Mindful Alternatives to Heterocentric Astrology
Creating Safe Spiritual Spaces through Language
As a journalist and life-long writer, finding synonyms has always been a part of my practice. You’d (maybe) be surprised to find just how many common terms and phrases have racist or unsavory morphology, and aren’t to be used in formal reporting and copywriting. When it comes to archetypes, it can be really difficult to get out of a rigid mindset. Echoing the identical adjectives.
The well-saturated topic of Divine Masculine and Divine Feminine has been a staple of spiritual discourse going back centuries, and is a perfect example of this binary intransigency. In our modern expression of enlightenment, we have the ability and necessity to go beyond these strict definitions.
The truth is, it’s not just a detriment to the LGBTQ+ community to uphold firm Masculine and Feminine archetypes. The collective experiences a more sensual, authentic life when we all open up our perspectives. Playing with new models of persona makes our own self-discovery more interesting, playful, and perhaps more personalized. Given a more diverse language, validation becomes more accessible. These changes become an invitation for a more divergent lifestyle.
Some of my personal favorite examples of inclusive language in spiritual spaces come from the Moon Matters Podcast and astrologer/psychic Jessica Lanyadoo. Dalanah, the host of the Moon Matters podcast, uses the term “Lunar” in place of “Feminine” and “Solar” in place of “Masculine” — which is such a brilliant transition. Without impacting the archetypal meanings, this simple switch provides a much more inclusive take on expressing those energies.
Further gendered terms like “Mother” (when referencing the Moon or Fourth House) and “Father” (in reference to Saturn or the Tenth House) can easily be omitted (IMO) since we have a plethora of archetypal alternatives. Provider, nurturer, intimate partner, and so on. Lanyadoo was the first astrologer to present conservative Saturnian themes in a modern way for me.
When inclusivity and creativity come together, the entire collective benefits. Take that approach to spiritual spaces? We have pure magic.