introducing: writing with the moon
a new weekly offering here at the newsletter
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I was recently asked the simple but foundational question: what are planetary transits?
It was a moment of reflection. Not only a reminder that folks are always encountering astrology for the first time; I try to keep that in mind, to keep my language accessible here.
But answering the question in as non-technical terms brought me, once more, back to the core of my practice. That astrology is a mindfulness practice. The deeper I go, the more I personally look at incoming planetary transits (which, really, are just the movements of the planets) from a Google Earth view: the, well that’ll be interesting to observe as it moves through all of us, and especially interesting to quantify the impacts once it’s over.
Honestly, the longer I do this, the less obsessive I am about looking at what planetary “transits” are happening every week.
Honestly, the transit I “work with” the most is the lunar cycle — which is to say, the phases of the moon. And it always has been.
When my writerly and artsy readers and clients come to me wanting to deepen their relationship with astrology, the first planet I point them towards is the moon. The most visible orb in the sky. Luna, muse of poets and musicians. Full in every film (Hollywood, I am begging you to show her in any other phase).
Working with Luna is natural to not only the witch but also to us as humans (witness: Indigenous cultures the world over; witness: the Farmer’s Almanac) because her phases— which is to say, her transits — are so visible to us, so easily tracked, the correlation so easily observed and felt. Her waxing (growth) and waning (release). Again: astrology is a mindfulness practice. A practice of observation.
The longer I do this, and the more grounded my life becomes in my witchcraft, the more stripped down my astrological practice becomes. The less interested I become in the technicalities of bounds and terms and the more I care about grounding myself in my morning prayers at the many altars around my house. What worth is giving a reading to someone about their moon if I have not bothered to witness her in the sky, to give thanks to the spirits of the land around me?
When I say astrology is a mindfulness practice, I mean that quite literally. It brings me into deeper relationship with the world around me. It is like checking in with the earth: this is the weather of what is happening today. And the moon, so bright in the sky, responsible for the ocean tides, has an impact on the daily ebb and flow of life.
Did I mention that this chaotically launched newsletter has a Cancer rising?
I have (re-)learned something else this last year: to listen to the yearnings of my heart. I got louder about the spiritual practices and witchcraft underpinning my astrology, and the newsletter grew exponentially.
Questions such as the vulnerable one that was asked of me at the Discord — what is a planetary transit? (one I will answer in depth in the next Ask Jeanna) — remind me that astrology is only half of the equation. This newsletter is, always, astrology for writers. For artists, really. And the point is that the offerings here are ones that folks of all levels can apply to their good and honest work.
As you might guess, this moment of reflection hasn’t come out of nowhere. [Here be business talk, for those who enjoy that kind of thing.]
These last few months, I have considered discontinuing the week aheads in favor of offering something different. The free subscriptions for the newsletter are at an all-time high, but the paid subscriptions (which I rely on for income) have long been stagnant; any growth is hard-fought and almost inevitably backslides. While I know we are in a recession, I also don’t think that the week aheads, with detailed planetary transit weather, are the best or most representative fit for the newsletter, at this point. They are both the oldest — the original, in fact! — offering of this newsletter, so there is a nostalgic aspect to them.
But the newsletter has grown.
However. I also know that a lot of folks, especially the regular paid subscribers who’ve been here for years, are here for the week aheads! I’m an analytics hound in the back end, and I can see who opens what newsletter, and how many times. I see those of you who never like or comment, the ones who have been paid subs for years, the ones who most read the week aheads, and I am so fucking grateful.
And so I don’t want to let go of the week aheads (those of you who were worried: breathe). They serve a particular section of the audience: largely the OG readers, but also the readers who are more intermediate or advanced in their astrological practice.
But frankly, the week aheads aren’t bringing in a lot of new readers. In spite of my best efforts, they also aren’t serving people who are primarily here for writing rather than astrology, who crave the practical application without having to look at something through an overly complicated or technical lens.
And, as with all things in both my life and this newsletter, the answer that has become apparent to me is: write with the moon, Jeanna. Fuck.
(The obvious answers are always the simplest ones, aren’t they? The ones we already do; the ones we take for granted. The ones that are second nature to us, and so why would they be of interest to anyone else?)
And so, with all that to-do, it’s my great pleasure to introduce a new weekly feature here at astrology for writers:
writing with the moon
This isn’t going to be technical in the way that the week aheads are, save to state what sign and phase the moon is in as well as when the moon is void (a period when the moon is no longer making aspects until it enters a new sign — and so it is basically resting).
Writing With the Moon will be an offering exclusively for paid subscribers that will come out every Monday (the moon’s day), offering writing prompts and ideas for artistic input and inspiration explicitly based on the week’s moon-weather.
Obviously, we don’t know entirely what something is until it’s here. But I can tell you that I’m excited to have a space for astro-writing that is more spacious and open to spiritual channeling and energetic, that embraces my fiction roots and this kind of storytelling and isn’t as likely to inspire ~certain kinds of emails~ from ~certain kinds of astrologers~ as to why I don’t utilize ~certain kinds of techniques~ in my work. Lord, unsubscribe already. There are plenty of fish in the sea.
My creativity is here for fucking with liminality, for spiritual ritual, for connection with the Other — those seen and unseen. For Ursula K. Le Guin: “To think that realistic fiction is by definition superior to imaginative fiction is to think imitation is superior to invention.” For Audre Lorde’s uses of the erotic — in community, in solidarity. For Toni Morrison openly talking about how the spirit of the daughter of the enslaved woman who inspired Beloved appeared to her on her dock one morning as she wrote.
To me, creativity (and astrology, and spirituality, for that matter) is quite simple. It’s about relationship. It’s about attention. It’s about devotion.
If that is resonant with your spirit, then this might be the heart-medicine you need, too.
The first full edition of Writing with the Moon will come out next Monday. If Writing With the Moon feels like a full-body yes for you, you can guarantee that it’ll show up in your inbox by upgrading your subscription:
I’m excited to share it with you, and to continue to grow what we do here at astrology for writers.
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I am so excited for this new offering!! Thank you!! 🙌🏾🫶🏾🙌🏾
Just leaving a quick comment to say that "my creativity is here for fucking with liminality" is such a beautiful idea (and sentence). 🧡