Welcome to Ghost of a Podcast. I'm your host, Jessica Lanyadoo. I'm an astrologer, psychic medium, and animal communicator, and I'm going to give you your weekly horoscope and no-bullshit, mystical advice for living your very best life.

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This week's question is pretty big. It goes like this: "Being that we know racism is indeed systemic and not incidental, where does one find racism or inherited racism in the birth chart? Feel free to use my birth chart as a glaring example. I am white. I have witnessed serious dichotomies within my lifetime, and I've certainly done and said things perpetuating racism, especially around white supremacy. It took some time for me to realize, and I have done a lot of work surrounding this. Now I do my best to be an ally for BIPOC"—and that's Black, Indigenous, People of Color, for those who don't know what that term means—"first and foremost admitting to the fact that I am part of the problem and benefit from this sickeningly racist society. Second is to help others understand how they are part of the problem. Being a white lady can be truly embarrassing these days. I think a lot of liberal people, and especially healer people who believe they're not racist, are part of the bigger underlying problem at hand." And then they go forth and share their birth information of November 1st, 1982, 11:37 a.m. in Portland, Oregon.

So here we go. There's a lot to say to this. This is a really, really big question. So I'm going to really focus on answering the question in just one moment, but first I want to say one thing to part of the question that I think is really interesting, which is being a white lady is truly embarrassing these days. There's a way that the combination of greater awareness of social injustice, actually largely in part because of social media and the fact that we all have phones in our pockets and we can document injustice, and it's further evidence and proof for those who need it and those who don't of the consistency and the outrageousness of injustices everywhere—and in a way, I think it's great that beneficiaries of racism are embarrassed. And on the other hand, I want to just note that embarrassment—I don't know if it's exactly even the right word for it, eh? It's culpability. It's culpability. And I want to just really acknowledge that.

Now, racism is not in the birth chart. Racism is not in the birth chart, because race is a construct—it's a human construct—and because racism is taught. It is not innate. It is not innate to the human nature to look at race and make specific assessments. Those are culturally handed down. Those are taught and learned attitudes and behaviors. They are not inherent to the birth chart. So let me be really clear about that because race is a construct. What is in the birth chart is fear. What is in the birth chart is rage. What is in the birth chart are all kinds of psychological, emotional, and behavioral complexes that emerge from fear, from hate, from defensiveness, from scarcity mindset. Those things are in the chart.

And in a racist system, a racist society, those things end up translating to racism handed down through generations. Racism is taught. It is taught in really explicit terms and in really subtle terms. It is pervasive throughout so many things. And if you are white, then you don't have to think about it a whole lot, or more importantly, you don't have to become self-aware that you're thinking about it. That's actually not necessary for you, unless of course you are trying to be a good and decent person, unless of course you are trying to have a truly spiritual path, because the reality is that fear of what you do not understand is part of the human condition. It is.

When we get scared, we fight or flight. We know that about humans. Fear begets more fear, which begets more defensiveness, which begets more hate, which begets more entitlement and defensiveness and effort to maintain power. So I'm going to look at your chart, and I'm going to share something with you before I look at your chart to talk about the roots of racism that really actually radically changed my perspective on racism years ago when George W. Bush was president of these here United States and he was waging war based on a fantasy, weapons of mass destruction that didn't exist. And I wanted to understand what was motivating him, so I looked at his birth chart.

What really surprised me is that he is really a twelfth-house Neptunian-style person. He has a Moon/Jupiter conjunction, and he has Neptune very close to that Moon, not quite conjunct but close. For him, his ultimately very racist and xenophobic rule over the United States, it came not from hatred of the other from my astrological perspective, but conviction and entitlement. And that conviction and entitlement is kind of like—for lack of a better way of saying this, it's kind of like if you've ever been on a boat or a ship and you're really seasick, and they tell you find one point off in the distance and focus on that—just one point off in the distance and focus on that—that actually helps you to not be seasick. Right?

And when I look at George W. Bush's chart, I think he does that, but with spirituality. He has one point off in the distance that he focuses on that entitles him to thinking he is better than others and that his beliefs and his race and his worldview and his family are better than others. And it doesn't come actually from hate. It comes from dissociating from the complexities of the truth.

This is something that you, my dear questioner, have touched on in your question, which is how in spiritual communities so many people who are liberal or progressive, or they feel that they are liberal or progressive, choose to only focus on one point, love and light, positivity, animal rights, the environment, and do it to the exclusion of all other things. And they are backed by the moral conviction of their one thing that they are focused on but not all the things in front of them.

