museletter

Voyage to Virgo Szn

Be the Hermit, a loner, a rebel

Jen Yi

23 Aug 2023 • 9 min read

Image description: IG post from @lasculturistas with Yang, hand up & reaching out, and Rogers, wearing sunglasses, behind Beyonce (Virgo Queen!), drag performer Jimbo as Shirley Temple, a White Claw, someone from *Vanderpump Rules* (???), and Taylor Swift. Bottom of image is bluish-gray with pale yellow text: Eras, Renaissance…. And More with Matt and Bowen.

As a lover of pop culture, I find the more I age, the less I pay attention to current pop culture. I used to devour new music, but am now content with my nostalgic playlists. The last new artist I discovered was Megan Thee Stallion. I am still listening to Beyonce’s Renaissance weekly. The only current TV show I faithfully keep up with is RuPaul’s Drag Race. My pop culture lense is of the past. I attempt to stay current by listening to the podcast Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang. Rogers and Yang are cisgender male, gay, comedic actors in their 30s with a love of Taylor Swift and the Bravo channel. I have never watched an episode of Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, but I feel like I intimately know those women through the discourse of Rogers, Yang, and often a guest. You wouldn’t think a 40-something mother of 2 from the suburbs could relate, but it is Rogers and Yang’s candor, thoughtfulness, and queerness which draws me in. They ask their guests the question: “What was the culture that made you say ‘culture is for me’?” I instantly love any guest who mentions Pee-wee Herman.

This is a question I have pondered myself as I feel I was raised by TV, books, and magazines. A babysitter for my single mother and my non-judgmental companions. I’m old enough to remember when there were only 3 or 4 channels on antenna TV. We were too poor to afford cable TV. I cherished the few hours on Saturday morning when cartoons and children’s programming would air. I absolutely loved Pee-wee’s Playhouse and it definitely shaped the culture of my youth. I feel gutted by the death of Paul Reubens on July 30, 2023. It is like a little piece of my childhood died.

Celebrity culture is not something I am proud to be a part of, but it comes with the love of pop culture. The NY Times posted a lovely obituary about Reubens and I just couldn’t help but notice that he was a Virgo Sun being born on Aug 27, 1952. I think it is impossible to know someone you have never met even if they are a highly public figure. I do not think you can know someone based on their birth chart, but it may elevate your own language of astrology. As the wheel turns to Virgo season, may the spirit of Pee-wee Herman provide inspiration.

Image description: Pee-wee is sitting on Chairry, legs crossed in a meditation pose, in addition to his usual gray suit and red bow tie, he is wearing a peace symbol necklace and headband.

Virgo is stereotyped as practical, organized, analytical. Pee-wee’s Playhouse felt like organized whimsy. A sitting chair named Chairry, the window was Mr. Window, and the floor was Floory. The Word of the Day provided a focused detail and a reason to not use our inside voices. In 1989, Reubens told Newsday he was not trying to make educational children’s programming, but instead was “trying to expose children to as much creativity as we can muster in a half-hour, to be entertaining and to transmit some subliminal messages, like nonconformity isn’t bad.” This child is grateful to have soaked up these messages.

With Reubens death it feels like there is one less living, breathing human being who valued nonconformity and inclusivity. Reubens grew up in Florida durings the 50s and segregation. He felt good about casting Black actors in major recurring roles as his way to create a “Norman Rockwell version of the ’50s, which was more all-inclusive.” Growing up in northern WI, I rarely saw a Black person. My Korean family were usually the only non-white people. This is where I saw Black representation in a cowboy, a mail person, and the King of Cartoons. “Not just anybody — the King!” declared Reubens. Please relish the opening sequence with its diverse, queer cast and Grace Jones singing “Little Drummer Boy” from Pee-wee’s Christmas Special.

As a parent, I strive to instill these values into my children. It is why I started watching RuPaul’s Drag Race with my daughter when she was 9. Trust me, all the sexual innuendos went over both of our heads. We were mesmerized by fierce self-expression. My son is 9 and is growing up in the era of corporate inclusivity with more people of color are being cast in major roles. This summer we watched the latest movies from the Transformers and Scream franchises which both had predominantly non-white casts. It remains difficult though when we live in a 95% white community where implicit bias runs deep. My daughter is now an adult and has escaped to a larger city to be around more people of color. To not just see herself on a screen, but also in the people waiting with her at the bus stop.

Image description: Painting by artist Tino Rodriguez, titled ‘The Divine Feminine (the arrival of abundance).’ Large figure in the middle with the head of a stag, arms stretched with flowers flowing from their palms. Flowers cover their body as they are encircled by butterflies, birds, and stars. A naked figure is in front of the stag-figure holding a white egg with a bird covering their pelvic region. This figure has long, pale golden hair with small antlers. The painting mirrors itself on the left and right halves. The figures are flanked by owls and lounging naked figures with bird heads and wings and a lap full of flowers. There is a black and white serpent at their feet. The sky is black and the ground is orange. The flowers are mostly small multi-colored blooms with larger, prominent sunflowers.

