In this Weekly Horoscope from the Astrology Hub Podcast, Astrologer Michelle Dench and Amanda ‘Pua’ Walsh discuss the energies coming our way as described by astrology.

You’ll learn…

• How to cultivate ease while navigating difficult times and decisions
• Why Chiron, Jupiter and the Moon in Aries is such a powerful time for spiritual healing
• What makes Wednesday such a special day

Chapters 📽️

0:00 Intro

0:29 Introducing Astrologer Michelle Dench

5:21 Week Overview

12:03 Saturn Lessons in Astrology

16:07 Jupiter Conjunct Chiron

23:14 Moon in Taurus

26:05 Polarities in Evolutionary Astrology

28:59 Moon square Saturn

31:31 Mars leaves Taurus

33:33 Moon Conjunct Mars

36:55 Jupiter Retrograde

45:45 Summary

Transcript

This transcript is automatically generated. Some miswording might be present.

Amanda Pua Walsh 0:07
Welcome to your weekly astrological, whether this is your place to get practical guidance for not only surviving, but thriving with the cosmic tides

Hello, everybody, and welcome to your weekly astrological weather. My name is Amanda Poole Walsh. I’m the founder of astrology hub. And I am so excited to be here with evolutionary astrologer Michelle Dench, she is making her astrology hub podcast debut today. And she is just a phenomenal human, you’re going to love her. And so excited to hear what she has to say about the astrology of the week ahead. Before we dive in to that, I just wanted to read a testimonial that came in from yoga mom of boys. And the title is love the variety. And this came in through the podcast. And, and she says I have been listening to this podcast for a few years now. And honestly appreciate the current variety of offerings, I have found so many gems along the way. And in a world full of constant noise and stress. I am grateful for some positivity and reminders that there are always two sides to every coin. I am also an inner circle member, which I have found to be a very valuable source for astrological information. So thank you yoga mom of boys, it’s so nice to hear from you. And I’m so happy that this podcast is why I heard from what you said, it’s like a little sanctuary for you. It’s a place where you can come in and get some different perspective from maybe the constant noise of what’s happening in the world. And that is a place where you can come in and, and see things in a different way. So thank you very much for providing your feedback. I really appreciate it. And we appreciate all the feedback that we get. Thank you so much to any of you who take the time to actually leave us a review. It’s very much appreciated. Okay, so introducing Michelle to you. Michelle is a professional astrologer, mother of two artists and writer. Can I also say that your partner is Ari Moshi Wolf, who a lot of this audience knows. Yes, yes.

Michelle Dench 2:28
And I’m actually a mother of three now. Mother three, I wrote that bio, before I gave birth last month. But yeah,

Amanda Pua Walsh 2:38
Mother three, her area of focus is on relationships, Family Constellations, and trauma. With over a decade of studying the stars, Michelle became an astrologer after a 15 year career as a financial advisor. In addition, Michelle is a student of A Course in Miracles, practices meditation and loves caring for her family. I need to just hear a little bit more about this. How did you go from being a financial advisor to becoming an astrologer? That’s a big leap.

Michelle Dench 3:08
Well, my main explanation would be Uranus, transiting my ninth house, you know, I’ve always been really focused on helping people and healing and you know, my own process of healing. And part of my work as a financial advisor was like helping people heal issues with money. And I was really, like, impressed and inspired by your webinar coming up with the financial awareness because what I realized was like people’s issues with money had to do with their, you know, all these different things that archetypal energies. And when I started studying astrology, I just became obsessed with it, like it became something that I went to to learn again and again and again. And actually, towards the end of that time, when Uranus was right at the end of Aries, I did an apprenticeship with Adam summer, another one of your inner circle guides. And I just realized, like, this was what I wanted to be doing with my life. And I took a huge leap of faith to start practicing as an astrologer. And I would have advising clients wanting to come back and hire me to work for them. And I was like, well, the only way I could see doing that is if I can actually look at your chart, because to really your financial

Amanda Pua Walsh 4:28
clients that came back and said, we still want your help, but you were like, I need to see your chart.

Michelle Dench 4:34
Yeah. And it became like this more than a tool a way for me to start to really integrate. And it was like, you know, I resonate so deeply with the podcast and the work that you’re doing because it’s that space of like, this is a place where I can just learn and learn and learn and deepen in my understanding of myself of life. And yeah, and I feel like I still bring that financial awareness and that really like practical organization to my life to my partnership to the work that I do. But now as an astrologer, you know, it’s I’m do less and less financial work, and more just like growing and learning and helping people to heal just in a different way.

Amanda Pua Walsh 5:21
I love it. Wow, Michelle, that’s a great story. And it for those of you wondering what she’s talking about with a webinar, it actually you can get instant access to it, and get the recording of a live q&a. And this was with Mitchell, Scott Lewis, we’ve highlighted it the last few weeks, and you can go to astrology hub.com/finances, if that is your interest in learning how astrology and historical cycles and the financial realm all come together, and then what that means for us now, and what that may mean for us going forward. So it was amazing, so great. And that’s so fun that you actually I didn’t even know you had that financial background. So that’s just fascinating. Okay, Michelle. So tell us about this week, if we had to summarize the week with an overarching theme, what would you say that is?

