Colin Bedell: The Media Astrologer

Unknown Speaker  0:00  
Megan.

Megan Hamilton  0:06  
I'm Megan Hamilton, and this is the embracing enchantment podcast on the show today, I am thrilled to welcome someone whose work I have loved for a while, so much so that I have a quote of his written on a sticky note on my wall. He's a genius at embracing relational psychology with astrology. He writes weekly horoscopes for cosmopolitan.com and you may have also seen him on the dating show Written in the Stars. My guest is a bona fide Gemini twin. Colin Bedell, I am so happy to have you here.

Colin Bedell  0:40  
Oh, thank you, Megan. It's an honor to be here. I've been looking forward to this for quite a while, so I'm saying that we're finally reaching in real time.

Megan Hamilton  0:46  
Yay. So we're gonna start by me pulling a tarot card just to see what wants to come through, just what wants to sort of set a tone. And at the time of recording, we have just come out of a pretty intense eclipse season. I literally almost fainted at the last Eclipse. I know, I was like, What is going on? And then I hear, do you get the Channy app? Do you have? Do

Colin Bedell  1:13  
you only? Because I try to be careful, like with other astronomy, yeah, I want to cite edit form. And I'm like, I don't know what's happening. So sometimes we almost have to have, like, a gentle detachment from other orders. We can be like, Wait, what am I trying to say? Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I love what she does. She is Canadian too. I know. Anyway, I know we claim her. Yes, you better. Okay.

Megan Hamilton  1:37  
So as I was like, wow, I I'm like, I'm about to faint, like, the Channy app went off, and it was like, the eclipses now, and I'm like,

Colin Bedell  1:45  
wow, Channy. Okay,

Megan Hamilton  1:48  
wild. Love it. Just wild. So that has just happened, and we are about to do a full moon in Aries this week, and I think Friday is pretty bananas. Do you want to talk a little bit about what any of this means? And I'm just going to start doing my shuffle? Oh, yeah.

Colin Bedell  2:06  
Well, I could honestly talk about Aries for seven hours, which probably make you happy, or, I don't know, wrap it up on the album, man. So we had, yeah, quite an interesting eclipse season this month, because there was the lunar eclipse in Pisces and then the Solar Eclipse in Libra. So typically we have eclipses in a pair of polarity signs. So because the nodes are shifting to Virgo and Pisces in January, this is we're wrapping up an Aries Libra story, which really has been teaching us what relationships support our becoming and what boundaries need to be in place in order for us to have both protection and connection. Because I think so much of the conversation with boundaries is all about protection, not enough connection. And so really, since April of 2023 we have learned, through joy and through pain, which relationships support the people we want to be, which ones don't how we can put in better boundaries, and then also maybe how we can just complete and take a stand for other relationships that actually do support the Aries autonomy that we visualize for ourselves. And now we're going to see Virgo Pisces moving forward, which is all about the healing of mind, body, heart and soul through secular and soulful approaches.

Megan Hamilton  3:23  
I love that so much. Thank you for that, and it also really brings forward to me how your work and the focus on the collective and community and like, and we'll talk about that a little bit too, because I've got a couple questions about that, but, but, thank you. Okay, let's, let's see what, what card wants to come through. Okay, king of wands. Oh, right. So talk about Aries energy. Did I tell you I turned 50 on the solar eclipse? No,

Colin Bedell  3:55  
but I fucking about that's an Aries party. What on April 8, yeah, oh, my god, I love it. Okay,

Megan Hamilton  4:05  
I just like, out there looking, and we're right in the path of totality. So I'm looking, I'm like, Okay, this

Colin Bedell  4:09  
is a good that's wild. It was wild.

Megan Hamilton  4:13  
This year has been wild. Hasn't this year been wild, though? Like, generally, yeah,

Colin Bedell  4:17  
yes. And it's only gonna get oil during 2025 units, nothing. Yeah. And wait, king of wands, I don't know enough about okay, so school me. Go ahead.

Megan Hamilton  4:25  
Let me talk about it. Okay, so I guess this is a good reminder, because we are filming that I will change my camera for next time so we don't see things backwards. But king of wands, things to remember cycles that kings are usually an end of something. This is the social, forward facing role. This guy is ready. He is like, of all the body language. He is sitting in theater school. We used to sit like this when you were, like, in the middle of a show and you, like, had to get up quickly. He's ready to go. He almost his. His fist is not clenched, but it looks like, you know, his shoulders are raised a little bit. We get that this is very fiery energy, right? Wands are related to fire. We think of them in terms of creativity, Spark, sometimes a little bit of heat and hot hotness. So sometimes with the wands, we need to slow down a little. But even you know, you can look at his crown, has the flames coming out of it. And two things to remember, too. You've got the salamanders on his robe, as well as on his on the backdrop of his throne, which are moving in a cycle, sort of like Ouroboros, right? Which reminds us of beginnings and endings. And kings remind us of beginnings and endings as well. Right? So this is sort of like, you know, the outward facing, the social, the leader, of all of the qualities that make up the suit, and we know that on the other side is a beginning, and also that little salamander at the beginning, or, sorry, right at the at his foot there, that is just reminding us. So, in all the other ways, the salamanders are circular, that little salamander is starting the new journey. So he's sort of like with the king, but he's starting, he's a he, in my head, he's starting forward, and then eventually he will, you know, become ouroborus as well. But we also have the Leo right, the lions on the back there, together, yes, yeah, there's so much growth with this, with this suit, which is indicated as well, and all of the little sprigs like this is where we get shit done, and then we grow because of it. Yes. How does that land with you in terms of what we know is coming?

