Out of the shadows and into Autumn

Phew! We made it out of a summer of intense eclipses and soooo many retrograde planets! Leaving the shadow of Mars retrograde feels like a good time to start this project.

Hi! I’m Leah, and I have been interested in astrology since middle school, when I discovered the daily astrology nuggets by Holiday Mathis in the Washington Post. I think that was when I was really beginning to struggle with depression, and for some reason those two or three sentences would be my little morning moment of hope. I don’t know that I actually believed in any of it until I was in my early twenties and started learning there was way more to astrology than a sun sign. I came to find astrology a fascinating way of gaining some understanding of my human experience. I don’t know why it took me so long to accept that I am passionate about this subject (yes I do, it’s the eye rolls and scoffing, but I’m 38 now, and I DGAF), but I LOVE it, and consider myself a lifelong student.

I’ve been thinking about this blog for a long time now. Nine years ago I got a fistula (what is a fistula, you ask? read here…), which took 3 years and 8 operations to fix. Shortly after recovering from that, I moved across the country with my family. I spent the next two years struggling to get an endometriosis and adenomyosis diagnosis, and fighting for a hysterectomy. For the past year I’ve been dealing with a new diagnosis of peripheral spondyloarthritis, which has been physically fairly debilitating.

What does any of this have to do with astrology?

About one year into the whole fistula fiasco I began to feel left out of my favorite horoscopes and blogs. I couldn’t find any astrologers writing for someone stuck at home, leaking poop, and in constant pain…go figure. I would have to look up the degrees of things, see where my chart was affected, and sort of make my own guesses as to how each astrological event might feel for me. Even my favorite astrologers always seemed focused on what the energy was supporting for healthy people out and about in the world. Since that time I have discovered astrologers like Chani Nicholas, who I feel write in a way that is accessible to almost anyone going through anything, but I still haven’t found anything that caters specifically to people living the spoonie life.

I don’t know exactly how this space will unfold yet. I know that I want to start out by writing about how I’m experiencing astrological events as someone living with chronic pain, and work towards putting out monthly horoscopes for each sign that cater to other people living with chronic pain, disabilities, illness (invisible and otherwise). Do I think astrology can take away our physical pain or read the future of our health journey? No. But I do think it can be interesting to see how the planetary energies might be affecting us here on Earth, and can help us find meaning in some of the rough things we go through. I hope you’ll join me for this adventure!

Stay tuned for Venus Retrograde, spoonie style!

♥ Leah Ruthe