the Sistine Chapel and all-around Renaissance icon

• Albert Einstein, the guy you picture when someone says “genius”

• Steve Jobs, the guy who created the phone/ laptop you’re probably on right now

• Fred (Mr.) Rogers, beloved childhood television host and humanitarian

• Catherine O’Hara, legendary actress and comedienne

• Glenn Close, dramatic actress with a flair for over the top antagonists

• Simone Biles, five-time Olympic gold medal gymnast

So, on that note, go out and hug your favorite Pisces and enjoy the rest of this watery season. It’s all fire and Aries energy after this brief respite, folks!

Last week I went to a talk at Banyen Books by the tarot reader and author Ethony Dawn. It was an interesting evening, where she told her story of becoming a tarot reader and designing her own decks, then she took questions from the audience, many of whom were using tarot in their own practice, as a divination tool or a counseling aid.

For anyone who doesn’t know, tarot cards are an ancient tool used by spiritual seekers, artists, counselors, and psychic readers for the purpose of fortune telling, psychological guidance, emotional healing, or a combination thereof.

Although I was never confident enough (or interested in taking on the psychic responsibility) to do readings for other people, I’ve always been fascinated by the art, the lore, and the storytelling of tarot cards.

My Tarot Collection

After attending this talk, I decided to write about the decks in my collection, which sparked a deep search of my apartment. I’m very organized, but I have a tendency to tuck things away in ingenious ways that make them hard to find should the need arise.

I searched every cupboard of my massive bookcase, twice, then lifted the mattress to look under the platform bed, where I store all the fabric I’m no longer using now that my obsession with sewing has gone into remission…

After a few hours, I finally found the box tucked away behind a bunch of drawing notebooks and a set of drawers full of impeccably organized buttons, buckles, and hook fasteners. Victory!

1. Barbara Walker Tarot

I got my first deck of tarot cards when I was 13, when my mother was working at the bookstore Astrology Et Al in Seattle. My first deck really reflected my Scorpio rising. It was called the Barbara Walker Tarot and its stark red, white, and black design was what first attracted me.

At 13, I was just coming out of a long Pluto conjunction to my Scorpio ascendant (and if you don’t know what that means, let’s just say puberty came with an intense identity jolt that brought all kinds of adult themes (no abuse, let’s get that straight!).

At 13, I looked 16 and acted 21. I was desperate to be taken seriously and treated like an adult, which made a lot of adults (not to mention many of my peers) very uncomfortable. I dyed my hair dark red and went through a quasi-goth phase. So the dark symbolism and heavy mystical themes of the Barbara Walker tarot really appealed to me at the time.

Beyond the artwork, the deck was pretty beginner friendly because every card in the minor arcana (the cards that are numbered Ace through King, just like playing cards) had a little descriptive word at the top so you knew what it meant, like “Dream” for the Seven of Cups, and “Defeat” for the Five of Swords.

The major arcana and royal face cards were drawn from a mix of different mythologies and literature, which I was already interested in at that age. For example, Kali was the the Queen of Swords, Nimue from Arthurian Legend was the Princess of Pentacles, etc.

2. Mythic Tarot

My interest in tarot cards was rekindled in my late 20s and I spent hours researching their meaning and symbolism, and doing online readings. The first deck I became obsessed with was the Mythic Tarot, a deck based on Greek mythology and legends.

I was going through a period of severe economic hardship at the time, which is right up there with “necessity” as being the mother of invention. Since I couldn’t afford to go out and buy all the beautiful tarot decks I wanted, I got really creative.

Back then, there were a lot of websites were people would share high resolution scans of art from galleries, fantasy books, calendars, and even tarot decks. I decided I needed to collect all 78 cards from the Mythic Tarot so I could print them myself, which took months.

When I finally had every card, I printed them out and hot glued them to a pack (actually one and a half packs) of regular playing cards. I even created a box for them. These days, I can afford things (hallelujah!) and I would never dream of depriving the true artist of payment for their work, but looking back, I’m kind of amazed at my commitment!

3. The William Blake Tarot

William Blake (November 28, 1757 – August 12, 1827) was an English artist, poet and visionary whose work you would probably recognize if you saw it. His painting The Great Red Dragon featured prominently in the third and (as yet) final season of Hannibal, one of the best TV shows of all time.

Blake didn’t set out to design a tarot deck, but his artwork was incredibly prolific and the subject matter aligned perfectly with the tarot’s themes of spiritual journey and transformation.

Author Ed Buryn matched 79 of William Blake’s works to the major and minor arcana, and came up with four different suits for a custom-made artist’s journey of creative enlightenment.

