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Echolocation of the Soul



How do you know when something is a sign?


Last month, seven people gathered together for Hot Literati’s mmụọọnwa mmeme in DC. After an evening of conversations, eyeballing recipe measurements, an astrology primer led by two of my cherished mentors, and a quick bout of the wiki game, we settled into a comfortable lull. As our pies digested and energies settled, we began to discuss signs and manifestations. After a few exchanges on personal journeys and getting to a place where those things came naturally, someone asked how to know when something is a sign. After a certain point it's simply just knowing, but getting to that point requires a consistent flow of observation and mapping. Essentially, you have to build a personal web of connections between the things you regularly observe and experience. Whenever anyone asks me how did you get into tarot or astrology, I tell them something similar; through practice and observation and developing my own personal associations whether or not they fully align with traditional interpretations. Creating my own key is what allowed me to fully immerse myself in those systems. 


I've been interested in astrology for almost ten years now, and tarot for nearly five, but it’s only been this past year that my understanding of them has blossomed and I've learnt to read more intuitively. My general knowledge was nurtured by some lessons and mentors, but my growing comfort came after a writing class I took last October. Once a week for the entire month, this class met to complete a close reading of “Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allen Poe. It was not the first class I had taken with that instructor or organization, but it was the first that took me to a place I remembered from childhood. Middle School drama club and performing a dramatic recitation of Poe's “The Raven.” A sign denoting my return to artistic joy and exploration. 


Our instructor taught us to deconstruct the work in order to develop a key of connected symbols. These symbols were found in word choices, metaphors, and other writing choices within the work. As we collected those symbols and words we were able to see the deeper connections between each metaphor Poe carefully crafted for the story and how everything was intertwined with the plot itself. The idea was that if we could read a story and come out with its metaphor key, we could do the same when writing stories of our own.


Interconnectivity has always been a major theme creatively and philosophically in my life, one I’ve been threading since childhood. Previously it had just been through observation and comparing meanings, but after beginning to write more, and with the introduction of this concept, I started using it to make my own meanings. This is what has allowed me to read tarot and interpret astrological patterns and see signs in the mundane and random. It’s about believing that everything is connected. The danger zone of this is assuming that it also means everything happens for a reason - that you’re powerless to the give and pull of these universal strings, but you’re not.


We have power over how we perceive and interpret the things we see and read around us. There may be conventional interpretations and methodology for these symbols and archetypes but at the end of the day personal perception and the action that follow matter the most. After all, what are conventions but routines and standardized procedures? They are reliant on the human instinct to follow the leader - an important instinct that’s allowed us to live and evolve to this point in time. Even the staunchest counterculturist and Aquarius have a blueprint they’ve followed to reach their  ideal presentation. Not to say that I don’t think humans are unique and individual; we are and we aren’t. That is the joy of duality.


So while systems like astrology and tarot have their conventions, those conventions are built upon the centuries of energy fed into them. Let’s use dating an example. It’s easy to say you don’t prescribe to the talking stage (please note that every time I bring this up I am playing devil's advocate as I 100000% don’t believe the talking stage even deserves a lick of attention), but it is a modern dating convention that many have given enough energy to hold weight as a topic of discussion. Is it made up? Yes, but older conventions and beliefs surrounding dating that we pushback against “talking” over are also technically made up- concepts that have accumulated so much energy from its adherents over the years. So why not a talking stage? Why does dating look like dinner or drinks or outings? Why those steps in particular? If this version is the ideal worldwide, how did it come to be so? Was it not mass media that allowed it to bleed into other corners of the world or was it a natural progression of conventions?


If this is the case for dating, then how much stronger is the hold of conventions born from millennia of stargazing and data collection? From centuries of different card and symbol based divinatory practices? The things you feed grow. Where your attention lies expands. I feel like I’ve referenced this before - the phenomenon of particles behaving differently depending on when and how they are observed. So though there are practices and conventions regarding astrology, tarot, dating, or even an “ideal” life, your participation changes it.


To this extent, I’d like to reference a funny sign or (you know what I’m about to say) synchronicity that occurred during mmụọọnwa mmeme. While making the meat pies, our sous chef mentioned how she assumed we would be making pot pies instead of what are essentially hand pies. We proceeded with baking the pies with slightly off measurements - I had forgotten to get measuring cups and we settled for star shaped cups that were a few or several grams off - breaking the cardinal rule of baking. When we removed the pies, the crust ended up having the consistency of a pot pie. If you’ve ever had both a pot pie and a Nigerian meat pie, you would know that though they are equally crumbly, the former has a much thinner crust. Of course it could be completely coincidental, but it felt like a sign of something that her words manifested later in the evening. So, why not let it be a sign?


Astrology is a combination of statistics and convention. Compiled data about individuals, events, and symbols that are used to anticipate the present and future, as well as glean the inner workings of one’s psyche. It also requires a fair amount of letting go. It is easy to state all the reasons why something shouldn’t or couldn’t be, to lean into hard science to disprove something, but that’s where the 12H comes into play. To really embrace ritual and things that go beyond what we can concretely prove, there must exist an element of submission. The 12th house - the deep expanse of piscean waters - asks us to let go. To surrender to what we can’t control even as we seek to understand it. Instead of always seeing why you have to ask why not? Maybe if you hold tight enough you may come to a rational conclusion, but you may also find that when you let go and let the waves take over you’re led to a conclusion that’s no less satisfying - possibly even more so.


