What I Reviewed, What I Revised, What I Released & What I Received
Mercury Retrograde August 2024
The audio and text are exactly the same, so absorb the content in the way that works best for you.
Big exhale. Mercury is now stationed direct. He’s still going to take a couple of weeks to get back up to speed, and I advise you give yourself the same grace.
This retrograde period was a bit of a doozy for me, and I hear many sharing the same experience. Besides the usual glitches in communication this time around we were also feeling the effects of a much larger, more significant transit that was occurring at the same time, which I explain in my last written post:
It’s months like these that make me reflect on how grateful I am to have an understanding of the cosmic patterns at play and how to consciously work with them instead of forcing productivity the way we’ve been conditioned to. If you’ve been with me for a while, you know that the last three weeks were best suited for RE-activities - reviewing, refining, revising, revisiting, refreshing… you get the idea. And if you’re new here, now you know how to make the most of the next Mercury retrograde, which will be occurring late November.
To give you an idea of what I mean, I’d like to share what came up in August for me and inform you about some things that will be different moving forward. The intention of this post is to serve as an example of how to work with retrograde periods and also give you a heads up on the changes you can expect from me and 10th House Astrology in the very near future.
What I Reviewed
My purpose and how it relates to 10th House Astrology and what is is we actually sell. You know how that thing you do for other people is often the thing you have the most difficulty doing for yourself? Despite the growing social media engagement and excitement about the business, something felt off. I’ve been positioning myself as a business consultant who uses astrology when business strategy is not actually something that lights me up. This a was big “just because I can doesn’t mean I have to” moment.
It led me to a review of which parts of my business were draining me and which were giving me life. The things that drained me were: social media, being on video, writing with a deadline (i.e. monthly forecasts, horoscopes, etc) in exchange for money (i.e. my paid subscription tier), trying to perfect my Squarespace website, and talking about business strategy (funnels, sales, marketing, launching, offers, etc.) Yeahhh… that last one was an “oh… shit.” moment.
The things that gave me life were: writing when I felt inspired for the pure joy of creative expression without attachment to how many people engaged/subscribed/paid me as a result, collaborating with other business owners who are leading the way in a new age, realizing how much social media content I have if I repurpose all the long form content I’ve published in the last year, helping clients make big decisions about the direction of their career/business and expand their perception of what’s possible for their life.
What I Revised
My Website. Did I pay $400 for a Squarespace template and spend 2 months creating the “perfect” website just to move everything over to the most basic platform? I sure did. The lesson of the value of simplicity was worth the investment for me. It’s still a bit of a work in progress, but it is much easier to navigate. You can check it out now at 10thhouseastrology.com.
My Offer Suite. Things are about to get much simpler and more expansive. The new offers will officially be launching with the new moon on September 2nd, but here’s a preview of what you can expect:
Natal Chart Readings (not specific to business). These general readings will be tailored to meet you where you are in your career - so whether you’re a college student, full-time entrepreneur or anything in between, these readings will give you a birds eye view of your purpose and potential, insights that will guide you towards soul-fulfilling work and answers to help you navigate whatever it is you’re facing right now.
Written Reports. These will include Vocation Reports, Birthday Reports, Transit Reports (and even child and pet reports, which I know has nothing to do with vocation but they’re fun so I’m going to offer them). This is going to be a great way to get personalized information without requiring the investment of a full reading. Speaking of…
New Pricing Model. We’ve been inundated with the self-worth-based pricing model, but the reality is not everyone is capable of paying premium especially with the economy we’re all living in right now. That being said, along with the personalized reports that will be priced at only $99, I’m launching a sliding scale pricing model for readings that will range from $150 - $225 instead of the current fixed price of $222.
My Community. What started out as a desire to monetize my content has transformed into the desire to create a community. So in order to reserve this platform for the sanctity of true creative expression, I will be removing all paywalls and moving the community over to my website platform, which will open up for new members to join beginning October. More to come on that.
What I Released
As you may have guessed with the “last chance for business readings” and announcement of my new offer suite, I will be letting go of my business consulting services. They’ve served me well this first year and have helped me bridge the gap between my comfort zone and what my soul really wants to do, but I’ve reached the point where I feel like positioning myself as a consultant is now holding me back. I’ll be wrapping up the handful of consulting clients I currently have, and then fully stepping into the role as an astrologer, mentor and guide.
