Leah Wellbaum is a musician, artist, and writer living in Los Angeles, CA. She is the principal songwriter, guitar player, and unrepentant aesthete of the band Slothrust, and also has a side project called ANMLPLNET. On the upcoming Slothrust album, Parallel Timeline, Wellbaum constructs a luscious, ethereal cosmos perforated with wormy portals and unexpected magical iconography. She is a lover of all things mystical and absurd. When she isn’t on the road, she offers lessons in music and creativity. You can find her art at www.leahwellbaum.com.
Hello again, and welcome to Aquarius season! With the turn of this sign, we are officially in the new year. The first new moon of 2022 was on February 2. You could think of this as the Lunar New Year, as this was the first night of 2022 that, for those of us in the West, the moon did not appear at all in the sky.
As you might have gleaned in reading my articles so far on astrology and fruit, I do not consider myself to be an expert of the stars. People devote years of their lives to studying the dense history of astrology and all of the different ways to describe and interpret its many messages. That’s just the tip of the iceberg, really. Despite always being a massive lover of the sky and all things galaxy-related, I found myself quite resistant to astrology when I was younger. I feared that my Leo sun sign pigeon-holed me in a way that I could not sit with comfortably. I couldn’t possibly like attention that much, could I? If I am honest with myself, the answer is actually yes, I love it, but sometimes that desire dwells behind a veil. The other signs present in my chart (Libra moon, Taurus rising) can make big, bold, Leo energy difficult to own at times. I am working on that, all the while attempting to maintain this ever-fleeting thing called balance.
As I have studied and embraced astrology more with age, its vastness has cracked something open for me, and instead of rejecting it for fear of being boxed in, I started to view it as a tool for understanding history and societal development, as well as personal examination and growth. Understanding the laws of gravity present in each of the signs offers a lens through which certain baffling aspects of the human psyche can become untangled. To those skeptical, I will not try to change your mind, but I encourage you to consider its rich history and to investigate your own resistance. As our Taurus friend Shakespeare once said, “A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wiseman knows himself to be a fool.”
The spirit of constantly learning is one that has served me well and I encourage you to adopt it too. There is liberation in treating life like a series of lessons, both beautiful and painful. Thinking of life as a school of sorts reframes those moments of strife and opens them up as sources of knowledge. You burn your dinner and instead of taking it as a metaphor for your charred life, you decide that next time you will set your oven to 350˚ instead of 475˚. No big deal.
February can be a harrowing month. We’ve just crossed into 2022 and bless us for that. But now we are in the thick of winter without the holiday cheer. So how do we make the best of this time and what energies are present in the sky to support us?
Aquarius is a sign that loves to learn and it will behoove you to lean into that energy this season. My closest Aquarius friends have elephant-style memories, which make them and other Aquarians alike epic storytellers. Their brains are swollen with factoids you will be stunned to learn, and you can bet they are collecting more everyday. Intellectual curiosity is a central motor in the vehicle of the Aquarius. Their ability to deliver a marvelously detailed story is undeniable, and their effortless individuality is felt by all they come into contact with.
Of all of the signs, Aquarius is touted for being the most humanitarian. They are awake to the inequalities that the world serves and they are available to do their part in trying to revamp existing systems that perpetuate injustice. Embedded in their passion for all things humanitarian is their desire for community, and personal freedom for all. Despite their love of people, those born under this sign do not appreciate a clinger. The ability to roam freely in the world and indulge all curiosities as they appear is a non-negotiable for Aquarius personalities. Efforts to control them will be futile and ultimately will lead to resentment on their end, which most likely won’t be communicated. Aquarius is known to be quite cagey about their deeper emotions and rarely opens up unless offered a space where they feel truly safe to be vulnerable. If they feel overly interrogated, the Aquarius will simply move on to the next. They know they have a lot to offer.
My illustrated interpretation of Aquarius is a bit odd because it lacks one of the core things that makes up the symbol, which is the presence of a human. I took an online course about ceremonial magick recently with Damien Echols and I learned about something that absolutely delighted me. It is a tetramorph by the name of Lamassu. Lamassu is known to be the first archangel in historical records. You’ll see it come up in many religions and historical documentations spanning thousands of years. Astrology is truly that ancient. Lamassu is a manifestation of the four elements by means of an astrological combination – the Leo (fire), the Taurus (earth), the Scorpio (water), and the Aquarius (air). Cool, right? Check out this sculpture of Lamassu from c. 721 BC below. You will see the body of a lion (Leo), the legs of a bull (Taurus), the wings of an eagle (Scorpio), and the face of a man (Aquarius). As a species, humans have been seeking balance forever.
I am not particularly interested in drawing people. Because of this the aspect of Aquarius that I clung to was not its human-ness, but the bearing of water and the complexities of such a task. What does it mean to hold and deliver such a sacred resource? Despite my creature being a flower instead of a human, I think of them as a benevolent being with an immeasurable depth, and a story you’ll never fully know.
The fruit I have selected for this Aquarius season is the blackberry. Have you ever really noticed what happens inside of your mouth when you eat a blackberry? It’s a more complex journey than you might have realized. And then you’re left with a healthy crop of seeds tucked in your back molars, almost as though you might grow another blackberry bush right in your mouth. I think of the blackberry as a unique and rich berry that weaves an epic sensory tale with a couple of different plot twists. This is not a simple berry. It’s somehow sweet, tart, and bitter all within the same bite. The blackberry is made up of clusters of tiny, glistening dark pods. When I was younger I used to think they looked like the heads of ants. Yum!
Aquarius season is a great time to study anything that intrigues you, and to ponder and act on the ways you can give back to others who are in a time of struggle. If you have any Aquarius friends, wish them happy birthday and request they tell you their most powerful story.
Here is a playlist to suit the energy of the season:
And like always the Slothrust ~Mind Your Mood~ Astrology horoscope/playlist generator is here for you to see where you’re at today, and to yield a juicy playlist to match.
See you soon!
Your freaky fruity friend,
Leah