Michelle Dench 6:11
I would call it incremental steps forward in evolution. You know, on first glance, you might look at this week and see like, Oh, really, the only thing happening is Mars moving into Gemini, right. That’s a big ingress of a planet. And it has a particular emphasis. It’s almost like an anchor. But when we actually look, one of the favorite things that I do is track the moon. It’s one of the first things I started doing when I started studying astrology, where’s the moon today. And when we follow the moon, since it just had, we had that big Full Moon last week, right, we potent Full Moon and Aquarius, squaring the nodal access, like powerful energy moving us forward, we come into this week with the moon in Aries, like the our drive, and our direction of our life is being shaped by our choices. And these are incremental steps. These are things that, you know, it might feel like two steps forward four steps back in our life at this time. And then how we meet that is really colored, and especially with this week, with the moon moving through so much different territory, and we’ll talk about it as we go through the week. I feel like there’s just this profound way that we can be integrating and moving forward in our life. And if you weren’t paying attention to that, those little steps, the things that you do every day, are what actually move forward, big changes in our life that bring about whole cycles of life that we get to experience, we might miss the beauty and the gift and the opportunity in the mundane. You know,

Amanda Pua Walsh 7:58
this is so good, Michelle. So what about what about the astrology is having you highlight this aspect of we may feel like it’s two steps forward and four steps back. I mean, I can absolutely relate with that. There’s been things recently that I’ve done to like, make big changes in new directions. But like in doing that it uncovers a bunch of stuff that I actually need to go back and review and revise and fix before I can do the thing I thought it was going to be doing in the first place. Yeah,

Michelle Dench 8:31
totally makes sense. Because from a planetary perspective, it might look like so much of the planets are forward motion right now. But actually, in reality, the core outer planets Pluto, Neptune, Jupiter, if we were to talk about Jupiter, including Jupiter, the these really powerful bodies are all retrograde right now. And then if we look, I work a lot with the asteroid goddesses. And I feel like that asteroids are like these more subtle feminine energies, they’re more soft and receptive. But the majority of them especially all the asteroids that are in Pisces right now are all retrograde. And when we tune in even further, we have Mars and Mercury who are making really swift movements forward. That’s those two steps forward, but they’re both preparing for Retrogrades. In the next several months, Mars will be retrograde By October, and then mercury will be retrograde in September. So we’re in this energy where so much it feels like how we can move forward. And so much is dragging us back and that backwards motion is powerful. Amanda what you were saying about it uncovering things that need to be healed need to be worked on need to be addressed. Because really what we’re looking at on a longer term scale into next year really is like the Big evolutionary shifts in our lives in our ways of thinking in our work in everything. And in order to make those changes and have them be lasting and permanent and actually self nurturing, we have to actually do the work. Now to clean things out, we have to like repair the things now to not take it forward. And that’s the that’s the push poll of this week, even after the polarity of a Full Moon, the push pull is do we do do the extra work of like cleaning up that mess, we know that mess is going to take more time. We, we know if we don’t attend to it, we’re going to be dealing with something that we sort of know is there, or do we move forward and then deal with the mess later. And I actually had this situation yesterday, and it brought up so much frustration of like, oh my God, I don’t want to deal with this mess right now. I just want to move forward. And then the end, I ended up dealing with the mess, cleaning everything up really taking the time. And it made a long day, and really exhausting work. But at the end of the day, it was what was being called for, even despite my resistance to it, and that’s part of his particular energy right now.

Amanda Pua Walsh 11:17
So there’s wisdom in attending to the things that are coming up in your life, that feel like going backwards, but in reality, they’re setting you up on a course that will enable a, a, an evolutionary leap that is, is fulfilling and nurturing and in alignment with the direction that you really want to go. Exactly. It’s almost like working with, like you said, I like how you said that it was what is the mess was what is so being present to what is trusting the intelligence and what is because it’s going to help you in the long run. It feels kind of Saturnian.

Michelle Dench 12:03
It might not feel good. You know, and it is an attorney and in that way, it’s like brushing your teeth is my favorite Saturn example, Saturn in Capricorn, especially but, you know, it’s something you have to choose to do every day, it’s something you have to do whether or not anyone else is looking. And the long term effects of it, if you keep missing the same spot is that that spot decays, right that you need to get work done that you may end up if you ignore it altogether, having a root canal or teeth poll, but it’s this really microcosm of your day, it’s like waking up in the morning, brush your teeth and have your day it’s these sort of lessons are so core to the Saturn and Aquarius, that which is retrograde right now. You know, it’s it’s the core things that we have to do the disciplines we have to do everyday that set up the whole culture of our life of our thinking, you know, and to go and look at like, well, I don’t really want to deal with this mess, you know, and to feel the resistance to that. When I actually started getting into it. It brings up these core needs that we have, it brings up anger, resentment, fears, feelings from the past, like all these hard things that are hard to face. And that’s part of the work like Saturn, Pluto, you know, these reflections, this inner work that we’re doing right now, these are not easy tasks, most of us are facing them, and having to build immense resilience, you know, through so many different hurdles. But in reality, like, if you brush your teeth well, and maybe only have to go to the dentist every year, you you get a beautiful smile, you get a feeling of being well cared for. And it does so much for your body for your whole well being. Right, it’s, and it saves you from all this hard work and cost in the end. Yeah,

Amanda Pua Walsh 14:09
the other thing I’m noticing is that going into the mess, is forcing conversations that are not always the easiest to have, or we are essential in you know, addressing some of the things that are coming up and in those those very transparent and honest conversations also feel good. You know, it’s not easy. things come up that hurt people’s feelings, you know, all those things. And in the end, it’s like God, I like it’s a really good thing. We’re clearing this up because this this would have created a ton of toxicity long term if we hadn’t.

