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I write regularly at jessicashepherd.substack.com — soft, human words on healing, astrology & intuition:
Blog
How About No?
After going retrograde from 9/9-11/13, Mars in Aries remains in a post-retrograde shadow phase thru the end of 2020. Translation-- in English, please? The astrology supports boundary work, understanding what they are, how they feel in your body. I’ve been working with people on their boundaries. I had a series of dreams this week all about boundaries. My dreams featured boundary after boundary, in their messy, glorious and myriad forms. So, let’s talk about boundaries. There are many types of...
Stress, Social Distancing, Taurus Full Moon
When I saw this SNL clip (New Normal-SNL) the other night it made me think: Ah, yes, this is exactly what stress looks like under COVIN (yes, I know its COVID but you’ll get the joke when you see the clip). Meltdowns, and less resilience to stress and trauma, are symptoms of social isolation. Not to mention the wine-drinking. In astrology, connection (and shared pleasures) are ruled by the planet Venus. Venus offers soothing balm to life stressors, the ahhhh that allows for relaxation and...
It’s okay to outgrow a relationship
Friends forever... 'til death do us part...or so they say. Bonds that stand the test of time are beautiful, rare and deserve to be celebrated. But not every relationship falls into this category. In fact, we'd save the world a lot of suffering if we all could just agree to agree that not all relationships -even extremely loving and precious ones- are meant to last. Because...What happens if it no longer feels good to have a relationship with a person we still deeply love? It happens. -Maybe...
How I Come Back to My Center
The energies are intense out there right now. It is full on election season in the U.S., Mercury is retrograde in dramatic and intense Scorpio, the Libra New Moon is rather, ahem, interesting with Pluto and Saturn nearby, the pandemic... and really do we need another reason? Sometimes, everything I feel out-there gets magnified in-here simply because the world's volume is louder. Other times I notice everything I feel out-there is magnified when I am in conflict within myself. When things that...
What Did You Love as a Child?
“What did you love to do as a child?” I asked my Leo Sun husband. He instantly replied: go to Radio Shack and get the battery of the week, then figure out where to use it. He loved leatherwork (he and I both. I, too, enjoyed visiting the Tandy leather store). He also loved to take apart televisions. He majored in electrical engineering. Today he is a physicist. What we loved as a child is what comes naturally to us. It speaks to WHO WE TRULY ARE. You know, before you became indoctrinated with...
The Mermaid and the Shark
Every birthday, a Spirit Animal chooses me. An out of the ordinary animal crosses my path in the time around my birthday. It’s a tradition I have. This year, though, after two years running of Black Witch Moth, I decided I would choose it, sight unseen. Two creatures came to mind, one actual and one mythical: shark and mermaid. When I told John that Shark was one of my Spirit totems for the year, and would bring me a sense of connection and lead me into deeper awareness of myself, Shark...
Frustration & The Intuitive Self
Yesterday, looking for a spool of raffia ribbon I had *just* used, it was all too easy to become frustrated and tell myself I was having a perimenopause moment. That's what my critical mind told me. But I was actually in my Intuitive Self. It took a question to allow that guidance to find me, a question that made all the difference. When frustration arose at not finding what I wanted, instead of allowing that frustration be true I decided to tune inward and ask myself what else I might I find...
What I Do Now
I’ve written 4 books, all of which feature astrology. I studied and practiced astrology for decades, and I was a professional astrologer for most of that. So, do I still offer astrology? And, if not, or if so, what do I do in a session, now? These are good questions. I get asked them often. The elevator speech answer is: I do intuitive sessions, and connect with Spirit Guidance. I channel. It feels like having a conversation with a friend, a friend who is a little psychic, a lot intuitive, and...
Get Out Of Your Own Way
I remember doing yoga in my thirties, when yoga videos were a thing. At the same point in the tape, during downward dog, the instructor would say “breathe… set the intention to get out of your own way.” At the time, I didn’t entirely understand that this was more than a good-feeling phrase but a profound practice. As with most things in life, the simplest ones are often the most wisely instructive and transformative. How do we get out of our own way? We are creatures of habit. We find...
Doubt is the lie you told yourself
In Hawaii, we have relics of ancient healing temples called heiau. They can be found in various and unlikely places all over the islands –in the middle of a suburban neighborhood, at a beach, or next to a busy hotel – small groupings of volcanic rock, usually, arranged in a pattern of rooms varying in height. These temples are from a former time, a time before Christianity replaced the Hawaiian religion of poly-theism. We recently traveled to Kauai, and right next to the Hilton in Kapaa, a...
