In Venus Rx you will become a strange beast...
a Venus (Retrograde) Day Love list.
It’s time for another Venus Day Love List…
First off, a literal list — which I love — and which I think will delight you too.
The first time I saw the list below I was an undergrad in London. It was the first time I heard the name Foucault.*
In his book The Order of Things, he quotes the Argentinian writer Borges, who was quoting a Chinese encyclopedia…
… he’s prefaces his book with the list below because the book is about how we make sense of reality (an important topic for any witch). And…
… this list challenges our reality.
The Western scientific world view splits the world into categories to make sense of it, and then the way we categorize things controls the way we experience the world.
But how would our worldview change if we didn’t separate humans into male and female, for instance, or land into countries? We’d live in an entirely different world.
How would it change our relationship to animals if they weren’t classified as vertebrates or invertebrates, but instead like this:
“This passage quotes a ‘certain Chinese encyclopaedia’ in which it is written that animals are divided into:
(a) belonging to the Emperor
(b) embalmed
(c) tame
(d) suckling pigs
(e) sirens
(f) fabulous
(g) stray dogs
(h) included in the present classification
(i) frenzied
(j) innumerable
(k) drawn with a very fine camelhair brush
(l) et cetera
(m) having just broken the water pitcher
(n) that from a long way off look like flies.”
Foucault goes on to point out that the beauty of this list is that it shows us the limitations of our own way of thinking. Our society makes categorizing animals like that impossible, unthinkable.
But now, you’re thinking about it. And now it’s possible.
I share this with you today on the day of Venus to ask you…
What in your life are you seeing as an invertebrate, which might actually be a frenzied siren?
And what if that frenzied siren is YOU?
Remember your magic.
Love,
Amanda
*I was reminded of this wonderful list by my friend, the de-colonial scholar Leah Garza who posted it on her IG feed the other day.
Venus Retrograde - July 22 to September 3, 2023
It’s fun to think about these different systems of classification today because Venus is about to enter her retrograde period.
This phase of her travels is an invitation to reflect upon and correct past missteps in the realms of love, wealth, and creativity.
For example, have you ever classified yourself as a starving artist, or “not creative?”
Have you ever classified yourself as “unlucky in love?” Or as having an “insecure” attachment style?
What if you used this retrograde period to rename and reclassify all those things you felt so sure about?
What if instead being unlucky in love, you’re actually a minstrel wandering through the fogs of love writing songs about your experiences? How would that change things?
At the very least, it would make things more interesting. And more beautiful. Just how Venus likes them!
A couple more reminders…
Just in time for Leo Season…
Leo Season starts tomorrow, 7/22/23! And, at our next Full Moon ceremony, on August 1st, 6pm PST…
…which also happens to be Lughnasadh, or Lammas, the first harvest festival of the pagan year…
…and also is the first day of the Lion’s Gate Porthole(!!)…
…it will be an important and powerful moon for doing Creative Abundance magic!
So if you’re coming to my next Full Moon Ceremony you’re definitely going to want to order one of these lion candles from Theyfriend Candles on Etsy straight away!
They’re powered by Circean witch magic!
Bonus, Theyfriend candles are a queer trans owned candle company so buying candles from them supports creative abundance in the queer community. Huzzah!
*Scholarship subscriptions are available for those in financial need. Email us at guardian@oracleoflosangeles.com and we’ll get you sorted out. X
Our next reading for our Language of the Birds Reading Club comes from this book:
The Nature of Magic: An Anthropology of Consciousness by Susan Greenwood…
…one of my favorite academics writing about witchcraft.
We’re reading the chapter called “The Wild Hunt” (link to the text below, but I HIGHLY recommend you buy the book since it’s so great).
The Wild Hunt is a name given to numerous folk myths associated with rowdy chases across the night sky with witches on their broomsticks.
Often led by a god, goddess, or mythological figure accompanied by the howling souls of the dead, the Wild Hunt illustrates the connection between animals, human souls, the spirits of the dead, the plant world, and the world beyond.
You hear the term Wild Hunt referred to a lot in witch literature, so this is an important one for you to know.
The reading group is next week on Thursday, 7/27/23, 6pm PST…
So you’re going to want to start reading now if you can, here’s a link to the text: