So it is that one doesn’t choose their fame … their fame chooses them.
And so it was that when the name Tristan St. Germain first reached me, it was in the aspect of the neon clad “twerk queen of the North Bay.” The twerk, for those who don’t know, is a hip-hop derived, booty-forward dance style. It’s strong and it polarizes opinion. It has been called both “the final evolution” and “the final devolution” of 20th century dance styles, and it is found everywhere in the clubs.
And if one lives in the North Bay and dials “twerk” into their Instagram discovery page, chances are they will pull up a viral video of St. Germain leading a big class of “twerkers” at some earthy rave-y music festival (try @tristan_st.germain for a shortcut).
These classes are fierce and even intimating scenes of (mostly) women backing it forward in martial line. What detractors sometimes miss is that the twerk is about liberating female power.
Given the fame attached to her name, I was surprised to enter St. Germain’s new dance studio, The House of Flow, and read the schedule of classes she had posted. “Twerk Out” was just one of 10 or 12 of the weekly classes offered by her and two other regular teachers, along with group circuit training, Vinyasa yoga, Buti Movement (high energy yoga and cardio), “Free Your Dance Style,” teacher trainings, master classes, belly dancing, MMA (mixed martial arts) and group fitness with her husband, Matt.
Taking that weekly schedule of classes as a mosaic portrait of the professional woman, “Twerk” represents only one small tile in her composite image. If there is a word to group her many styles and approach to teaching movement, it would be her own—“movement medicine.”
Cincinnatus Hibbard: Tristan, tell me about The Healing Sanctuary, the second business inside your House of Flow studio.
Tristan St. Germain: Yes. I am a trauma-informed somatic transformational life coach. And I like to give homage to my teachers. I was trained in “Compassion Inquiry” by Dr. Gabor Mate. I also studied “Internal Family Systems” under Dick Schwartz and “Holistic Health and Wellness Coaching” through The National Academy of Sports Medicine. With The Healing Sanctuary, I have come to specialize in addiction and psychedelic plant medicine preparation and integration. I do that work here and with people all over the world, remotely.
Wow, so you ‘sit’ with people before and after they have a therapeutic and intentional psychedelic experience. That’s a whole other interview. Tell me about this wonderful new space, The House of Flow. It’s located on Wilson Street, off Santa Rosa’s Railroad Square.
It’s about 1,100 square feet. And it’s super fun. It feels like a speakeasy nightclub (laughs). We can pop the lights up, and it can be well lit for whatever workshops or classes, but we can also dim the lights, turn the disco balls on, turn the rainbow lights on and the lasers and have a dance party. The sound system is off the charts. I did all the flooring myself with my girlfriends. It feels good on the feet and joints.
Tell me about Twerk and Twerk Outs as movement medicine and trauma-informed somatic therapy.
We tend to hold so much tension in our hips … and with that shame, oppression and sexual trauma. I try to facilitate safe spaces where you can really shake your hips open and shake that stagnant energy out. It is sensual, but it’s more than that … our hips are the center of our being.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): In the days before lighthouses, some coastal communities used “fire beacons”—elevated structures where people tended open flames to guide sailors. In the coming weeks, Aries, I invite you to be like both the keeper and the flame. People will be drawn to your brightness, warmth and persistence as they navigate through their haze and fog. And surprise. You may find your own way more clearly as you tend to others’ wayfinding. Don’t underestimate the value of your steady, luminous signal. For some travelers, your presence could be the difference between drifting and docking. So burn with purpose, please. Keep your gleam strong and visible.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): The ancestors of my American friend, Arisa, lived in Ukraine, Indonesia, the Choctaw nation and the Great Lakes region. Her new husband, Anselme, is of Japanese, Italian and French descent. Their wedding was a celebration of multi-cultural influences. Guests delivered toasts in five languages. Their marriage vows borrowed texts from three religious traditions. The music included a gamelan ensemble, a band that played Ukrainian folk music and a DJ spinning Choctaw and Navajo prayers set to Indian ragas. I bring this to your attention in the hope you will seek comparable cross-fertilization in the coming weeks. It’s an excellent time to weave richly diverse textures into your life.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): I predict a future when women will hold half of the leadership roles, when their income and time devoted to childcare will match men’s, when women’s orgasms are as common as men’s and when most guys know that misogyny is perilous to their health. Until the bloom of that wonderful era, I invite Geminis of all genders to invoke your tender ingenuity as you strengthen female opportunities and power. In my view, this work is always crucial to your maximum spiritual and psychological health—but even more so than usual in the coming weeks. Boost the feminine in every way you can imagine.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): In Yoruba cosmology, ase is the sacred life force that animates the universe. It’s divine energy that can be harnessed by humans to make things happen, to speak and act with ardent intention so that words and deeds shape reality. I am pleased to report that you Cancerians are extra aligned with ase these days. Your words are not casual. Your actions are not mild or minor. You have the power to speak what you mean so robustly that it has an enhanced possibility to come into being. What you command with love and clarity will carry enduring potency.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): In medieval bestiaries, unicorns were said to be fierce, wild creatures. They were very real but also hidden. Only people with pure hearts could see or commune with them. I suspect you now have the chance to glide into a potent “pure heart” phase, Leo. My fervent hope is that you will take this opportunity to cleanse yourself of irrelevancies and rededicate yourself to your deepest yearnings and most authentic self-expressions. If you do, you just may encounter the equivalent of a unicorn.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Some Buddhist monks create mandalas on floors from colored sand. They work meticulously for days or weeks to build intricate, symmetrical masterpieces. Once their beautiful work is done, however, it typically doesn’t last long. The creators sweep it away either immediately or soon. The sand may be disposed of, perhaps poured into a river or stream. What’s the purpose of this strange practice? Most importantly, it displays a reverence for the impermanence of all things—an appreciation for beauty but not an attachment to it. I recommend you consider taking a cue from the sand mandalas in the coming weeks. Is there anything you love that you should let go of? A creation you can allow to transform into a new shape? An act of sacred relinquishing?