Not everything has a reason but there’s a way to connect everything that happens coincidentally or purposefully through active intent. For this reason, I believe a convention is a ritualized habit. For something to become a convention it must be agreed upon as the norm and it’s given a sort of reverence by the culture. There are two types of conventions, those whose origins most people forget or don’t care to wonder why they're following it, only that it is important and necessary. These conventions supersede individual needs and perspectives and are an unhealthy usage of those ‘why nots.’ The other type of convention is one that incorporates personal intent. “Faith without works is dead,” as they say.


Conventions (and rituals) exist on the 6H - 12H axis. I tend to use ritual and routine interchangeably these days, but they’re not exactly the same. I stated that a convention is a ritualized habit(routine), but the definition of a ritual is ‘an action arising from convention or habit.’ In a way, the two feed into each other. A ritual is also defined as ‘a series of actions performed according to a prescribed manner; usually as a ceremony.’ Routine actions and habits are the domain of the 6th house. This house is firmly rooted in the physical. The act of repetition and storing energy - feeding into a system. The flip side of this is Virgo’s famous “repression” and anxious energy. All that build up with no release.


When you weave in the 12H into this process - letting the universe/God/whatever guides your life take over, you create a channel that links the routine you’ve created to the world around you. It’s as if you’ve supercharged your being and every part of you becomes a conduit that attracts calm and inner peace. This can look like self-care routines that develops your self-love. Self-love is internalized, yes, but Venus exalts in the 12th house. Sometimes, being able to love yourself requires looking inward from the outside.


“Everyone deserves to feel that calm connection to the universe.” 


This is what my friend Yuki told me the other day. They explained the feeling of connection as if all the hairs on your body were filled with energy and you could feel the tiniest shift in sensation in the world around you. When you try to hyper focus on each individual sensation of course you’d be overwhelmed, but if you just relax and let it flow over you and back to you - like a wave - everything begins to feel alright. 


To reach this point you have to find a medium that works for you. For some it’s classic meditation, affirmations, nature walks, and even journaling. Over the summer I received a really cute one from Hailo called Your Spiritual Almanac: A Year of Living Mindfully. These books work to put you in an intentional routine. Others like Taschen’s Book of Symbols and Juan Eduardo Cirlot’s A Dictionary of Symbols -  both of which I found at PT Knitwear during my New York visit - act as a guide to understanding the shared signs, symbols and archetypes sprinkled across media and cultures. I’ve attempted the first two, and must admit they didn’t work for me. I get decision paralysis when I’m offered too many options or instructions in one go, and though I love reading through them in my spare time they haven’t been as effective as writing has been.


Unfortunately, with my move, starting schools full time as well as a new job, my routine has been thrown out of order and I’ve lost my hard earned calm. I see my signs, notice the patterns, and try to feel connected and safe, but my nervous system is in such disarray that it only serves to lock me in that 6H loop of routine and over-thinking. I need to reach out and tie it to something outside of myself. It’s been hard to keep myself accountable amidst everything, but that’s life. Entering cycles and falling out of them before getting back on or beginning another. It’s no crime to begin anew. That’s why I want to attempt a new volume. One that combines the conventions I love with intentional action that can be done alone or in community. 


I grew used to doing things alone - not because I particularly like to (I love and need my solitude, but I also like being able to do things and share with other people), but because I fear(ed) judgment. Joining the Hot Literati community has been one of the communities that brought me out of that headspace and feeling comfortable sharing my ideas and speaking what’s in my heart - first through book club and now as a writer. 


Life is made up of conventions, it wouldn’t be life without them. Some are detrimental and some are not, very little separates them other then what we feed them. My conventions of choice include astrology, synchronicities, schedules, and guidebooks. I’ll always lean into those because they help me feel connected. The way I avoid conventional traps is by being intentional and reminding myself that what I put in is what decides an outcome. 


Things of the spirit are private to me. This seems like an odd stance for me to take as someone who discusses astrology and spirituality, but that’s because I view them more as tools. My connection to the divine feels stronger when I use them, but I also tend to intellectualize them. When it comes to my personal spirituality and faith I usually shy away from discussing them because that’s a private relationship. I still believe this, but lately I’ve wondered if that’s an opinion I developed out of fear the same way I used to shy away from sharing my thoughts.


I don’t think I’m fully ready to discuss it, but it’s an important part of my life and I would like to share more of what lights me up, so that’s why I want to take this opportunity to invite y’all to join me if it’s your cup of tea. My mentors, Luna and Ro, have written a guide: 59 Astrological Dates of 2025. They casted charts for all 365 days next year and have chosen 59 days (“numerology of 59: the dedication to your own spirituality is a determining factor in your life. From deep within comes conscious insight.”). These days - picked for their auspicious energy surrounding health, relationships, and money - have each been assigned a ritual designed to connect you to its energy. 


My goal for next year is to follow this guide, see what energies call for me to feed them, and meditate and write on it. We all deserve to feel that calm sense of knowing and connection, and in doing this, I hope to release my pent up energy, let it flow out and bring it back inward. Like an echolocation of the spirit. Or the breath of life. Whichever it is, I know it will wash over my soul like gently rocking waves. Or maybe thunderous - yet cleansing - waves. Why not both?


As always, I write y’all with love,



 


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