Michelle Dench 14:44
So absolutely. I had that same experience. And you know, when we, when we are really willing to face those conversations like it’s a purification process. Yeah, right now Mercury is in Virgo that core essential All purification of our mind, like if we have, if we have relationships where things haven’t been said where honesty isn’t present. And it can be even really simple and subtle things like I missed that I had a need. And I didn’t communicate that, yes, we’re something came up that was broken and needed to be fixed. And we just didn’t see it or attend to it. And we miss that. It leads to so many other challenges in the long run. And that can be feeling like, oh, this is holding me back. I want so badly to just move forward with my life. I want so badly for this to work out. But it’s like to lean into the essential discomfort that we’re facing, is actually what gives way for us for all those things to work out for the beautiful grace and blessings to actually come in. We have to clear the space, even if the space is a mess right now.

Amanda Pua Walsh 15:57
Gosh, it’s such an amazing start. I mean, I feel like we could just end right now. We all have enough information for the week. But I know that we’ll go through the day. So So do you want to start with today? Monday? Just

Michelle Dench 16:07
yeah, absolutely. So the early in the morning, right? We have this Jupiter. Moon conjunction, right. And then later in the day, we have like Jupiter Chiron, Chiron Moon conjunction. So and I’ve been really feeling like Aries, the energy of Jupiter and Chiron in Aries. Is that core calling? What is my medicine? You know, what is my work to do? Where do I put my energy into healing, into teaching into sharing into giving in the world, but it has to come from my own willingness to do this work that we are just talking about. And with the moon applying to these planets, it brings up to light. It’s like, it’s like purifying and pulling forward, what is already inside what’s already there being worked on inside of us. And we’re then challenged with like, Well, what do you do with that energy? You know, and that when the moon is in Aries, I always feel like my son, who’s eight years old, he is an Aries moon, he always wants to be running, he’s always going he’s always playing his dream is to be a parkour YouTube star, you know, and sweet. And it’s that energy of like, we feel you have to like, go somewhere and do something with this right now, right here. And when we do it, knowing like, everything, I’m moving forward, all of my will. And my energy is for healing, for healing my past for healing the present moment, and and the whole expansion of Jupiter is like there’s so many blessings that can come out of really doing that, from really giving that that’s a big energy to start the week with. Absolutely.

Amanda Pua Walsh 18:00
All right, and then we can just go through the days if you’re I’ll stop you if there’s questions.

Michelle Dench 18:06
Mm hmm. Well, Tuesday, the moon moves later into Aries and conjoined with Eris, and then squares Pluto. And those, you know, both of those sorts of energies can be intense they can bring up to the surface, just really, a lot of under the ground surface energy that’s already there. It’s sort of like a, this is a terrible image. But it’s sort of like a boil that needs to pop, right. And it can be that intense in moments, especially for those you know, for people who have been having planets at late degrees of Capricorn late degrees of Aries, like you had a hard time the last couple of years, it’s not been an easy journey. And what we have to recognize is that every single opportunity where we’re triggered where anger comes to the surface, where something doesn’t go, you know, or some power dynamic that we’ve been working with for a long time surfaces, again, it’s another opportunity for courage. It’s another opportunity for healing. And for us to face what’s been coming up in the past, in a new way. And that’s what I always see with each and every lunar cycle, wherever the moon is traveling, we’re getting another chance to come around to where we are now, to learn from what we’ve done before. And we you know, we can keep repeating the same lessons again and again, and that learning will just get deeper and more intense and more, you know, challenging to our nervous system. Or we can really like take each trigger. I remember like having a moment where I was angry and feeling like oh, I realize there’s something in here If there’s something in here for me to see, I wouldn’t feel this deeply if there wasn’t something here. And that momentary pause is really that’s the piece that we have to take right now, like the slowness is the only way to interrupt the pattern.

Amanda Pua Walsh 20:20
Michelle, someone in the inner circle said something really similarly, recently, that even though she’s still making the same mistake, she’s actually aware of it now. And, and I was like, I mean, without that there’s zero chance of changing this pattern. So that’s a huge step in the right direction. And you know that so it seems to me, like a little bit of acknowledgement of the difference of how you approach things could also go a long way. Because if you don’t ever acknowledge it, you don’t ever like give yourself like, hey, wow, I even the fact that I pause there is new and different. And I didn’t used to do that. So I’m actually making progress. Sometimes just celebrating the progress or acknowledging the progress can actually help to anchor it more deeply within you so that it’s easier and easier and easier as these patterns continue to show show themselves and give you a chance to choose a totally different

Michelle Dench 21:19
route with them. Exactly. And when we, when we have that moment, it’s like, not to be hard on yourself, if you make the same choice, again, if you if you react in anger, if you blame or if you’ve, you know, feel like the same feelings coming up. But I remember when I first started, you know, transitioning into a place where I would just acknowledge when I felt at peace, you know, when because if things in our life are so intense for so long, we might actually miss those golden opportunities of like, oh, yeah, I’m at peace right now. I don’t feel anxiety right now. I don’t feel depressed right now, or whatever we’ve been struggling with. That when, when we’re also practicing the same thing with our hindrances with our challenges, like, oh, okay, I had a moment where I did pause, maybe I got quiet, maybe I was still angry inside, or maybe I still reacted after that moment of pause. But like, that’s where, you know, Forgiveness comes in. Yeah.

Amanda Pua Walsh 22:27
Michelle is amazing. I have a similar remember, I remember one time driving, and having the awareness that most of my thoughts were peaceful and positive. Whereas in the past, the majority of my thoughts were negative, and stress and anxiety. And it was like, Whoa, I think the proportion has changed. Like, I think it’s actually more rare now to have like a real charge of negative thought. Whereas before, that was my norm. So I think just taking it sounds like on Tuesday, it’s a good opportunity to take a moment to acknowledge how far you’ve come. And just give yourself a little pat on the back back for a second. And then we could always get back into the content and continue to grow and evolve and get better and all that.