In the William Blake Tarot, the suit of Cups became Music, Pentacles became Painting, Swords became Science, and Wands became Poetry. In the major arcana, some things like the Moon remained the same, while the Fool became “Innocence,” the Tower became “Lightning,” etc.

This was another deck that I printed myself and mounted to playing cards, but I think one day I would like to buy a real version of this unbelievably beautiful deck, if for no other reason than to honor Ed Buryn’s vision by actually paying for it.

I used this deck for personal readings a lot back in the day. The descriptions and interpretations are different from the traditional meanings, but familiar enough to offer a dual meaning to anyone familiar with tarot cards.

It’s perfect for anyone trying to pursue an artistic or spiritual life in a world that is oppressively weighted towards the triumph of science and reason at the expense of anything else.

The Arthurian Tarot

One of two decks I actually own, this one is based on the King Arthur legends and is a lovely collection of watercolor style paintings, very soft and mystical.

My interest in this deck was purely for the art, as I’ve never actually read any of the Arthurian Legends, unless you count The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley. When I got this deck, I don’t think there yet existed a deck based on The Lord of the Rings, which would have been the next logical step.

There are a few Lord of the Rings decks now, but honestly, I don’t endorse any of them. I mean, how can you create a tarot deck based on a fictional universe where there are only three major female characters (four, if you count Shelob the spider)?! The internet says there are 11, if you count incredibly minor characters.

Game of Thrones would make a much better tarot deck, but based on the image linked here, I’m already arguing with some of their choices LOL. Then again, half the fun of a deck based on popular culture or literature is thinking, How could they cast Jon Snow as The Emperor? After all, he knows nothing!

Brienne of Tarth as Strength, though? Perfect.

Shadowscapes Tarot

Another deck I bought for the art alone. I had been following the art of Stephanie Pui-Mun Law for years, and I watched as she slowly (over the course of years!) built her tarot deck one card at a time.

When the deck was finally completed and made available on her website, I had already spent hours pouring over the rough drawings and first drafts, reading her descriptions of the symbolism and her artistic process, I just had to order the deck.

The photo above doesn’t do it justice. Her colors and details are extraordinary. I highly recommend visiting her site and doing a deep dive. She is extremely prolific and talented.

My Tarot Deck

In early 2001, I started “designing” my own deck, a set of collage pieces combining the work of many of my favorite artists, with photography in the public domain and my own friends and family.

Each card is based on my own interpretation of the traditional tarot, with personal stories and characters from my life playing major parts.

The Lovers, for example, is a photo of my partner Rodger’s parents, a couple who met in their teens and had a nearly perfect marriage, raising their two adopted children in an idyllic home filled with love, support, and acceptance.

The Sun is based on my partner, the light of my life, with his electric guitar. The Moon is based on my mother, representing intuition, dreams, the subconscious and unconscious, and the need to look beyond what is obvious to gain understanding.

The Tower card was designed a month after 9-11, featuring the World Trade Center towers. Its meaning signifies sudden, shocking, and unavoidable change, upheaval, and the collapse of established structures, forcing the destruction of false beliefs, ego-driven, or toxic situations to eventually make way for new, authentic foundations.

The Art of Tarot

What I love most about the tarot is that it is a closed system with infinite creative possibilities, similar in some ways to astrology, or the mythologies of the world. Just like my “Badass Goddesses,” the tarot gives you a set of stories and symbolic meanings, and as an artist, you can fill in the blanks with your own interpretations, meanings, faces, and symbols.

You can find online quizzes based on your birth chart that tell you what card represents your personality. My card turns out to be the High Priestess, which represents intuition, mystery, the subconscious mind, and divine feminine energy.

The priestess acts as a bridge between the conscious and unconscious realms, advising you to trust your inner voice, pause to reflect, and explore hidden knowledge rather than relying solely on logic.

Here you can see how the High Priestess is represented across all six of my tarot decks, with the one I designed in the center.

Interesting backstory to my High Priestess card… I started designing my deck in early 2001, and chose the background image based on a search for skyscrapers struck by lightning.

The High Priestess traditionally sits between two towers or pillars representing the balance between light and darkness. The buildings I picked for the background were, to me, at the time, just a couple of tall buildings.

A few months after I completed this card, the World Trade Center towers were destroyed and the image I had chosen for this card came back to my mind in a flash of recognition as I saw them burning and collapsing on TV over and over, every day, for weeks in the aftermath of 9-11.

I had no idea when I put the Trade Center towers in the background of my High Priestess card that they would soon become the most recognized and emotionally charged symbolic towers in the history of the world.

Soon after that, I created the “Towers” card depicting their destruction, which you can see in the top row of the image right above this one.

So that’s my long relationship with the tarot in a nutshell. Let me know about yours in the comments!