When we have a spirituality or a belief system that is netted in dissociation instead of netted in the dignity of others, being able to see the dignity of others, being able to act with strength, being able to act in integrity when it's needed and not just when it's easy, and being able to do these things, we are truly spiritual people. But here's the damn rub. Whatever it is that your nature is or your life choices are, if it's not happening to you and your family or your best friends, it takes the willingness to put yourself out of your comfort zone to center and prioritize the needs and issues of others. It takes emotional intelligence to be able to do what is right and not what is easy, especially when you're scared.

Now, as I look at your birth chart, my dear, you most certainly have a Saturn/Pluto/Jupiter conjunction, as everyone born in '82 has. It's the last time Saturn and Pluto were together in a cardinal sign, as we are experiencing in 2020 as well. The reason why I'm naming these outer planets is because when we look at outer planets, these slower-moving planets, what we are seeing is generational issues. We are seeing the individualized embodiment in your birth chart, in any individual's birth chart, of societal trends, of the culture at-large.

And so, when we look at the outer planets, we can see our legacy issues, our inherited issues. And in a more technically astrological way, when we look to Saturn and Pluto, it does indicate inherited issues related to fear—Saturn—and holding on, being deeply attached—Pluto—to ideas and convictions—Mercury—about superiority as a way to defend against inferiority. I could go on about that, but I actually won't because here's the thing. You may have a legacy behind you of racist white people. You may be the beneficiary of their wealth. You may be the beneficiary of their violence. You may be the beneficiary of all these things.

But you, my dear, you personally are telling me that you are aware of that and working actively to dismantle it. You're doing the work. That's the good thing about these legacy planets, Saturn and Pluto. Saturn and Pluto—it is the fire. It is the ashes. It is the phoenix rising from them. In other words, it gives you all the shit and it also gives you all the tools to dismantle the shit.

Here's where you would have more of a trouble. In your birth chart, you have a Venus/Sun/Midheaven conjunction. And a Venus/Sun/Midheaven conjunction indicates that you don't like rocking the boat. You don't want to be disliked. You want to be perceived as kind and easygoing and chill and easy to get along with and not too much. As a white person, that is actually the bigger risk, in my view, when I'm looking for the embodiment and perpetuation of white supremacy, because we must be willing to rock the boat in the face of injustice. So that heavy Saturn/Pluto conjunction in your ninth house, as it is, that indicates what is inherited. But what is yours is your willingness or lack thereof to show up in public and to make some goddamn noise, to do what is right even when it is not easy.

Now, again, from what you're saying in your question, you personally are doing this work.  The reason why so many spiritual people, white spiritual people in particular, don't want to look at politics—they don't want to look at racism specifically; so many white women are willing to look at misogyny but not racism, and I could name other things, but we are really talking about race right here right now—is because of this. It would be nice to think, "I'm a good person. I do good things, and therefore I can have a good life because good is rewarded to the good."

I would love for that to be true. But how do you reconcile that with fucking racism? It is time to stop and to really excavate that belief because it is simply not true. And this is really terrifying for most people. The world is not just. Spirituality, like everything else in the natural world, is not especially symmetrical. Every once in a while it is, but that is not the general rule. It's not symmetry. It's not "Good things happen to good people; bad things happen to bad people." Wouldn't you like that to be the case? Be a good person. Follow these rules. Do these things. You'll be okay. You'll be rewarded. But that's not true.

And systemic racism is clear evidence of that, and that is terrifying for people. For those who have the privilege to say, "I don't want to confront that. I don't want to sit with that. That is too upsetting for me," that's a spiritual failing. It's more than a spiritual failing. But here, we're talking astrology. We're talking spirituality. So let me speak to that. Everybody has Pluto in their chart. Everybody has Saturn in their chart. Everybody has Neptune in their chart. Everybody has Uranus in their chart. In other words, everybody is a part of the system that is unfair, this life that is unfair. Life's a bunch of bullshit. It's also beautiful. It's also a gift.

When you want love and light and posi-vibes only, when you want those things, do you want them just for you and people who look like you or talk like you? Or do you want them for everyone? And what are you willing to do to be able to create a world, to strive to create a world, where that is possible for everyone? Because you can't have love and light, you can't have posi-vibes only, for some people and not others. That's bullshit.

Thoughts and prayers. Thoughts and prayers. They're very important. I mean, you'd imagine as a psychic and an astrologer, I'm a huge fan of thoughts and prayers. But thoughts and prayers are not instead of action. They're not instead of courage. They're not instead of writing letters to Congress or reading about something that you don't understand but that you do believe is important. It's not instead of humility. It's in addition to.

