Steven visited us to share some information about the upcoming Vernal Equinox, that shift from winter into spring for those of us on the Northern hemisphere, which will take place on March 19th this year, in just under a week! That means you still have time to order a Vernal Equinox Expansion Pack and get your altar ready for Spring! The pack includes a handcrafted sterling silver talisman for spring made by Steven, a lovely spring clay goddess made by yours truly, and a bunch of other yummy goodies. Check it out here!
In addition to talking about the upcoming transits, Steven and I chat about what brought him into the practice of astrology, how learning about alchemy opened the door to the stars, and some astrologically charged tips for moving through the madness of the Corona virus.
From Skeptic to Practitioner
Steven didn’t start out a born believer. Like many of us, he was introduced to astrology through horoscopes in newspapers, these little blurbs that were so vague and silly they could be applicable to just about anyone—or no one at all. Still, there was something about the esoteric that caught his attention, and when he was in his late 20s “Astrology found me again, through synchronicity.”
Chakras for Beginners by local astrologer David Pond was placed in his hands, and not long after Steven scheduled his first reading. “I don’t know how this person knew so much about from, through just this chart that looks so...you know it’s just this circle with all these numbers on it...I was hooked.”
Alchemy and Astrology
Although Steven found a lot that resonated with him in astrology, and had some interest in exploring it more himself, the topic was so vast as to be totally overwhelming. “It does not seem like something that you can grasp your mind around. And it isn’t.”
It wasn’t until He was introduced to alchemy, the mystical process of turning lead into gold, that Steven found a way into the study of astrology. “It was this Rosetta Stone...that allowed me to understand the language of astrology.” Through studying personal transformation using alchemy, Steven was able to grasp the transformation that astrology ignites in each and every one of us, as the planets move through the heavens.
Description, Not Prediction
While Steven acknowledges the presence and validity of predictive astrology, that’s not his focus. “There are ways of predicting the time of someone’s death, when they’ll fall in love. There is some merit to that, but I don’t really want to mess with that.”
Instead, Steven focuses his work on helping people identify where they are in the moment, and ways to move forward from that knowledge. “For me that’s more helpful. And also I look back to see where I’ve been, to find out where I am.” Like finding your place on a map.
I Hate Mercury Retrograde
A common refrain among people interested in astrology is this sense of blaming the planets for difficult situations. Unfortunately, this approach to anything puts us in the seat of victim. Steven likes to view things differently. “Each of these planets represents an archetype of the human experience...throughout our experience there are different themes that come up and are released for us.”
These archetypes, from Steven’s view, get activated by the planetary archetypes as they move through the sky and interact with our dynamic birth charts. So when Mercury goes into retrograde, it’s not the planetary energy attacking us: “I prefer to see it as Mercury is living inside of me, and there’s a correlation between Mercury in the sky and the Mercury in me...we are so connected, to everything and everyone one. There’s no getting away from that.”
The Equinox Equation
After talking to Steven for a while about his background, we started looking at those energies at work in the upcoming equinox. Particularly, how the sun in the zodiac wheel is moving out of Pisces, the last sign, and into Aries, the first sign. We talk a lot about cycles in this episode, and on this podcast at large, and Steven urges listeners to reflect back “on what they were doing last March, around the last equinox, and what came up during that time, and what is coming to an end this year.”
What can you, dear reader, let go of to make more room for the things you’re planting?
For more on Steven Anderson, Metal Mysterium, the Vernal Equinox, and an astrological approach to the Corona virus, listen to this great interview! Then head over to Steven’s site and schedule a reading, or pick up a limited edition Vernal Equinox Expansion Pack.
See you next week!
