Rose Knows. 2.0
A *NEW* newsletter about astrology and self-care.
Fancy seeing you (me) here. đ
Itâs been too many moons, I know, and I have missed you. These are the parallel truths that informed my hiatus:
I write for a living and had no vocabulary left to fill this space: Just anemic screeches and compulsive yawns.
Confronting this nebulous blob of a newsletter each week on an empty brain felt beyond intimidating. I require a (soft, forgiving) framework.
Although I published this piece for VICE since we last spoke, I have spent the last four months or so questioning my genuine interest in a traditional media career. My labyrinthine quest for wellness-adjacent bylines in major publicationsâreplete with (unfriendly) ghost editors, cauldrons of energy vampires, and âskeptical journalistâ armor that A. did not fit and B. looked stupidâleft me limp and frazzled.
So the conclusion I have come to is this: Iâm no longer interested in waiting around for the trash fire that is media to take me under its flaming wing, nor am I interested in pretending to be leery of the mystical, magical, woo-woo shit I LOVE. Iâm leaning all the way in, baby, and Rose Knows is now my outlet for astrology, self care findings, and, from time to time, probing personal essays about all of the above⌠but this time with *~structure~*.
Astrology forecast for the week of July 12th
This weekâs theme song: O.K., Meet Me Underwater by Jay Som
Speaking of structure, these watery skies have had next to none lately. With the Sun and now Mercury in Cancer and Jupiter and Neptune Retrograde in Pisces, itâs more or less a Slip âN Slide out there, and this past Fridayâs Cancer New Moon likely had you swimming through an ocean of emotion. Here to greet you at the shore, howeverâwith the fluffiest towel and a piĂąa colada, no lessâare the Moon, Venus, and Mars all in fierce, fabulous Leo.Â
Inner work is the name of the game this week, particularly, the ways in which your childhood survival mechanisms keep your dreams adrift and just out of reach.
Read on for this weekâs transits, followed by journal prompts specific to each Sun/Rising sign.
Today, July 12, Mercury in Cancer trines Jupiter in Pisces. The royal messenger planet (who, while retrograding through Gemini, acted more like a royal pain in the butt, you feel me?) is back on track, and has been helping us identify and articulate our emotional patterning in the fourth house of familial roots. Meanwhile, Jupiter has been retrograding through Pisces in the twelfth house, illuminating our subconscious blocks and showing us where we need healing in order to grow.Â
Mercury and Jupitersâ meeting feels like a Psych 101 class⌠but underwater, in fluid, copacetic Cancer and Pisces, respectively. The heart of todayâs lesson is this: Youâre still acting out your childhood survival mechanismsâwe all are. Feel into which of your habitual thoughts and behaviors honor the person you want to be, and ship the others out to sea. While your subconscious is slippery material, you have planetary support right now to gush right through the (damn) dams youâve built.
Although weâve been in the collective deep end, tomorrow, July 13, finds us beachside, bathing in golden light. Mars, the action planet, makes out with Venus, planet of love, beauty, and all that we desire in demonstrative, solar-powered Leo and our fourth house of shared resources. This conjunction wields the energy of finally getting what we want and enjoying the hell out of itâbut we have to know what we want first.
Thursday, July 15, finds us back in our underwater Psych 101 classâstill exploring how our upbringing (particularly as it relates to our mothers) informs our subconsciousâbut this time the energy feels different. First of all, thereâs a substitute teacher (the Sun in Cancer)... and theyâre distractingly hot, like, you canât focus on anything theyâre saying about your childhood because youâre positively melting in their gorgeous presence. Are we still following this metaphor? Okay, so the âstudentâ this time (quotation marks because weâre all each othersâ teachers and we donât abide by normative roles here) is Neptune retrograding through Pisces. Neptune always has trouble focusing even when theyâre not drooling over a babe in their midst.Â
Weâre going over the same lesson from Monday, in the same subaquatic Cancer/Pisces location, and once again, weâre in a supportive trine. But the egoic Sun, and dreamy, subliminal Neptune donât always speak the same language, even though they want to be understood, and to understand. Long story short, you might bump up against some frustration today as you reflect on your own psychological makeup, but let Neptune inspire you to turn that angst into art.