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Glassblowers shape molten sand with breath and fire, knowing the material can only be formed while it’s hot and glowing. If they wait too long, the stuff stiffens, turns brittle and resists change. But if they push too soon, it collapses into a misshapen blob. In this spirit, Libra, I urge you to recognize which parts of your life are now just the right temperature to be reshaped. Your timing must be impeccable. Where and when will you direct the flame of your willpower? Don’t wait until the opportunity cools. Art and magic will happen with just the right amount of heat applied at just the right moment.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): “I have often been racked by obsessive urges that plague me until I act them out.” So says my Scorpio friend, Fatima, a conceptual artist. “Fortunately,” she continues, “I have finally retrained myself to focus on creative obsessions that fuel my art rather than on anxious, trivial obsessions that disorder my life. I’d be an offensive maniac if I couldn’t use my work as an outlet for my vehement fantasy life.” I recommend Fatima’s strategy to Scorpios most of the time, but especially so in the coming days. Your imagination is even more cornucopian than usual. To harness its beautiful but unruly power, you must channel it into noble goals.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): The Igbo people of Nigeria have a term: ogwugwu na-adị n’ulo. It means “the medicine is in the house.” It’s the belief that healing doesn’t necessarily come from afar. It may already be here, hidden among the familiar, waiting to be acknowledged or discovered. Dear Sagittarius, your natural instinct is to look outward and afar for answers and help. But in the coming weeks, you should look close to home. What unnoticed or underestimated thing might be a cure or inspiration you’ve been overlooking? How can you find new uses for what you already have?
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): I invite you to celebrate the holiday known as Be Your Own Best Helper. How should you observe this potentially pivotal transformation in your relationship with yourself? Divest yourself of yearnings to have someone clean up after you and service your baseline necessities. Renounce any wishes you harbor for some special person to telepathically guess and attend to your every need. Vow that from now on, you will be an expert at taking excellent care of yourself. Do you dare to imagine what it might feel like to be your own best helper?
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): In the ancient practice of astronomy, the stars were considered “incorruptible.” Unlike the planets, their movements were unchanging, their lights stationary, their destinies steady and stable. We human beings are the opposite of all those descriptors, of course. There’s no use in hoping otherwise, because constancy just isn’t an option for us. The good news, Aquarius, is that you are now poised to thrive on these truths. The inevitability of change can and should be a treasured gift for you. You’re being offered chances to revise plans that do indeed need to be revised. You are being invited to let go of roles that don’t serve you. But what initially feels like a loss or sacrifice may actually be permission. Evolution is a tremendous privilege.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): The axolotl is an amphibian that never outgrows its larval form. Unlike most creatures, it retains its youthful traits into adulthood. Amazingly, it can regenerate its limbs, its spinal cord and parts of its brain. Let’s make the axolotl your inspirational animal, Pisces. What part of your “youth” is worth keeping—not as immaturity, but as righteous design? Where are you being asked not to evolve past a stage, but to deepen within it? And what might be regenerated in you that seemed to have been lost? Your magic will come from being like an axolotl. Be strange. Be playful. Be ageless and original and irrepressible.
As we celebrated the Fourth of July, did we pause to consider the basic freedoms of animals? Whether hunted in the wild; confined in laboratories; imprisoned in zoos or circuses; caught in traps; or caged, raised and killed for their fur, skin, feathers, flesh or by-products, animals have no freedom.
