A Place to Land

This is some real grand opening type shit. Like, I’m cutting a ribbon with big scissors and giving y’all the key to my city.

I want to begin this first post with a quote from thee tropical Aquarius Sun, Capricorn Mercury and Venus, Alice Walker, in the opening paragraph of her 2006 anthology, We Are The Ones We Have Been Waiting For: 

“It is the worst of times. It is the best of times. Try as I might I cannot find a more appropriate opening for this volume: it helps tremendously that these words have been spoken before and, thanks to Charles Dickens, written at the beginning of A Tale of Two Cities. Perhaps they have been spoken, written, thought, an endless number of times throughout human history. It is the worst of times because it feels as though the very Earth is being stolen from us, by us: the land and air poisoned, the water polluted, the animals disappeared, humans degraded and misguided. War is everywhere. It is the best of times because we have entered a period, if we can bring ourselves to pay attention, of great clarity as to cause and effect. A blessing when we consider how much suffering human beings have endured, in previous millennia, without a clue to its cause. Gods and Goddesses were no doubt created to fill this gap. Because we can now see into every crevice of the globe and because we are free to explore previously unexplored crevices in our own hearts and minds, it is inevitable that everything we have needed to comprehend in order to survive, everything we have needed to understand in the most basic of ways, will be illuminated now. We have only to open our eyes, and awaken to our predicament. We see that we are, alas, a huge part of our problem. However: We live in a time of global enlightenment. This alone should make us shout for joy.”

Fitting for a New Moon Solar Eclipse if ya ask me.

I am 23 years old, and will be turning 24 on July 6th, 2022. Those of you who are very familiar with more inner depths of astrology know that age 23 is a 12th house profection year, a time of letting go of the subconscious fears and habits that fog the mind so that you may spring anew in your 1st house year, ready to embody the energy of standing tall in who you are. And with my 12th house beginning in Aries, this involves my intense apprehension for being seen individually, for me to be undoubtedly courageous in stepping up to a plate that I have defined for myself.  

I hesitated to start this blog for a very long time because I was so sure that climate change and the shame of my mistakes would, and should, take me out first. I began waiting, hoping, despairing, that my life would disappear before my eyes and the work I created would thus have little to no value to the world. It surely seemed easier, until my need to write to stay alive, to journal out my thoughts so that they would not become all consuming, outweighed my fear of the inevitable death that is actually more far off than I know. There is still work to be done, for my own personal fulfillment and towards overall human liberation. I’ve asked my ancestors and spiritual team about climate change, and I heard them say that I will adapt as the world changes, and that is all I can do. I have forgiven, and continue to forgive myself for not living within an image that is dogmatic and self-critical. Why waste the time I do have on not using what I’ve been endowed with?! My spirit calls me to that which is above over and over again. I have no choice but to listen. So, that’s what I’m going to do.

Welcome to Planet Crab! 

**full disclaimer: when I say “us” and “we” I mean it in terms of the greater human collective, but I am always centering the narratives of people who are Black, Indigenous queer/trans/neuroexpansive/disabled/poor/femme/GNC/the most targeted – if that is not already abundantly clear.**

Planet Crab is about deepening astrology knowledge as it is connected to spirituality, ancestral reverence, and liberation from colonialism, capitalism, anti-Blackness, and every other system that works to oppress us. The name is only fitting for someone who envisions a world much more suited to the needs and desires of humans as a part of nature (s/o my homegirl Nyla, 2020). 

My first goal is to explain the basics of astrology so that everyone can understand, like how to read a chart with symbols, what aspects and transits are, and houses, so that’s what I’ll be discussing in the first few posts with some added flair. Feel free to ask for help for further clarification via my Contact page or IG. If you’re White you should be sliding me some cash every time you inquire. Period. My info is in my About and Contact pages. 

Understanding astrology can have markedly eye-opening effects on the ways in which you engage with your work. By work I mean who and what you attend to on a day-to-day basis, not just the 9-5 and what puts dollas in ya pocket. Thinking of my dear friend Nia who created a fictitious chart of a character in a play to enhance her embodiment and performance. She’s taken the information I’ve given her and used it in a way that makes sense for her. Granted, she is not an astrologer as it relates to you and me, but she contains her own personal astrological reference from which she derives meaning in her creative work. 

Shameless Plug: Go listen to Foot On Yo’ Neck, Nia and I’s podcast for Black women and femmes. Available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You will not regret it. 

Imagine a world where astrology is used to cater to children’s needs and interests, especially as it relates to schooling and education. And then those children grow into adults who know how to nurture themselves because they’ve been taught to identify resources and self empowerment that doesn’t exist at the cost of others. Food for thought. 

So what is astrology then?

Astrology is a divinatory language using celestial bodies and the physical environment and landscape to segment, name, and interpret time. Emphasis on divinatory. It involves knowing Spirit. Celestial bodies include planets, fixed stars, and asteroids. More to come on the zodiac and what it is exactly in another post. The zodiac and the signs are more about the location of these celestial bodies in space and how these energies show up in real time through people, places, events, etc. Much less to do with the constellations themselves. 

With defining astrology as a language, it is important to understand that language is created in context to social, political, historical, and cultural structures. Astrology in the mainstream Western sense, here on referred to as ‘pop astrology,’  has been framed in the white imaginary, where it is used as a tool to gain power and acquisitions, to center Greek and Roman interpretation and knowledge as wholly divine and correct, and even worse: to define ourselves in reductive and often fatalistic phrases, terms, and ideas that ultimately mean nothing. 

What does it do for you to be described as “emotionally detached” because you are an Aquarius Sun? Or to be “organized” because you have a Virgo placement? Or that Geminis are “two faced?”  (Side bar: stop shitting on Gemini Suns. Y’all don’t even know why you do it half the time. If it’s because of a man, that is its own separate battle.) Undoubtedly, these labels can be fun at times, as I am not above a good jokey-joke or descriptive IG meme, and I won’t act like that wasn’t a part of my own humble beginning as a young astrologer. HOWEVER, we all deserve to know ourselves in nuanced ways that lead to our inner spiritual evolution so that we may be better people to ourselves and thus each other. We deserve to think beyond systems of oppression that have plagued us for centuries, and move forward with fortitude. In the words of En Vogue, “Free yo mind and the rest will follow.”

We are in a time where It is beneficial and if not critical for our continued survival to use these tools to advance ourselves into the world we actually want to see. To understand where the past is replicated in the present so it is not repeated, but dismantled in the future. To understand where the communal and interdependent parts of the past can be shaped to revamp our present and thus ingrained into our future through repetition and grace. 

We deserve Truth. We deserve depth. We deserve better. 

Citations/Resources for Further Expansion

I highly encourage listening to these two podcast episodes. Your brain will grow 2 sizes bigger. 

A Little Juju Podcast with host Juju Bae and guest Dayna Lynn Nuckolls. “Ep. 47 Divination 4 Liberation (Sidereal Astrology w: @PeoplesOracle).” May 2020. https://open.spotify.com/episode/4XqgrSg5uKHN2U8hWsngKn?si=WavKSc0iSHiuDlU1j_Q1bQ

Ayanmo Radio with host 7souljah and guest Elmina Bell. “African and indigenous perspectives of astrology w/ Elmina Bell.” 31 January 2022. https://open.spotify.com/episode/7EnGsxcfr95NrgxqCrESnP?si=xeYuX5zoRjqPr6ZfFFPxOQ