Hello Friends:

We are in the middle of summer, which has been fairly temperate here in Austin, TX. We've been used to a cadence of 100+ degree weather by now, but these days have been lovely, with rain sometimes, and the evenings are blissfully breezy.

When Uranus entered Gemini, we were shocked by the "100-year floods" that sent gushing rivers and streams into homes and places of respite and enjoyment, taking away beloveds. We had been used to the dryness and "predictability" of nature through our alarm systems and weather apps, which proved an imperfect system.

Our noses and joints once detected storms. Our skin and eyes were sensitive to the humidity and the movement of animals, who gave us clues. Uranus, "The Great Awakener," shows us our current reality clearly. With generous Jupiter and the Sun in caring Cancer and the emotional Moon in Aquarius, we are caring for the communities, who have lost so much.

Watery Neptune continues to dissolve the foundations and structures of Saturn in Aries. The time is here for us to envision a new future because it's been proven by our current "leadership," that we can do whatever we want. We can leak our energy in outrage, distraction, and blame, or we can listen deeply to our wants. And determine our actions and impact from there. Many of us don't know what we want. It's easier to rail against the system than to declare our desire. It may mean several ego deaths and the letting go of dreams and people we have outgrown. Habits are hard to break and change is hard.

Astrologically Speaking

July 17th: Mercury stations retrograde in Leo at 11:45 pm CT​
For the next three weeks back up your stuff, reconsider, and reflect on leadership. Be mindful of travel, communication, and tech.

July 18th: Mercury Rx sextiles Venus at 8:37 am CT
​Use your lovely voice and read pleasurable things. Have the heart-to-hearts.

July 20th: Mars conjoins the South Node at 9:59 pm CT
​Catharsis rules the day. Find safe outlets to blow off steam. Yes, howling into a pillow counts.

A Time Out For Bliss

Many of you have done Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way with morning pages and artist dates. I live by these and decided to take myself to Antone's to see one of my current favorite bands, Penelope Road. I love watching them on Instagram, practicing harmonies in their Atlanta living room or backyard. Their sound reminds me of Jamiroquai meets Stevie Wonder, Lionel Ritchie, and Leon Bridges. It feels so good in my body. Their latest single Out Tonight is addictive with your eyes closed.

Thanks to my bestie Brian, who dropped me off at Antone's, I was able to get a corner seat by the bar with the best view and space to dance. It was surprising to see Koan, their guitar player, selling t-shirts and gear at the door. The band, with the help of a friend or two, set up the stage themselves, and glimpses of parents or grandparents backstage were endearing.

"This song has only been played a few times, it's new, so...please don't judge," said Charles, the keyboard vocalist. But it was wonderful. Afterwards, his keyboard was acting up, and he asked to pause a minute to figure it out. It automatically started playing the notes for Tears for Fears' "Everybody Wants to Rule the World," which caused the band to crack up laughing. But they went with it, which delighted the crowd. We couldn't help but sing along.

After the show, the bandmates came out to shake hands and take photos. A family friend took over selling their merch while Charles sat at the table beside him, talking to fans, signing t-shirts, and taking selfies with unapologetically crazy fans.

Innocence.

It's what I've been longing to return to in these times of AI, cruel leadership, global insecurity, and incongruence. Our celebrations are tempered, which exhausts us. Don't feel too happy, it may come across as tone deaf or disrespectful. But as we feel our grief, which is a combination of sadness and anger, we must also feel our joy completely. They are emotions that need to flow so that we can move them, not suppress them, which causes illness and stuckness.

Innocence in the song lyrics and their newbie authenticity, the laughter, and humility. Grace on stage even though people were drunk and talking loudly during the performance. It was a gift to behold. I bought a $30 t-shirt to support them, which Charles signed while carrying on a fan-girl conversation with me. I ran outside to Brian's car waiting across the street. It felt like I was in high school again and my dad was coming to pick me up, making sure I was ok. That never happened in real life, btw. So I'm grateful for Brian's care.

What is the feeling you're longing for these days?

Rhetoric

Seth Godin's recent newsletter talked about the Poetry Machine.

"In the 1980s, professors with unpronounceable names wrote dense books about how language is a system of signs pointing to other signs. How meaning doesn’t come from the “real world” but from the web of relationships between words themselves.