Consider farmed animals: billions live in confinement, deprived of autonomy, dignity and joy. Chickens never spread their wings, pigs never root in the soil and cows never feel the sun on their bodies. They’re bred solely for exploitation—caged, mutilated and killed, with no say in their fate.
If freedom is a value we truly cherish, shouldn’t it extend beyond our own species? Choosing a plant-based lifestyle is one powerful way to put our values into action. If the roles were reversed, wouldn’t we want the same?
Steven Alderson Santa Rosa
Symbol Crash
America was born under the sign of Cancer (“Horoscope for America,” July 2)? It is certainly infected with cancers of misinformation, voter apathy and partisan rancor. But the solution to cancer is remarkably simple, as proven by the effectiveness of pink ribbons saving millions of women’s lives by spreading awareness.
We need a symbol to show support for the ideals that we strive for with a more perfect union.
Symbols are powerful—a swastika can be a hate crime and a cross can show love, compassion, justice and caring for the marginalized. A Star Spangled Möbius Strip, visually “Stars and Stripes Forever,” can be worn anywhere to show support for the continuation of our democratic experiment and can encourage neighbors and coworkers to participate in our elections. Download a printable pdf for free at democracyawareness.org.
Artist and vintner Alice Warnecke Sutro invites viewers into an intimate world with Come to My Living Room, a solo exhibition of multimedia figurative drawings on view July 11-20 at Alley Gallery in Sonoma. Known for live large-scale works, Sutro offers a rare glimpse at quieter, layered pieces drawn from private drawing sessions in her home—where pencil, etching and digital overlays trace moments of gesture and memory. An opening reception will be held 5-7pm, Friday, July 11, with wine and light refreshments. 11am-4pm, Thursdays-Sundays, July 11-20, at Alley Gallery, 148 E. Napa St., Sonoma. Opening reception RSVP at comeintomylivingroomopening.eventbrite.com.
Cotati
SF Mime Troupe’s ‘Disruption’
The San Francisco Mime Troupe’s latest, Disruption – A Musical Farce, lands in Cotati on Sunday, July 27, delivering a sharp, funny and fiery take on tech, politics and resistance in a rapidly changing San Francisco. Set in a city on the brink of becoming a corporate suburb, the show asks what happens when progress burns a little too hot. The free performance begins at 3pm (live music at 2:30) in La Plaza Park. Presented by the San Francisco Mime Troupe, the 80-minute satire is fast-paced, irreverent and very much of the moment. 3pm, Sunday, July 27, at La Plaza Park, Old Redwood Hwy. & W. Sierra Ave., Cotati. Free; $20 suggested donation. Full schedule at sfmt.org.
Novato
Cemetery Tours
The Novato Historical Guild resumes its Pioneer Park Cemetery Tours, offering guided deep dives into the stories of early Novato residents. Led by docent Sharon Azevedo, the 90-minute walks uncover rich local history among the headstones. Upcoming tours begin at 9am on July 26, Aug. 16 and Sept. 20. Reservations are required, with a suggested $10 donation onsite. 9am, Saturdays: July 26, Aug. 16 and Sept. 20. Pioneer Park Cemetery, Novato. Register at novatohistory.org under ‘Events.’
Mill Valley
Modern Age Muse
Poet and the Bench presents Muse for the Modern Age, the first U.S. exhibition of Tokyo-based sculptor Hideki Iinuma, on view through July 11. Known for his commanding wooden figures carved using traditional ichiboku-zukuri techniques, Iinuma’s work explores identity, independence and feminine presence with a fashion-forward edge. The free exhibition showcases Iinuma’s vividly painted, intricately adorned sculptures—celebrating form, spirit and craftsmanship at a striking new scale. 10:30am-5pm, Tuesday-Friday, through September, at Poet and the Bench, 11 Throckmorton Ave., Mill Valley. Details at poetandthebench.com.
Debra Mathy acquired Dutcher Crossing Winery in 2007, transforming it from a 35-acre property producing five varietals into 75 acres of estate-designated vineyards crafting 30 wines across Sonoma, Napa and Mendocino regions.
The vintage penny-farthing bicycle on the Dutcher Crossing label is a nod to Mathy’s love of cycling, and also a tribute to her father, who encouraged her to pursue her dreams.
Amber Turpin: How did you get into this work?
Debra Mathy: My path to winemaking wasn’t traditional. I grew up in Wisconsin exposed to my family’s business, and began my career in education and nutrition. While this exposure gave me valuable perspective on building business, managing relationships and solving problems, I was developing a real passion for wine that started with a high school trip to France. I fell in love with their approach to wine, and the culture that surrounds it. Ever since, I always dreamed of owning a winery.
