Why I Started Avoiding Popular Social Media Astrology, And What I Do Instead
In my practice, I heavily focus on natal astrology as well as natal transits. I have personally found the way retrogrades and major transits have been marketed to be either fear based and disempowering, or filled with spiritual bypassing. Having an anxiety disorder... they had my mind going to every worst case scenario. Which is NOT what astrology is meant to do. It is meant to give us an awareness of harsh transits so we can strategize, it’s a cosmic cheat sheet... not a warning label. I will be covering how I deal with transits. I will also share my gnosis as to why I avoid ‘pop’ astrology on social media.
In chaos Magick, there is something called an ‘Egregore’. It is essentially an entity which is formed because a large group of people share a belief about an energy. In my own personal gnosis, we have Mercury Retrograde egregores running wild during its season because of the rapid resharing of sensational information. Is there also truth to information shared? Absolutely. I liken this to teenagers playing with a Ouija board VS and experienced occultist executing a summoning ritual. Spirits are being brought over in both practices. But, the trained occultist knows how to identify the correct energy. The teenagers are inexperienced and letting anything come through... and usually they have some unpleasant stories afterwards.
Learning about Natal Astrology and natal transits gives the practitioner the ability to discern the current energy in their individual life. Because reading the wheel can be daunting at first, I recommend cafe astrology. After you input your natal chart you will see a ‘horoscope’ option. This is not a cosmo horoscope. It breaks down all of your current aspects. Aspects in astrology are the things you have working for you, and against you.
While getting the hang of natal transits I advise to only pick one which stands out the most. Research the planets and the houses connected to the aspect. At first I found the idea of the houses to be very daunting. That is until I realized how much clarity they add. I will give a personal example.
A collective transit which has been getting a lot of press is the Saturn square Uranus transit. I went through this natal transit six months ago. My Saturn is in Scorpio in the 6th house- The 6th house being about routine, health, and work. This is the area where I experience discipline and restriction. It’s the ‘should’ placement. My ‘want’ or rebellion placement is my Uranus in Sagittarius in the 7th house. Which is the house of relationships and partnerships. When I experienced this square I felt like I needed to be ‘dutiful’ in my daily routines, I felt compelled to be the classic ‘good woman’. My rebellious side wanted to be independent, free to create art on my own accord. During this transit, I journaled A LOT and struck a balance between the two. Because I was so aware of the energy, I learned there was a time and a place for both.
When the collective transit happened again, I felt hints of my natal transit... and of course the feeling wasn’t pleasant. But I knew how to handle It.
I still subscribe to collective transits and I keep myself informed about retrogrades. I have compiled my own personal ‘do and don’t’ lists. I research which house I’ll be experiencing the retrograde’s force so I might move with awareness. But I disconnected from the popular retrograde narratives. Learning my natal astrology empowered me to do so. I can now move through difficult transits with a strategy. I hope this method might be helpful to my fellow witches with anxiety.
