My Real Life White Lotus Moment
++ Aries Season Updates
Welcome Friends! It’s a pivotal week in the heavens, Venus & Mars are (literally) in the spotlight. They both sextile Pluto and conjoin the Sun in Aries, known as a cazimi. Venus transitions from an “evening star” to a “morning star” - darkness to light. At this midpoint of the retrograde, we will be illuminated with the themes, issues or lessons Venus has been teaching thus far.
After all that drama, we have the final solar eclipse in Aries - closing out the eclipse cycle that started in April 2023, challenging us to move towards independence, confidence, self trust and leadership.
I for one have been committing to some deep internal reflection during this Venus retrograde, journaling and channeling each morning and doing a buddhist meditation every night. In true Venus fashion, themes around my worth, money and relationship dynamics have been surfacing.
My own personal White Lotus moment came when I logged onto zoom to meet with my accountant and file my taxes. To my surprise, he didn’t show, when I searched for his website, it wasn’t there. Thinking I had the wrong URL, I typed his name into google and was shocked to discover many articles, including one from the federal government, citing that he has been indicted for wire fraud, money laundering and tax fraud, stealing $3.9 million from clients over the past four years. Talk about some intense Pluto sh*t! Pluto is all about uncovering hidden agendas, power structures and corruption.
In a sextile with Venus in Aries, Pluto was helping me (and the feds) uncover this corruption, and forced me to gather my resources and figure out how to do my own taxes (Aries is autonomy and independence) - which I needed quickly to turn over for a house application. In the end, I used the IRS website and filed my own taxes for free in 2.5 hours, and I’m still getting a great return! So I have a renewed sense of autonomy and empowerment with my finances - not a place I tend to feel empowered, but Venus wants us to remedy that.
The Venus cazimi marks a turning point, what was lying in the darkness (or subconscious) now comes to light. Being that Aries is all about our ego and identity, you might be uncovering or rediscovering hidden aspects of your own personality. Now that Venus is a morning star, we have the advantage of more clarity and self awareness, which results in lasting change.
Throughout the last few years with eclipses in Aries, and now these retrogrades, I have been reviewing my internal patterns with money and relationships. Last year, while working in finance, I saw firsthand how education alone is simply NOT an effective method for healing money issues. The narrative that if we just learn how money “works”, it will “work” for us.
Healing financial trauma takes more than a budgeting app and an excel spreadsheet. As someone who is extremely organized and even quite savvy with money - it was always so frustrating to be doing all the things I was taught and still feel like I couldn’t figure out money. Then I would spiral into more self doubt and shame - thinking it must be my own stupidity that I can’t be more resourceful and abundant. It’s a trap that keeps us feeling stuck and helpless.
When we have trauma around money or security - it runs deep beneath the surface of our logic. Even if you didn’t grow up poor (I didn’t), we can still have financial trauma in our lineage (my great-grandparents were polish immigrants living in poverty) and be affected by the collective response to money, our parents relationship with it, etc.
This dynamic can be true in money, but also in relationship and they often go hand in hand. We often unconsciously play out patterns and find others (partners, bosses, clients) to work these dynamics out with. The victim, the perpetrator and the rescuer are roles we can fall into. The victim (this is the role I’ve taken on many times) is helpless to the perpetrator (the system, the patriarchy, the shitty boss or job) and needs to be rescued (but no one is coming to save you). Venus in Aries wants us to take our power back and find some real autonomy and sovereignty in these situations.
With Mercury working alongside Venus in retrograde motion, this next week will be an excellent time to shift our narratives in these areas. You might feel called to have that tough conversation or bring up an issue that has been on the back burner of your mind. Aries loves to put it all out on the table!! Remember that Aries can be brutally honest, so while it may help you identify your own harsh narratives, be mindful of what you say and how you say it, so you don’t end up with your foot in your mouth.
Venus is calling for intimacy and vulnerability and Aries is calling for courage - don’t be a bully, put your heart on the table and make sure you are also listening to what other’s have to say and giving space for their experience. If needed, take extra time to regulate your nervous system. Go for walks, shake your body, stimulate your vagus nerve - do all the things YOU need to feel like you have the capacity to step into leadership.
Venus & Mercury in Pisces
At the end of this week, the tides shift, and Venus and Mercury move back into Pisces. Aries represents new beginnings while Pisces represents endings. Before we can make lasting change, we need to close the portal.
Venus was in Pisces for all of January, and Mercury sailed quickly through Pisces in the second half of February, we are now closing out or finding ways to integrate lessons we were learning . Even as we burst into the newness of Aries season, we are closing out deep Piscean themes simultaneously. The rest of March / early April might feel like a liminal space - we are in the chrysalis, no longer a caterpillar, not quite a butterfly. But trust the process. Even if you can’t see it outwardly, change is occurring and it’s deep and long lasting.
Venus moves into Pisces on March 27th, then on March 29th - Mercury follows Venus and we have the Solar Eclipse in Aries! What a time to be alive! Endings! Beginnings! Change! Maybe a bit of Chaos, Fantasy and Delusion!
My loves! I can’t predict what will become of it, but I have a strong feeling that we are closing out decades long, if not lifetime long, if not generations long, ancestral patterns. Be gentle with yourself as you transform. Be kind and take time to self reflect and nurture your body and your system. This is a time of change and it’s not meant to be a straight line. It’s not even meant to make sense or be perfectly clear.
If you do anything over the next few weeks - give yourself a break and don’t fall into the trap of doubt or criticism when life on the outside doesn’t feel like it matches up with the inside. As a triple Aries, one lesson I am learning is patience.
In the season of fiery impulsiveness, practice patience. Stick with something even if it doesn’t produce immediate results, stick with yourself in the process of change and growth. Take your self care game to the next level this Aries season and I promise, come the end of April, you will start to see glimpses of a new you.
Wishing you all the blessing this Aries season!! I’d love to hear how it’s going for you! Comment below or reply to this email if you have any fun / crazy / insightful Retrograde /Eclipse stories to share - we all need a little help from our friends this year!
Feeling a little frazzled this eclipse season?
I created a *~Free Reiki Bath~* for you. It’s a 15 minute meditation infused with somatic tools, visualization and reiki healing energy to give you a daily ritual that will cleanse your energy system and leave you feeling more grounded and nourished.
Spring readings are available now! Let me support you in this transformational time - tarot, reiki, astrology readings for clarity, confidence and balance.
“My session with Holly gave me a greater understanding of myself and my business. It left me feeling validated, inspired, and excited to move forward. In my astrology reading with Holly I received information that was incredibly insightful and helpful. I'd asked about one of my businesses, and she explained how the position of the planets when I was born--and when my business was "born"--impacts my career. Holly gave me several actionable pieces of advice based on my charts, and I've been making changes since our session. Thanks, Holly!”
Allie B, owner of Temini112
Below, I’m sharing a channeled message and tarot reading for this week, feel free to use the questions as journaling prompts or for your own spread. The ancients and witches don’t generally practice manifestation or ritual during eclipse season - but I do recommend rest, journaling and lots of grounding practices in the time of change.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Long Strange Trip to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.