We are in a really pivotal time, and each and every one of us has a role to play. If the role that you have to play is to start by dismantling racist feelings and thoughts, start wherever you're at. Do what you need to do. Don't be scared of having conversations where you disagree with people, especially people who are attached to white supremacy and racism. There is no easy answer. There is no simple solution. There is no purple button in the birth chart that says, "Look, that one's a racist. That one's not."

We are all weaned on white supremacy, all of us of every race and every religion, because that's the society we live in. And so it's on all of us to dismantle it, but especially, it is especially on white people. When you have social power, it is your moral and spiritual imperative to use your social power not just for your benefit but for the benefit of others. Do what you can. You don't have to do it all. Just don't do nothing.

Okay. So let's start at the beginning. Black lives matter. Let's just start there. If you hear the phrase "Black lives matter" and you feel defensive, you feel upset, you feel frustrated to hear it, that means you have very important things to review and reflect on within yourself. We live in an unjust society, in a racist society, and a society that has really been built upon anti-Black racism and the genocide of Indigenous peoples. We must face our shadow. We must face the reality of what the United States is and who is vulnerable and how that reflects on us all. So I wanted to just start unequivocally this week by saying this: Black lives matter.

There's an astrology to what's happening now, and I'm going to obviously focus on it. It's horoscope time, see. But before I do, I want to say something about looting and public property. And it's complicated. I don't think it's an all or nothing sort of topic. But if you find yourself more upset and frightened by the destruction of property than you are by the destruction of life and the destruction of liberty and freedom, then that is your problem. And it is a problem that I want to invite you emphatically to investigate because when we choose to investigate where we are not well, where we are spiritually and morally sick, when we choose to investigate those parts of ourselves, we grow and we become better people.

So this week we are here to talk about astrology. But can we talk about astrology without talking about spirituality? And can we talk about spirituality without talking about social issues, political issues? Some people would say so. A lot of people would say so. And I would disagree quite heartily with all of them because the way we participate in the world is a reflection of our spiritual values, of our moral integrity, and our ethics. And if you only give a fuck about people who look like you and fuck like you and are educated like you and talk like you, then that says something unfortunately very, very bad about your moral and spiritual integrity. So, again, invitation extended to really challenge yourself around this.

Okay. Now I'm going to talk about astrology, I promise, I promise, I promise. Okay. Somebody tweeted at me, "Can you talk about on the podcast why in the hell was this past week so difficult and so painful if there wasn't much happening astrologically?" The answer to that I will give to you in two parts. One part is, even when on a day-to-day we do not have major transits occurring, we are going through a much larger transition from all these outer planets—these are things we talk about on the podcast every week. And I want you to know that they don't just happen on the day that the transit's exact. They shape culture, they shape society, and they directly impact the way our lives will go over the course of a chunk of time, months or years, depending on the transit. So that's one part of the answer.

The other part of the answer can be summed up in two words: Eclipse season. This week, we have the first Eclipse. And after the New Moon in Gemini that occurred a couple weeks back, we entered into Eclipse season. So here's what's complicated about Eclipse seasons, and this is something I'm going to talk about in the midweek episode, Episode 113, that drops on Tuesday night Pacific Time. I'm going to do a full episode on Eclipses and this particular Eclipse on the 5th that I will talk to you a bit about here as well.

But Eclipses are really—they bring up dramatic issues. So on a public level, what that looks like—or a social level, what that looks like is the same thing as on a personal level, which is it's your evolution. It's our evolution. When we are confronted by our evolution but we find that we actually haven't had it, that we haven't done the work, that we haven't changed, then there is often hell to pay. There's often drama. And you might be seeing this in your personal life, and certainly we are seeing this in the world at-large.

Now to your horoscope. We are looking at the week of May 31st through June 6th of 2020. I guess I should throw in here while I remember it—because I'm going to forget; I can tell based on the week that we're about to have—if you're not already a supporter on Patreon, please do join me there. On June 1st, I will be dropping on the kittens level a month-ahead horoscope where I break down all the major transits of June 2020. And also, I'm teaching tarot in what I think is a fun and informative way. So, if you're looking for more spiritual tools—and then there's lots of other goodies and witch tips, all that kind of good stuff that you can check in on there. So, if you want to become a supporter on Patreon, wait until June 1st because I think Patreon charges you per month. So be smart about it. Whatevs. But there it is. Become a supporter. Thank you very much. Moving along.