Michelle Dench 23:14
Yeah. And by the end of the night, the moon moves into Taurus on Tuesday. All right, so by the end of that day, you might really feel like okay, I’m gonna go in my cave, I’m gonna have a warm cup of tea, I’m gonna get in the bath, I’m gonna do what I need to do to ground into the earth, like, I’m gonna rest. And that’s a good thing. Like, this is why the lunar cycle is such a beautiful reflection for us. Because that every day is different, every moment is different, in fact, and when we’re tuned into that, then it’s like, okay, we might get some rest on on Wednesday, like, Wednesday is pretty much one of those days where if you really need to take care of yourself, like if you’ve had a fight or an argument, sometimes there’s that need to go inside and kind of like close the doors. I always imagined inside my heart, there’s a little cave. And in that cave is total peace and safety. And if there’s something that I’m struggling with, I can like, go inside the little cave and I can close the door. And there’s also like a warm light emanating from the center of my, I’m like, I want to cry when I sing. Yeah, there’s a little warm light like emanating and I could just sit there and like bask in the glow of that light and come back to being able to see myself again. You know, come back to being able to feel my heart again to being able to feel the warmth of me from the inside. And that’s what Wednesday feels like. It feels like a respite to that intense movement of, you know, the Full Moon last week and Hey, Aries, Moon energy Monday, Tuesday. Because by Thursday, you know, the moon moves towards the North Node like this is what all this work is really for that we can know ourselves and the truth of who we are, and where we’re headed in our lives, and be able to move from that place with ground and stability that has faith in what’s coming and what’s emerging. And what, what’s growing that we haven’t seen yet.

Amanda Pua Walsh 25:31
Wow. So beautiful. Michelle, thank you for sharing that very intimate practice with us. It’s beautiful. And I know I’m going to try it. And what an amazing place to have like to be able to always come back to that place within yourself. And like you said, have this opportunity to see yourself a new and start a new by going inside first, and then coming back out was really beautiful. Okay, so Wednesday, we’re doing a little bit of rest Thursday, this is an opportunity to actually

Michelle Dench 26:01
feel a little bit

Amanda Pua Walsh 26:02
more the direction that we’re going is what I’m hearing from you.

Michelle Dench 26:05
It’s really a realignment when we think about the polarities of resistance, right. And in evolutionary astrology, there’s resistance and cooperation, right with evolution, when there’s another piece, there’s resistance, and there’s acceptance, right. And acceptance can just be surrendering to what is and you know, accepting the present moment, but it’s still on that spectrum of resistance. And I, when I was in my meditation this morning, I got that cooperation is it’s aligning my will, with divine will, into a perfect union. That’s where we feel most at home most at peace, where joy and ease, you know, people call it being in the flow, whatever you want to call it, it’s not resistance, right. And it’s also not just surrendering. And I feel like when the moon is moving towards the north node, and towards Uranus, we have that opportunity. Again, we’re always coming back every lunar cycle to that north node with an option of like joining with what we’re trying to grow in our life re coming back to a place of alignment, no matter how many times we’ve been knocked off, know how many or how many times we’ve kind of gone back to the past and tried to rehash something that didn’t work, you know, we always have another chance to come back again. And that’s, that’s the feeling I get from Thursday because the moon also square Saturn, which is that same thing that we were talking about earlier, like that core discipline. But it’s Saturn can be the limitations, the blocks, the the things that hold us down on this material plane that feel like, Ah, I can’t seem to break through this. Why am I still dealing with this? You know, and with Saturn squaring the nodes, we are constantly in that choice point. I know ra did a full class with you on Saturn, squaring the notes like that is active all the time. And every time we’re having the moon come around to these really critical points, we get another little wakening, another little opportunity. It’s like a little open doorway where, okay, I’m going to choose to realign myself, I’m going to choose to get back up, you know, I’ve already spent my time kind of in my cave, doing what I needed to do to be ready to face what I what I ultimately choose, like, I want to know myself, I want to be the love that I am in the world. I want to show up and grow what I’m here to do in my life. And that’s such a great, you know, practice to just keep coming back again and again. Michelle, if

Amanda Pua Walsh 28:59
people do find themselves in that position of like, why am I still here? Like, why am I still dealing with this? What is Saturn’s invitation in that situation?

Michelle Dench 29:11
I feel like the invitation is, you know, to really look at the things that we are doing that behind closed doors, you know, to look at the parts of our life where wherever we think that we’re not connected, wherever we think that we’re not a part of humanity, or we’re not being seen. We’re not doing our work where, you know, it’s like Saturn, almost, I feel like in the retrograde format is that like, you’re not doing this. You’re not you know, that voice of authority that is usually external. It’s usually like you didn’t pay the meter. So you got a parking ticket, right? You’re you did something wrong, or it could be the boss saying ain’t like that wasn’t the way I asked you to do it, you know? And we’re like, all of a sudden, our father saying that wasn’t the way I asked you to do it is like really, but when, when it’s coming from the inside, when that voice is coming from the inside, when it’s what people aren’t seeing externally, but actually we’re facing internally, like, that’s the invitation to really come back and start to learn what is this? Where is this coming from? And the discipline of Saturn is to face that and become empowered in in a way that is mastery of over our own lives, no longer driven by the external or even the internal critical authority, but driven by the deep desire to feel seen, and connected to a world that is more beautiful than what we know right now.

