Creating Anew: Venus in Libra & Harvesting Juno's Bounty
What doubling back on my Juno Jar work has taught me + the election notes for the final show
Gotta Know When To Fold ‘Em…
About two years ago, as I think is pretty well known by now, my life changed pretty dramatically. I’ve been in a cocooned stasis of constant, churning evolution ever since, watching my life and sense of self arrange and re-arrane itself, over and over and over again. Living on my Chiron line — with, as I have recently discovered, multiple disharmonious aspects in accord — hasn’t been traumatic, but it has been incredibly painful. I turned back to my Juno Jar work — trying to figure out how to structure it, if I could, to be less hard on me — but it turns out, as things begin, so too they usually end.
My Juno Jar work was born when I needed it most: to support my independence and belief in myself. At the time of the first service, I was living with my sister Kim in this…room that wasn’t really a room, in a cramped Chicago apartment with six of us and a cat. It was a lot. I was a mess. An absolute shitshow shambles mess. I spent almost a year in regenerative cocoon of psychical recovery, deep in the throes of yet undiagnosed and untreated chronic illness, trying to make something of my creativity and myself. At some point we realized I had to bail out a bit out of the nest earlier than I anticipated, ‘cause my nieflings all needed their own space due to Kim’s custody and divorce proceedings. So, you know, my tuchus - fire. I was terrified and stressed TF out. I had to get resourceful.
So I threw myself at Juno’s feet because I literally did not know what the hell else to do. I had been doing the witch equivalent of building a friendship and being neighborly for several months as a result of my being a student in Jason Miller’s Strategic Sorcery correspondence course. She came to me in a vision and gave me the instructions on how to make the jar and do the magic, and despite my *profound* skepticism…I’ll be damned if that bitch didn’t sell like hot cakes. And then I got the biggest boost I needed, a boon from the Lady Herself, it felt like: an unexpected, tax-free gift of $30k…because of my writing.
When I moved into my first solo studio, I cried on the floor the first night because it felt so surreal. In the span of a couple of years, my life went from sleeping on a bare floor in Flint being lead poisoned, to being homeless for three months, to couch-surfing for a bit including with my sister, to…a home of my own. That was, and still is, deeply remarkable to me.
Image is of Christy Tortland’s painting, Hera’s Compassion, which is a near-identical representation of how I experience Juno-Ishtar/Ninsianna/Asase Afua. You can buy a print here (I am honored to own the original!)
I carried on this work until 2022, doing a brief retrograde in 2023 to offer my kits, and in May of this year — and then again in July — just to see if it was really, really over. Strangler whiplash, I know.
Once again, Juno showed up for me when I needed Her the most, and the sales in May — and the half a dozen that showed up before I pulled all of the payment buttons — came exactly when my new little family needed the support the most. But. It became really clear to me (and affirmed by the fact that a long-time, successful participant said it felt different to her energetically that last go-around in May) it was time to let this go all the way to pasture and to let myself evolve into work that excites me in a way this no longer does. I am a wildly, wildly different person than when I began, and that alone is a testament to its power beyond the cash, since I benefited directly from every rite. I discovered that I am a person who needs to work on the art of letting go because I want to, not because I am afraid, or because I’m being pummeled with fear, anxiety, and panic. I am finally someone (and becoming moreso every day) who moves towards my desires, rather than away from fear, pain, or rage.
This last iteration of this work will be held on September 15th, 2024, where I will be adding a handful of petitions to the vessel, as well as giving all the current participants a boost. I have a list of astrological elections pulled by Emily Sorlien of Queen of Bones that I had intended to use for adding additional petitions to the jar, but instead, I am going to feed the current vessel (as it benefits me still) on those dates, along with the regularly scheduled maintenance work on Full Moons and during the week (that I don’t share because: ADHD.) When the current jar reaches its natural life cycle, I am converting it into a piece of magic I do for myself, my family, and close friends.
So, What’s Coming Next For Me + Juno?
Well, for one, I promised an expanded and updated version of the support guide which has been tentatively titled the Wealth + Power Playbook. Every single MFing time I have sat down to work on that, I’ve been diverted. I fully believe in the power of timing and trust that whenever I repeatedly get thrown off track with a project of a magical nature, there is a reason.
Turns out that’s because what is old, is new again, ha.
