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I write regularly at jessicashepherd.substack.com — soft, human words on healing, astrology & intuition:
Blog
The Lost Art of Personal Retreat
I was walking Magnus the dog when I had the intuitive knowing that I would be taking a trip. Hmm. What was this about? Where was I going?, I lightly wondered, and let it go. Later that night, I knew. I experienced a feeling of psychic shock move through my system, a feeling I’ve come to identify as an intuitive communication of Truth, perhaps something I’d denied myself for too long, now demanding my acknowledgement and honoring. I allowed the uncomfortable waves to move through my energy...
…I love myself more
Lately, I have found myself thinking, “I could do this or that…but I love myself more.” The more I used it, as a way to carry through on an action that was new, uncomfortable, or both, the more I realized the phrase “…I love myself more” was extremely helpful. Especially for the intensely uncomfortable phase of moving from old habits into new ones. The discomfort that accompanies releasing old habits of conditioning can be particularly vexing because you not only feel all that icky...
What if I Don’t Have a Planet in the Fourth (or any) House?
No house is ever really empty. Follow the moonlight, your house sign and ruling planet, to connection and centeredness. -Jessica It’s a common phenomenon to look at your chart, see clusters of planets and vast areas of emptiness, and find yourself thinking if there are no planets in a section of your chart, there must be something wrong with you. With houses connected to relationship or money, for instance, the Ego tends toward: “I have no planets here, I’m doomed!” Ah, I've finally got the...
New Book!: Follow the Moonlit Path
I have completed it, a book. A thing of beauty. I love the cover. I love the title. I love the color of the title. Loving devotion and care to detail went into every. single. aspect. of its creation. My predominant feeling? “Thank You" Thank you. Thank you. To write, and be read. To have an uncensored voice, as a woman! I get to spend hours alone, creating. I get to write. One of my favorite things to do in the world. And, I get entire creative control! Virginia Woolf once created her own...
Cancer Full Moon Eclipse: Unfolding
The butterflies in your belly announce newness, different and strange stay close to the feeling as you would your own breath let the breeze lift you to undiscovered places
Capricorn New Moon Solar Eclipse: Go Beyond
To go beyond what has been done before we need to take a risk, or leap of faith. One of the risks I have taken with my work is to give myself more permission to express what feels natural and right in a session- because that feeling is how I know the Divine is working through me. It has been freeing to do this. Yet it’s been a process. I have experienced a lot of conflict about doing my work in the old way versus the new. Because I don't know exactly what to call it, and also because it's a...
Gemini Full Moon: A Little Deeper
This morning, while centering, rooting and grounding, I watched a dove walking around on my lanai, and since we feed a group of birds every morning, I know it is a place that it has probably visited over dozens of times before. Then why did it look like it was visiting Earth for the very first time? It walked around in a circle, observantly tilting head in this angle and that, curiously taking in its mundane surroundings which appeared to hold nothing exceptional...a seed hull, a barbecue...
Sagittarius New Moon: Your Guardian Angel
Every year it arrives, like clockwork. We start feeling bad. Off-center. A little more anxious. Tired. Irritable. The feeling of wanting to crawl into a hole, wait it all out. The question can be heard far and wide: Am I getting sick? I think I’m getting sick… Nope it’s not the flu. It’s not the name of a new band, unfortunately. Though it is a familiar tune. It’s the Holiday Funk. It starts with our what we are most anticipating or dreading right now. Maybe it’s: -Going to the grocery....
Taurus Full Moon: Subtle Guidance
Intuition is so subtle. Spirit guidance arises in subtle, small, quiet moments. Yet we pay attention to drama, the loud kids in the room. We give our full attention to THE noise. You know the NOISE, right? It is here, there and everywhere all the time. 24/7. Obviously, we do often need certain loud information from our environment. But it’s also why we easily miss what our intuitive senses are guiding us toward…and away from. Your Soul’s guidance is not dramatic. It will not be dramatic, even...
Scorpio New Moon Q&A: “What’s Up with the Planets?”
“There must be something planetary happening right now?” came the text message from a friend who also described people as coming unhinged and life as being just generally hard. Then, I received a similar inquiry in an email to my social media inbox. They wanted me to explain the astrology. No, it’s not eclipse season, yet. Mercury will retrograde in Scorpio soon (10/31). The Libra planets had been interacting with the Nodes all month…Sun in Scorpio, now, you know what that means. Pluto-Saturn...
