My interest inastrologybegan in my dentists waiting room in 2008.
I was readingCosmopolitanand came across the 2009 horoscope forecast, a small insert published annually in the December issue.
Since then, I have let astrology loosely guide my life, as many millennials do.
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The company offered me a week of free on-demand readings via the app (normally $19.99 each).
Most people only know their sun sign and read their horoscopes for that.
But, Kelly told me, our rising sign dictates who we are even more.
We focus on our suns because they are easier to figure outall you should probably know is your birthday.
I feel like Im the opposite of a Sagittarius, I told Kelly about my rising.
Well, she raised an eyebrow and looked me up and down.
Youre giving me alotof Sag energy.
Just 10 minutes into my week and already, it appeared, I didn’t know myself at all.
But I was ready and open to see what happened.
Im on a plane, traveling from West Palm Beach to Newark.
I feel fairly refreshed after spending the weekend at my grandparents retirement community.
I go back to my parents house and work from there for the rest of the day.
Midday, my stomach feels a bit off and Im not quite sure why.
Later, Mom drives me to the bus stop so I can return to the city.
On the way, I open Sanctuary and signal for an astrologer.
The process is more or less like calling an Uber.
Someone named Nico responds to my Hi!
It is also more or less like a dating app.
I tell Mom I cant talk because I have to discuss my nausea with my astrologer.
I am eager to hear their perspective.
Mom is very excited.
Ask them whats going to happen with Dads job!
And where Eli is going to go to school!
I say, Nico is an astrologer, Mom.
I know Im ruled by Mercury and Mercury is retrograde right now.
I give up and take the subway downtown to my apartment.
But by the time I finish getting ready, I feel fine.
My nausea has disappeared completely.
I order the duck, eat the whole thing, and do not even have diarrhea.
It is also decidedly better than diarrhea or nausea.
This time, Kelly is the astrologer on the other end of the app.
Kelly and I get back on the subject of Mercury retrograde.
Moreover, this current Mercury retrograde is in Piscesyour opposite sign.
When does it end?
March 28, she says.
Kelly continues, Retrograde is actually a great time to practice all of the re- words.
But if were always doing and manifesting, how do we even know we still have the same goals?
Or, how can we confirm whether theyve actually been accomplished?
This sounds about right.
So retrograde will help me, in a way?
100 percent, she writes back immediately.
Thats exactly what retrograde does.
That night, I have dinner with two childhood friends and text my astrologer midmeal.
I am in a pleasant mood, so I am not sure I have much to chat about.
Mercury Rx at play, he says immediately, using astrology shorthand to refer to yesterdays disconnect.
So true, I key in back.
Tonight I decide to ask Nico about mydating situation.
With Gemini in your 7th house, you may be somewhat of a marathon romantic, he says.
Gemini is the right brain to Virgos left brain.
Both ruled by Mercury, there is a strong emphasis on clear communication in your chart.
I tend to have nothing to do with marathons, generally.
I ask Nico what it means.
Someone who cant quite keep their mind on one person, he says.
I dont really know if thats me, I say.
My therapist said the exact same thing.
Wednesday
I connect with an astrologer named Sterling.
He pulls up my chart.
What questions do you have this morning?
As I begin to throw in my response, the app shuts down.
Mercury Rx, I sigh.
Second go with Sterling.
For a Wednesday, I am feeling not so bad.
I feel quite different than I have in a while, actually.
I have been ruminating on the re- words Kelly brought to mind.Reset, restore, reconsider.
Renew, return, release.
Reevaluate, respond, reset.All together, I feel less drained, more energized.
I am swimming in the mess and trusting it will take me somewhere.
Ive been thinking and learning a lot about Mercury retrograde, I tell Sterling.
Youve got Jupiter in your first house, igniting energies of personal freedom and optimism.
Its currently in Sagittarius, and will be until November.
Its an especially lucky time.
:)
Sterling asks if theres anything specific Id like to discuss, so I mention my creative energy.
Part of me is interpreting it as laziness, but also maybe fear?
Let me share the best thing Ive ever heard about laziness, Sterling says.
Its sometimes fear of failure dressed up in slippers and pajamas.
I have a very difficult time balancing on my right foot.
I am mad for a minute and then blame it on the moon.
Friday
I get to the office, make a bowl of oatmeal, and start my reading.
Do our charts say things that we dont know about ourselves?
I go to therapy in the afternoon.
I do not tell my therapist I am cheating on her with three astrologers.
Later Friday night: Im on a date and am extremely fascinated by my dates extroversion.
What sign are you?
I ask him halfway through.
(Youve got to know their rising.)
he gushes after a suspenseful pause, throwing his hands in the air.
Of course, I mumble back.
He does not know his rising, but asks me to explain what the different parts of astrology mean.
I tell him that I am actually working on a story about all of this.
He says he loves talking about space.
But the sun never moves, he wonders.
I dont really know how that works, I admit.
But I think its all about perspective.
Saturday
I wake up.
I go to yoga.
I go straight from yoga to brunch with a friend.
I am also supposed to text my astrologer.
After contemplating all of this, I discover the subway I need to take isnt even running.
I decide to sit back down on the couch and just do the reading now.
I accept that I will be late to everything.
In other words, I shouldnt really do the reading in the subway or an Uber.
I should take the time to devote my attention to it on its own.
Thats what self-care is, after all.
It is, incidentally, the worst date I have ever been on.
Not even astrology could have explained that.
I make plans because I am bad at doing nothing.
I spend 15 minutes waiting in line for a bagel and wonder what is wrong with me.
Later, when my friend and I sit down to write, I text my astrologer.
(At some point, the astrologers stopped introducing themselves at the beginning of our chats.)
There should be something comforting about this Mercury-Saturn alignment despite the fact that Mercury is retrograde.
In a sense, you understand this retrograde territory.
It is written all over your chart.
There is an untapped spiritual mind seeking some sort of output in your chart, mystery astrologer says.
Finding the right paths to unleash this power is going to be one of your lifes challenges.
And as long as I have problems and questions, spiritualityin any formwill claim to have answers and solutions.
The meditation is fun; I use an app and do it in my pajamas.
An Australian man whispers a mantra through my AirPods.
Yoga is also fun.
Still sometimes have trouble balancing.
Ive stopped reading a weekly horoscope that gets delivered to my inbox every Monday.
It seemed too vague and Id usually forget it by lunchtime.
The biggest lessons I learned had nothing to do with astrology.
We have an infinite amount of information at our fingertips, yet many of us feel ceaselessly lost.
