an introduction
Hello and welcome!
My name, Shuly, is short for Shulamit / שולמית, which comes from the Hebrew root ש-ל-מ meaning ‘peace’ (which also brings us words like shalem 'whole, complete' and shalam ‘to be safe’). I am a moonstruck stargazer, a plant lady, a diviner, and a witch. I am a queer and trans Jewish woman with a deep love and reverence for the traditions of my ancestors. For those who are curious, I am a Sagittarius rising, ruled by Jupiter in Scorpio, and born under the New Moon in Capricorn. In other words, I make my home in the twilight spaces. The reality of being queer, trans, and Jewish is that it is impossible to extricate any of these identities from any one thing I do—so I don’t.
I come from a family of stargazers and farmers, revolutionaries and reactionaries, colonizers and the displaced. The drive to syncretize these disparate origins is what led me to the esoteric. I was born and raised on a fault line on the banks of the Colorado River, in the colonized lands of the Tickanwa•tic (Tonkawa) and Nʉmʉnʉʉ (Comanche) peoples. I make my home today in the mountains which are called Posu Gai Hoo-oo by their rightful stewards, the Pueblos of Sandia and Isleta. May I be a part of the speedy restoration of these lands to their original peoples (and I would love to invite you to join me).
My goal as a spiritual practitioner is the harmonization of ancestral tradition with contemporary life.
I see the world through an animistic and panentheistic lens, which is to say that I believe we live in an inspirited and ensouled world, that all of the creatures of our world are endowed with a spiritual essence, and that our existence(s) are interdependent on each other. If our mutual survival depends on each other, it seems like the logical next step would be to help our intersection of the web to be as healthy as possible, for our system(s) and all the others'. For this reason, I think the best way to describe my spiritual practice is building solidarity with the other creatures and spirits in my ecosystem, what is sometimes called living in "right relationship".
During my journey, I have found an abundance of wisdom in the art of astrology. My first introduction to astrology was learning to track the phases of the moon and the planetary days and hours for magical purposes. Eventually, when I was ready to take this practice deeper, I found the world of traditional astrology through the gateway of the Astrology Podcast episode on electional astrology (shout out to their SEO, it was the top hit on Google!) For this reason, I began my studies from a Hellenistic perspective, which means that most of my work is rooted in the tropical zodiac, traditional rulerships (ie Saturn ruling Aquarius, Jupiter ruling Pisces, and Mars ruling Scorpio), and whole sign houses.
At the same time, I am grateful for what I've learned from colleagues who study the modern schools of astrology, from humanistic to evolutionary to Uranian and back again. In addition to my studies of Western astrology, I hope to spend the coming years deepening my understanding of sidereal systems, as well as the Indian and Chinese traditions of astrology. I'm here to contribute to growing the big tent of astrologers, enriching the Art with our diversity.
The wealth of astrological knowledge freely accessible on the internet is revolutionizing this study by bringing more people to the table than ever before.
I feel very lucky to come into this scene when I did and I have benefited in ways I can hardly fathom from my contact with generous astrologers who make some of their work freely accessible. That’s part of my motivation for offering my writing freely, rather than behind a paywall—I would know nothing if it weren’t for the scholars and practitioners who share their knowledge freely with the public. Obviously, I believe everyone deserves to be paid for their work but, for me, I see a spiritual significance to passing the gift along through contributing information freely with the community. I hope for my work to be an invitation to a seat at our crowded table.
Here are some things you can expect in the coming months:
Electional astrology is my personal favorite branch of astrology, which I why I'm especially excited to offer Electional Astrology for Fun and Profit, a series of potent tips for dipping your toes into the world of electional astrology. As part of the series, I am also preparing a number of focused electional guides for specific situations. You can also expect a series of retrospective discussions of electional and inceptional charts I've interacted with so far—both the gems and the disasters!
I've spent the last year learning everything I can about the lunar mansions. What started off as a mild curiosity turned into an enormous, sprawling pet project. I know I've only begun to scratch the surface but I'm excited to offer a discussion of the lunar mansions—including a simple ritual to introduce yourself to the angel of your natal lunar mansion!
Coming down the line is a chatty, approachable introduction to Jewish astrology and Jewish astrologers. In particular, I've focused on the work of the 11th century rabbi-astrologer Abraham Ibn Ezra and what he can teach us about how the nature of the soul relates to astrology, as well as how astrology relates to Jewish culture. That certainly wont be the end of the project: the more I learn about this topic the more bottomless it seems!
A charm for the foundation of a new enterprise: the Ace of Pentacles, from Pamela Colman Smith’s 1909 tarot deck.