Aquarius: I am breath
Wisdom for hollow bone days (and weeks, and months and…)
This letter is part of Creative Contemplation—rituals and practices to help you harmonize with the season's energy and remember your connection to spirit, nature, and each other. ✨💗🌿
Hello.
On Tuesday evening I attended an open mic poetry event. It was my first time attending one in Chattanooga and this was a special edition where the audience interacted with the poets, asking questions or commenting afterward.
One of the women who shared introduced herself by saying she was having a “hollow bone day.” When asked what it meant, she said it was her experience of depression on days when the numbness superseded the pain, days when she felt absent from her own body. After her poem, a hand rose in response.
“Did you know that birds have hollow bones so they can fly?” He asked.
The woman teared up. “Birds are my spirit animal,” she laughed, swiping at her cheeks.
I looked around the room—a little corner tucked off the main lobby in a hotel downtown, filled with folks of various ages and languages, and hurting. Some had sketchbooks open, absentmindedly drawing while listening to whoever had the mic. About two dozen homemade cupcakes– chocolate caramel and strawberry were near the front– a celebration of love and acknowledgment of several birthdays.
This is how we survive, I thought.
Together, in small pockets of community and humanity, like this.
Pluto moved into Aquarius (after several back-and-forths in Capricorn) on Nov 19, 2024, and will remain there until Mar 8, 2043. This new moon in Aquarius (January 29th) gives us a full taste of what social transformations we can ignite (and tend to) over the next generation.
Ruled by Uranus, the “Great Awakener,” and known for embracing the unexpected and untraditional, how can we harness this energy to fuel innovations that benefit all of us? Uranus has been retrograde since September and will go direct on January 30th, right after the new moon, adding to the forward-thinking momentum that will help paint our visions in bold.
A line from a commencement address I heard comes to mind, “Be radical. Love passionately. Do justice.”
Our affirmation this month is, “I am breath.”
Download your free copy of the Creative Contemplation journal and lunar calendar with all the monthly affirmations below!
What does it mean to share the air we breathe with the humans around us? With the trees, the water molecules, the atmosphere? How does this one element connect all living beings?
How can we enact justice with radical and passionate love?
Keep reading to learn how this season’s archetype, tarot cards, and creative inspiration can help you harmonize with Aquarius energy.
Archetype
This season’s archetypes are powerful reminders to cultivate our inner power with integrity. The Shapeshifter is capable of unity consciousness and the ability to see how light and dark both serve and are essential to each other. It is about adaptation and moving through cycles and seasons from an objective perspective that maintains wholeness at its core.
The Prostitute speaks to our survival instincts. It reminds me of Zuckerburg’s recent pivoting of Meta’s policies to be more in alignment with the new administration. Another example would be investing in companies we don’t morally agree with for the sake of growing our wealth.
The question is, what is the real cost of bargaining our spirit or negotiating against our principles?
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Creative Inspiration
Imagine 🌸
Saya Woolfak is an incredible artist whose technicolor works connect technology and empathy, re-imagining a future centered on our humanity. Her work features a fantastical race of women called the Empathics who have the unique ability to fuse with plants, creating a new world that is vibrant, provocative, and playful.
Watch 🎬
The Starling is an independent film starring Melissa McCarthy that’s tender in all the right ways. It explores the messy ways we heal from loss by forming unconventional relationships and an unwavering commitment to the ones we love. It’s funny in a way that doesn’t take away from the gravity of the subject but demonstrates the resilience of the human spirit and our need for laughter.
Make it analog 🖌️
I’ve been really inspired by creators like
, , and Steal Like an Artist author, and the ways they’re connecting and building community offline.
Sarah sends out a handmade zine to her paying supporters, Seth is constantly reminding us of the value of personally engaging (off social media) with our friends and getting together in person. Austin has two “work” areas– one for purely analog creations and another for technology, going back and forth between both, which I love.
Perhaps in the new age of AI the truly revolutionary act will be to send hand-written notes in the mail (which I’m committed to doing more of this year!)
Read 📖
In order to stop suffering, we have to stop working.
That doesn’t mean we have to stop doing things. It does mean creating a new way of life based on play; in other words, a ludic revolution. By “play” I mean also festivity, creativity, conviviality, commensality, and maybe even art. There is more to play than child’s play, as worthy as that is. I call for a collective adventure in generalized joy and freely interdependent exuberance.
-Bob Black
AmieNee’s recent article, “I didn’t want a job” went viral for a reason.
She followed it up with a podcast episode, “We Don’t Want Jobs!” exploring the topic further with her partner and husband James, who I also adore.
In the episode, they referenced Bob Black, who wrote the essay “The Abolition of Work,” published in 1991. It’s a fantastic read, paired well with
’s book, “The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know is Possible.”Tarot Reading
The Hanged Man (in Reverse)
Given the nature of the times, it might feel like we’re involuntarily suspended, tied up without being able to impact the chaos around us. Dizzy, retching, fighting, the Hanged Man in reverse struggles to accept this new, upside-down world. It wants the familiar orientation it’s always known, forgetting that acceptance and a willingness to surrender to a different perspective leads to enlightenment.
How can you willingly relax into the shaken snow globe phenomenon, waiting for the dust to settle anew?
The Five of Swords
Finger-pointing is the theme of this card in a game where no one wins. Blaming others, blaming yourself, blaming systems and structures and external forces beyond our control might feel good momentarily. But it leaves us even more wounded, exhausted, and depleted of the energy required to problem solve.
Strength
Where does our inner strength come from? What does strength married with grace and compassion look and feel like? Where can we be strong for instead of over others? Strength is cultivated over time, renewed by drawing on the collective courage of others to help us find our own daring. It is not the loudest in the room but it knows when and where to speak up. It knows that presence might be the strongest tool in the room.
Notes from Nature
Through the empty branches the sky remains.
It is what you have.
Be earth now, and evensong.
Be the ground lying under that sky.-On a Vast Plain by Ranier Maria Rilke
It is still winter. Sometimes winter lasts for years. That doesn’t mean that Spring won’t eventually come.
This month’s nature journaling theme is “Noticing the sky.” I had a friend once tell me to look at the sky whenever I was stressed. If I followed that advice, I’d spend hours gazing up, a welcome shift from where my eyes normally rest.
Here are a few prompts to play with in your nature journal.
Notice the clouds, moon, & stars at different times of day. What colors are present? What phase is the moon in? Can you see it in the middle of the day?
Take a night walk and notice the quality of the air. What sounds are missing? Which are more noticeable?
Research the closest “dark sky” park and plan a trip
New Moon Blessing
May you linger in the companionship of those who care. May your offerings to the world be messy, playful, and vibrant. May you remember the micro is just as important as the macro and small movements are just as important as big ones. May you celebrate the subtle ways your body, soul, and life are growing, and let it be enough. You are enough.
All my love,
Mariah
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"What is the real cost of bargaining our spirit or negotiating against our principles?" I feel like this is a question that's constantly surfacing in all areas of my life and one I find really difficult to navigate as there are so many nuances, but every time when I compromise my heart and my spirit, I always feel worst or am left feeling depleted. The cost is always higher in the longer-term even if in the moment it doesn't appear to be that way, and yet sometimes, I feel as those I'm unable to choose my spirit or my principles due to my circumstances, I try to get as close as I can get, but when it's out of my control, it's definitely more difficult. I suppose this links in nicely with learning where we're projecting what is convenient in the moment (like the shadow side of the card) to us, and where we're actually expressing what our spirit and our principles are - another one I find challenging to navigate. Thanks for sharing with such love and depth as always Mariah. I hope you managed to share one of your poems at the open mic :)