When my father was diagnosed with stage four melanoma, it was a wake-up call that life is precious and short. With his encouragement, we began searching for a winery in Sonoma together. Sadly, he passed away three months before I purchased Dutcher Crossing, but he continues to be my inspiration.
Did you ever have an ‘aha’ moment with a certain beverage? If so, tell us about it.
German Riesling in a German wine garden. The wine was unlike anything I’d tasted before, sparking my curiosity to explore different wine regions and varietals—a philosophy that’s now at the core of what we do at Dutcher Crossing. We are always inspired to seek out new AVAs and experiment with different varieties and winemaking techniques.
What is your favorite thing to drink at home?
Obviously I love wine, but every once in a while you need an Aperol spritz or dirty martini to get your evening off to the right start. During harvest, when my palate needs a break from wine tasting, I’ll often enjoy a crisp beer instead.
Where do you like to go out for a drink?
I love Catelli’s Restaurant in Geyserville for the Michael’s Pasta, a cocktail and a great glass of wine. In Healdsburg, I love to frequent Baci Cafe & Wine Bar, as they have a great gluten-free menu that goes along with their killer wine list. If I want a cocktail before or after dinner, Lo & Behold is my go-to.
If you were stuck on a desert island, what would you want to be drinking (besides fresh water)?
Due to some strange alignment of the stars, this happens to be the 249th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence as well as the 249th edition of the North Bay Bohemian that I’ve overseen as editor.
The whimsical side of me can’t help but find this somehow significant. As Galileo once opined, “Mathematics is the language with which God has written the universe.” I personally believe, however, that the universe was written with heaps of irony—hence Galileo praising the deity, then ending up under house arrest for a little heliocentrism.
Likewise, the notion of independence in media—especially a printed tabloid like this one—is itself ironic. I am inherently and absolutely dependent on you, dear readers. There is no independence here. Any armchair psychologist would rightly observe that I’m codependent on you. You complete me—at least to the extent that I rely on you to render meaning from these inkblots on wood pulp.
“Declarations” and “independence” are contradictory concepts for someone like me, who pivots and reinvents constantly. And not because I’m especially dynamic—but because I’m possessed by a compulsion to chase the next idea, and the next, without fully declaring allegiance to any of them. Beneath this cool exterior is a roiling mass of anxiety that avoids declarations because they imply commitment—which, again, sounds like the opposite of independence to me.
Of course, I came of age in the ’90s, when corporations co-opted the term “independent” from the DIY movement to sell us movies, music and, eventually, the internet bubble. “Indie” became a marketing concept—no longer an ethos but a pre-distressed aesthetic pushed by an algorithm. Independence got monetized, then quietly deprecated. Record stores used to run “Declaration of Independents” promos on the Fourth of July; now they sell vinyl reissues to millennial dads looking to relive a youth they never actually had.
Incidentally, this Fourth of July marks my kid brother’s 50th birthday. That he managed to be born in 1975 rather than the more auspicious bicentennial year of 1976 only proves he’s always been ahead of the curve—or the universe dealt him a rounding error. (Happy birthday, brother.)
My own birthday falls between Bastille Day and the anniversary of the moon landing. And if you subtract the year of the French Revolution (1789) from the year of the moon landing (1969), you get an even 180—colloquially, the degrees one turns when reversing direction, behavior or belief. So, in that spirit, here goes my 180:
I used to think independence meant freedom from obligation and the tyranny of other people’s taste. But now, I realize real independence might mean choosing one’s dependencies with care. Like choosing to show up, week after week, for this gig that sometimes feels like therapy, sometimes like performance art. To keep pivoting, remixing, rewriting the terms of engagement until something true emerges—or at least something publishable by deadline.
It’s about finding meaning in the absurd alignment of anniversaries and edition numbers, and maybe believing, just for today, that coincidence is a kind of cosmic wink. That we’re, somehow, on the right page.
So yes—249 issues under my belt. Two hundred forty-nine years since a gaggle of powdered wigs declared themselves free. Divide one by the other and you get one. Which is how many of me there are writing this and how many of you are required to make it worth it.
Which of the following does not belong: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, Phantom of the Opera, Sunset Boulevard, School of Rock.
It’s a trick question because they are all Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals. Even School of Rock?
Yep.
Webber bought the stage rights to the 2003 Richard Linklater/Mike White film starring Jack Black and joined with playwright Julian Fellowes (Downton Abbey) and lyricist Glen Slater (The Little Mermaid) to bring the tale of Dewey Finn’s transformation of a group of prep school students into rock stars to Broadway as a musical.