On the 2nd, we have a Venus square to Mars, kind of impressing no one. Venus square to Mars, not a real big deal. You know. I've talked about this transit before. So Venus square to Mars can be a really nice transit. It can be a lovely time for relationships. Venus is the gatherer and Mars is the hunter, so it can be a time for actually connecting with people, taking a break in your personal relationships, mobilizing in a relationship, kind of moving forward in a relationship.

This can also be a time where you are really motivated to do the work of reflecting on your values because you want to keep in mind that when I say Venus is square to Mars, it is Venus Retrograde is square to Mars. What this always means when we're looking at this Venus Retrograde is the need or call to reflect on what you value. How you hold that value, how you express that value is being kind of challenged. That challenge is presented by Mars.

Now, this transit on its own is not the biggest and boldest of all the things, but it is certainly worth noting because it may confront you with inequities in how relationships flow. Let me explain. What I'm talking about is you may find that you're in a relationship with someone where you're doing all the heavy lifting. You may find that someone else is pursuing you, and you're not really doing much in exchange.

This is an interesting thing to consider around this date for your personal life because how we engage consciously in our relationships is really important, super important. In particular, in times of social unrest, I think it can be very easy to kind of be like, "Oh, my personal relationships aren't important. What's happening in the world is important." On the one hand, jes agree. On the other hand, it's when we need to show up for our loved ones the most and when we need to be willing to be loved, to communicate with people, to tap in and have personal connections that really are supportive to you and supportive to them. So those are all things to consider.

On the 3rd, we have an exact Sun conjunction to that Venus Retrograde. This transit is a mixed bag, honestly. Sun conjunction to Venus, you would typically—if you were reading about it on a blog, you'd be like, "OMG. It's so nice. It's great for dating. It's great for hanging out. It's great for relating." It can be a bit of a self-indulgent transit. You might want to buy hella clothes online or eat all the foods. It's about hedonism and self-indulgence. So it's not a bad transit.

Here's the downside of Sun conjunction to Venus. It favors diplomacy over authenticity if you're not careful. Sometimes there's a real value in diplomacy. But when it's at the expense of authenticity, of making yourself uncomfortable, putting yourself out there, being in disagreement with people, then not so great. Not so great. So, instead of shying away from that difficult conversation, instead of not saying something because you're scared of saying it wrong or you're scared of what other people will say or think or feel about you, be authentic.

Focus on and around this date—again, it's the 3rd—focus on, how can you be authentic? How can you truly show up? Authenticity requires that you know where you begin and you end. Authenticity requires that you refer back to your insights, to your values, your ethics, to your truth in this moment, and the truth that you're striving to embody, because sometimes they're different things. When you practice authenticity, that is exactly it. It is a practice.

And that brings us to the 5th, my schmuppies. Now, the 5th, we have a Lunar Eclipse, and it is the first Eclipse of the summer. There shall be three. The first one is on June 5th, the second June 21st, and the third on July 5th. Yeah. It's a lot of fucking Eclipses. Eclipses happen on New Moons and Full Moons. This is a Lunar Eclipse, which means it's a Full Moon. As we know, a Full Moon occurs astrologically when the Sun and Moon are exactly opposite each other. This particular Full Moon is forming a square to Mars. The Full Moon is in Sagittarius. The Sun is in Gemini. These two signs are always opposite each other. And they are both forming a square to Mars in Pisces.

Dudes, my dudes, there is a lot to say about this—and like I said, dropping an episode in a couple days on this very topic, so I'm going to unpack this topic further. But I will say this. When I warned you in the year-ahead horoscope that I dropped at the start of 2020 that we would have a tax on free speech and that we needed to protect journalism and the truth at all costs, this is what I was looking at. I was looking at this Eclipse and my concerns of what would happen around this time. We see the risk of propaganda in the news, but it's not just in the news, honeys. It's not just in the news. When we're talking about propaganda, we're not just talking about lies spread by bots, by politicians, although that, yeah, for sure. We're also talking about inciting agents that go to protests, and they fuck shit up.

We have to be critical in our assessments. We have to not accept anything at face value. We have to do a little bit of research. So this fucking Lunar Eclipse—this Lunar Eclipse is confrontational because of Mars. Mars is the planet of war and conflict and aggression. And what I think we are likely to see on the Full Moon, on the Eclipse, is a lot. It's boiling tensions. When we're dealing with an Eclipse, the effects of Eclipses generally take about six months to unfold. This is not an easy time. The feelings that come up around an Eclipse are unpredictable and overwhelming, as it is meant to be. So be there.