If astrology isn’t real then why does Virgo season coincide with back-to-school time, huh? Yes, I’m being facetious, but it is an appropriate synchronicity. Virgo is symbolized by the virgin — innocence, purity, uncorrupted. This is a season for the child, the novice. We shake the last lazy days of summer and shift into studious mode. As I prepare my son ready for 4th grade, I am winding down in my own studies.

The first week of Virgo season is my last week of grad school for the rest of 2023! I am taking an unexpected, but treasured break as I failed to secure my next clinical rotation. This is a failure that I cherish as I did not realize how close I was to burning out. When I failed to submit my clinical application and my advisor told me I could take an approved break, I felt relief. A great sigh was released from my psyche. I felt the weight of Sunday night due dates lift from my body. No more reasons to procrastinate. Less schedules to juggle. Less time spent pretending to care about shit that I just don’t care about. Just in time for Mercury to turn retrograde in Virgo. I was meant to pause.

Mercury retrograde has got to be one of the most overhyped transits in astrology. I mean, I get it if you make your bread and butter from astrology. Mercury retrograde occurs 3-4 times per year. You can get your social media followers whipped up in a panic and it’s only your saged astrological wisdom which can provide the necessary guidance for the low price of $333. You can also choose 3 payments of $111 if those repeating numbers resonate more with you.

Image description: Meme from @nickcaveandthebadmemes by Dave Tarnowski. Nick Cave, a white male with dark hair and mustache, wearing a jeweled turban, black suit, white shirt, who appears to be using a Ouija board. Large, white block text: “For anyone who’s into astrology and wondering what planets are fucking with them right now, the answer is Earth.”

Until my journey down the rabbit hole of astrology, I had been aware of the concept of Mercury retrograde, but did not know what it truly meant. I started learning about the Sun signs when I was a teen after I found out Aquarius, my Sun, is the rebel weirdo of the zodiac. I just knew there was another reason for my quirkiness. It couldn’t have been all the Pee-wee’s Playhouse or John Waters movies I watched (sarcasm). I started dissecting my birth chart several years ago, but learning planetary transits didn’t happen until 2022.

After I learned the concept of Mercury retrograde, I reflected on past transits. I did not find any crazy technological or communicative errors. No grand events. Maybe my internet was a little slow, but definitely not in a memorable way. The synchronicities are not there for me and that is fine. I don’t need more communication problems. My social anxiety is enough.

I use Mercury retrograde as another cycle. I have taken the approach of using this cycle to do all the re- stuff. Reflect. Release. Reimagine. Refine. Recalibrate. Recover. Rest. Just slow down for a bit. When Mercury is retrograde, the planet appears to be moving backward, but is not. I may appear to being doing nothing as I lay in my bed, but I’m not. I’m resting and that is doing something. I am still progressing just as Mercury is still moving forward.

Mercury turns retrograde the same day the Sun enters Virgo and turns direct on Sept 15. I am going to use this Mercury retrograde to rest and rediscover my creative side now that I will have more free time. Writing these Substack posts has uncovered my need for creativity. I had buried it with parenthood, post-high school education, and the science of healthcare. People say nursing is an art, but I think it is more like witchcraft. I transmute powders into elixirs to banish invisible entities. I use salt water to raise the flow of pressure in the body. I have zapped people with electricity to keep them alive. And like witchcraft, it doesn’t always work.

Gypsy and harlequin, 1947 - Remedios Varo — Image description: Painting by artist Remedios Varo titled ‘Gypsy and harlequin.’ Top is dark blue-gray sky gradually getting lighter towards the horizon. It appears to be an alleyway with the walls in hues of light orange. On the left, the first 2 sections have irregular openings with black and white objects with human heads peeking out. Broken black and white objects line the left side of the alleyway. Two figures stand on the right side with their backs to us. Figure on the left is wrapped in orange ribbons with leaves on their legs. Figure on the right wears a gray garment with white string weaved around them, the ball of string hanging down their back. Their arms are raised conjuring an image of a white circle with a turkey, a person, and a tent containing objects.

The moon is waxing right now. It is a time for expanding. Amplification. I have heard Mercury retrograde is not a good time for manifestation and spell work. One anecdote I read is you will have trouble communicating with your spirit guides. Really? You can’t transcend astrological tropes even in death? I usually perform candle magic on the New and Full Moons and you better believe I’m doing a spell on Aug 30 for the Full Moon in Pisces. It’s the second Full Moon of the month which some refer to as a Blue Moon and I want to harness this energy. The Moon will be reflecting on my 5th house of creativity which corresponds perfectly with my intentions.

Virgo is the purifier of the zodiac. It is mutable Earth. I can feel the wheel turn with the crispness of the air after the sun sets. This week my son pointed out some leaves have turned in our neighborhood. We are shifting into autumn, every witches favorite season. I ask the Sun in Virgo to purify myself from the past few weeks. It was another tenuous Leo season and I am glad to have it behind me. I am grateful for my impending time of rest and solitude. Virgo corresponds to the Hermit in tarot and I just happen to be in my Hermit year. As we enter the season of the Hermit don’t be afraid to be a loner, a rebel. May we all emerge with renewed inner guidance and confident knowledge. Blessed fucking be!

Pinterest — Image description: Black and white screenshot from *Pee-wee’s Big Adventure*, Pee-wee is talking to his friend, white text: “I’m a loner, Dottie. A rebel.”

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