in dominant culture, time is linear, measurable, and extractable. a resource to be used. events recede into the past and the focus is always on the future.

in indigenous cosmologies, time is cyclical, relational, and alive. the past does not remain in the past. moments are carried forward; they recur and echo in natural cycles. like a prairie fire smoldering low in the roots of the grasses, the past can reignite in an instant, under the right conditions.

the understanding of the symbolic language of the sky was received by sky priests in the ancient mediterranean world. egyptian, sumerian, greek, and roman lineages converged and birthed what we know as western astrology. this framework has been passed down to us through the millenia, alive in the islamic world, medieval europe, and the renaissance and modern times. through the years, astrology has been persecuted and suppressed by organized religions and secular governments as often as it has been embraced by systems of power. through it all, astrologers have remained devoted to the sky and passed on what they knew, sometimes in secret. we are lucky to receive the lineage of western astrology today and i am grateful for everyone who has stewarded the language of the stars through the ages.

western astrology was born and fostered within imperial cosmologies that extracted and cannibalized place-based knowledges of tribal peoples. in doing so, teachings were separated from the landbases who gave them and from the peoples who stewarded them, and assimilated into the larger body of “astrology.” western astrology continues to carry this legacy today.

as a scholar, historian, descendant of ojibwe people, and guest on coast salish lands, my work is to reintroduce place-based temporalities, stewardship, and sovereignty to western astrology. i’ve shared this work through workshops and classes, and collected them here for you.

the reflections from the sky can root us more deeply into the earth. let’s look up to the sky from solid ground, together.