As I write, there are a handful of hours left of NaNoWriMo. I imagine that once I hit ‘publish’ there’ll be mere minutes left. Expect a comprehensive update in the next issue.
What I will share now, though, is that today, I’ve written zero words toward my manuscript. And I’m okay with that. Instead, I’ve directed the day’s writing energy on the profile that follows, and I can’t think of a better way to close out this year’s NaNoWriMo efforts.
Writing the profile on Shu Yap has been a beautiful reminder of why I love writing. This was welcome after a month of questioning my life choice every other day.
Today, I found that flow state, which is the stuff of life, discovery, and joy. A state I enter with least resistance through writing (sometimes) and swimming (almost always).
Thanks Shu, for the part you played in this. It was an ambitious call to interview you so close to my newsletter deadline, but I’m so glad I did, and so glad you said ‘yes’.
Astronomical observations
Profile on Shu Yap, consulting astrologer, teacher and writer
Shu Yap beams into our online chat from her terrestrial office 12 km south-west of mine. In her earth-toned, sparsely-furnished space, a couch lines the wall behind her and a tall plant basks in the light flooding through a glass door. On the couch is the long, slender frame of Gin, her constant companion, in repose. Gin, the dog formerly known as ‘Jin’, joined Yap’s family in October 2023 after Yap undertook a routine Firdaria interpretation for her three children.
Firdaria, which means ‘periods of life’, is an ancient Persian astrological technique that Yap, an astrologer, astrology educator and writer, uses to pre-empt the needs of her children as they move through different chapters in their lives.
On that fateful October day, she noted that each child had an activation involving Saturn and their sixth house, which can be malefic to health. To remedy this, she considered ways to co-create an alternative manifestation of Saturn in the sixth house, and deflect ill health in her children. A dog came to mind, specifically, the Saturnian energy in the labour of caring for a dog. And so, Yap jumped online to find a rescue. ‘Jin’ was the first dog she saw, and going by his photos and description, she knew he was the one. He exuded Saturnian energy — tall, wiry, thin, black, and calm.
In her bio, Yap says, ‘Astrology is not just a profession, but a way of life.’ It influences her approach to motherhood and her work as a grower, beekeeper and regenerative farmer.
I catch her at a busy time of year for astrologers, with forecasts underway for the new year, an idea that makes her chuckle, as really, anytime is a good time to make a forecast.
Hi, I’m Mek and I’m a Leo sun, Pisces rising, Cancer moon. Did you roll your eyes? I’m aware, when I talk astrology, that many people dismiss it as ‘woo woo’ or superficial nonsense. This is not surprising, if horoscopes in broadsheets and glossy magazines are all one knows.
On this common misconception of her profession, Yap says, ‘I don't blame people for thinking that, because really, 20th Century astrology is just rubbish.’ We laugh, and she adds, ‘You know, the good stuff is really way back in antiquity, when personal astrology was not a done thing.’
It was not until I first consulted Shu in 2019, for a natal chart reading, that my ideas about astrology were transformed. My prior experiences with astrology were focused solely on my sun sign, Leo. As a teen, I’d read ‘the stars’ in newspapers and magazines my parents had lying around the house, or those I came across in waiting rooms. I didn’t think much more of it than a bit of fun that filled my head and heart with things to look forward to. Anticipation of imminent romances and untold good fortune buoyed me between forecasts, and I outwardly subscribed to, and predictably took pride in, my Leo persona, although deep down, I didn’t feel it painted a complete portrait of me.
Astrology, Yap explains, was designed to understand the mundane yet significant factors that impacted day-to-day life: the weather, agriculture, politics, and war. It was originally used by monarchs and political rulers, and rather than focusing on the individual, its concerns were around cosmological cycles and the meaning they held for society at large.
The first documented used of astrology goes back to Babylonian times, in the 2nd millennium BCE. It was not until Hellenistic times (between 323 BCE and 32 BCE) that the first natal charts were created, and refined much later, in the early BCEs. However, natal astrology, which requires an accurate time of birth, was not accessible to those outside of the ruling classes who were able to circumvent the pesky absence of clocks by engaging a timekeeper.
Timekeepers would use water clocks, pouring water over and over again into a vessel. Knowing the total volume poured between sunset, say, and the arrival of a newborn, and assuming a fixed flowrate, they could then work out time of birth.
In the late 18th century, there was concern for astrology’s demise, which saw a pivot to astrology as psychological movement, a clever way to bring the stars to the masses, making it more ‘credible’, and saving the ancient knowledge and practice.
The desire for credibility was also a response to the scientific revolution, circa mid-1500s, when Pluto was in Aquarius. Of the revolution, Yap says, ‘The world was moving away from a geocentric model, based on the Sun travelling around Earth, to a heliocentric model of Earth moving around the Sun, thanks to people like Copernicus and Galileo.’ This marked epoch change was, in Yap’s opinion, for the worst, as it brought about a shift from an animism and neo-platonic worldview, of descending heavenly influences on the soul, to the reductionist, soul-less realm of rationalism and scientific proof.
On 19 November this year, Pluto moved into Aquarius. The slow moving planet takes 248 years to make a full revolution of the sun, so there is no reference within our lifetimes for the events that will unfold. The last time Pluto was in Aquarius was in the late 1700s.
‘Every time Pluto moves into Aquarius, we see humanity change in a big way, often with a technological agenda.