Colin Bedell  6:49  
Well, I just think it's wild. But of course, it isn't because look at what we do for a living that you were like, okay, and then we're gonna have the full moon in Aries, and then you probably pull the Aries ruled card. But no, that's That's wild for me, because, yeah, I think that we in thinking of 2025,

we have two significant shifts happening in the sign of Aries. So right, right now we have the North Node in Aries. So what I have been observing is that there are people who are getting in touch with both sacred rage.

Hello, Aries, right?

Megan Hamilton  7:27  
High king of wands, yeah, okay, boom,

Colin Bedell  7:30  
and yeah. In thinking about Esther perels idea, how is the erotic the antidote to death, which is astonishingly, Aries, if you ask me, we've we've been holding this since the North Node entered Aries in July of 2023 and then in the spring, two outer planets, Megan's Neptune and Saturn, are going to enter Aries. And this is going to be significant, because when outer planets enter new signs, you will see significant shifts very quickly, especially in the first few months. And I think what's going to be super fascinating is how does the collective position aliveness and arrows in ways that are pushing back against cultures and systems of death. I mean, I can't speak for Canada, but I can speak for many Americans who are furious over the fact that half of our economy goes to the military industrial complex. There's no reason. There's no reason, and I'm sorry if I No, I'm not sorry. I am going to say that because I'm a citizen, I'm allowed to run my mouth, and I'm the Air Force veteran who's right there with me on this. There is no reason why America spends so much money to learn how to defend and attack in wars that we're not even participating in. I mean, there's just, it's baffling. And so I would love to see 2025 initiate a collective resurgence of, wait a minute. Are we actually trying to help people stay alive, or are we just consumed by the profit maximization of the death industries? What is going on here?

Megan Hamilton  9:05  
So when does that happen? When do those two outer planets come into Aries? Spring 2025 Yeah, spring. Okay, so then managing, yeah, we think by like, Summer, we'll start to see the effects of it. Maybe I'm

Colin Bedell  9:18  
thinking in like the first month, because when the outer planets enter new signs. You could almost see stuff happen right away. And to use this example, but not to anticipate anything too negative, Saturn entered Aquarius on March 20, 2020,

Megan Hamilton  9:34  
yeah, shit

Colin Bedell  9:36  
up, you know. And then when Pluto entered a new sign, we had the recession in the United States. I mean, you could track significant experiences to when planets enter the zero degree, especially outer planets, because we feel those shifts the strongest pretty fast. So, yeah, I'm so curious about this. And also, yeah, a little concerned about other people's response. Responses to not just violence but oppression. There's a there's a lot there, but I'm looking forward to it. Yeah?

Megan Hamilton  10:06  
I mean, we sort of know that it has to be something Adrian Marie Brown talked this morning. I know. I love how

Colin Bedell  10:15  
pleasure activism, yeah, that's Virgo Scorpio moon, just like, you know,

Megan Hamilton  10:18  
really, oh, that doesn't surprise me, I love it. She was talking about, like, we need a miracle and and we also have to make the miracle happen, that's right. And so, you know, like all of the praying, all of the like manifesting, all of the things that we're doing, it's, it's only good if we are actually like participating in the thing that needs to change. And so part of that obviously, like, and also you said this and, and it was one of my favorite things you said. And by the way, there's lots of them, but you know, you were talking about manifesting. It must have been a new moon, and you were like, so yes, manifest actually. Like, think about what you want. But do you think I could have made this up? Do you think I could have dreamed any of this shit up? You're like, I went to Italy, like, I'm like, you're like, I'm on the like, you're like, I couldn't have dreamed this up. My little brain couldn't have done that. No, and that is what I love about, that is, and this is the whole sort of idea by why I wanted to bring this podcast into fruition, this embracing enchantment. How can we use these tools that are available to bring this feeling of magic, this feeling of enchantment, this feeling of connectedness and meaning making? Because we know, you know, Carl Jung used to talk about this a lot with in psychology, sort of over time, dropped out of the spiritual part, right of the like adding this. Like, miracles are possible. Things happen that we don't know about, and we as humans want to right? We, we create these structures we or we recognize them, even with astrology, because we want to know, but like, we don't fucking know. We can we don't sort of know the themes. We can see that some things might be coming, but we don't know what the specifics are going to be. And so if you're going to dream about something, or, like, leave a lot of space, yes, for bigger and better, for beyond what you could come up with.