If you know the movie, you know the show. Wanna-be rockstar Dewey Finn (Declan Hackett) is desperate for money, so he takes to impersonating his friend, Ned Schneebly (Jordan Anderson), and grabs his gig as a substitute teacher at the hoity-toity Horace Green School under the watchful eye of constipated principal Rosalie Mullins (Tamara Brooks).
Just looking for a quick payday, Dewey pays little mind to the students until he discovers they all have musical talent. He envisions whipping them into shape and entering the local Battle of the Bands. Amazingly, each student blossoms under his tutelage, as does Dewey. Now, if they can only get past their stick-in-the-mud principal and oblivious parents.
The show, at the Raven in Healdsburg, is about as faithful a screen-to-stage adaptation as there is, which is a good thing because the film was pretty damn near perfect. Webber’s songs don’t get in the way (much) and frequently merge nicely with an element from the film (“Stick It to the Man”).
Declan Hackett is pretty much a carbon copy of Jack Black, which is also a good thing because that’s what you expect to see, and he bombastically delivers it.
Director Steven David Martin has a very talented group of young folk playing the students. Sylvia Whitbrook is perfect as the by-the-book Summer. Lennon Whitaker as the flamboyant Billy and William Young as the not-cool Lawrence are fun to watch. Bernadette Lilian Gibson wows when she finally opens her mouth.
While the members of the student band each get a moment to display some musical prowess, the heavy lifting is done by a five-piece on-stage band—Greg Call, John Mayer, Scott Rosen, Joe Campbell and musical director J. Sun Howze. They rock.
At two hours and 45 minutes, it’s a long show, but credit to everyone involved for keeping the energy up. That includes the audience, who hooted and hollered throughout.
Rock on, Healdsburg.‘School of Rock’ runs through July 13 at the Raven Performing Arts Theater, 115 North St., Healdsburg. Thu–Sat, 7:30pm; Sun, 2pm. $10–$40. 707.433.6335. raventheater.org.
On July 4, America will celebrate her 249th birthday. Ah, but in sooth, what American—left, right or center, is in a mood to celebrate our political union?
America, our collective body-politic, is sick—the union is weak, and some say in fatal decline. On her worst days, some doubt whether America will live to be 250. We seek guidance, but our experts give us no comfort as to the remedy. Some urge slimming systems, others fat largesse.
With numeric indicators and trends flipping up and down daily, in a month of days, economists and news pundits will point a hundred contradicting arrows into the far field of America’s futurity.
The “experts” only ramify our inexpert confusion and moodiness. Some months ago, crumpling TheWall Street Journal in disgust, I had a sudden inspiration—if doctors and physicians have failed the patient, it’s time to call a metaphysician. I would call in an astrologer to give America’s prognosis and cure, and predict the line of our uncertain future. They would gift us a horoscope for America on her birthday.
America Is a Cancer
Was I being silly? I thought to test my idea with some light research. If America was born in Philly on July 4, America would be a Cancer. That is to say, the sign of Cancer would be America’s formative and guiding “sun sign.”
According to cosmopolitan.com, crab-like “Cancers” such as America are centered on home life and very protective of their homes, nurturing of their families, loyal, visionary, highly emotional and given to mood swings.
I have to say, fellow skeptics, all that tracks—those are America’s core characteristics. Putting TheWall Street Journal down, I had a sudden flash of the nations of the world—their compatibilities and incompatibilities determined by their astrological signs. What sign is China? Somebody find out. I was encouraged. In the business of mysticism, this would be called a “confirming sign” that I was headed up the right path. Now, I just had to find the right astrologer…
Enter Coco, the Astrologer
Fortunately, I knew a magic man. Named Coco Siles, he was open to my new idea. Eagerly, I asked him my questions—the questions that are on every American’s mind:
• America is concerned about an economic depression. Like an emotional depression, it’s caused by a loss of confidence, lack of direction, internal conflict, fear and sadness. Will America have a depression?
• Will America’s inner conflict get even worse? Do the stars give any guidance to Cancers about achieving greater inner harmony?
• America fears external conflict, too. America is losing friends, feeling isolated. There
has been a lot of shouting and ill will with its enemies. Will there be war?
• Will America ever find love in the world?
• When and how will America die? It is a taboo to ask them, but I understand astrologers have some foresight of how we will die.
As we parted, I was struck with the rightness of choosing Coco Siles for this, this year. Because Coco is an immigrant to this country. He is brown, he is fem, he is gay, he is spiritual rather than religious and some would say a “pagan,” being that he’s an astrologer. Essentially Coco is everything that those on the far right would say is “foreign” to America. But as a loyal, hardworking homebody, Coco has the true essential characteristics of an American—the characteristics of a Cancer.
SIGN Our correspondent asked ‘magic man’ Coco Siles to create a horoscope for America, which is a Cancer. Photo by Sarah Deragon.
