Why I Wake Early – Mary Oliver
Hello, sun in my face.
Hello, you who make the morning
and spread it over the fields
and into the faces of the tulips
and the nodding morning glories,
and into the windows of, even, the
miserable and crotchety–
best preacher that ever was,
dear star, that just happens
to be where you are in the universe
to keep us from ever-darkness,
to ease us with warm touching,
to hold us in the great hands of light–
good morning, good morning, good morning.
Watch, now, how I start the day
in happiness, in kindness.
Hello again, it’s been a while. Here I am, writing my first blogpost on this new website. It’s Spring, it’s Aries season, fresh starts all over the place. So where have I been?
These past few months I’ve been working a lot. A lot. In Summer of 2022, around the time I took the photo above this post, I started working 16 hours as a humanist chaplain in a prison. A temporary position, covering for someone, until March 2023 (or at least that was the plan… it’s April now and I’m still working there). In October I got offered another 16 hours in another prison, and I took it. Thus I’ve been working 32 hours a week in prisons, sometimes staying in hotels and other times commuting to and from work for about 6 hours a day. I was also still working a side job. I’ve also been working on a project, which I’m still keeping secret because I’m not sure if / how it will unpack, but it asked for a huge investment of my time and energy. In the past few months I’ve regularly been working 7 days a week. It was crazy. I’m writing as though it’s in the past, but not exactly yet. I’m still working all those hours in all those places. What was supposed to be a temporary position is becoming a permanent one. Which I’m very happy about!!! Working as a humanist chaplain in prison is challenging and exhausting, but also awesome and rewarding. Since I can continue my work for the justice system, I’m quitting my side job at the end of April. All of these career developments of the past few months hugely impacted Pallas Astrology…
Pallas Astrology, was and still is my baby. And/ but… motherhood is changing… I can’t spend as many hours on Pallas Astrology as I used to. And in all honesty, I don’t want to. My love for astrology hasn’t diminished, in fact it continues to grow. My desire for running an astrology business has changed, though. I don’t want to feel like I need to advertise myself in order to have enough clients to pay the rent. I don’t want to be on social media, constantly posting to be recognised. It was exhausting to constantly post about transits and what not, and it impacted my love for astrology. Not writing about astrology, not constantly writing horoscopes, but just experiencing astrology in my private daily life, these past few months, was so good for my relationship with astrology. Due to my tightly packed agenda I wasn’t able to write horoscopes and forecasts, and initially I found it hard to cope with that. I felt like I was letting my followers down. I felt like I was letting myself down. After a while, though, it felt like freedom. I realised I’m not in any way obligated to write and share horoscopes for free; the only motivation should be my creative urge to do so, not an obligation to produce (thank you capitalism). The downside of working 32 hours as a humanist chaplain, is less time to write. The upside of working 32 hours as a humanist chaplain, is writing out of love and not with the intention to gain clients and income.
As I’m claiming the freedom to write when I have the creative urge to do so, I’m also claiming the freedom to write about whatever I want to write about. Which could be astrology. But it could also be mythology, art or counseling. It could be about myself, it could be about someone else. Perhaps I will share second hand stories, perhaps I will write about second hand love experiences, perhaps I will share with you how to make awesome palak paneer (I’ve been eating so much of it lately, I’m sure I will turn green any day now). Astrology will definitely flow through much of it. I experience meaning in daily life when I have these experiences of synchronicity. I want to write about meaning, about what’s meaningful in my life. And so often astrology is the language in which I can speak about the meaning. Art, poetry and mythology are also such languages. And in fact, all of it is art.
“I think everything in life is art. What you do. How you dress. The way you love someone, and how you talk. Your smile and your personality. What you believe in, and all your dreams. The way you drink your tea. How you decorate your home. Or party. Your grocery list. The food you make. How your writing looks. And the way you feel. Life is art.“ Words by Helena Bonham Carter. As a Venusian person I couldn’t agree more…
As I’m writing this, on Monday April 3rd, I’m looking forward to next Sunday, to my first meeting with a client since months. She booked an astrology consultation and a tarot session; she’s been coming to me for a few years now and I’m excited to reconnect with her. I’m so happy to get back into the astrology and tarot business! I’m excited to be seeing clients again. Now that I’m finishing up my side job, I have one day a week for my astrology and tarot practice. Feel free to reach out if you want to book a birth chart consultation or a tarot session. You can find more info on my offerings in the menu this website.
Spring season, a fresh new start, a new website with a new name: maudgemmeke.com.