Welcome in, Love!

This week puts us right in the middle of two eclipses, so I’m serving a special brew to help you feel empowered during the full moon/lunar eclipse in Pisces at the end of next week. Yes, this is almost two weeks early, but eclipses have a larger impact radius than regular moons, so I’m serving this early to give it time to steep in your heart and soul.

This week officially kicks off my book tour, with my first stop in Atlanta on August 22nd! I have a book signing at Barnes & Noble Perimeter from 11-1 (no RSVP required). Then an author talk, Q&A, and signing at A Small Place Bookshop in Edgewood at 3pm (RSVP below). I hope to see you there!

Yes, this is a play on words.

Pisces is the realm of all things spiritual artistic, mystic, occult, secret, mysterious, and psychic. Pisces energy reminds you that you don’t “have” a soul, you are a soul and temporarily have a human body.

The full moon/lunar eclipse in Pisces on August 27th/28th is a North Node eclipse, which is like the magnetic pull of your inner compass.

There’s something in the Pisces area of your life that you’ve felt drawn to as far back as 2 years ago or perhaps more recently. Whatever you’ve been feeling drawn to is likely culminating, concluding, coming to fruition, or reaching a pivotal milestone along with the closing of this Pisces eclipse cycle. Keep in mind that this could be something visible and external, but it can also be a quiet, internal shift that makes a world of difference.

This idea is beautifully illustrated by Pamela Coleman Smith in the 8 of Cups tarot card, which is the card that corresponds with the first decan of Pisces, where the eclipse happens this month at 4°.

The 8 of Cups depicts 8 cups stacked up in the foreground. You might notice that there appears to be something missing, that the arrangement of cups looks and feels incomplete. This is why we see in the middle ground a cloaked figure walking away from the cups and toward a distant mountain range in the background. This person is setting off on a quest. Their red cloak and red shoes reveal that they are being guided by their passion and desire for something more emotionally fulfilling.

The 8 of Cups tarot card also corresponds to Saturn, the planet often associated with teaching us difficult lessons. You can no longer ignore how you feel. Your heart is beckoning you into the next chapter, where you are free to write (especially with Mercury at play during this eclipse) a more fulfilling version of your story.

After the 8 of cups, is the 9 of cups—healing, contentment, and wish fulfillment. And after the 9 of cups is the 10 of cups—complete emotional wholeness and joy, often within community and chosen family.

Yet the blessings of the 9 and the 10 of cups, require we do the courageous act of the 8 of cups—walking away from something else that is not or no longer aligned with our emotional truth.

Maybe you’ve been walking away from a religious system, a mindset, a job, an unhealthy habit, a relationship, a home, or a style of dress. You already know what it is as you’re reading this, and it will require some faith to trust that the best is yet to come.

I begin chapter 3 of my book with a quote by Toni Cade Bambara, the very first line of her novel The Salt Eaters:

“Are you sure, sweetheart, that you want to be well?”

I’m getting back into this book with fresh eyes and noticing things I didn’t before. Bambara’s novel is a beautiful example of Pisces themes like saltwater, mysticism, and “writers and writings of the occult.” Since Mercury is one of the power players involved with this eclipse, it’s more likely that writing (yours or someone else’s) could be helpful to you around this time. Consider dialing up your reading and journaling over the next few weeks.

I’m using tarot cards as book marks now, and I shuffle an old deck to see which card is right for each book I’m reading. For The Salt Eaters, I got the 10 of Cups. I was surprised and not sure why I got this card for this book, until I started drafting this week’s newsletter. The 10 of Cups, as I explained, is the natural trajectory of the 8 of Cups, the representative tarot card for this Pisces lunar eclipse. This book is indeed about divine love, healing, inner unity and fulfillment within ourselves, as well as harmony and cocreation within our environment and community.

Published in 1980, The Salt Eaters is about a Black community in the South navigating the social-economic-political realities of their time when a sonic boom opens the third eye. It’s about healing and “the tremendous responsibility that comes with physical, spiritual, and mental well-being.”

In the photo above, I have a picture of the 10 of Cups tarot card on page 61 of The Salt Eaters. On this page is one of my favorite quotes, and it reflects one application for the 10 of Cups. During a community healing session, the healer’s spirit guide tells her:

“Love, Min. Love won’t let you let her go.”

“Cause love won’t let you let’m go.”

The healer loves the members of her community too much not to help them “pull toward life.” I resonate with this in the journey of enduring the struggles and pains of my Colorism Healing work for the sake of helping us all get free. In my Open Mic segment, I share that we can feel the same way about ourselves too, not just other people.

Bambara’s style of writing is less plot driven and quite abstract and poetic, which is very Pisces. I’m reading it much more slowly this time, and enjoying it so much more. Get your copy here.

“Are you sure, sweetheart, that you want to be well?” —T. C. Bambara

Since Pisces represents fog, abstract, and intangible things, the title of this song, “Murky,” feels on theme. The moodiness, the fusion of ache, longing, and passion is also very Moon tarot card and very Pisces-like.

I always dedicate love songs to myself, like messages from my higher self soothing this soul who’s temporarily navigating Earth life in a physical body.

The other day, singing this song at sunrise brought me to tears (very Pisces). It’s because the vibe of this song, to me, feels like all the things about me, all the difficult parts, all the painful, disappointed, hopeful, exhausted, optimistic, creative, visionary, angry, confused, certain, fearful, and brave parts of me and my journey make me love myself so fiercely.

“Love, Min. Love won’t let you let her go.” —TCB

I love you too much to let you drown. I love you too much to let you fall. I love you too much to abandon you in your loneliest, most fearful moments. I love you too much to let go of your hand just when you need it the most. That’s what I say to myself. That’s what my heart and soul speak to the aspects of me trying to survive and trying to get free.