And, as to being brown and gay, Coco is in truth everything that is missing from the true conception of America and its political center. It is right that he should be at the center of this paper’s cover story on the Fourth of July. Being his dialectical “opposite”—white and straight, for starters—it is right that I should make room for him. This is not a protest piece. This is healing. This article, then, is a sign and expression of two Americas working together to create a more perfect union. It’s another confirming sign on this path.
The astrologer took my questions and went away. Engaging “The Mystery,” his is a mysterious business. All I know about his process is that Coco spends many hours cleansing himself physically and energetically to receive—becoming a cosmic antenna and a clear channel. These, listed here, are his received answers. They answer some of my questions and ignore others. They answer questions that were unsaid. But this is to be expected. Classically, the oracle is delphic.
Coco Siles presents his “America’s Horoscope” in three parts, corresponding to the “big three” signs in our astrological charts. In reading this horoscope, he invites us all to consider this as guidance for America collectively and as guidance for each American individually.
America’s Horoscope
By Coco Siles
On July 4, 1776, a miracle happened, America—you were born with a lot of things happening at the same time. The moment your mother expelled you from her womb, your cells absorbed different energies. Energies from all the natural movements happening around you: water, earth, fire, air. A miracle was taking place in the Universe. The Sun was in the constellation of Cancer, the Moon in the constellation of Aquarius and your rising was in Sagittarius. The message that the guides have prepared for you is the following:
We are experiencing a rite of passage. The ritual of a consciousness moving into another state. A new level of re-cognition, a congregation of soulmates who come together into a comfortable space where we have everything we need and, above all, the company to begin a new life. Our spirits are re-connecting to guide us where we feel into our favorite pace.
Astrology is a sacred language that requires patience, commitment and respect. Re-connecting with The Source is fundamental. The body is the voice of the soul, and when both interact the spirit/Source fulfills its function. Our impact, role and responsibility is to provide the information required to update our immune system and recalibrate ourselves in a new state of consciousness, and thus empower our marginalized identities.
America’s Sun Sign Is Cancer
Your Sun, Cancer, is blessed. Let’s pretend that all your cells are cells of this Sign, all working in harmony and in unison with the melody sung by your Mother. They are so powerful that they have the ability to move the entire body, guide it and protect it above all else. But such power can create rebellion in just one cell. And when a cell rebels, it creates its own state. It becomes controlling and manipulative. That cell believes it owns the entire body. The other cells that function in harmony don’t understand what’s happening. The rebellious cell has become a disease.
Your Sun/Cancer is the state of consciousness ruled by the Moon/High emotional sensitivity (evoking home/family/work). “Home,” internal and external, is a source of energy for you (this is a challenge/virtue/self-knowledge). Your light is so bright that it has the energy/power of guidance and control (this is a challenge/virtue).
America, you can be reserved in personal matters. You can be very selective in your intimate environment. Learn to discern who to be with and who not to, to form a partnership/work/partner with. Listening to the body/the voice of the soul. Feeling is the key. Reasoning, thinking and behavior depend on your mood (grounding/feet on the ground/earth).
You have the tendency to attract people with strong personalities. Your companions/partners will be your greatest support—if they don’t accompany you, you should let them go. The element of water is your greatest source of inspiration (visits to the sea/water-related practices). Family/home is a fundamental part of your spiritual development.
Moon Sign = Aquarius
America, you will seek emotions of liberation (where they aren’t told what to do). You will rebel without a cause (a challenge you will confront ). Because of this, your relationship with your emotions may become complicated (challenge/self-knowledge). So you must engage in self-knowledge exercises (journaling/writing and grounding your feet on the ground/earth).
You will seek a partner, to accompany them through their emotional processes (companionship/allyship). Constant changes in your emotions are a process of internal transformation (a challenge for you). You wish to free yourself from negative emotions such as fear, anger and jealousy. This liberation is achieved through therapy or ongoing self-knowledge exercises (practice). You must free yourself from the many expectations of others (others are a reflection of yourself). Expectations are desires/illusions that block the advancement of true emotions (challenge). This year, no more expectations.
Rising Sign = Sagittarius
When you woke up, you were given a suitcase with a map, with all the things you needed to go through this new life process. Your nature/way of being is directed toward noble goals (home/family/work). You are here to learn how to articulate your earthly and animal instincts/reactions (your challenge). You might be constantly striving for something that is very difficult to achieve in this life (a challenge).
Lower your expectations and observe situations as they are, natural. Your life philosophy should be, “Things happen for a reason.” Don’t try to force anything or anyone.