Colin Bedell  12:20  
That's right, that's right. I couldn't agree more so with this, this

Megan Hamilton  12:25  
idea of miracles, with knowing what's coming. What if we collectively decided that, because we don't know, maybe it'll be something amazing, maybe it'll be the right steps. Maybe, you know, we're so conditioned to worry about ahead of time, so that we are prepared for negative things to happen, like our brains have that negativity bias. But what if, I know and it's hard to get out of that? Yes, maybe even impossible. Maybe it's just a constant resetting. But what if it could be incredible, amazing. And what if we thought to ourselves, okay, well, I'm up for this challenge. I'm up for whatever needs to happen, for things to change, for positive things to come.

Colin Bedell  13:13  
I would love that. And I think what we're positioning is what A Course of Miracles would say. Is the difference between manifestation and miracles, right? So I actually think there is an Aries divinity and sacredness in understanding, well, what does Megan want? And how can Megan get clear on those desires and learn her divinity in that way and then acknowledge to the universe I would like this to happen, please. Right? So there's sacredness in that, Aries, autonomy, arrows, desire, aliveness, and there is equally strong reverence in asking the universe, well, what do you want for me, and how might I serve you as well in the process? And that's miraculous possibility, right? So that's when we ask the universe, Dream through me. I've already told you what my dreams are, and Glory be to God. You've made so many of them happen. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And now it's your turn, although Better late than ever, right? How can, how can I be a receptive miraculous possibility through you, what are your dreams for me and through the collective Yes, that's when you see a very different spiritual orientation. I would say,

Megan Hamilton  14:21  
yeah, like, like, that's when everything shifts. Once you want work, to work through you, and say, Okay, I will be the vessel. Like, let me help in this, in this way, and commit to it. When, when you get the signs, and you're like, you know, we don't get to go now, not that way.

Colin Bedell  14:41  
Like

Todd Barrett said that he he is a Virgo hysterical. He asked for sign, ear signs, sign, your sign, I love it. Yes, the base I saw the sign, hit it, okay.

Megan Hamilton  14:58  
Oh, my God, I love it. Okay. Yeah, so I have been following you on Instagram for quite a while. I love your work so much. No, thank you. Honestly, like, you know this is going to be weird, and hopefully you're okay with it, but you know, you say that, it's almost like, like, I we have these people that we follow and and some days you just say the thing, and I go, Yes, oh my god, I needed that today, right? And that's the thing you think about being so visible, is, you know, you start to develop a responsibility with that of just knowing, love, that word yes, and knowing there's a place where you're at and what you can share, can actually help and support people, which again, goes back to this idea of us being together and collective, collectively healing, collectively supporting each other. How can I be the vessel for the miracle, which is very different than how sometimes we approach astrology. But I wanted to share the quote, and I might have told you this already, it's actually faded a little bit. It's, it's in shiny pink, um, shiny pink. Writing. The black is at the bottom because I want to remind myself, really hard there, yes, but it was, and I don't know if you remember saying this or not. I don't even know how old this is, but there is never any redemptive value in harshness. That's right, I struggle with that so hard, and I'm sure that's my Aries. Like, I'm just like, what just this? Is it? What are you talking about? Like, come on. But I don't like that. Back to me,

Colin Bedell  16:32  
I know isn't that convenient. I know, I know I can be had everybody, but don't even give me a paper cut

and listen, just because accountability matters. So it turns out, I actually learned that from a training that I received from couples therapist Terry real and so that I was trained in learning to speak in what he calls fierce intimacy and loving kindness and yeah, just learning how to advocate for self without assassinating other people. You'll never believe it hard balance.

Megan Hamilton  17:08  
I love it that, and that is a struggle for me. You can, you can ask my husband, I'd be like, Yes, right? I know. How long have you have this post it note, because I like to start to see the results, please. Yeah, it's, it's, it's, it's the thing that is always on on the back of my mind is because I'm a harsh, harsh person, but as a speaking coach, which is another hat I wear, like for you, I was an instant guest, because you blend that truly incredible elixir of being engaging, but also being generous and truthful. I know it's hard to hear people say stuff about you, but like, if people don't know you, it's very true. I want them to follow you, because it is a unique quality to have, and it's it's a true leader that can bring that together. I know I really like you, Megan,

Colin Bedell  18:07  
you giving me all the full body chills. Your top three. I know I've got bad

Megan Hamilton  18:12  
stuff too.

Unknown Speaker  18:13  
I'll challenge

Colin Bedell  18:16  
you. Yeah, you that means a lot, because your chart is very direct. And if you were not interested in something, I'd get a nice big smack across the head, which I love too. So thank

Megan Hamilton  18:26  
you I love, and that's what I love too, is the honesty that you bring to it, right? Like you're like, What do you what's the other day? Like, brush your fucking teeth. What the hell? Right? Blossom, what's going on here?

Colin Bedell  18:40  
I smell your breakfast from a month ago because I got a nose, the nose, nose, I know,

Megan Hamilton  18:49  
and like, we appreciate that, right? Because you're like, oh, that's hard to hear. And I don't even mean just about, like, brushing your teeth or whatever, but like, things are hard to hear, yes, but there's also, I mean, you can go your whole life without people telling you stuff we need to reflect back to each other. Yes, right? It's we're in relationship. That is how the world goes, which is, you know, I don't need to tell you that, but when you have somebody in your life who will be that honest with you, that is a gift, truly.

