the speed of saturn #0

New ideas, let's see how long they stick...

happy saturn day and happy new moon. I am doused in regulus materia, the Sun is conjunct Regulus and it’s finally virgo season. This is an announcement!

I want to thank two people before I get into it:

1. Zeba Blay
   - I was apart of her cultural criticism container 2-3(?) years ago and as I continue to read her work, I have been chewing on the framework of her weekly public writing she shares here on Substack called sunday energy. It’s actually very simple. No special titles just sunday energy #whateverthefuck. I myself have been interested in this type of offering and I have arrived at one, so yay.

2. dean slugger jones - writer, artist, and singer extraordinaire who has went from follower to friend over the last 5+ years. Thank you for literally saying what I needed to hear. “[W]hatever you create ‘the speed of saturn,’ is a great title or handle or container.” Sometimes it really is that simple…and so here we are.

I think a lot. In fact, I think entirely too much. To the point of stagnation. Sam told me a few years ago to employ “Ready, Fire, Aim” as opposed to “Ready, Aim, Fire” and I have yet to concede to this tragically accurate mirror. I am regularly stuck at “aim;” and in the last 5 years, in true 6th house fashion, I have toiled around how I want to share my astrological practice with the world. I’ve done a podcast, I’ve tried my hand at weekly, monthly, whatever the fuck forecasts; all of which I have willingly abandoned (mutable dominant here), but have yet to find or name what feels best for me astrologically.

I have a lot of unpublished material, largely because I feel very confined and as though I fall short of the expectations of a contemporary astrological practice. Astrologers are ruled by Mercury, and by extension people expect astrology to be Mercurial and even Lunar. As in or output must be quick, regular, flowing and constant. Practicing astrology has largely became algorithmic based on the entanglement of social media and astrology in this moment. There are many astrologers who work within this reality without compromising quality and integrity of the craft. However, most do not. There is a lot of shitty astrology out there. And I can also recognize that to capture algorithmic relevance and to entertain is a skill. I don’t want to develop it, if I’m being honest. I’ve tried and it is something I am not fucking interested in. I am willing to bite the bullet and post more often than I do, but other than that…no thank you. Much of my unpublished work is because the ideas don’t fully develop for a month or even a year or more. This isn’t suitable when people expect you to understand what is happening in astrology, right now, and next week.

After studying astrology independently from 2014 to 2021 and then undertaking astrological study with a teacher, I am excited to slow down and experience transits with new eyes. To compare and revel in astrology in motion to feel in transits and make sense of them for myself, as opposed to prioritizing making it make sense for others. That comes second.

Additionally, my politic has evolved and so has the preciseness of how I seek to engage with astrology and overtly decry astrology that I believe reifies systems of harm in our world. I’ve also reconnected with being an artist, not just a creative, but an artist. And so I’ve been seeking a way to honor my speed, values, and the pillars of my practice.

Saturn moves between 0 degrees at its slowest, 2 minutes on average, and around 8 minutes at its fastest each day. It takes Saturn about 2.5 years to transit a sign and 30 years to travel through all 12. Because of how slow Saturn moves, planets typically meet up with Saturn and not the other way around. Those moments of Saturn initiating the application of an aspect to another planet are rare and special. Other than that the planet of isolation is just sitting there waiting for planets to stop by and chat. Saturn rules the arcane, or deep study and the hidden or forgotten parts of any practice. Historically, Saturn is tied to mining. The things you find in the bowels of the Earth, with the perseverance and struggle to get there. If you dig deep enough, you will find valuable and precious things.

Personally, I have a Saturn-Mercury conjunction in Pisces. And although its separating, the gravitational pull Saturn possesses over how I think, process and share astrology or anything for that matter is palpable. I love to be lil pensive and I’m kind of tired of resisting it. To borrow the words of

L. Alexandra

(@/wordwitcher on IG and Threads) astrologers are Mercurial, but astrology is Saturnian. And I want to be Saturnian. There will be times where people have to meet my practice as opposed to me actively pushing for its discovery. And thats fine with me.

What will this series look like? Well, it’s a catch all. With the exception of my horary posts, the very general and cohesive naming structure will hold a variety of different astrological offerings. Sometimes it will be a forecast, a long form essay, theoretical, a video or something else. But the container will remain the same in how it honors the intention of deeply considered astrological material. The subtitle will provide more clarity about what is being covered topically and how. I hope this offering is well received. I’m sure it will be.

Next Saturday, I will be sharing the first edition of this series. And it will be an essay to bring us into eclipse season. I’m looking forward to sharing it with you all.

imani.