America, you are full of passion for what you set out to do (home/family/work). You need to use/harness the energy of your passions and enthusiasm (challenge). You shouldn’t boast about your virtues (a challenge). You have the potential to become a very inspirational person in your community.
Closing the Circle
Don’t forget that a country has a collective psyche that reacts to the movements of its environment: water, earth, fire, air—the entire Universe. Movements that awaken us to discomfort. Between 2025/2026/2027, we will experience the beginning of the process of collapse of the old model/system, the old social, economic, political and power paradigm in general. A confrontation with a past that will never return. A country that begins an internal journey in search of its soul, in search of its deepest essence, which can only be achieved by descending into the deepest core of its being.
The return of the planets in our astrological chart confronts us with a reality with a very powerful charge that depends on the collective psyche to accept or reject what is happening. Compulsive consumerism collapses/transforms this. The shortcomings of the social system are clearly visible. If we don’t want a part of history to repeat itself, we must have the ability to recall any information that helps us recover as multidimensional beings living a human life, and co-create a new history. Love, above all.
Happy Birthday, America
I will not attempt to bias your interpretation of Coco’s received words. Your interpretation is correct to/for you. But I will comment upon the lightness of Coco when he channels. It is not the light of the sun and the stars. It is the ultimate light of “The Source.” And seeing that loving light shine through his received words makes me feel hopeful. Whatever comes will be all right because that light guides us.
Keep the faith. Happy birthday, America. Two hundred and forty-nine years old, but still a moody teenager in the life of nations. We love you. Because you are we. — Cincinnatus Hibbard
Learn more: Go to linktr.ee/americaastroLINKS to learn more about Coco Siles, astrology and Cincinnatus Hibbard.
Readers are no doubt hyper focused on the government’s “totally politically neutral” attacks on institutions of higher learning, such as Harvard. The universities say that the government’s attempt to impose ideological conditions on federally funded research “violates the Constitution and would corrupt the integrity of academic institutions.”
Further, by cutting federal funding essential to sustaining a robust university research environment at Harvard and elsewhere, the administration is depleting the next generation of scientific talent.
I am a product of one of the institutions of higher learning that is under attack. It was there I learned to doubt, distrust, disbelieve, reject and minimize any initiative taken by any large organization, especially “democratic institutions” such as the United States government and Harvard University.
It was there I learned that governments lie, that large organizations pursue no valid interests outside their own and that the only reason that companies such as Chevron, Monsanto and Archer Daniels Midland exist is plunder. There is no dispute here.
We live in a country with no meaningful values, from an institutional perspective or any other, if we ever did. None.
And may I add that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is an active buffoon, and not one of Trump’s golf courses is worth a sh**.
Craig J. Corsini San Rafael
Poly Sci Poem
The lies propagate, and our freedoms unravel; their cruel despotism stokes my fears. Alexis de Tocqueville just sh** himself, and he’s been dead for 166 years.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): The Hawaiian word pō refers to a primal darkness from which all life flows. It’s not a fearsome void, but a fertile mystery, rich with future possibilities and the ancestors’ hopes. In the coming weeks, I invite you to treat your inner life as pō. Be as calm and patient and watchful as an Aries can be as you monitor the inklings that rise up out of the deep shadows. Have faith that the cloudy uncertainty will ultimately evolve into clarity, revealing the precise directions you need.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): In the 17th century, the Taurus polymath Athanasius Kircher constructed a fantastical machine called the Aeolian harp. It wasn’t designed to be played by human fingers, but by the wind. It conjured music with currents invisible to the eye. I nominate this sublime contraption as your power object for the coming weeks, Taurus. The most beautiful and healing melodies may come from positioning yourself so that inspiration can blow through. How might you attune yourself to the arrival of unexpected help and gifts? Set aside any tendency you might have to try too hard. Instead, allow life to sing through you.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): The painter Vincent van Gogh wrote, “Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.” That’s good advice for you right now. Your ambitions may feel daunting if you imagine them as monumental and monolithic. But if you simply focus on what needs to be done next—the daily efforts, the incremental improvements—you will be as relaxed as you need to be to accomplish wonders. Remember that masterpieces are rarely completed in a jiffy. The cumulative power of steady work is potentially your superpower. Here’s another crucial tip: Use your imagination to have fun as you attend to the details.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Welcome to a special edition of “What’s My Strongest Yearning?” I’m your host, Rob Brezsny, and I’m delighted you have decided to identify the single desire that motivates you more than any other. Yes, you have many wishes and hopes and dreams, but one is more crucial than all the rest. Right? To begin the exercise, take three deep breaths and allow every knot of tension to dissolve and exit your beautiful body. Then drop down into the primal depths of your miraculous soul and wander around until you detect the shimmering presence of the beloved reason you came here to this planet. Immerse yourself in this glory for as long as you need to. Exult in its mysterious power to give meaning to everything you do. Ask it to nurture you, console you and inspire you.