Amanda Pua Walsh 30:58
Now you’re making me cry. Wow, I just love that very holistic and nuanced and deep interpretation of Saturn. And what is the actual opportunity of working with Saturnian energy on a very, very, like multi layered level? Thank you for that. Okay. We’re not even at the weekend yet, let’s

Michelle Dench 31:31
Well, anyway, funny, but because like Thursday, Mars gets to 29 degrees Taurus, right. And we’re at this critical mass, you know, of energy of that slow, like, we might have been pushing forward things with a lot of drive. And it’s so funny because I am often doing ceremony with the moon’s and praying and spirit and like spending time to go inside and listen for what is, you know, what the wisdom is, and I did a ceremony just before this Full Moon last week, where the message I got is, all of the problems you have would be solved, if you would simply create more. And then I saw art, you know, and it’s like, I’m a painter, I would love to spend more time painting and just creating things. And I have a newborn and a two year old and like, a full life with, you know, my family. That’s not always possible. But just that landing that realization. And this is so much the compliment of Venus and Leo like to create, to be seen in our joy of what it is that we’re called to create. And for some, that might be art, it might be song, it might be poetry, it could be the work that they’re doing the craft that they have, you know, it could be their family, just creating more space for connection, wherever your joy is, like that last push of Mars and Taurus to really know our, you know, that true energy that we have to create. And to keep coming back to like, there isn’t problems to be solved, we simply need to create more, you know, not more problems, but more art, more joy, more beauty.

Amanda Pua Walsh 33:16
Wow. And more. It’s more self expression.

Michelle Dench 33:20
Exactly.

Amanda Pua Walsh 33:21
Whatever that is for you,

Michelle Dench 33:22
whatever that is.

Amanda Pua Walsh 33:23
Okay. All right. So that’s Thursday night. And how long does that energy last? I mean, that’s just like that critical degree of Mars and Taurus at 29 degrees right before it moves into Gemini, right,

Michelle Dench 33:33
Friday, the moon conjoined with Mars at that 29 degree mark. And, um, you know, then the moon moves into Gemini first. And right after that, you know, Mars moves into Gemini on Saturday. So we have the change that’s happening first indicated by the moon, and what in my own practice, like this is one of the reasons why I love tracking the moon, she’ll often cross points and touch things much more frequently than other planets that are moving slower. And in this case, she’s going to move into Gemini first and give us like, a little, you know, and I’m a Gemini moon. So I love that like, I you know, we’re gonna Yes, Gemini moon tonight. You know, and it’s like, we’re gonna get that breath of fresh air with the moon and maybe new ideas, because so much has been working and percolating inside of us inside our lives. Like, there can be fresh insight that comes there. There can be new, and when then Mars moves into Gemini on Saturday. I also feel like it’s the beginning of our path with this longer Mars Retrograde journey which is going to go all the way through January of 2023. Like that’s a big space of work with Mars in Gemini. And and it brings to mind that how much of this week is about these critical combinations right everywhere the moon is touching aspects of completion and finishing, just like what we were talking about in the beginning of like, do I choose to clean up the mess now and take the slower road to where I’m going? Or do I just rush there, and then clean it up when I get there, you know, and that’s all we always have that choice, right. But with Mars in Gemini for a long time, we’re going to be working with a lot relative to our mind, relative to our communication, all the Mercury aspects of what we’re bringing forward in our lives. And with Mercury in Virgo, it might actually feel really intense, like from the beginning, from the get go, you know, it might bring so many new ideas, so many things that we can be practical, and with mercury and Virgo the energy of like, Oh, if I just get this organized, if I have this all under control, if I have a plan, if I have if I can really attend to all the core details and to remember where we are in our relative life that like everything can’t be done in a day. All the words can’t be said in in a moment. And you know, to really bring our mind to the practice, especially while Mars is in Gemini of like, paying attention to the, to the tone of our thoughts.

Amanda Pua Walsh 36:33
And it sounds like although, again, we’re kind of back on this theme, although there may be a tendency to want to implement all those great ideas and move all those ideas forward. That there again, would be a wisdom and stepping back and taking a little bit more time and having a little bit more patience with the new things that are coming in. Would you agree with that?

Michelle Dench 36:55
Yes. And you know, with Jupiter is retrograde right now. And it’s going to move all the way back into Pisces. So Jupiter is often called the planet of expansion, bringing in gifts and opportunities, right? If all of a sudden you find yourself swamped with like, so many different ideas, so many different opportunities, I could go this way I could go that way I could do this with this person, you know, it can be really overwhelming to our nervous system, and almost like coming back to being with a toddler, right? They can’t make a lot of choices. And even they say about adults that we really can’t choose between more than three things. It just we can’t hold all of that the litmus test right now is like do I feel joy in creating this is this part of my core soul work, that I’m actually called to heal this, right? Because you might not feel joyful about healing past family karma, though. But ultimately, it’s going to make you feel more joyful to be free of that, you might not feel so excited to have to clean up a huge mess in your life. But ultimately, it’s going to bring about a more beautiful life moving forward, like so those two things, I think, and then that helps really clear all the excess, all the noise. And during this time, we might want to like turn down the channels, you know, not have so much external noise. And that kind of brings us to Sunday, which is where Mercury in Virgo opposes Neptune. In that opposition. It’s like we can feel as though if I just have a practical idea and and I just look at everything really logically, I will have the answer. And the opposition to Neptune is similar to the whole difference, let’s say between Zen Buddhism, or Zen practice, meditation practice and transcendental meditation, right? These are two completely different schools of thought. There are two completely different forms of practice. They’re both wanting to guide one back towards the same thing, which is peace of mind. Right? So when we start to really look at our lives, and all the things that we have on our plate, and all the things we’re constantly thinking about and dealing with, and all the opportunities, some of which might have gone away, which sometimes it can be feel like a relief when something you thought you had to choose all of a sudden doesn’t choose you, you know, and it’s like, oh, okay, I don’t even have to make that decision, because it’s gone now. To keep coming back to those core, you know, tests of what is, you know,