Colin Bedell  19:24  
And it's funny, because as you were reflecting that back to me, which I so so so appreciate, I was honestly thinking about the fact that mice, and I'm not saying New York has a monopoly on this, but the fact that my soul chose to take its first breath in New York State, and that I spent formative years of my life in the New York City area, and all of my family was born in the five boroughs, and to have that in my family means that I will, in true New York style, say things compassionately but directly, because we can't do the. Direct side, stepping past progressive bullshit. My friends will tell me if I have spinach in my teeth, my friends will tell me if there's a bat in the cave. They laugh when my zipper is always open after the bathroom. Like, how old are you, you know? Like, I need that, you know. And so to to almost not embody, and again, you know, New York's not a monolith, but to not embody the state that I was born bread and buttered in is like, what am I doing?

Megan Hamilton  20:24  
I love it, yeah, yes, I

Colin Bedell  20:26  
do. I'm coming to the Empire State Building. Uh, behind me, or is that? Yeah, that's one of the unless you're Chrysler Building.

Megan Hamilton  20:32  
Excuse me, yeah, I actually get those two mixed up all the time. Your mom,

Colin Bedell  20:37  
oh, she bought it. She bought it at the home goods. My mother the oddest. Okay, it's definitely like a home goods purchase, and that's definitely the Chrysler Building.

Megan Hamilton  20:47  
She knows good stuff when she's a Brooklyn girl. That's it. Um, what sign is New York?

Colin Bedell  20:54  
Oh, my God, that's so funny that you asked me this, because there's a debate. But my friend Janelle Belgrave, who is a New York City based astrologer, told me that it's a Capricorn with an Aries moon and a Libra rising. So she got the whole chart, baby, okay? And that blew me away, because I'm like, Oh, of course, you know, that is kind of why you know New York, New York's history, was just to make a buck. I mean, it really was never about politics, it was never about arts, it was never about anything other than a quick buck. It's literally in our city flag. You can see these emblems of the garment industry and agriculture. So, right, yeah, boom, boom, right there. It's true New York City flag. Look it up. So anyway, New York being a Capricorn is very much there and then that Aries moon, like fighter spirit, you know, like, I that's why I love Aries women, because I have been surrounded by kind of that Martian, what I call carefrontational People who like because they love me. They will give me a nice bop upside the head, you know. And then Libra rising. Look. My city can be dirty sometimes, but oh, it is glamorous.

Megan Hamilton  22:01  
I know you can't even like you go, you're like these people don't look like the people who live in my town, even you've just gone jogging and you look better than I'll ever look in my entire life. So I

Colin Bedell  22:10  
like that you said the people, because I was thinking purely architecture. I love that you went to the humanities of it. I'm like, the lighting, the architecture is gorgeous. Oh my god,

Megan Hamilton  22:22  
gym wear that you're wearing when you're running around,

Colin Bedell  22:26  
like, Yeah, but did you see this lighting? Look at this, right?

Megan Hamilton  22:28  
Oh, I love it. I love it. Okay? So most of us know our sun signs, or sort of colloquial we know, like as our sign, right? We might read our horoscopes, or even get, like, a big book about astrology, right? Every kid in high school who ended up sort of where we are, like at this point in our lives had that big book of astrology, right, the one that tells you, like, who you're compatible with, to the internet. Now, I don't know what is this. This is a sucky question, and I'm sorry, but maybe you have a good answer for it. What is astrology? Because there's going to be people listening who are just sort of like, I never really knew what it was. I know I'm an Aries, but like, right? What's astrology?

Colin Bedell  23:12  
That's a great question. So said, literally, I believe it is the real mapping of where the sun and the moon were, plus all of the cons, all of the planets, Mercury to Pluto in any of the 12 zodiac constellations, from where you were born, in the Earth's hemisphere. So when we look up at the northern sky, that's a that's a map that we can see, and the moon is over here, and Mercury is over there, and Jupiter is this way. So astrology maps the sun, the moon, mercury to Pluto in any of the 12 zodiac constellations. So when you say I'm an Aries, what you're saying is I was born while the sun was transiting the constellation of Aries, right? Because it's mapped. It's now mapped. When I say I'm a Gemini, it's the same thing, right? And now, but those aren't the only celestial bodies, right? We have several others, and they're all in a particular zodiac constellation or sign interchangeably. But to map astrology, we use constellation here, and then when you know that chart and you have a map, you now have a story and a timeline. And I think that's, that's really what I appreciate about astrology, is to actually reference Joseph Campbell's work, the comparative mythological scholar who is an Aries man was rest his soul with us always. He discusses mythology. And I think he could, he would argue astrology too, as a way to orient people in sacred thresholds. And, you know, just kind of moments of time that get punctuated with divinity, not this kind of Uber capitalistic economy based worth as work kind of schedule. And so that's what I really appreciate about astrology, is I can notice when, you know, a door opens in the mansion of my. Life, and I'm in a separate room, and it's just like, Oh, look at this. Now I'm here, I was there, and I'll be going at that room in a minute, but let me be here now. Astrology kind of orients me. I think of it like a control tower at an airport, right? Like you now have clearance to land at gate three, Terminal D, whatever, and that's why I love it for so many things, but yeah, that's just the one that's coming up for me now.

