April Fools in the Neighborhood
Exhibit A (knickers twisted)
I was rushing down Graham Ave today, doing my shop at the pork store, mozzarella store, pasta store. (It’s the kind of weather that calls for a meat ragu.) Bogged down with parcels, dressed in sweaty, schlubby workout gear, shuddering in the shitty cold wind, I rounded the corner to my house. And came face to face with one of the neighborhood old-timers who’s never acknowledged my existence in the 20 years I’ve lived here–not being Italian in East Williamsburg means I’ll always be dismissed as a Janey-Come-Lately. This time, though he stopped short. “You’re still pretty, honey,” he said. His consoling tone–that still–is cracking me up even now. Cuz, you know, he really was trying to be nice. P.S. The ragu turned out molto buono.
Self-Reckoning Is No April Fool
This clever but devastating New Yorker cartoon is pretty much the motto of Mars in Scorpio and Mercury in Capricorn—both of which can be found in my natal chart. Officially we say that all astrological aspects are positive. And of course this is true, in the sense that everything offers growth. But it is also true that certain elements of our natal charts are more challenging than others. Thus I am not the sort of person who thinks of things she wishes she’d said. Rather, I am the sort of person who, when threatened, says things other people wish they could forget. As April begins and we dig into a new year of astrology, I offer this transparency to inspire your own. Ask yourself: What tools have I allowed to become weapons? What personal traits and astrological elements are my help and hindrance? In my intuition practice, I love this part of soul-expansion. For contrary to contemporary belief, self-love is not blanket self-acceptance. It is ruthless self-reckoning coupled with powerful compassion.
After a Mercury Retrograde-inspired break, I am once again offering readings Wednesdays and Saturdays; get in touch.
The Spark of Darkness
Dad and I at Ellis Island Museum, c. 1994