Barstool Astrology by Reda Wigle

Barstool Astrology
by Reda Wigle

June 2021

Welcome to the twin for the win season of Gemini. Among the most maligned and misunderstood of the zodiac signs, Gemini is ruled by Mercury, messenger demigod and planet of communication. Gemini energy is curious, anxious, enthusiastic and extreme. An air sign, Gemini mimics the shifting, elusive element that governs it.

At best Gemini is investigative, expansive, with a mind as wide open as the many roads they seek to travel. At worst Gemini is erratic, incessant and prone to gossip, guilty of putting a tall tale ahead of a true story. To add intrigue and calamity to Gemini season, Mercury goes retrograde from May 29th through June 22nd.

Mercury influences conversation, transaction and communication of all facets. When it falls in retrograde it heralds a time of contemplation rather than initiation. Now more than ever we should weigh the weight of our words and appreciate their capacity to build or burn bridges between us and others.

Speak with care, listen with compassion and be ever on the lookout for the change in perspective distance and reflection can offer. In the words of Willa Cather, “Beauty is not so plentiful that we can afford to object to stepping back a dozen paces to catch it.”

Gemini
May 21 - June 20

My friend Aine, a Gemini of the highest order, admitted, “I’ll do anything, sometimes.” The ability to entertain all possibilities and discern when and how you engage them is, to me, the magic of your constellation. As your ruling planet goes retrograde for the next few weeks, I encourage you to hold fast to the knowledge that no is not forever and yes is not a standing commitment.

Notable Gemini: Bucky Sinister / June 13, 1969

Cancer:
June 21 - July 22

Moon children, I urge you to consider that there is no valor in suffering. The word “care” derives from the Old English caru, meaning anxiety caused by the weight of many burdens. As you are more apt to deliver than receive care I bring you the words of someone wiser and endlessly more balanced than me and most of you: “A burden shared is a burden lifted.” Please, allow yourself that levity and those that love you the grace of your need.

Notable Cancer: Benazir Bhutto / June 21, 1953

Leo:
July 23 - August 22

My sister, a regal Leo herself, discussing heartbreak and starting over, imparted this hard-won knowledge to me: “Relationships, and our pursuit of them, are the hope that lightning can strike twice.” As you move through a season of doubt and recovery it is my wish for you that these words will be medicine and that the lightning strike of surprise will soon light your way back to believing.

Notable Leo: Carl Jung / July 26, 1875

Virgo:
August 23 - September 22

At six years old and after the death of her grandmother, poet and fellow Virgo Sonia Sanchez developed a terrible stutter. The impediment and the introversion it triggered were a source of great pain and great introspection for Sanchez. She spoke less and read more, paying acute attention to language and sounds. I bring you Sanchez’s story as a reminder to pay respect to silence and speech by taking your time in cultivating both. To quote the poet herself, “Say no words / time is collapsing / in the woods.” Find your forest, Virgo.

Notable Virgo: Kwame Nkrumah / September 21, 1909

Libra:
September 23 - October 22

In his analysis of the paintings of Hans Holbein, Ford Max Ford writes, “the eyes look at you as if to say: ‘I do not know exactly what manner of man you are, but I am very sure that being a man you are no hero.’ This is not a condemnation, but acceptance of the fact that from pope to peasant, poor humanity can never be more than poor humanity.” I bring you this takeaway to release you from the pressure of heroics while reminding you of your own simple and universal humanity. You don’t have to save anyone, but you would be better for humbly and truly revering everyone.

Notable Libra: Mae Jemison / October 17, 1956

Scorpio:
October 23 - November 21

Writer and fellow Scorpio D.A. Levy burned bright but brief, publishing renegade and obscene works of literature throughout his short tenure on earth. When he died by his own hand at 26, he willed his ashes to an artist friend with the instruction that they be turned into a calligraphic painting of Levy’s own words. I bring you Levy and his ashes in the hope that you too will reconstitute the remains of what you were into the star dusted letters of who you are becoming.