Everyone thought this was academic nonsense.

Turns out, it was a blueprint for ChatGPT.

...We keep asking: “Is it intelligent? Does it understand?”

Wrong questions.

Better question: “How does it create?”

Because here’s what’s actually happening inside these machines: They’re mapping the statistical relationships between every word and every other word in human culture. They’re building a heat map of how language actually works.

Not how we think it should work. How it does work.

...Instead of fearing these machines or anthropomorphizing them, we could learn to read them.

They’re showing us something we’ve never seen before: a statistical map of human culture. The ideological patterns that shape how we think and write and argue. [URANUS IN GEMINI (COMMUNICATION)]

...We need a new kind of literacy. Not just reading and writing, but understanding how these culture machines work. How they compress meaning. How they generate new combinations from old patterns.

We need to become rhetoricians again. Students of how language shapes reality.

Because these machines aren’t replacing human creativity.

They’re revealing how human creativity actually works."

Claude wrote this for Seth and it's beautiful. My go-to book on rhetoric is The Elements of Eloquence by Mark Forsyth. It's up to us to improve our skills and knowledge to keep humans ahead of AI.

More notably, I experienced Seth's AI artifact on strategy, which begins with "What Do You Want To Change?" I entered a relationship-centric prompt about a pattern I was having difficulty breaking. It walked me through language that felt validating and empathetic, posed a few insights, and asked me a question. Therapy 101. I won't get into the controversy of the rise in popularity of using Chat as therapy, but I wanted to point out the question given to me that has changed me significantly as I use it as a tool for behavioral sobriety.

Through my conversation with Seth's artifact, I came to understand clearly that my system is calibrated for uncertainty and instability, which explains my penchant for risk-taking and my inability to see red flags previously. Childhood stuff. It feels familiar when people are unclear and are prone to obfuscation. Admittedly, I am unclear, too. I'm cognizant of what's mine and what I'm projecting.

In the fog, I am making significance out of behaviors, creating stories out of facial expressions, reading into text messages, instead of simply asking what it is I want to know. There are several reasons why, but mainly, I don't really want to know. I want to stay in the fantasy, the story (Moon opposite my Neptune in the 11th house), which wastes my energy and can seep into rumination. It makes for a great storyteller, but not so helpful in intimate partnerships.

Here's the question in case it heals your own exhausting mind gymnastics:

Are you solving a mental puzzle or are you dealing in reality?

Let me know how you use this tool.

Embodied Eloquence

As I mentioned above, many of us don't know what we want. We've been so busy doing and living in conditioned bodies that informed us what success was. Not knowing our values and what we truly want leaves us in our habits of people pleasing and giving to prove our worth or to get love. My erotic energetics teacher tells us that when we suppress our erotic vitality it causes autoimmune dis-ease as well as longing and craving.

One way to tap into our desires through the body is to write in a way that generates arousal. On Wednesday, we'll do this by studying the archetypes and mythology of goddesses, the symbolism and visuals of Tarot, and the craft of erotic writing. I'm offering this series of six writing playshops to give us tools to understand our nature and to be able to communicate with flourish and clarity. Each playshop can be taken on its own. Doing all six deepens your practice of seeing and feeling. We'll begin with Venus and The Empress card.

It's for writers of all levels and orientations. There's an online option or come to the lake and join in person. Bring your favorite writing tools and Tarot deck (I have some you can borrow).

Wednesday, July 16, 2025 from 6-9 p.m.
Hudson Bend, Austin, 78734
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Tarot for Teens

My friend and colleague Cecily Sailor is offering a Teen Witch Tarot Camp for young intuitive interpreters. She is the founder of Typewriter Tarot and is a writing coach for those looking to get your words out there. I love her. Tell her I sent you :)

Love Restoration

If you're in Austin near the Spicewood Springs neighborhood, I teach a Kripalu Gentle Yoga & Sound class on Sundays at 6 p.m. at The Yoga Common Studio. It's 30 minutes of soothing movement as meditation followed by 30 minutes of laying down to receive the resonance of various instruments that calm the nervous system. It's a prayer to be guided by your heart throughout the week.

Scenes from the Full Moon in Capricorn

Thank you for reading this far. I'm grateful for your presence in my life and for your support of my work.

Blessed be,

Monica

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