Two nights ago, I went with a friend to see Anora, in one of those movie theaters within a mall, which meant that I could take an M&M McFlurry in with me. It was a personal triumph.
I loved the movie, and the rare thrill of having no clue what would happen at any point. I’d expected a sleepy indie movie, another A24 bore, but instead I was riveted, gagging and grabbing my friend’s arm over and over.
It occurred to me that movies and music and culture have finally picked up the pace. Challengers, The Substance and Anora were all jacked up, ready to slap you in the face before you could reach for your phone. Charli, Sabrina and Chappell initiated a necessary pop girlie spring, pulling us out of the Kevorkian-scale anesthesia of endless Renaissance and Eras tour documentaries. And, on the nightlife level, DJs took to the B2B format to new heights, making every set a live conversation, a dance within a dance.
This is all par for the course for a Jupiter in Gemini year, a time of instant progress after a long creative gestation. New battle lines have been drawn, making the politics and vocabulary of 2016, and even 2020, feel dusty.
All very exciting, but where does that leave you, or me? The term “left behind” has been brought up a lot over this grueling election year, to describe the betrayed and benighted. In varying degrees—and the last thing I want to do this year is make any more fucking false equivalencies—that’s all of us. Gemini’s trap is the blind spot, the void between two extremes, the static which enshrouds our sense of self-awareness.
There would be no missive, telling me that the world had changed overnight, that the land of my fantasies is no longer a viable refuge, that I was gripping a program for a show long shut down. What if I’m not healing fast enough? What if it’s too late? What if I’m exiled from Eden, forever?
Some days of surrender, and miraculous release, walking dogs and touching trees. Some days of paralyzing agony and refusing to let go. And many somewhere in between, vacillating between states and truths. Then, in blinks of light, at last a tabula rasa, a flat canvas ready for the next splatter of life to come.
I think I betrayed myself a lot this year, left myself behind, but what can I say: I did my best in blindness. Saturn in Pisces is all about insobriety and delusion. I had to face mine for the thousandth thousandth times, coming out with clarity, and the acceptance that I could at any moment lose my way again. I just get so fixed on one outcome that I always miss what’s really alive right now. I think I’m free now, with a renewed sense of curiosity and versatility, the prizes of any Gemini year. I thought I had to be a certain thing. Now I feel like it’s all art, it’s all life, it’s all God, no matter the way or the medium.
Next year, Jupiter enters Cancer, Saturn and Neptune enter Aries and Uranus enters Gemini. The new era has only just begun. It will be a time of doing and not discoursing. I think many of us have been waiting in the wings, unsure of what role we’ll play when the time comes. That time may be coming soon. I believe that each of us will bring the disappointment, detachment and unexpected contemplation into the new year, to be alchemized into a new archetype, a Spice Girl of our very own, to joyfully high kick her way into the future. Nothing is ever lost. All of it must be thrown in the cauldron, if ever to complete the spell.
I am introducing my most competitive rates for readings in a long time, now with new and expanded booking times. God forbid we start the new year with a little optimism. Some hours still remain for the coveted Christmas, Capricorn New moon (Jan 30) and New Years readings, so I would get on it fast. Gift readings are also available for that brilliant last-minute Christmas save.
This week’s episode of The David Odyssey Show features my friend and fellow traveler Henry Koperski a.k.a. Henki Skidu, who joins me in celebration of his new album (out December 27th). We talk about creative sexuality, Spirited Away, Wicked and much more. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
This is just the beginning…
David Odyssey