Megan Hamilton  25:25  
Yeah, that. Thank you so much for that. I think a lot of people will be like, oh, and then, so my next question is, so did the Zodiac come before astrology? Because I don't think of one without the other, but if we already had these constellations within the Zodiac, what is the zodiac? 12

Colin Bedell  25:46  
constellations that human beings made up said very directly and bluntly, you know? So my friend Rick Levine, who is this icon in the astrological industry, he loves to like ruffle feathers, because he's an Aries, and he always asks a room full of astrologers, right? Like, how many constellations are there? And we're all like, hello, water is wet. There's 12. And he's like, there's zero. You made them up. We made them up, you know? And so I don't actually know what came first, whether it was constellations, but I actually think it might have been because it was astronomers back then were noticing Celestials in Celestials being the planets in this in the in the Zodiac constellations, and then throughout the Hellenistic era, with the contributions of the Egyptians, then we started to map them in houses of the chart. So the natal chart that we use today is, as I understand it, a synthesis of specific civilizations within antiquity contributing the best of their technology, whether it was, you know, kind of celestial spotting, finding the constellations, then mapping it in the stars and the cosmos and the hemispheres. So you could thank our ancient brethren for all of that. What

Megan Hamilton  26:59  
I love about that too, is, it's, it's the idea of building on existing systems, right? So using what we know and creating something new from it, also the meaning making, which is just like it's meaning making, is, I'm realizing how important it is to me, just as a human being, just to invite magic into my life, right? Like looking, pardon me, and it also reminds me of human design. And you know, we're going to have an episode on human design coming up. Great. I love the idea that human design takes a bunch of other systems, right? My understanding is he had this sort of download one day, and it was like, chakras, astrology. What were the all the other things like, there's so many different systems that are that bring it into and then you see this, you know, picture of a person, for anyone who's ever had their human design chart done? And you can do it online, super easy. You I will say that. You'll look at it and go, Huh, what? But it combines, like a lot of other systems, nice. And as you say, the systems we made them up, we're human beings interpreting data that's coming to us, whether it's empirical, whether it's, you know, just like popping into our head for who even knows what reason, or making making magic from it, right? Making it mean something, but it also makes our life feel wonderful and like exciting, and like beautiful and um, which then fills us with this, this sense that we then put around other people, and then they get to pick up on that. And also it's an invitation for them to then be able to make meaning and find, you know, find love and and connection and nerd out on stuff that you think is really cool, which is, you know, sort of what it all boils down to, yes.

Colin Bedell  29:10  
And the only thing I would say to that Megan is I couldn't agree more. And given the parallel phenomenon of our culture, I've also seen astrology. I mean, I can only speak for astrology, but I've also looked at it overly relied upon as this kind of predictive technology to actually not provide aliveness and connection in other people's lives. And I don't know when I'm gonna have to just sort of like 10 toes down say, cut it the fuck out

Megan Hamilton  29:39  
right now. Let's

Colin Bedell  29:41  
do in terms of like that meaning making, you know, because if they want to make that meaning, who am I? That's their free will. But I am concerned, because I have noticed that as the world becomes increasingly uncertain, astrology is used as a predictive technology. That flattens aliveness and autonomy, and I'm very concerned about that for the future of my industry.

Megan Hamilton  30:07  
Let's talk about that. You're like, that was one of my questions. Because I think, I mean, I think that's really important, right? Because so if you're listening to this, and, you know, I have chats with friends, and we'll be like, Okay, what's coming up this week, what's on the charts, what's you know, what's happening in my you know, in my chart, what's happening in your chart? What are good days to do things I almost never, and I know all the systems, but I mean, like, you know, or, like, I use other people's knowledge and put it in my calendar and stuff. But the only thing that I really, really, really, truly follow is the new moon and the full moon. Great. I like, I will do rituals around that and some of the sort of pagan holidays, because I that's, like my ancestry. But I, you know, you know about this. So Colin is also a guest workshop creator in a program that I'm running right now called thriving visibility and actually in perpetuity. So you got to check it out. But you know, I had said to everybody who I invited to be a guest. Okay, gang. So here's the thing, if you're into it, I'm so excited to have you on board. I'm going to make this program that starts mid September. I'm going to put the cut off for people to join August 15, so I'll know by that if we're going to run or not, because I wanted to control narrative. And then it's like, hi, there's the most intense Mercury Retrograde that I can remember in history. For me. Okay? It was wild. Nobody is thinking about signing up for a course in August. I just wanted it to be that way. So then I had to come back like, you know, not tail between my legs, but I'd be like, Okay, everybody, so I just gonna need a little more time, right?

Colin Bedell  32:01  
What do you know? The summer was pretty wild.

Megan Hamilton  32:07  
Nobody was thinking about building their visibility in middle of August. So what? What do we do? Because I've also had some of the most incredible moments of my life during a Mercury retrograde.