Notable Scorpio: Phillip Lamantia / October 23, 1927

Sagittarius:
November 22 - December 21

Fellow Sagittarius and leather-clad lizard king Jim Morrison never learned to play an instrument. He formed a band because he couldn’t silence “the concert being played in my skull.” He needed musicians to serve as ambassadors to the sounds in his head. They did, and in answering his call, gave the world at large sonic sustenance. Imagine what would have gone to waste if Morrison hadn’t asked for support. I urge you to consider a similar delegation for the sake of your own creation, archer. Strike up the band.

Notable Sagittarius: Crazy Horse / December 4 (estimated), 1840

Capricorn:
December 22 - January 19

Writer, outlaw, professional pervert and fellow Capricorn Henry Miller writes, “Every man, when he gets quiet, when he becomes desperately honest with himself, is capable of uttering profound truths. We all derive from the same source, there is no mystery about the origin of things. We are all part of creation, all kings, all poets, all musicians; we have only to open up, only to discover what is already there.”

I bring you this meditation to remind you that there’s nothing you can’t do, you either will or you won’t. I hope that you will.

Notable Capricorn: Alice Mary Robertson / January 2, 1854

Aquarius:
January 20 - February 18

In her poem “Which Side Are You On?” poet and fellow Aquarius Janine Pommy Vega asks, “How many times will you enter a room and leave it vacant: in and out, in and out, visiting a temple of possibility and never leaving anything on the altar?”

As an air sign you often operate from a position of emotional distance, preferring observation to participation. In the weeks ahead I humbly suggest that you offer the gift of your present, vulnerable self to the altar of another.

Notable Aquarius: Manuel Noriega / February 11, 1934

Pisces:
February 19 - March 20

In 2010 writer and fellow Pisces S.A. Griffin gathered 900 poems from around the world and adapted a Vietnam War-era practice bomb to house those words rather than explosives. Griffin traveled the country with his Poetry Bomb, dubbing it a “weapon of mass discussion” and inviting folks to add their poems to the interior of the bomb. I bring you Griffin and his Poetry Bomb in the hopes that he and it will inspire you to disarm one of your own defenses and repurpose it as a home for communion.

Notable Pisces: Ray Bremser / February 22, 1934

Aries:
March 21 - April 19

Aristocrat essayist Marcel Proust writes, “Creative acts originate not from a knowledge of their laws, but from an incomprehensible and obscure power that is not fortified by being explained. A woman does not need knowledge of medicine to give birth to a child; a man need not understand the psychology of love in order to love.” I hope Proust’s observation frees you from the need to grasp the mechanics of your making before you begin. Trust that when it comes to creation, action is more vital than understanding.

Notable Aries: Marvin Gaye/ April 2, 1939

Taurus:
April 20 - May 20

The Greek root for the word enthusiasm translates to “divine possession.” I reveal this origin to you, Taurus, as you, more than any other zodiac sign are prone to enthusiasm and exhaustion in equal measure. In order to honor the divinity that enthusiasm stirs, it is not enough to be inspired, you must also be intrepid in your follow through.

Notable Taurus: Harper Lee / April 28, 1926

FQJ's managing editor, Reda Wigle, is a writer, editor and journalist who divides her time between the salt and grit of Key West and New Orleans. Her work has been published in travel anthologies and online platforms. Her profiles and astrology column, Barstool Astrology, appear regularly in the Key West Weekly and The French Quarter Journal. She holds an MA in Studio Art from the University of Colorado and an MFA in Creative Non-Fiction from the University of New Orleans. She is the winner of the 2020 Gulf Coast Association of Creative Writing Teachers’ first place Non-Fiction award. In 2020 she was awarded the Fredrick Barton Service Award for her work as associate editor of Bayou Magazine, a literary journal curated and published in New Orleans, La. Reda is managing editor of French Quarter Journal. Contact her here.

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