off with their heads
entering the eclipse portal
I still have a few sessions left this month. You can book one here.
We are entering eclipse season and I have been pruning the roses. Deadheading, they call it. You see, if you leave the bud, it will become a rosehip. A vitamin-C rich berry from which new rose bushes can be germinated. Glamor gives way to necessity and the humble act of progeneration.
It is best to behead the blooms in their prime, but you can wait until they wither and wilt, give over to the drying, fierce rays of the sun. You can patiently watch for the exact moment when entropy sets in. When the tight bud has unfolded and shared all it has to offer, modesty overtakes vanity and the evolutionary drive is handed the reins.
Deadheading is not a natural process. It’s a cheat code to get more blooms. But more than that, it invites a vigorous mid-season prune, where the supremacy of the blossom is ceded in service of the overall shape of the bush. In their competition for the sun, the blooms urge the stems in wily, chaotic growth. They crisscross and rub against each other, creating open wounds. They tangle and bind and stifle the flow of air to the inner branches. This mid-season maintenance gives you a chance to see where rot has set in. To count back to the next strongest node that will support a new bouncing head, a fresh delight for the pollinators and people alike.
From May to October we have abundant blooms, but only because of this intervention. Tangerines and juicy pinks, deep reds and fuschias, creamy yellow and white varietals surround the devotional chapel. You can find their big, bright heads lolling from the mouths of old creamer and apertif bottles on tables and mantels through our home. We fill up our compost with them a few days later, and replace them with fresh buds.
If you’re tracking this, reader, that stretches from one Venus-ruled sign to another. The envelope is opened in Taurus season, and sealed again in Libra’s time. Another hearty pruning is required in February (the time of Saturn), to ensure that enough growth will be stimulated in the coming season; that that which is woody and stiff gives way to the green pliancy of new growth.
For some plants, it is as simple as plucking the flower where it springs. Basil, for instance, can be pinched off between your fingers and keep producing new leaves until the first frost. But with roses, a little more care must be taken. Your shears must be sharp and clean—a dull and dirty knife can spread disease or cause unnecessary damage to the stem by crushing or pinching, or leaving jagged edges. The angle must be steep and pointed in such a way to allow water to shed from the stalk, rather than lingering at the fresh wound. You cannot simply pluck the head off, but must search down the stem for a thorn above a healthy shoot. The exact number required varies by cultivar, but I am learning that our bushes do best when cut above the next five-petaled leaf.
If you fail, the stalk will die back to the next leaves and leave a hollow cylinder that will snap off at the next pair of branches. Success announces itself a few days after pruning, when a red tinged fist of new leaves appears out of the node. A week or so later, new buds appear.
As we approach a Solar Eclipse in Leo (arriving on August 12th at 20° of the sign) we are asked to examine what and whom has consumed more resources than their fair share. What has grown wild and irrelevant, cannot stay within its bounds? Who has stretched and stolen light and nutrients from the masses? What is festering and blighted, and must be incised—cleanly cut for the good of the gander?
Leo is a sign of fixed fire. It is signified by intense creative energy, and is ruled by the Sun. A central, organizing force that keeps us all in orbit, giving gravity and order to our solar system. Leo shines and shines and never stops to think if it may be overwhelming its audience. This can be a beautiful thing, but with Jupiter now co-present in the sign of the lion, there is a chance of doing too much, too soon. Of going too big and refusing to go home. The excesses and the lack of self-consciousness which can be one of Leo’s great gifts may become the vehicle of over-extension that predicts their fall.
On the other hand, Pluto is joined by the north node in Aquarius, and though this can represent the masses, we also see the hungry head of the technocrats. Here in fixed air, we have the arrogance of disconnection; a confidence in one’s ideas and abstractions above all else. Minds that won’t change or bend, a faith in technology that is not undergirded by any real human understanding or wisdom. The hydra emerges, thoughtlessly consuming the earth’s precious and waning natural resources. We are witnessing mass dehumanization that smacks of a prescience of the world they threaten to create. One where nothing natural can survive, where only the artificial remains. In these rising villains, we see a thirst that cannot be quenched; a hunger that cannot be satisfied.
And so, sometimes we must do a little beheading for the good of the bush. Pay attention to those who have gained prominence and power in the last nine years—what stars have risen? At some point, the only way to go is down. Kings are made and unmade. Fortune rises and falls. The wheel turns, plowing under the blooms of last season. All will return to dust, the worms will feed and make new life from the bloated corpses of the past.
I do not know what is to be done, but I also know that the coming weeks are beyond my control, and yours too, gentle reader. Now is a time to read the tides and adapt as skillfully as you are able. To heed the warnings and be wary of ego and selfishness, yes, but also of disconnection. Now is not a time to numb, but to sharpen our shears and learn where to cut. To hold fast, keep caring for whatever is in your stewardship, and see where the current takes you.
horoscopes + more support
Looking for your Leo Season Horoscopes? You can find them here. Want more support? You can book a 1:1 or couples reading, or purchase a gift card here. If you’d like to support the ongoing free offerings you can upgrade to a paid subscription or buy me a cup of coffee here.
upcoming shows
Northern NM! I’ll be playing back to back free post eclipse shows. Come through!