Colin Bedell  32:18  
Me too. Me too, and Mars and Venus too, yeah. Well, it's all chart specific, right? So we would have to look at the client's natal chart to determine which Retrogrades, if any, will have a particular influence on them, you know, acutely and strongly. But I think there does, there does serve a benefit in just sort of cross referencing the transits and your desires and saying, like, is there congruency? Because that's when I've noticed tremendously favorable results, is when I've wanted something and the chart has wanted the same thing for me, when they're very different, I sort of check in with myself and go, All right, do I have an agenda? Oh, of course I do. Could I stand to give it up a little bit? Let me see what happens. And you know, small goals only at the pace of your nervous system, you know, but I like one of the most powerful, I love that. Oh, hello. So one of the most powerful things that I would recommend to anyone, even before we would go into like Retrogrades or transits, is so in astrology, we have a sector of the chart. It's called the 12th house, if anybody wants to go on a Google Deep Dive. And when a client is experiencing a 12th house, transit Megan, it is the perfect time to rest, retreat, recharge. And when I have pushed past those suggestions with 100% definitiveness. I've regretted it with 100% right? So, but when I have like this summer, I was really careful, because my twin sister would have smacked me to the next new year if I didn't okay. But I really was like, right? So, because I'm only a rising cancer rules my 12th house, cancer season, cancer transits, let me really, to the best of my capability, only commit to the bare minimum and see what happens. And Megan, it was extraordinary. I had an uncomfortable time, because I do love to kind of be, you know, the over function, or, who doesn't, but, you know, but to just wheel and swim and be with my niece and nephew and just have, like, a relaxing, gorgeous summer, it then set up the rest of my year to be what I think it will be, which is maybe the best I've ever had. So if only if the people listening just identify when they're in a 12th house transit, which, by the way, does happen every 28 and a half days when the moon is in our 12th house. So I don't schedule anything. Then are you kidding me? Nobody sees me, nobody does anything. And then I get in front of it and tell my family I'm moody. So just, I don't want to turn on you. I'm going to take some time away, you know. And it's just a great way to, yeah. Just sort of learned, oh, so when I under commit and just realize I'm not a machine, I deserve rest and recharge for the sake of being you will notice very different results. So I just want to start there, yeah, because I'm sure a lot of folks here, maybe are women, bipoc folks, who are not given the permission to rest and recharge by any stretch of the imagination, so to just have that monthly invitation, and now I'll pause. Go ahead, I

Megan Hamilton  35:25  
love that. I love it, and I love and thank you for saying that. And the idea of resting, you know, is finally getting and you know it's this movement of rest is coming from a black woman, right? Tricia here, Steve, who was like, I know, or like, so amazing. This is because there are, in historically, groups of people who were literally, it was illegal to rest, right? Like, the whole, I mean, you know. And we could talk about this forever, but like, so this idea of resting is absolutely difficult for so many different groups of people and and so taking that time to actually do it, and especially slowing down when you are like a person who does a lot or a person who really wants to do a lot, You know is, is life changing and so noticing and how so? Okay, so here's a good question, because I know, like, I've got so many questions for you, but how do we find our 12th house? How do we know when the 12th house transit is happening for us? Well, if they for everyone,

Colin Bedell  36:36  
it's everybody will have one some longer than others. You could invest in an astrology reading, absolutely and there are which I do offer, and several of my colleagues do too, who I love so much you could if you feel moved. My favorite free resource is a website called Astro seek.com and if you type in transits, it'll tell you what planets now are in a particular house for you, and for how long. So it and just to set expectations, it may take you a month to learn how to use that. So this is not an instant. You know, we're talking about an ancient technology on a modern platform. So, you know, be gracious and patient with yourself. But if at the very end, and before you start, ask the universe, what would you have me know about these transits today that could also, you know, just like check in with the higher power. But I would recommend Astro dash seek. And then, if you're feeling like, alright, I could do the little bit more beginner, intermediate technology. My friends at time passages, which is an astrology app run by a family of astrologers. I love so much. So time passages is a fantastic app. I just got a text from a client today that's like, how come more people don't use this? So it's really, really, really good. Time passages is fantastic. Henry's the founder, Sagittarius, yeah, I

Megan Hamilton  38:05  
love me. Love Asajj, and he's just so sweet. Um, okay, I'm gonna make sure that that stuff's in the show notes. And then, okay, so I want to tell you something, and then, and then I'm gonna switch gears a little bit. So I told you earlier about me and Geminis.

Colin Bedell  38:20  
Oh, Jesus, here we go.

Megan Hamilton  38:21  
This is one of my favorite, favorite things. I have two of my ex boyfriends, okay, Geminis, of course, they

Colin Bedell  38:29  
come in pairs, both Geminis, same

Megan Hamilton  38:31  
birthday, same fucking first name. No,

Colin Bedell  38:37  
the twins. I know. Oh, gay gas. And

Megan Hamilton  38:41  
I was like, what do we do about that?

Colin Bedell  38:43  
I don't fucking know. Holy shit, wow, wow, wow. Well, and what may I ask your current partner? What's their sign? He is a Pisces. Oh,

Megan Hamilton  38:55  
I know. Boys, so sweet.

