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I write regularly at jessicashepherd.substack.com — soft, human words on healing, astrology & intuition:
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Leo New Moon, Something Worth Celebrating
I’m usually a pretty reliable weather vane for the lunations but this one’s a stinker. The season of Leo, in it’s purest expression, is a time to enjoy the vitalizing power of the Sun, right now at the height of it's fiery glory. I like to think Leo has a certain enlightened selfishness. Our creative drive contains our life force, which when honored, that life force allows us to make a creative contribution to the world. Where Leo is found in the birth chart is where we can find this and more...
Aquarius Full Moon Lunar Eclipse: Planning Dream Seeds
I was recently informed by a sign in the mall that summer is almost over! I barely noticed it was here. I guess that sign was supposed to create buyer urgency, but it had the opposite effect, sending a wave of tiredness over me so I turned around and went home. In fact, the defining quality of my summer has been fatigue; I feel I cannot get enough sleep and when I am in bed for stretches of time my ears are getting sore from wearing earplugs (someone snores) so I’m waking up, changing ear...
Solar Eclipse New Moon In Cancer: Returning to Essence
At first glance, upon stumbling on Simone Butler’s essay on this Cancer New Moon Eclipse, I thought I’d been punk’d. How could we who do not know each other have written something so similar? All I saw were the words in bold, ‘Daughters of the American Revolution’. I felt flattered, then a little piqued at being mimicked, not unusual I suppose. When I got over myself and read further I discovered that she was using Sabian Symbols as Oracle, which, according to my new facebook acquaintance...
Earthbound No More: Why People Are Dying
Death leaves us with so many questions. With the smattering of public figure deaths happening on the world stage, the latest one isn't about the mysterious circumstances of Michael's but, why are so many people dying? An astrological look may help. First, New Moons represent birth and death symbolically. The last New Moon in Cancer (a sign associated with public: figures, mood and sentiment) was opposed by, or in cahoots with, Pluto, Lord of the Underworld & Death (also the planetoid...
Michael Jackson: Important, Beloved, Man In the Mirror
(Astrology.com asked me to write about MJ but they never ran with it - so I'm offering it to you, here.) I never wanted to Beat It, but I did ID with the song PYT, to which I used to dance in my room alone (unless you count the MJ Thriller poster as a dance partner, which I did). I danced as the King of Pop lounged in his white suit on my wall, looking suave, sexy and probably for one of the last times naturally handsome, or close to it. When I broke the news to my family, my thirteen year old...
You Can Choose Your Clan: New Moon in Cancer
“The house does not rest upon the ground, but upon a woman”- Mexican Proverb We were sitting around a table at my sister's house, four women, different ages all, but natives of a place called Santa Fe, New Mexico. I had made pancakes at my sister's birthday request, and in between pancakes and pedicure appointments, the conversation returned to the subject of home. Mention the 'land of enchantment' and most folks grow imaginatively enchanted, with thoughts of charming sand-baked adobe huts,...
Sexy Solstice = Jeans, T-Shirt & a Candle
This Solstice takes place a day and a half before the New Moon, also joining Vesta, sacred harlot and keeper of the sacred flame. For these Lunar Goddesses, sex was something more than sensual contact - but sacred, healing ritual. The vestals were charged with bringing the fertilizing power of the Goddess into contact with in every man and woman. They did this by having sex. Sacred sex. Anonymous sacred sex. In a cave. Out of dedication and commitment to the Divine Feminine, the vestals...
Sun Power, Squared
I've been getting the message, or as Julia Cameron calls those strong inner directives, 'marching orders', to teach, teach. Every time I parlay the thought back into the court of Consciousness, it pops back into my court again like an air-filled toy. I'm rarely at a shortage for bright ideas; with Mercury square Uranus, and Uranus Rising, I'm an idea factory. But I also need to be discerning about which idea to follow because, a) I'm an artist, b) I need to guard my energy reserves, cause I'm...
About A Lemmy – My Favorite Astrology Blogs
Moonkissd.com was recently nominated for a Lemmy or Lemonade award by Fern of Wisestars Astrology, for being 'wise and wonderful.' I've been writing astrology online since 2004 and it feels good to receive something. Even without the proper ceremony, red carpet sashay and fake-out kiss from a celebrity - I'll take it! Even though I've yet to find an official site on this award, I understand that once you're nominated, you nominate 10 other blogs (if you want) that show 'great attitude and...
Sagittarius Full Moon, For Lovers of Reality
I recently traveled through Geneva, Switzerland. The value of travel is obvious - being taken out of the routine everyday and plopped into the unfamiliar it has that way of shifting perspectives. So while painting my bedroom this morning from grungy smoke damaged brown (the result of burning too many candles) to a charming bright mint green, returning to the land of gruyere and honey in mind, I had the deep thought that what travel does for the mind, a fresh coat of paint does for a room - it...