Amanda Pua Walsh 39:37
you know, as you’re speaking, I was thinking, you said what, do I feel joy in the creating that and is this part of my core work? Another question that I’ve been really sitting with is Is this is this in alignment with my core values? Because if my value is growth or honesty or transparency or connection, am I Relationships, then having that tough conversation, even though it’s uncomfortable, is in alignment with my values, even though it’s not that fun in the moment. So sometimes for me that those core values can be those really solid anchors that it’s like, they might not always be fun, it might not even always be joyful. But I do know that living a life in alignment with my values is joyful. In the end it that’s when the most joy and the most fulfillment, and the most richness is available, right?

Michelle Dench 40:33
It’s true. And it reminds me of like that. Also, the sun is at the last degree of Leo at the end of this week. And when we think about all these things, that culminating degrees, you know, it’s like, there were times in my life when certain things were in my values, right? Yes. And so and then then that changed for me. So, like, a great example is like just purchasing things in plastic or like not paying attention to what you’re buying or spending a lot of money being a financial adviser, I would see like a lot of people really struggling with how they use their resources, right. And at one time in your life, you might have valued buying a lot of stuff. And then it’s almost like a shift into, wow, I now recognize the radical beauty of simplicity in my life. Right. So that’s a big shift. That’s a big change from one set of values of like filling your life with lots of stuff to shifting to like clearing. And what does that shift mean? It means that you actually have to go through and let go of all that stuff you accumulated, all the stuff you have, and really make that decision again, and again, of does this now meet the new value that’s present in my life. Because so much of the North Node, South Node, South Node in Scorpio, we are letting go of things from the past, there may have been ways we’ve been for a long time that feel familiar, that feel comfortable, but they’re actually uncomfortable, because we’re no longer willing to live inside that value. And this stretch of being able to help ourselves through that transition, to call in the support the friends the new ideas. Like I remember when I was working for the bank, and I was a branch manager. And I really knew I wanted to leave that work to become a financial advisor, like I had already been in finance for a long time. And I knew so much. And I heard this guy talking about whether I was riding a dead horse, the key called resentment riding a dead horse, which means that you can’t really go anywhere holding on to something that’s no longer working for you. And I woke up one day and I was like, oh my god, today’s the day like I have to leave my job. Like I didn’t know where I was going to like what I was going to do. How you know, and I took that leap, I follow that inner knowing right that something had just clicked and shifted into place. And the old was done. And the new wasn’t yet here. But it was in me already. And when I did that, like that very same day, a friend called me and was like, you want to go to the city with me, I’ll take pictures of you headshots for your website. And, you know, let’s just go on an adventure. And I went with her, I quit my job, I went with her. And I, by the end of the day had met the first client who helped me start my entire business, which several years later, like I sold, and I didn’t know that that was going to happen. It was just something that arose spontaneously. And that’s part of the challenge in these times is like, we don’t know what the future holds. We don’t know, we know we’re in the midst of a big change internally and externally. And it can feel scary, and it can feel like unpredictable in so many ways. But there is also something inside of us that’s inherently intelligent, like I wasn’t even following the stars, then, you know, I wasn’t you tuning in learning astrology helps me to be able to integrate these learnings and to be able to look at my life more and more deeply. But I didn’t need to know all of that, to know that in that moment. That was exactly what I was supposed to do. And this is part of the trust that we’re learning in this time, you know, and when by the end of the day the moon is in cancer, and we can like reconnect to that feeling of vulnerability that’s so core to what we’re living right now. I also received another message which just said it doesn’t hurt anyone for you to love a little bit more.

And I’ve been really reflecting on the nature of vulnerability and how we create space in our lives for what’s deeply tender inside of us and all of this, that the this whole week will probably for so many people contain so many different moments of challenge and tenderness and growth, and waking, and stretching ourselves, as we all are right now to try and be more of who we are right more loving, right? It doesn’t hurt to just be a little bit more loving. And I laughed when I received that message. Because I was like, Oh my God, you know, how can I argue with? You know?

