![]() We are all unique, so why shouldn’t the ways we de-stress and relax reflect that?Īs important as this knowledge is for adults, I find that it is even more important for children - and for parents and caregivers of children - to be aware of. Those things might be great examples of self-care for some people … but for others, the very thought of someone else putting hands on your body to give you a massage might make you break out in a cold sweat. Look up stock photos of self-care or “relaxation,” and you’ll see what I mean: You’ll find pictures of day spas and hot stone massages and salt scrubs. When we use terms like self-care, it is easy to assume that we all mean the same thing. This is how I view the IC - as a medicine point that speaks specifically to what type of self-care is most supportive to each of us. Being a couch potato in front of the television doesn’t do it for me, but hand me a book - especially one that makes me think - and I am in heaven. Personally, recognizing that my IC is in Gemini affirmed for me why reading, thinking, discussing ideas, and doing work with my hands are my preferred ways to relax and unwind. Viewing the IC in this manner creates one immediate condition that I think is very useful, both within and outside of astrology, which is the recognition and affirmation that people relax and recharge in very different ways. What I have found to be true, for me and for the large majority of clients that I work with, is that the IC is first and foremost a place in the chart that holds medicine for the individual, specifically the kind of medicine that best allows the person to unwind, relax, and revitalize themselves. So, when I first discovered the IC, I was interested in testing out the various possibilities on myself. My personal approach to astrology has always been: trial and error and see what works. ![]() In the Whole Sign house system, the IC can wind up in the 3rd, 4th, or even 5th or 6th houses - depending on conditions - and this is, in fact, one of the reasons that some prefer using Placidus houses rather than Whole Sign houses. In the Placidus house system (and other systems as well), the IC forms the cusp between the 3rd and 4th house and is often conflated with the qualities we tend to associate with the 4th house. Other astrological traditions associate the IC with several different themes, including parents (mothers or fathers), lineage, ancestors, the past, roots, or the external conditions of one’s childhood. In Hellenistic astrology, the IC was considered to be associated with the Underworld for a particular individual and sometimes understood to predict circumstances or themes around that person’s death. Different kinds of astrology emphasize different aspects of the natal chart, and this has certainly been the case with the IC. IC is an abbreviation for the Imum Coeli, also sometimes referred to as the Nadir, a Latin term that means “bottom of the sky,” and marks the point where the Sun was lowest under the horizon during the time of an individual’s birth. For all of us, the return to school now holds all of the usual questions: Will my children like their teachers? Will they have friends in their classes? Will they be OK? Plus the less usual questions: What are current infection rates? What does community transmission look like in my area? What are the school’s vaccine policies? This is Back to School 2021, so the need to be familiar with what can bring rest, relaxation, nourishment, and ease into our children’s lives (and our own!) is now felt more keenly than ever. For some, this autumn will mark the first return to face-to-face learning in more than 18 months. ![]() This is even more true now that many of us across the country are returning to school in a post–COVID landscape. The beginning of the academic year has always been met by a combination of excitement, nervousness, expectation, and anxiety. ![]() As I am preparing back-to-school backpacks and planning out lunches, there is one more critical piece of information that I am re-acquainting myself with: each of my children’s IC and its surrounding territory. I delight in the feel of those rubbery pink erasers and the careful selection of pencils (Blackwing only, thank you very much) driven by my ten-year-old. This year, as school begins, I am grateful that we have access to vaccines and don’t mind the need to get to the grocery store a little earlier than usual to make all of the needed purchases. Last year, I remember ordering everything - backpacks, lunch boxes, pencils, and erasers - as we prepared for school to start, not knowing whether it would be online, face to face, or a combination of both. ![]() The days are hot, and the land is dry, and school is about to begin. First published by the Mountain Astrologer, 2021 / ![]()
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