I’m pleased to announce that this blog, still in its infancy- has received its very first piece of reader mail! What the reader asks advice for though, breaks my heart a little:
Dear Auntie Svetty,
My girlfriend and I recently traveled to Minnesota to visit some dear friends and fulfill my own Auntie duties to some tiny humans. We stumbled through many travel challenges because everything is broken now and there are no humans paid a living wage who are there to help us when, say, a car rental reservation goes horribly, desperately awry. Or, that the people who are available are so miserable in their jobs that the idea of reversing an erroneous credit card charge when the lesbians’ credit card was charged twice by the establishment simply feels too woke for them. My question for you Auntie Svetty - how do we not be angry all the time in a world collapsing from latestage capitalism? And, what does it mean that in the three, separate badly-in-need-of-maintenance-but-why-invest-in-repairs-when-investors-could-pocket-the-cash-instead hotel rooms we stayed in over the course of the trip, those room numbers were: 313, 616, and 212?? And Why, as I wrote this, was I by coincidence also sitting at a bar called the Ten O’ One? (1001). WHAT DOES IT MEAN??
Thank you for your astrological and other wisdom, dear Auntie.
Sincerely,
Synchronicity Seeker
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Dear Synchronicity Seeker,
In these times when others are thriving on hate, in order to bring balance to the universe, we must thrive on love. You must love your partner harder and she must love you back with a ferocity like never before. You must love your friends so much and in every moment that your actions are always guided by that love. You must love your family harder as if they might be taken from you tomorrow. You must love your neighbor harder, and difficult as it will be, you must also love your enemy.
The politics of the far-right and the algorithms of the internet have been separating the country for years. While the MAGA political leaders tell Americans and Global Citizens that it is okay to hate people for their gender, sexuality, religion, and skin color; the algorithms of social media are busy separating us all into groups with the same opinion as us. People do not want to question their beliefs, they want to stare into their google boxes and have their opinions confirmed.
The Patriarchy is losing its grip on power as it becomes a minority. It’s your fault, Synchronicity Seeker, for being a lesbian. It’s another person’s fault the old guard can’t hang on to power because they are Muslim. There is a real movement in this country to replace democracy with authoritarianism. The authority will be wealthy white patriarchy. The wealthy white patriarchy can’t stay in charge if democracy sticks around because there are more of us than there are of them. You must love democracy so much that you rise above their hate and scapegoating of you and demand that democracy remain the law of this land.
It is good that you are angry. You should be angry. We should all be angry. We should all be so angry we put down our google boxes and do something about all the injustice in the world. I don’t know what that something is. I too, spend some days looking at kittens on the internet.
Things didn’t get this rotten and corrupt overnight. The work to fix these old failing systems will be difficult and take awhile. There will be opposition at every turn. The side that says that you and I should be pushed back into a closet, denied service for being “woke" and forced into a religion that isn’t our own or killed is also trying to replace the broken system. You and I are the broken part of the system in their eyes and that’s hard to take when it results in a refusal to refund erroneous charges or help us with a disastrous car rental. It will be even more difficult to take when they find a way to start taking away our marriage rights, put us in internment camps, or kill us for existing.
You should be angry Synchronicity Seeker. Drag queens are not “groomers." Immigrants from Mexico are not “rapists.” The separation of Church and State are guaranteed in our constitution. The Supreme Court is corrupt. A woman’s right to chose has been stolen. Taxation is theft. People shouldn’t be starving. A lesbian should have her erroneous double charge corrected because it has nothing to do with whether or not she is “woke.” Everything is a mess and it’s not your fault or anyone’s as much as it is all of our fault’s and no one’s.
The better question to ask than how to not be angry all the time is how do we keep the anger from consuming us? How do we make sure our actions protect each other and protect systems that reflect our values? How do we assure our actions come from a place of love when others are making us the scapegoats and lashing out at us in hate?
I don’t have all the answers. I wish I could organize and motivate the perfect revolution. If I knew how to do it I would already be doing it. You should be angry Synchronicity Seeker. You should be very angry. Don’t let it consume you though and don’t let it guide your actions.
Anger is only an emotion. Let yourself feel it. Let it pass. All emotions pass. Close your eyes and imagine your anger inside your body. Where do you feel it? What does it look like? Can you imagine it dissipating? Can you imagine it floating away? Can you imagine it leaving your body and being replaced with emotions of love? Solutions that work for everyone never come from a place of anger. You must love your neighbor and your enemy to imagine solutions that work for everyone. You must feel your anger, but let it float away from you if you want to make room to fill your body with love.
Let’s talk about love. Venus is in Virgo from October 8th - November 8th. Virgo helps us express our love through practical means and physical gestures and detail work. Love has a purpose and makes sense when Venus is in Virgo. Dote on your partner, but also dote on yourself: book the acupuncture appointment for yourself. Commit to eating right. Take time for yoga and give yourself nutritional boosts when you can. We are quite literally tasked as humans with fixing these broken systems and planets as they crumble around us. You must be strong and so must the people you love. Take care of them and yourself. Time must be taken regularly to dissipate anger and fear and fill ourselves with love or we cannot think clearly. Solutions are going to require a lot of level-headed thinkers. Make sure you’re one of them. Rest. There’s no way you can be helpful if you deny yourself rest.
I don’t have all the answers Synchronicity Seeker, but I want to be part of the solution and I believe that many others do as well. Take comfort in knowing that many want to help and don’t know how. Encourage people to put down their google boxes and deal with their emotions. Do your best to act from a place of love as often as you can.
You asked me about some numbers. Divination from numbers has been part of Qabalah and Hermetic traditions for 4500 years! Aleister Crowley believes he was called upon to translate the English Alphabet into numbers by a supernatural force he was channeling. If Aleister Crowley was channeling correctly, then seeing the number 316 means you need to focus on healing and self-care. I agree you should do this. The number 616 means it’s time to bring balance into your life. You need to reassess your work life balance. Well, no harm in that advice. 212 wants you to focus on optimism, intuition, and trust. Lastly, 1001 asks you to search your soul and find a new direction.
I’m no expert in numerology, Synchronicity Seeker. I just did a little google research on your behalf, but it sounds like pretty solid advice to me. I’m all for following advice that doesn’t hurt anyone and I’m all for finding strength and inspiration wherever we can find it. The placebo effect after all, has been proven true through scientific method. You’re going to need a lot of strength and inspiration so why not find it wherever you can. There’s a long road ahead for all of us. Thanks for writing to me and I hope this advice is helpful.
Auntie Svetty loves you and believes in you. You are not alone.
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