Vital Vittles: Policies + Pragmatics
Queen of Wands: the POTENT process
Ours will be a singular journey, and I ask you to trust me in this process, even when it might feel like you’re out of your depth, or your thinking mind just wants to know the “answer” and crack the “code” to your chart or deck. The effects of our year-long exploration will be cumulative, as we encounter each sign, planet, house, and card symbol in its own time and welcome it into our fold, layering our learning languidly rather than racing ahead to “figure out” the whole.
This will not look like your typical “cookbook style” astro + tarot course, where you’ll bust out your birth chart and deck and try and memorize all the deetz (what does Venus in Taurus in the 6th house mean?! is my relationship doomed if I keep pulling the Death card at the center of each 10-card spread?!). Instead, we’ll be seeking out our own sense of each symbolic ingredient these languages contain over time, gaining a depth of experiential knowledge by directly touching and tasting each archetype one by one. In this way, you’ll learn to make your own meal out of the essential ingredients: uncovering your own chart and deck’s meanings in a way that’s expansive, intuitive, and wholly your own flavor of witchery.
Each of the 12 zodiac signs that watches over each of the 12 months of the year takes care of a little “feelings family” of planets, houses, and cards that belong in its boudoir. Whenever you feel lost, return to that month’s zodiac sign and its fundamental feeling tone. And if even that feels too wild, roll it back even further to that sign’s element. The underpinnings of astrology and tarot are immediately accessible in any moment by grounding ourselves in the fire, earth, air, and water that they contain (*check out this little cosmic quick reference sheet for anchoring throughout the year).
Think of each month as a ticket to a different country, where you’ll encounter a distinctive terrain, dialect, flavors, sights, and customs. Some might feel familiar and some might feel strange. Just like a stellar study abroad, this process is meant to immerse you in these local landscapes—learning the language of each lifeworld as you reach for things in the moment (how do you order a latte in Taurus country?! make friends in Libra land?!), and make these moments your own.
How can we at once honor the natural unfolding of planetary timing and the organic “wiring” of our birth charts, and also learn to call upon these cosmic cuties in moments of need, without having to “wait” for a card pull or chart transit? How do each of these sign, planet, house, and card energies really feel to us and where can they be found in our everyday lives? How can we let them speak to us and through us? We’ll be listening, observing, and living them together. Astrology and tarot archetypes are energetic currents. When we rise to meet them, they move through us, rather than happening to us.
It is my deep belief that astrology and tarot are living languages, with some grammar and structure of course, but really just begging for us to make personal poetry out of them as we speak in our own accents and according to our own desire for expression. The more we immerse ourselves in the 12 basic zodiac symbols and the 4 elements from all angles, using their natural occurrence through the course of the year as a way to meet and greet them, the more we can play—letting our personal poetics resound through the world!
Queen of pentacles: the regal ryHtHm
Each week, there will be treats! Just take a moment to rest into that regularity and rhythm. To know that no matter the flux of your infinite life, you’ll have …
-A treasure in your inbox each week, beginning Thursday, December 30th (day of delivery each week may shift slightly to better mould to our live calls and calendar rhythms).
Materials will be housed within the CCC portal under their respective month (your email each week will lead you there and the space will be super secret password-protected, which you’ll get in your 12/30 email). You can immediately download any pdfs, or just keep them hot and toasty and visit them on the course page. They’ll be there forever, so no need to hold tight.
-2 live calls per monthly theme on Sundays from 1230pm-2pm EST, starting Sunday, January 2nd. *The exception will be Saturday, April 16th to accommodate Easter. I’ll send our Zoom link with the prior week’s goodies, and it will also be up on in the CCC portal under its respective month.
We’ve got a cosmic crew spread across timezones, so I hope that this slot serves you from coast to coast and across the pond.
If you can’t make it to some, do not worry! The journey is intended to be largely self-guided, there are 24 calls total, and all will be recorded and stored in video + audio format through the course main page (if you feel uncomfy about being featured on video/audio, you can keep your Zoom cam and/or mic off). You’ll be able to enjoy them throughout the journey and for 1 month following its completion without needing to download them (at which point you can absolutely download them and keep them close to your heart forever).
Call dates: January themes: Jan 2 + Jan 16; February: January 30 + February 13; March: Feb 27 + March 13; April: March 27 + *Saturday, April 16; May: May 1 + May 15; June: May 29 + June 12; July: June 26 + July 10; August: July 31 + August 14; Sept: Aug 28 + Sept 11; October: Oct 2 + Oct 16; November: Oct 30 + Nov 13; December: Dec 4 + Dec 18
Materials: Really, all you need is your sweet self! If you love notebooks and pens, go wild with the trapper keepers and gel tips! If you have a beloved tarot deck, bring it along! But don’t worry if you don’t have a deck. You can write the names on the back of index cards and even design your own symbols as we journey through the 78.
You’ll likely find it useful to have your astrological birth chart by your side (you can generate a more techy version HERE and an extra pretty one HERE), but feel free and frisky to set it aside from time to time if you’re feeling tight and tangled and want to relish some “off roading.” While we each have particular concentrations of energies in our natal charts, we’re also composed of all signs, planets, and houses, and are on a mission to collect them all. Seeing what “pops” for you among the archetypes each month without getting bound to your birth chart’s concentrations can be a magical exercise in exploring and expressing all the shades and flavors that are you.
Queen of swords: the clear-cut container
Communications: I’m reachable at bess@thestarparlor.com. As much as my Aries stellium wants to absolutely go for it all and do it all, I’m also a tiny human packed into this fiery jumpsuit, and I run my biz solo. If you reach out between our calls, I’ll do my best to answer you in a timely fashion. And if you feel like your question could be shared with the group, I encourage you to save it up for our live calls (even if you’re not able to make a call, you can send your question along via email beforehand).
And if your q is hyper personal and goes deep into the intricacies of your chart/card pulls, I’ll most likely translate it for the group so it can serve all. If you want more individualized guidance into the glory of you, I encourage you to arrange a 1-2-1 session (you can do so at 50% off anytime during 2022 with code: STARSTUDENT).
Commitment: If you feel like you want to jump ship, I totally respect your heart song! Please email me to request a refund on or before December 27, 2021. After this point, you and I will be frolicking together through the cosmos, with no refunds ;)
Copyrights: I offer my work up freely for you to try on as you build your own magic muscles: I hope it infuses your being and inspires your process! And while I certainly don’t think any of you are gonna take it and run, I do have to state that the specific words/documents/proprietary concepts I share with you are meant to be kept inside our closed container and not shared with any non-course participants, or represented as your own in any context without attribution. If this feels at all unclear to you, just reach out and we’ll clarify. Don’t be scared!
queen of cups: the softer side
We’re all little babes with gorgeously complex stories, hearts, hopes, and bones. As we set out together, remember to treat yourselves and others well. Our shared calls are meant to be safe, strong, sweet, and silly spaces for self-expression that also attend to the expressive force and particularity of other humans. We’ll be in time and evolving together too, and the course content and container may shift and shimmy to reflect that.
And when you’re flying solo with your studies, give yourself whatever you need in each and every moment, however it presents. Maybe you won’t look at any of the materials until 2 years from now. Maybe you’ll gobble it all up and dive into an astro + tarot frenzy. Maybe you’ll need to be tucked under your sheets with your phone shut off sipping herbal tisanes while you wade through the materials. Or maybe you’ll need to be out in the world rocking and rolling through the streets, fueled by rare steak and martinis. Whatever appetites, attitudes, postures, and pacing are calling you while you journey, I encourage you to fête them fully! They are absolutely right and they are your right.