Amanda Pua Walsh 45:45
So? Oh, my God, Michelle, you are amazing. I don’t know about all of you, especially those of you who have been following astrology hub for a while and like listening to the show and getting exposed to many different astrologers. I always get to a point where I’m like, of course, we’ve probably talked to all of like the best astrologers. Like there’s, there’s no way there’s actually more. It’s just like, what, how did we not know you would tell right now, this is amazing. You are just a wealth like a deep, deep well, of wisdom and experience. And I love how, how you use your stories and your life to illustrate the points and everything. Wow, Michelle, thank you. I’m gonna do my summary here in a second. Before I do that Michelle is one of the astrologers that we’ve selected to work on our new, but we selected her and she selected us. So she said yes. And we invited her up. But I’ve talked about it a little bit. It is a new platform that we are in a beta test of right now, some of our inner circle members are participating in this beta test. But essentially what it is, is a platform that will help all of you find amazing astrologers to have either booked readings with so if you want a reading for the future, or if you have a question that comes up in your life, you can actually have an instant reading, they will be, you know, kind of like the best equivalent, I could think it was like Uber drivers, where you like put your light on, you’re like, Hey, I’m available for a ride, but it’s going to be astrology. So you’ll be able to go on to the platform, see who’s available if something comes up in your life, and you have a quick question. And you would love an amazing astrologer to bounce it off of, you’ll be able to do that with this platform. It’s in beta test right now. And we plan to release it in the fall. If you want to be one of the first to know when it is released. If you want to get on a waitlist, it is going to be first come first served for a while. So you know, we want to make sure that we do this well and that you have a great experience with it. So we’re going to kind of limit the capacity at first. But if you want to be one of the people that gets considered to actually book readings, either by the hour, you know, you’re like I want to go in depth with someone. Or if you want to do it by the minute, then you’ll be able to do that with this platform. Michelle is one of the astrologers that we’re working with in the very beginning here. Also Gemini, Brett and Cameron Alan. Joe on the astrology hub team also Jamie key so there’s amazing nervous shell, Shannon Gill, Andrea, Michelle Kennedy, I’m trying to ignore I’m forgetting people. But we have an amazing roster of astrologers that we’re starting with, if you want to get on the waitlist for when we’re out of the beta testing, you can do so now. Just go to astrology. hub.com/connect. That’s astrology. hub.com/connect. The platform is called astrologer Connect. We’ve been working on it for so long. And it’s amazing that it’s like getting birthed into the world that feels incredible. So Michelle, what made you say yes to this invitation?

Michelle Dench 48:50
Oh, wow. I mean, for one, I’m deeply honored to be a part of this core team. And, Amanda, you’re one of the people that I’ve always seen, like, you hold the visionary capacity for what you’re bringing and giving with so much love and so much integrity. And you also have that piece of like, it has taken a long time to work this forward. And I know who you have on your team. And for me to be invited, like to be a part of that feels like such a deep honor. You know, as I’m like here just to be of service in the world. And yeah, so it’s my delight. Absolutely. It’s one of those things where it’s like it does spark joy. For me. It’s an easy yes. I don’t know. I wouldn’t have to question it at all.

Amanda Pua Walsh 49:39
Oh my gosh, it sparks joy for us to I mean, when I think about the the impact or the power of a quality astrology reading on someone’s life. I mean, none of I wouldn’t be here. Astrology hub wouldn’t exist. If it wasn’t for that first reading. That first reading I had just like, set me on a trajectory that changed everything. And I hear that over and over again. People go, I didn’t think anything about astrology or I thought it was dumb. You know, I thought it was just a thing, you know. But then I had that first reading, and that changed everything. And then once you’ve had the first reading, it’s like, I get a, I get a reading every year on my birthday. Sometimes I’m lucky enough to get little like spontaneous readings from from the astrologers we work with. But in the beginning, I also had access to Natasha alters, we became friends. I had sort of like that instant access to her. Whenever I had questions of Hitachi. What the heck is going on? Like, why is this happening? Why is this day feel so weird? Or I just met this person, it feels like a significant meeting. Can you look at our charts, does it seem significant to you? So I had that in, in the early part of my astrology journey, and I still have it, which is like the best, you know, just being able to talk to all of you.

Michelle Dench 50:51
So it’s the same for me, I started getting readings on my birthday. Like, that’s how I was introduced to astrology, I wouldn’t got a reading. And then I was going through my Saturn Return, which was super challenging. And I started really going to an astrologer, and asking, like, what, what can I do with this. And that led me in so many experiences, including having, you know, difficult experiences with astrologers to really want to investigate like, what this is all about. And I, my Gemini, Moon, like, took me down a life rabbit hole of like, I can study this for the rest of my life, and never learn everything that there is to learn. And I’ve learned that like, the whole process of living our lives is, you know, I look at the chart of the present moment, all the time. And it’s a learning experience for me to just be where I am. And if I look at the chart in the moment, I’m constantly looking into, like, Oh, this is a reflection of all of life, everything. But from my perspective, in this moment, from my learning from my growth, you know, and it’s, it’s become such a powerful tool in my life. So I’m grateful to share that with others, and so grateful to be with you today.

Amanda Pua Walsh 52:11
Oh, my gosh, amazing. Okay. Again, if you’re interested in being a part of the platform, and being able to book readings, get on the waitlist, astrology hub.com/connect. And you you’re going to be meet amazing astrologers like Michelle on this platform. And it’s just we’re so honored to have you. Okay, so I might like shift the theme a little bit, because you said something like mid to late of the episode that was like, Is that actually you can tell me, but critical combinations, felt like another possibility for the weak. So critical combinations, or your original, incremental

Michelle Dench 52:49
evolutionary steps, which feels more true for you? Well, the critical combinations. It’s interesting, too, because, you know, with all of this energy, critical combinations also aligns with the lunar cycle, we’re moving from Full Moon last week, towards New Moon in two weeks, you know, that, that energy, I always love that phase, especially the last phase of the moon, the Dark of the Moon, for cleaning up for clearing up for ending cycles, and for clearing my altar, clearing my life and space for what’s going to come in a couple of weeks in a couple of months. And sometimes even it may be six months or a year down the road. But those combinations are so necessary to actually putting us in a place to be where we need to be. And the image that just came to mind is that sometimes it’s kind of like a kitten, who’s wandered off a little bit and the mama cat will come and just pick her up by the neck and put her back, you know, where she needs to be. And it can feel like that sometimes, like, Oh, I thought I was going. Like, all these things are calling me back. I’m up so that I can actually go where I meant to go.

Amanda Pua Walsh 54:11
So we’re all like cute little kittens, by our cosmic mama this

Michelle Dench 54:16
put on? Or we might be a mama cat picking up kitten this way? Either way.