Honestly, I think that’s what you all see me for anyway so this shift is probably not any kind of shock to you. If you checked out my webpage, you’ll notice I do have a couple reading types pending for new and aspiring entrepreneurs to help them start the right business or understand the energetics of their existing business, but I’m releasing my involvement in the details. Getting stuck in the specifics and attached to other people’s success has kept me stuck in the root cellar and it’s time for me to climb to the watch tower. Listen to this podcast episode if you want to know what I mean by that.
As I mentioned before, I’ve also released attachment to monetizing my content. I am not the astrologer for weekly horoscopes or monthly forecasts. I tried to be, but I’m not. If things become too routine I lose my inspiration. So this platform will remain a space for writing what I feel inspired to write or am instructed to write… such as “The Night I Met My Family” post which I was literally woken up for and if you read closely, there are errors all over the place because I was half asleep and my guides don’t care about grammar.
That being said, if you are an astrologer or know an astrologer who lovesss writing horoscopes and forecasts and are looking for a platform to share them on, let me know. I would love to have a guest writer here to collaborate with.
And finally, I have officially, officially released the need to be on every social media channel.
I kept being told I should to be more active on Instagram and start a Facebook because “astrology is big there”, so last weekend I finally gave in and signed up for Facebook… and my account was suspended in a matter of minutes before I even had a chance to write a bio. But instead of feeling stressed about it, I was relieved. And bonus - to schedule content on Instagram, you have to connect your scheduler to a Facebook account - so this was like a double win for me.
No more Instagram, no Facebook. I’m so happy I could cry.
Just Substack, Youtube and LinkedIn, now.
What I Received
When you play by the rules, Mercury Retrograde has a way of looking out for you. Even though this month was tougher than usual, all of the reviewing, revising and releasing delivered some incredible gifts:
Clarity. I now recognize where I shine, who I help, what I’m really offering. Not limiting myself to full-time entrepreneurs feels so expansive. When I look back at the patterns of who I’ve helped the most, it’s always been the clients on a brink of a major transition. Those who are lost and trying to figure out what to do or are planning a major change and need someone to reassure them that they can do it. I realized that I don’t sell success, I don’t sell strategy, I don’t even sell astrology - I sell courage. I sell inspiration. I sell unwavering belief in who you are and what you’re capable of. And when I ground myself into that, this stops feeling like a business and starts feeling like a mission.
Collaborations. Part of the reason it was so difficult for me to release business-specific astrology is I’ve gained a lot of momentum with spiritual entrepreneurs. But how could I position myself as a business astrologer without getting into the details of business strategy? Enter: collaborative partnerships with people who thrive in the details. As an example, I’ll be doing a workshop with Miranda Arnold on Copywriting in a New Age, where I can stay in my zone of genius talking about the energetics of Mercury and she can shine in her zone of genius talking about a new age approach to sales and copywriting. So if you’ve been following me for the business stuff - don’t worry. There will still be some of that and it will feature other spiritual entrepreneurs who are leading the way in a new age. The workshop with Miranda will be at 1PM EST on Wednesday, September 4th. If you’d like to sign up, you can do so here (it’s free to join)
Community. In addition to all the partnerships I’m building in the online space, I’ve also been invited to establish my business within the local community through partnering with a dear friend, talented healer, and visionary business owner Marisa McFadden. Beginning September 22nd, I’ll be offering monthly classes and live readings at Creative Spirit in downtown Eason, PA. So if you’re local to the area and have been craving some in-person connection, I encourage you to check out her website for all her offers and upcoming events.
So you see? Mercury Retrograde wasn’t all bad. This was a bit of a long post because I’ve been wanting to update you on everything going on but forced myself to wait until the details were clear. Thanks for bearing with me.
I’d love to know what’s come up for you this past August, so know that you are welcome to share your experiences in the comments. We’re in this together.
As always, I am so grateful to be on this ride with you.
Really happy to hear about these shifts for you Marissa 🤗
Taking a step back from a lot this month has been sooo good for me and has helped me see so much in a new light. I feel myself living for and appreciating the present moment, whatever it may bring. The moments I’ve created recently with some wonderful humans have been some of the most deep and beautiful moments I’ve ever experienced. I consistently have found myself sitting in awe of the moment, but also grateful for myself and the work I’ve gone through with myself to have the capacity to receive this energy.
I also had a conversation with someone recently who suggested I focus on the one thing that I feel most called towards right now. This may sound overly simplistic, but a lightbulb went off because I realized just how scattered I’ve been by the external. So I’m now orienting most of my daily actions towards community management and the community industry…meeting people, learning about the space, putting myself out there, and seeing where it leads.