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I write regularly at jessicashepherd.substack.com — soft, human words on healing, astrology & intuition:
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Scorpio Full Moon: Lay Your Burden Down
There is no greater joy in life than love. We love love- as it should be. To have someone ... to have and to hold in sickness and health, for richer and for poorer...makes the coldness somehow warmer. In stormy waters, nothing but love, no one but our lifelong companion(s) could ever make "sickness" and "poor" remotely bearable, survivable even. The moon is full in Scorpio, a time when life's calamaties and shadows loom larger, and emotions cut to the bone. This week I found out a client of...
Libra Full Moon: Peace That Passes Understanding
Last night I couldn't sleep. I couldn't stop thinking of a conflict I'm experiencing. It's not a new one, it's an ancient Plutonian one- the worst kind! As I lay there looking at the ceiling, scanning my higher mind for a solution, I attempted to quell the rising adrenaline by breathing deeply and feeling my body. Something popped into mind, My heart feels divided. Lately I've realized I can identify when a choice is wrong for me when, while sitting in the space of a potential scenario or...
Ten Tips For Surviving A Pluto Transit
Since 2009, Pluto has transited my Pluto, Mars, Sun and is currently joining my North Node. I am Pluto girl. & I still have questions. The main one being, What just happened? Trying to meaningfully interpret one's own Pluto transit is like reading hieroglyphics -before the Rosetta Stone. With Pluto we are often in the dark. Pluto transforms. We hear this all the time. But this word is too glamorous for the Hell realm we will enter under it's influence. Often Pluto sends you a crisis -...
Aries New Moon: I AM Uranus
As the Sun moves through the constellations, once again we find our selves at the beginning: Aries. The zodiacal sign of Aries has over the years, earned my admiration. Full of vigor, can-do and the enthusiasm of perpetual springtime, Aries has the power to turn away from the past, the whole 11 signs that came before. After swimming with the Fishes, Aries juts chin out and in an act born of defiance & Truth makes this moment, this life, this day, brand new. No other sign can claim that....
Mercury in Aries, Retrograde: Retro-fitting the Self
The weather, wet and cold right now in northern California, is great for staying indoors, reading novels, deep introspection and calling in sick - which is what I did today. As the piled high mountain of used Kleenex mounted, and after reading a few chapters of a fantastic novel, I decided that what I most wanted to do with my sick day was to put some attention on my latest life mission: figuring out a way to do what I love, without killing myself (the alternate title for this post). As anyone...
Virgo Full Moon: …And Don’t Forget to Take Your Vitamins
Virgo is undoubtedly one of the hardest working signs in the zodiac, and Virgo’s virtues –meticulousness, fastidiousness, and mental focus-- she applies to keeping the inner workings of our lives, keeping body, home & business running smoothly, seamlessly. Because I’ve known so many Virgo folks (and those with mega-Virgo planets) who make it their job to assist others be their best, I often think of Virgo as the invisible helper-- someone who tirelessly works on behalf of others, sometimes...
Venus in Aries, Mistress of Moxie
"I don't want to be alone, I want to be left alone." "I was born with an enormous need for affection and a terrible need to give it."- Audrey Hepburn, Venus in Aries "If you can't take me at my worst, you most certainly don't deserve me at my best." - Marilyn Monroe, Venus in Aries "If you always do what interests you at least one person is pleased." - Katherine Hepburn, Venus in Aries If you were born when Venus was in the constellation of Aries, the Ram... In the astrological pantheon, Aries...
Leo Full Moon: Shine On
Who in the hell d'you think you are? A super star? Well, right you are. - John Lennon This weekend, I took a walk down the block to visit a new friend. She served me tea, peppered me with questions about myself and soon enough out tumbled my reindition of "How I Met My Husband", which quickly led to other topics like: manifestation, healing from past relationships, spirituality and more. A half hour into the conversation, she sat back and looked at me for a moment, genuflecting, 'I don't...
Capricorn New Moon, The Magic of The Season
There’s an adage for picking out the perfect Christmas gift that says, If you don’t know what they want, give something that you yourself would like. This rule of thumb isn’t foolproof (there's truly no accounting for taste, nor well-meaning relatives), but in a pinch, if you think about something you would have a hard time buying for yourself, yet you also know you would use - it practically, works. I enjoy giving, but this year I would simply like to receive. Receiving the present is the one...
Venus in Aquarius, An Outrageous Beauty
"Women might be able to fake orgasms, but men can fake whole relationships." -Sharon Stone, Venus in Aquarius "Take your life in your own hands and what happens? A terrible thing. No one to blame." -Erica Jong, Venus in Aquarius "The truth will set you free. But first it will piss you off." -Gloria Steinem, Venus in Aquarius “Sometimes you can't see yourself clearly until you see yourself through the eyes of others.” - Ellen DeGeneres, Venus in Aquarius If you were born when Venus was in the...