Colin Bedell  38:57  
So because you're a sad rising Gemini then rules theoretically your sector of romantic relating, which doesn't mean you have to be with the Gemini,

Unknown Speaker  39:10  
thank God

Colin Bedell  39:14  
we're over you, but it does mean that whether through you know joy or pain, sometimes both. Gemini stands to teach you some of the most significant learnings with relationship success. So and yeah, you know mutable signs, Gemini, sag, Virgo, Pisces, they tend to come in pairs, because they are dual bodied signs, with the exception of Virgo, right? So Gemini, two twins. Sag, half horse, half human, Pisces, to fish. So there is this kind of dual bodied quality to the mutable signs. And I would throw in Virgo there too, although literally, it's just the Virgo maiden that kind of to the second power. Are trying to make sure that we really drive the point home that two things can be true. And I. Wonder. I'm sure they were obviously not completely innocent with Gemini teaching maybe your Scorpio moon, which is a Fixed sign, so you don't love the theory right away that two things can be true. It's either A or B. Are we committed or not? I want that assuredness, and then the Gemini might have kind of confronted you with your edges around ambiguity, uncertainty, flexibility, two things, A and B, not A or B, yes, so am I warm? Cold?

Megan Hamilton  40:29  
So warm, and it is like that whole I mean, I think that's why I started getting into taro so much as well, because that is the teaching of always, right? It's the two things. The opposite things can be true at the same time. And I think I've really leaned into that, especially in the last you know, like, yeah, as you say, you know my sign, I like things to be very clear. I

Colin Bedell  40:56  
love it. I love it. But you have to be our charts so good, I'm glad on that way. But we

Megan Hamilton  41:01  
can also learn how to know what sort of like the defaults are, possibly in terms of themes and through shadow work, which is what I like to practice really lean into how can I use this theme but change my behavior so that it is more congruent with where I am and where I want to go. Yes,

Colin Bedell  41:24  
good point. Good point. Good point. Because

Megan Hamilton  41:26  
I don't want to keep on. I don't want to do this all the time. I was going to ask you this, I feel like we're I feel like, right now, 2024, in terms of the world, like, I know we don't know the astrological sign of the planet Earth, or is there one associated with it?

Colin Bedell  41:43  
I don't know. That's a really that is a genius question. I do not know. I will have to ask my Astro technicians who are definitely more trained in this than I am. Tell,

Megan Hamilton  41:52  
tell me what you find out. Because does it not feel like we are in a collective Saturn returns?

You know we are, yeah, my God, same shit over and over again. Well,

Colin Bedell  42:06  
it's funny. So I don't know the chart of Canada, but I do know the chart of America, and we have experienced a collective Shadow Work return. It's called the Pluto return. Oh, it happens every 250 years. But you know what? Who cares about boundaries and borders, really? Because some we're all connected. So if something happens in America, Canada, if something happens in Gaza, like, Hello, we're all feeling this, feeling it, yeah, so. But America has received what it's called its Pluto return, and the darkest underbelly of American culture has been exposed, from the income inequalities to really just the acknowledgement of how we have done next to nothing after the Emancipation Proclamation to actually provide the newly liberated formerly enslaved folks a chance to participate In the American economy. I mean, we have done nothing to really address America's just crime against humanity there. And then I don't even have to talk about the indigenous folks that have been murdered in incalculable numbers. So yes, there's a lot happening there. And I think that what's been so beautiful about the Pluto return is you can see the people who have the audacity to love our country and tell the truth about it, at the same time, incredibly challenging. How do we love a country that was founded in genocide and enslavement? How, in God's name? Well, we're citizens. We better learn how, you know. And so

Megan Hamilton  43:41  
thank you for saying that. Yeah. I mean, there's so many different opinions right now about, like, what to do, and you're right. We are at but Canada is absolutely affected by the decisions of the United States as the whole world. Is because, you know, the country as a whole takes up a lot of

Colin Bedell  43:56  
their time space,

Megan Hamilton  44:00  
a lot of air time. Oh, my goodness. Okay, so, so let's, let's just, like, just basic, basic, basic, somebody is interested in astrology. What? Because I know you're self taught, and I I love that. I love that so much like, because it just shows how interested you were, that you followed all of the breadcrumbs that you did all this stuff to like, get it into you, right? Oh,

Colin Bedell  44:27  
god, yeah. So what

Megan Hamilton  44:31  
does someone do? Who is interested in astrology? Where do you start? How do you like? Maybe they're reading you the horoscopes that you write on cosmopolitan.com and they might be like, Okay, what does it mean when you say for my sun sign and my rising sign? Ah, yeah, right, right, right. Or, like, where do I start? What's what? Like, we know that immersiveness is wonderful. But like, what would you say to somebody who's like, I really want to learn more about this. And. I want to see if how I can make it fit in my life, if I want to be embracing enchantment. So where do we start? Oh, well, you

