Turning 43: A Musing

Today is August 21st.

It’s also my 43rd birthday!

(Image found here)

The 21st of August is also day of revolution as both the Haitian Revolution and Nat Turner’s rebellion started on this date as well.

It’s Uranus energy.

And since I am in the middle of my Uranus opposition and I am feeling in my body this energy of change, chaos, rebellion, and innovation strongly.

Change is here.

42 showed me that I cannot do new things using old ways. No matter how much I want(ed) to.

And I learned this the most through my relationships. A 7th house profection year in astrology, age 42 saw me navigating the complexities of life through my relationships.

(CHART: Protection years based on your age. Each age in life has a theme based on the house it sits in that is highlighted for that year. Whic year are you in?)

The 7th house in astrology rules relationships, contracts, community, difference, and change. In modern astrology this is the house of Libra. See it is opposite the 1st house that represents the Self, so it shows who/what we are attracted to as a mirror back to better understanding ourselves. And it is the house where the Sun begins its descent into the underworld, signaling a changing of the day. This is why the 7th house is also about change and transition.

Throughout my 42nd year all I saw was change in my relationships and having to face more parts of myself inorder to truly understand what I needed and wanted in my relationships and my community, and what I could truly give.

Now at 43 the energies of this Solar Retrun year turn to 8th house things.

This is house of death, the dead, debt/loss, inheritance and other people’s resources. This is why it is the house of Scorpio in modern astrology.

Change also resides here, but in the form of the unexpected and what you cannot control. It is the house where grief resides - grief in its unexpected and purging form.

Death is also here and we must allow ourselves to grieve so we can find life for US.

So it also is where support lies because this is where we inherit and share resources with others. inheritance is not just material resources, it is also ancestral stories, trauma, and healing (we must grieve to heal). It is the house of the dead after all and so we leave behind things that others pick up, so legacy is also here.

The legacy I want to leave is one of light through the dark, where creativity and community are centered through storytelling, music, and collective dreaming. So I face the dark as I also grieve a family member who I remember as my little big brother, who was never allowed to be a kid and managed his pain the best way he knew.

May his soul find peace and reside with the elevated ancestors on the other side.

And I choose to live by opening up to those who have told me they love me, and now I must learn to trust that. Because I need support and I need community as I am only human…finally coming back to my humanity. This is how I get to the light.

Thank you to everyone who has supported me and my work over the years.

So here’s to 43!

If you would like to buy this big Leo a drink or coffee, cause I do love me a good drink and conversation, you can show me love on Cashapp/Venmo ($drnicoletruesdell) or Zelle/Paypal (drnicoletruesdell@gmail.com).