It (finally? recently?) occurred to me (…with transit Chiron squaring my Ascendant, wooooooo…) that my next major life transits are going to be (if I have it my way) my “midlife blossoming” transits from my late 30s into my early 50s (Gd willing.) Uranus opposite Uranus, Pluto squaring Pluto, and Neptune squaring Neptune will all hit, before doing an astrological crescendo into my first Chiron Return. Several years after that Chiron Return ends, my second Saturn Return should start around 59, marking my crossover into my Elder phase of life, if I may be so blessed.
The Chiron Return has the potential to be extremely painful and catastrophic if one is not prepared…much like one’s Saturn Return(s) can open up a big ole can of whoop ass if you’re not paying attention and resisting the lessons it brings. For me, the risk of this is existentially pretty dire, because my natal Chiron is in my 1st house in Leo, and it has a number of quite challenging aspects that make me nervous as fuck. After the taste of what living here has been like (!), I absolutely, 1000% do not wish to chance it by surrendering the…oh, 13ish years of prep time I have to work through, as well as missing out on the power-ups/balming prep for my Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto transits, particularly because they all focus very intensely on the question, “Is this what I want?” Given where my Chiron, what I want is often an extremely painful subject. Like, a potentially self-delete myself if the pain gets bad enough, subject. No thanks! Do not want!
After summiting the peak successfully of my first Saturn Return, I’m employing my strategy of pre-prep and study again, diving deep into the themes in advance and leaning in. However, to help me counteract the overwhelming guilt of prioritizing myself and being self-oriented in a world that is in DIRE - and I do mean dire - need of more collective spirit, I have decided to use Substack (for now?) and my artmaking process to document it all, so that folks can learn from my experiences and conjure their own.
Annnnnnd…that starts with the Wealth + Power Playbook being different than I planned. I will leave it there. Rock with the mystery. It’ll be be revealed soon.
But for now, the write-up.
Venus In Libra
September 15th 2024 | 8:24am - 9:17am EST
In the midst of an astrological season chock full of adversity, this tender Venusian election offers weary travelers a welcome change of pace. It’s not exactly a restful moment – Mars’s exact square to the nodes and the loose t-square between Saturn, Jupiter and the Sun impel us to take action to remediate a situation that has been doggedly frustrating. But there’s a glimmer of hope on the horizon as we open ourselves up taking a fresh, Venusian approach. Inspiration and perspective shifts abound. The overwhelmingly benefic grand air trine signature in this chart creates new lines of communication, helps us to visualize possible avenues of repair, brings previously unexamined strategies for success into view, and can even shift what “winning” looks like for you and your people. There’s an emphasis here on relationality and collaborative generativity. If you feel like you’ve been having to go it alone lately, seize the moment by enlisting the assistance of others, receiving feedback and telling different stories about yourself and your position within the collective.
Magical & Practical Applications
Fostering communication within relationships, meeting new friends or lovers
Telling different stories, channeling ideas/inspiration, opening up new conversations
Finding new ways of being in community, joining groups or organizations
Building consensus within group settings
Creating win-win solutions to interpersonal conflicts, seeing a situation from another’s perspective, genuine curiosity
Connecting your art/creative practice to your audience
Collaborative partnerships, especially those of a creative/artistic nature
Making personal aesthetic choices
Charming/enchanting others via social grace and perceived beauty
Astrological Highlights
Venus in domicile in Libra on the Ascendant
Waxing moon in Aquarius gathering speed
Benefic grand air trine with Venus in Libra, Jupiter in Gemini and Moon in Aquarius
Moon’s next aspect is trine to Jupiter in Gemini then immediately after a trine to Venus
Election begins on the Sun’s day in the hour of Venus
Moon and Venus do not make aspects to the malefics
Evening star Venus has sufficient distance from the Sun to shine brightly on the Western Horizon after sunset
Mars in fall in Cancer square the nodes in Libra and Aries
Correspondences
Stones: diamond, emerald, peridot, chrysolite, aquamarine, rose quartz, malachite, lapis
Metal: copper
Colors: green, white, sea blue, pink
Plants: rose, yarrow, cleavers, red clover, self heal, apple, violets, daffodils, walnuts
Animals: dove, stag, dolphin, calf, pelican, swallow, rabbit
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