Existential crises abound on Saturday, July 17, when the Sun in Cancer opposes Pluto Retrograde in Capricorn and the tenth house of career. Not to be too dramatic, but the Sun is our life-giving creator, and Pluto is our destroyerâearthquaking us back into alignment with our true selves. In this case, Pluto wants us to reattune to our purpose.Â
Since April 27th of this year, Pluto has been retrograding through Capricorn, where it has held station since 2008. Both Capricorn and the tenth house have serious ties to our long-term goals, ambition, and expertise. So this confrontation with the Sun in our fourth house of family begs the questions: Are we doing what weâre here on Earth to do, or are we living out our caregiversâ projected hopes and failures? Are we still playing it small? âŚAnd are we even in the right arena?Â
Journal Prompts to Greet Your Familial Shadow, and Embrace Your Fantastically Flawed Self. âĄď¸
Aries/Aries Rising
Where have you repressed your assertive nature out of fear of acting pushy? Do you surround yourself with people and opportunities who value your candor, and if not, how can you start?
Gemini/Gemini Rising
Growing up, who tuned you out and made you feel like your tangents werenât worth their time? Which people in your life now are safe to share the lush wilderness of your thoughts with?
Cancer/Cancer Rising
Fridayâs New Moon was your cosmic coming out party, so where in your life are you still hiding⌠and what, or who, are you hiding from? Is your shell (career/relationship/community, etc.) big enough to contain all the gifts you have to offer this world, or is it time for an upgrade?
Leo/Leo Rising
Where in your life are you dimming your shine? You do deserve attention and recognition from the people in your life, but how can you validate and celebrate yourself, too?
Virgo/Virgo Rising
Is your perfectionism just a mask for your fear of rejection? Where in your life can you safely make mistakes⌠or do you need to build that experimental space for yourself?
Libra/Libra Rising
What if you were more concerned with pleasing yourself than pleasing others? What if you spent more time questioning whether you enjoyed yourself than whether you performed well?
Scorpio/Scorpio Rising
Where in your life do you temper your intensity out of fear of coming on too strong? Can you redirect that energy into building a community worthy of your fierce loyalty?
Sagitarius/Sagitarius Rising
Where in your life are you refusing to heal, running to a new city/person/project to distract you from old hurts? You deserve peace, so can you sit with yourself until it finds you?
Capricorn/Capricorn Rising
Have you been chasing prestige, and if so, for who? Where do you feel ease and flow with your work? Striving has no end, so where can you stop pushing and start trusting?
Aquarius/Aquarius Rising
As many lockdowns lift, how are you still distancing yourself? Where are you confusing a need for space with a fear of being seen, and how can you start to put yourself back out there again?
Pisces/Pisces Rising
Where in your life can you recognize your sensitivity as a gift? Can you let go of the idea that you need to toughen up to make it in this world? Can you get comfortable leaning into your innate softness?
Taurus/Taurus Rising
Are you still shaming yourself for your indulgences? Culture may demand productivity, but the Universe wants you to honor your need for pleasure. So how can you show yourself more gratitude for doing just that?
3 Self-Care Tips + Tools Iâve Been Working With This Week
I have officially hopped on the gua sha train. After practicing full-body lymphatic drainage self-massage for a couple of years, I recently started facial scraping (Lol. Ew.) in the evenings and I love it. It doesnât take much time, effort, or brain power, and it feels like a healthier bedtime activity than watching Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. I sometimes do both, though! đ¤ˇââď¸ (Kyle, fellow Capricorn Queen, is my unabashed fave.)
I canât recommend creative coaching sessions with Shanna Shrum, The Compassionate Creative Coach, enough. If youâre feeling creatively blocked (or letâs be real, physically/sexually/financially blocked⌠I believe itâs all connected), Shanna can give you actionable, inspiring, FUN steps to get back into your flow.
Space!!! I manifested the dreamiest work/art studio with Dirty Like the Weeds and some inspiring others, and it greatly contributed to the reboot of this newsletter. Also, I canât get takeout delivered to my apartment, but I can get takeout delivered to my studio (which is three blocks away?), so thatâs an obvious win.
Thank you for the support! Happy to be back,
Rose