The influencer is dying.
This was the accidental theme of last week’s Club Astro Office Hours. The individual who named this feeling for all of us then continued to list examples of recently fallen internet celebs.
We had been thick in a discussion looking back at the eclipse cycle of 2017/18, when the North Node, or the dragon’s head, was pushing through Leo, as the South Node, or the dragon’s tail, gave a deep cleaning to the terrain of Aquarius.
This was, in some ways, a moment of kings — perhaps most exemplified by the rise to power of Donald Trump, the president who made a name for himself rawdogging the total solar eclipse.
Now, let’s talk about looking at the eclipse.
It’s true that staring at the sun without protection can have very real damaging effects on your eyes. The reason, however, that we hide from the baleful rays, as my forever mentor Larry Arrington recently pointed out, is reverence.
Taking shelter from the eclipse is an act of humility, it’s a pact with the belief that there are forces out there greater than all of us. To stare straight into the sun, symbolically speaking, is as close as most of us will get to flying too close to the sun.
The danger with influencers is the same as with kings: drunk on their own power, they become tyrants and ruin life for the rest of us with their Ponzi crypto schemes, empty promises, and overpriced golden merch.
This conversation prompted some research, and I discovered that TikTok entered the US market in August of 2018, during this same hungry-for-attention eclipse cycle.
Which means, in eclipse terms, TikTok and its inflated idols are facing their first nodal reckoning.
This comes at the same time that Myspace has announced plans to return as an algorithm-free social network, though no launch date has been confirmed yet.
Is this the beginning of a new era?
Let’s Think About That
On October 3rd, Venus, planet of love, desire, and social grace, makes an about-face and disappears from the sky. Situated in the watery underworld of Scorpio, she will trace her way back through the zodiac to her airy home of Libra. The last time she made this journey was October 2018, a period nestled, once again, between the Leo and Aquarius eclipses.
Before you get carried away with timelines, stay with me.
Think about where you were in the fall of 2018. Hold onto that.
The Good Stuff
If you follow astrology at all, which, since you’re reading this, I’m assuming you do, you’ve heard all sorts of things about Venus retrogrades. Most of them, very likely, have been scary.
This is the time of breakups, bad haircuts, general misunderstandings, and misfortunes in love.
Perhaps.
And it’s also an opportunity to strengthen bonds, to sever unnecessary ties, to remember what you love and commit yourself to that passion, that person, that desire, in whatever form it takes, with new zest and commitment.
For 40 days and some change, we have an opportunity to step away from our mundane lives to reflect and dream bigger than we generally give ourselves time for.
But what does this have to do with the sun?
The thing about royalty and influencers is they only have power because we the people give it to them.
We can look at this eclipse season as an opportunity for a shift, but if that shift is not rooted in deeply held beliefs and desires, its impacts will only be fleeting.
The Influencer May Be Dead But Capitalism Is Still Thriving
Let’s take this Venus Retrograde journey together.
Starting on Sunday, September 27th, we’ll explore the Venus cycle through the Sumerian myth of Inanna and her journey to the Underworld, crossing through time to pick up other stories and poems of the descent — the tarot’s among them, including the threads of our own mythology.
Through writing prompts, group storytelling, and discussion, we’ll embark on our own six-week journey of self-discovery and inspiration.
Are you in?
Join Club Astro for first access and a discounted rate on our Venus Rx portal.
If you’re looking for a group of likeminded astro seekers, Club Astro is your place!
We meet weekly to explore the sky in real time and make sense of what is unfolding in our lives and in the collective. This is your chance to ask me questions about your chart, share stories, and connect with a cohort of fellow astrologers.
Club Astro members also get exclusive perks:
Discounted astrological readings & mentorship
Secret invites
Discounted tickets to the Los Angeles Astro Salon and the LA Astro Fest.
More Venus!
Don’t Cut Your Hair: Notes On Venus Retrograde
Throughout the years I’ve made some terrible decisions during Venus Retrogrades. I’ve relapsed into toxic romances, uprooted my life for nostalgia and empty opportunities, and even imploded some seemingly fine friendships. But I’ve never cut my hair.
Eight years is short of a nodal return, and the shortfall is the interesting part.
At the August 2018 eclipse the dragon's head sat around 6 Leo. At this one it has walked backward 156 degrees onto the Aquarius line, which puts the tail arriving in Leo, on the same terrain the head was feeding while those accounts were being built. Same axis, ends reversed. The head does not come back around to that degree until March 2037.
So the office hours conversation was catching something real. A room full of people who can each name a fallen internet celeb, without anyone having planned the topic, is roughly what a tail walking into the house of kings looks like from inside it.