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): In certain medieval maps, unexplored territories were marked with the Latin phrase hic sunt dracones—“here be dragons.” It was a warning and a dare, a declaration that no one knew what lay beyond. In the coming weeks, Leo, you may find yourself traveling into one of those unlabeled regions. Rather than flinching or dodging, I invite you to press forward with respectful curiosity. Some of the so-called dragons will be figments. Others are protectors of treasure and might be receptive to sharing with a bright light like you. Either way, productive adventures are awaiting you in that unmapped territory. Go carefully—but go.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): In traditional Japanese carpentry, joints are made so skillfully that they need no nails, screws or adhesives. Carpenters use intricate joinery techniques to connect pieces of wood so tightly that the structures are strong and durable. They often require a mallet for assembly and disassembly. In metaphorical terms, you are capable of that kind of craftsmanship these days, Virgo. I hope you will take advantage of this by building lasting beauty and truth that will serve you well into the future. Don’t rush the joinery. If it’s not working, don’t force it. Re-cut, re-measure, breathe deeply and try again.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Here’s one of my unruly rules about human competence: In every professional field, from physicians to lawyers to psychics to teachers, about 15% of all the practitioners are downright mediocre, even deficient. Seventy-five percent are at least satisfactory and sometimes good. And 10% of the total are surpassingly excellent, providing an extraordinary service. With this in mind, I’m happy to say that you now have a knack for gravitating toward that exceptional 10% in every domain you are drawn to. I predict that your intuition will consistently guide you toward premium sources.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): The Japanese concept of shinrin-yoku means “forest bathing.” It invites people to immerse themselves in the natural world, drawing on its restorative power. In accordance with astrological portents, I urge you Scorpios to maximize your forest bathing. To amplify the enrichment further, gravitate toward other environments that nourish your soul’s need for solace and uplift. The naked fact is that you need places and influences that offer you comfort, safety and tender inspiration. Don’t apologize for making your life a bit less heroic as you tend to your inner world with gentle reverence.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): The camera obscura was a precursor to modern cameras. It projected the outside world upside down onto interior walls. Artists loved it because it helped them see reality from new angles. I hereby proclaim that you, Sagittarius, will be like both the artist and the camera obscura lens in the coming weeks. Your perceptions may feel inverted, strange, even disorienting, but that’s a gift. So let unfamiliarity be your muse. Flip your assumptions. Sketch from shadow instead of light. Have faith that the truth isn’t vanishing or hiding; it’s simply appearing in unfamiliar guises. Don’t rush to turn right-side-up things. Relish and learn from the tilt.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): I’m sure you enjoy gazing into some mirrors more than others. It’s amazing how different you might look in your bathroom mirror and the mirror in the restroom at work. Some store windows may reflect an elegant, attractive version of you, while others distort your image. A similar principle is at work in the people with whom you associate. Some seem to accentuate your finest attributes, while others bring out less flattering aspects. I bring this to your attention, dear Capricorn, because I believe it will be extra important in the coming weeks for you to surround yourself with your favorite mirrors.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Leonardo da Vinci filled thousands of pages with sketches, notes and experiments. He never finished many of them. He called this compilation his “codex of wonder.” It wasn’t a record of failures. It was an appreciation of his complex process and a way to honor his creative wellspring. Taking a cue from da Vinci’s love of marvelous enigmas, I invite you to be in love with the unfinished in the coming weeks. Make inquisitiveness your default position. Reconsider abandoned ideas. Be a steward of fertile fragments. Some of your best work may arise from revisiting composted dreams or incomplete sketches. Here’s your motto: Magic brews in the margins.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): In the remote Atacama Desert of Chile, certain flowers lie dormant for years, awaiting just the right conditions to burst into blossom in a sudden, riotous explosion of color and vitality. Scientists call it a superbloom. Metaphorically speaking, Pisces, you are on the verge of such a threshold. I’m sure you can already feel the inner ripening as it gathers momentum. Any day now, your full flowering will erupt—softly but dramatically. You won’t need to push. You will simply open. To prepare yourself emotionally, start rehearsing lively shouts of “HALLELUJAH. HOORAY. WHOOPEE.”
Homework: What action or project could you undertake that would provide you with a rich new sense of meaning? Newsletter.FreeWillAstrology.com
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Readers are no doubt hyper focused on the government’s “totally politically neutral” attacks on institutions of higher learning, such as Harvard. The universities say that the government’s attempt to impose ideological conditions on federally funded research “violates the Constitution and would corrupt the integrity of academic institutions.”
Further, by cutting federal funding essential to sustaining a robust university research...
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