Kristine Backes

This New Year, 2020, comes at significant transition point between epic natural cycles. There is a powerful line-up of planets in the Earth sign of Capricorn, coupled with an Eclipse cycle on the Capricorn/Cancer axis, and a configuration of planets not seen for a couple of millennia. One meaning of these events is that more than a year of destabilization and dismantling of old structures and institutions is coming to a head. We see it in the news; and many of us – whether we know it or not – are experiencing it in the shifting forms of our lives, both internal and external. We are being offered a chance to stop living according to old ‘shoulds’ and begin following an internal, more compassionate, and maybe somewhat mysterious compass. I call it ‘living from the inside out’. 

In the next few days, I will be launching a writing salon for people who want to use astrology to inform their writing. I’ll add a link in the comments when the web page is up; the registration will be right here on Patreon through a couple of specific tiers.

Whether someone is focusing on personal, fiction, non-fiction or some other genre of writing, astrology can offer depth and context to characters and story. The salon is intended to provide a supportive container for writers (including me!) to commit time every week to the craft. Each week, I’ll offer prompts based in astrology to help us find a new or richer perspective on what we are creating. For all of us thinking about New Year’s intentions, here are some ideas as a sample of what’s to come in the salon.

Start by reviewing your journals (if you keep them), notes, calendar, or some of your created materials from the past year or so. Jot down a few observations about patterns or significant events. Then just sit quietly for a bit, letting your mind drift. 

To begin creating your intentions, sit with the questions/statements below for a moment until you are ready to start. Once you start writing/drawing/painting/whatever, keep going and don’t edit or critique or judge! There is plenty of time for that later.

Prompts: In what ways have I let go of someone else’s ideas (and ‘shoulds’) of how to live? What is my next step in following my own compass/Soul/truth?

Alternatively (or in addition), write a letter from your self in 2021 to your self today offering words of wisdom for 2020. Be kind, be creative, and write as the most loving person you know to the most loved person you know.

If you find this exercise useful, consider joining my salon (first session is in February), and feel free to post a sentence or two below from your own creation (just remember it will be public!).

Happy 2020 to all!