‘Back in the mid-1500s, it was heliocentrism, in the late 1700s, it was nautical exploration and colonisation, and today, it’s AI, extra-terrestrials and space exploration.’
The late 1700s also coincided with Captain Cook’s arrival on so-called Australia, the American Revolution, and the French Revolution.
Pluto’s movement is only the first of the major planetary shifts coming our way. ‘Astrologers have gone back in time to 6000 years ago, even before planets like Pluto, Uranus, Neptune were discovered. And they haven't seen this kind of phenomenon that we're about to get, that we're in, right now, and that's about to intensify and grow into being over the next two years.’
Even the most skeptical among us will have noted the massive changes humanity is going through, from the Global Financial Crisis to COVID-19, the rise of cryptocurrency and AI, and the centering of social justice and the collective in the way many of us are engaging with the world.
Thoughts on life’s meaning and the purpose of our existence are intrinsic to the connections Yap makes between the planets and our place among them. ‘If we say that we were all souls that were chosen to constellate and come to this earth at a time of big change, well, this is that kind of big change that we were made for,’ she says.
With change, however, comes a plethora of issues, like resistance to change, the crumbling of structures, new ideas, and new ways of being.
‘So there are both crisis and opportunities within [these changes]. However, it doesn't always feel like that when you're living through it,’ she says.
To explain the significance of Pluto and the qualities it brings, Yap uses the analogy of a magnifying glass. Pluto reveals the finer details, even those we try to hide. ‘It likes to shine a spotlight on the shameful, the taboo, the unsaid, the things that are just outrageous.
‘[Pluto] likes to stir those things up and give [them] prominence, because it's about shadow work, ultimately.’
Aquarius, on the other hand, provides the backdrop for Pluto’s focus. The twelve signs of the zodiac can be thought of as the twelve major karmas of the world. For Aquarius, Yap says, ‘It's around the karma of humanity, of people, society.’
‘And so, what I think might happen with Pluto really cementing into Aquarius at one level, is that we will really see the evil of humanity, [a rise in] the powerful evil forces of humanity; we’ll see the ugly side, [things that are] probably completely out of our radars.’
There is reason for hope though, always, and Yap points out the meaning to be derived from Pluto’s being the god of the underworld. Its ‘magnifying glass’ on humanity could be seen as bringing ancient knowledge systems, connections to ancestry, and archeology to the surface. This could mean, in Yap’s view, a merging of an ancient cultural aspect into the unprecedented future, and a reckoning with the consequences of the past. But, she says, ‘The more positive aspect of [Pluto’s move into Aquarius] is around the power to the people.’
By the time Pluto comes out of Aquarius, in 2044, we’re likely to see a balance of power come into fruition. ‘Once Pluto's done its job, we can all stand in our own power in some way, and maybe the power will be in cooperation and alliances and networking and not sort of centralised in one big force.’ These are heartening words, all the more so because we are already witnessing these shifts, with decentralised power, and individuals coming together in collectives to organise, protest and effect change.
Throughout our engrossing conversation, Gin has remained on the couch, true to the calm nature noted in the ad that led to his forever home.
So, what of the reason for his adoption? A couple of months after he joined Yap’s family, Gin almost died, suffering from rhabdomyolysis. The rare condition is associated with over heating — a state that’s the antithesis of Saturn’s cold, dry qualities, which he shares.
‘He took one for the kids. You can’t prove these things, but I just feel that’s what happened. And he’s been a good dog since.’
Correction notice, 1 December 2024, 8:00 AEST.
Shu Yap is a consulting astrologer, teacher, and writer based in Central Victoria, Australia, on Dja Dja Wurrung Country. For Shu, astrology is not just a profession but a way of life, influencing her work as a grower, beekeeper, and regenerative farmer. Drawing inspiration from Hermetic philosophy, she practices traditional astrology with a sky-centered approach. Shu's spiritual practice and cosmological perspectives are deeply rooted in her Daoist cultural heritage.
Certified by the Melbourne School of Astrology and the School of Traditional Astrology in Horary and Traditional Medical Astrology, Shu operates an international consulting practice, lectures globally, teaches at Kepler College, mentors individual students, and writes weekly planetary news for The Interpsycle Observator.
Raptorial Writes
A monthly writing prompt
Grab a magazine or newspaper that includes horoscopes. Choose one that is not your own sign, read it and write a scene of a character for whom the anticipated events detailed in the horoscope are unfolding. They are in a supermarket, pushing a trolley with dodgy wheels.
Set a timer for 25 minutes and write!
I’d love to know how you go! Post your story to Instagram using #RaptorialWrites, or share it in the comments here. Happy writing!
Raptorial Bites
A monthly short story book club
This month’s read is my latest zine! I created it to mark Read Palestine Week 2024, which kicked off on Friday 29 November, coinciding with International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.
Fun fact: the first zine I ever made was for the same occasion last year. This is a new, updated edition with Publishers for Palestine’s 2024 free e-book list for the week (includes Sarah M Saleh’s The Flirtation of Girls) and a new entry, the fantastic Summer Reads for MPs initiative with over 90 Australian writers coming together to coordinate the purchase and delivery of a 5-book pack for every federal politician on the continent.
You can read the 8-page zine in four easy steps:
Download the zine.
Print the file on A4, landscape, double sided.
Fold the zine (if you need help: short zine folding tutorial video).
Enjoy!
If you are keen to get your craftivism on, create multiple copies (maybe on coloured paper?) and distribute in your neighbourhood.