The truth is true whether it makes you uncomfortable or not. The truth is true whether you know what to do about it or not. Sit with the truth. Sit with the truth of what's happening in the world right now. Sit with the truth of anti-Black violence at a systemic level and how we are all a part of it and we all have a role to play in the healing of it. Sit with the truth of how you have been engaging with the people in your personal life, whether you've been taking them for granted, whether you've been listening, whether you've been showing up. Sit with the truth of how you've been abandoning yourself or taking care of yourself, the successes that you've achieved over the past few very difficult months, and the struggles that you've been engaging in.

Sit with the truth and allow yourself to embody it. Mars wants visceral embodiment. You don't have to act from there. You certainly don't need to act out. But you might need to act up. That is for you to determine. Only thing you can't do is nothing. Now, my loves, there's more to say, goddamnit. There's more to say.

We've also got on the 6th that Sun square to Mars that I mentioned that's in this Lunar Eclipse chart. It is exact on the 6th. This transit's irritating. Mars is agitation. Sun square to Mars is a transit that kicks up fights and conflicts and ego battles. I'm not going to tell you not to fight. I think anger is a healthy emotion when your boundaries have been crossed. I personally am not the one who's going to tell you that anger's a bad thing. I don't think anger is a bad thing at all. Anger is righteous and purifying and motivating.

The key is to have your anger be directed in a generative and creative place, not a destructive place and not a petty place. Taking out your anger on something or someone who has nothing to do with why you're angry, that's not a very helpful thing. Taking out your anger on yourself, harming yourself, repressing your emotions, not a very helpful thing. Finding ways of directing your anger righteously, constructively, creatively—that right there, that's the helpful thing. Seek ways of doing that, and if you can't do that, that's okay.

Mars likes movement. Mars likes visceral expression. So, if you are physically able, dancing aggressively, going for a run, doing some cardio, all those kinds of things are really easy and relatively accessible ways of—when I say accessible, I mean free, or you could do it in a studio apartment—ways of experiencing your Mars and channeling it through your body. A lot of people don't know how to experience anger, and so they cry or they get really anxious. If you find that that's what's happening for you, again, use your body. Even if it's just to shake it off, you want to move the adrenaline through your body. This week, my friends, do not let the adrenaline in your body get trapped, because that creates a trauma response in our psyches, and that makes things really much harder to cope with.

Now, my darlings, we're just about at the end of the horoscope. I'm going to add a couple things that I think are really important. The first thing is, to my white and non-Black friends who are listening and have kids, talk about race with your children. You do not need to have it worked out. You do not need to have it perfect. There are tons of resources online for you if you don't know how to have this conversation. But have this conversation, I beg of you. It's the right thing to do, and it's the right time to do it.

Human rights are never given by the oppressor to the people that deserve those rights but don't have them. Unfortunately, the only way that rights are won—human rights ever, animal rights ever, environmental rights ever—is through fighting. I don't like it. I don't like it. Gotta take a stand. What's your stand look like?

Now, I'm going to do a quick recap of the astrology of the week ahead. On the 2nd of June, we are looking at a Venus square to Mars. On the 3rd, we have a Sun conjunction to Venus Retrograde that is exact. On the 5th at 12:12 p.m., we have a Lunar Eclipse that is occurring at 15 degrees of Sagittarius. And on the 6th of June, we have a Sun square to Mars exact.

This month, I've got a bunch of events scheduled, including on Monday, June 1st, at 4:00 p.m. Pacific, I am doing an event with Rachel Budde from Fat and the Moon, an amazing brand that if you don't already know about, I really encourage you to research their products because they're delicious, delightful, and healing. And we are doing an event called Plants and Planets. We're talking about Saturn's move through Aquarius, the energy of it, the lessons of it, and Rachel's going to be offering three plant allies for this transition. It's the first time I've done something like this, and I'm actually incredibly excited about it. So I hope you'll join me there. Link in show notes and on my website.

Also, I'm joining up with Krista and Lindsey of the Almost 30 podcast to do an event on June 18th at 5:00 p.m. Pacific called Saturn Return 101: Your Cosmic Turning Point. So, if you're interested in joining me for that, check it out. Again, link on my website.

My loves, this week and this Lunar Eclipse, I want to encourage you to find your voice. I want you to know that the astrology is there to support you in finding your voice. Your voice doesn't need to be the strongest voice or the best voice or the smartest voice. You just need to add your voice to the chorus that is demanding justice and dignity for all—truly for all.