Amanda Pua Walsh 54:22
Okay, awesome. All right. So basically, what we have is starting on Monday, well, what were some of the bigger things you talked about is is acknowledging that the mundane, every day steps, you’re taking your life, they are setting the direction like they’re setting the course of your life, so they actually matter. And the small decisions that you’re making day to day are shaping the future. And so every decision you’re making, you know, and coming back to those questions, does this spark joy? Is this in alignment with my values today? Maybe not my values before but my values right now? And acknowledging that there’s value in that. You said that we may feel like we’re going backwards, but that that is necessary in order to move forward. On Monday, some really good question. So for us today, what is my medicine? What is my work to do? And what is my work to do that’s coming from my willingness to do my own internal work, and that we’re pulling a lot of these things up from the inside. On Tuesday, you said that some of these undercurrents could be coming up that were the late degrees of Capricorn and something Aries

Michelle Dench 55:37
late degrees of Aries down late degrees of Aries. Okay,

Amanda Pua Walsh 55:39
so Oh, no, no, you said anyone with late degrees of Capricorn or late degrees of Aries is going to be feeling this the most more intensively most intensively and that way that we all have an opportunity for courage and healing, and to face the past in a new way. On Wednesday, you said to rest take care, go inside close the doors, you gave us that beautiful image of the heart, going into that your own heart space on Thursday. This is it. This is a realignment day, this is like the ultimate kitten day picked up we’re going to put on our path and have faith in what’s happening, that it is aligning us with that with that higher path. And that this is an opportunity to align our will with divine will, that we’re also maybe going to become aware of limitations. And the places where we need to have more discipline. What are we doing behind closed doors that may or may not be in complete integrity, with who we are and where we want to be going? Where are we feeling not connected? Where are we not doing the work that we need to do in order to be the person we want to be? Face it, face those things and, and in facing them allow the opportunity to become empowered. And from that becomes the opportunity for mastery. And this is like that ultimate Saturn invitation. Know your joy and your two true energy that this really powerful. On Friday, there could be this plethora of new ideas with the moon moving into Gemini and then sat and it’s also a taste of what Mars moving into Gemini, which we’re going to have, because of retrograde periods and stuff we’re going to have through January of 2023. We’re getting like a nice cosmic curriculum and Mars in Gemini and what that actually means. And again, what is the invitation? How can we work with that energy most effectively? You said that lots of new ideas again, and to pay attention to those core questions. Do I feel joy with this idea? Is this part of my core work? Is this aligned with my values? You said to maybe turn down the channels, maybe places where there’s a lot of noise coming in, turn that down because it could get really overwhelming for the nervous system? And then on Sunday? Um, well, I wrote mercury and Virgo opposes Neptune. But I didn’t really write my little bullet points. For what what to do with that? Can you just give us like a few little tips?

Michelle Dench 58:11
Yeah, that’s kind of it’s the push pull between what our mind thinks that we need to do right now. And the Divine Will, that is right now. Okay. And we often can get stuck in a place of thinking, this is what needs to happen. This is what I have to do. This is how it has to go. And the piece that I was talking about before resistance and acceptance, right, that’s that same oppositional energy. And the piece that we get the way out, right, is to find our way to cooperation, right? With divine well, which is not just letting go or resisting, but it’s a way of actually choosing choosing to work with what’s here.

Amanda Pua Walsh 59:01
It’s much more active than surrender or acceptance. It’s actually like you said there’s there’s a choice in there and cooperation takes some some energy. It’s not just Yeah. eautiful Michelle, thank you for being here. I can’t I can’t wait to have you back. This has been so much fun. Thank you for sharing your unique lens, you know, the way that you’re experiencing the universe, the way that you’re working with astrology in a very embodied way in your everyday life. I loved hearing about the different rituals you do and your altar and the different types of meditation and how you’re really bringing this into your life and living it. Because we can get very heady with astrology, it can be like something that just stays philosophical or theoretical. And then we get like really, in the technique of like, how to actually do and all those things are are necessary in the study of astrology. And how do you live it? How do you live it in your everyday life and move with it in a very The embodied way. So you just completely modeled that for us today. And I want to thank you for that. I wanted to thank all of you also for being here for tuning into the weekly weather here at astrology hub. We love having this opportunity to come into a sanctuary together and really explore our place in the universe. What is the astrology offering what’s on offer this week, you know, in terms of how we’re going to meet it. So thank you for being interested in that. Thank you for living it in your own life and in whatever way that you do. Thank you for being a part of our greater astrology have community it’s amazing to be in this place where we get to just watch it grow. We get to watch it, like have its own life and become what it wants to be. Thank you for being a huge part of that. Thank you as always, for making astrology a part of your life. We will catch you on the next episode. And I can’t wait.

Unknown Speaker 1:00:54
Hi, this is Becca Tarnas. And I’m Rick Tarnas. And we’re really looking forward to teaching an upcoming workshop here at astrology hub on September 21.

Unknown Speaker 1:01:03
If you want to be the first to know when registration opens, make sure you’re signed up for the cosmic insider at astrology hub.com/insider.

Unknown Speaker 1:01:12
We look forward to seeing you there.

Amanda Pua Walsh 1:01:18
This podcast is presented by astrology hub. You can learn more and find all of our shows at astrology hub.com/podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate review and hit subscribe on your favorite podcast platform. So you can stay up to date on the latest episodes and help more people find the wisdom of astrology. Thank you for taking the time to do this now. Thank you for being a part of our community and for making astrology a part of your life