Colin Bedell  45:06  
know, I would almost revert back to the question I asked earlier, which is, I would have them ask the universe God, if they understand it, whatever language they need, right? And say, like, I as a student, I'm ready, and the universe will make sure the teacher appears in whatever capacity that is, right? The books, the truth, right? It is, oh, my God. And I like my way of learning back to New York was because I had no professional ambition of becoming an astrologer. I learned astrology on the dance floors of New York City at three o'clock in the morning in Hell's Kitchen with my bitches. That's where I fucking learned, okay? Because I would just notice, like, wow, look at them, shake their ass. They gotta be a Scorpio. Yep, November 5, you know? And then who's fighting with who? But then who secretly wants the other. So I was just watching the signs and and for me as a Gemini, I want to learn experientially, and I want to learn through people. I don't necessarily need to learn through a traditional educational approach and or principles I understand, but I'm not necessarily attached to that learning style. I would argue that, of course, the universe will know whoever's listening what their best educational approach is. I just as an astrologer, I want to suggest that I believe the culture is moving more so towards embodied, experiential practices. So I would caution against too much emphasis on anything that is a little too digital and a little too online and a little too mental and cognitive. Now I know what privilege I can say. I know the privileges I have to say that right, because I live close to a city, I have enormous access and opportunity which many millions countless folks do not have. And I want to just suggest, in small ways, I think some of the most beautiful learnings that I've ever had in astrology is just when I talk about it with my bank teller, with a barista, with somebody I'm sitting next to on a train, on a plane, on an automobile, you know, and just learning through people, not just principles in a book,

Megan Hamilton  47:13  
I love it. It's the that's how I tell people to get into Tarot as well. Like, look at the cards before you look at a book, look at the cards. Yeah. What do they tell you? Yeah. How is that gonna How are you gonna make that your own? Like, how you read, how I just read the king of wands. There's gonna be people listening, going fast, not what the king of wands means. And it's like, okay, it doesn't mean that for you. That's fine. We're like, FYI. The reason all of these different modalities are so appealing to me is because you can make them your own. You can build relationship with them. Yes, right? Yes. When we get into the didactic, when we get into the like, structured, strict, like, even

Colin Bedell  47:51  
it's so boring, it's so anti erotic, and on

some real I look around, I look at for my Aries girls, and they're like, let's go. I want to go. I want to dance. And I'm like, I'm right there with you. Put on the music, you know? Yeah, it's so not and listen, I this is not a love and light approach, but I just need to say too, like, and actually, no, you would be a perfect person to bounce this idea off of. Have you just sort of noticed that, like, it seems that so many conversations around spirituality and metaphysics has zero fun or entertainment in it. Am I? Am I a nasty critic, or I'm like, where is the joy? Where is the energy, the drama, the fashion, the fun, where is the laughter? Where is it this is boring?

Megan Hamilton  48:37  
Yeah. What is the point? Why are we doing this? Where this is a system, like, we made all this up. Hello. We make up everything that we think really essentially Right. Like, some people are like, do the cards have? I'm like, you can look at them. They can be pieces of paper, if you want. Sometimes I think of them as pieces of paper. And I'm just like, it's just like, how my brain is processing the images that makes this relationship, right? And, yeah, absolutely. Like, if everything has to be strict, if we have to be like, I got this hit from the card, but I looked at the book, and the book said something else. What that is why I can't even deal with religion, like, for the most part, like, I love people's relationships, but anything that tells me what to do or not not to do, I think that's, you know, I Yeah, you know, like it's just, it's not. I like open ended. I like relationship building with the concept and I want, and I think you you do this too. We give people permission come on to build their own relationship.

Colin Bedell  49:42  
Thank you.

Megan Hamilton  49:43  
I can teach you some things about Taro, but mostly I just want to teach you like how to look at it and and think about what it makes you feel,

Colin Bedell  49:52  
because that's the litmus test, right? Because, and again, you know Megan, you and I don't live with the consequences of our clients, choices so easy for us to say, right? It like no, right? Our work is to almost be, eventually become useless. We'll hold the space. But like, I don't want to be needed after all these times. I want you to have your own relationship. And then again, just with all the Aries energy to bring this back to this point, like king of wands, it is so deeply unsexy. Can we just say it? It is so profoundly unsexy to tell other people what to do, and that the constrictive coercive like I'm not aroused and astrology seduced me. That's what I was saying. Like I was just so enchanted by the way that these people, from an asexual place, were just expressing the aliveness of these archetypes. I mean, how can you how can you not be moved and motivated? When you watch the cancer, notice that somebody feels excluded, goes out of their way to check in on them and say, Hey, is there anything we can do to help you feel more belonging here? How can you not be moved by the fact that Celine Dion Aries Queen saying My Heart Will Go On. Hello, another one. Claim her all the way. Yeah, she's saying My Heart Will Go On in one take the

Megan Hamilton  51:07  
I know, I know Aries, is that it's so I know you're just like,

Colin Bedell  51:13  
that's the time. The studio version is the devil version. It was the first time she ever like. And if you don't if you're not moved by that, I don't know what to tell you, then find a different system. But that's why it miss me all the way with the rules, the dogma, the doctrine, it's just so unsexy, it's so boring. I get me out of here. Honestly, I can't do it.

Megan Hamilton  51:34  
I think, I think that's it, and I love that. I feel like this is a great place to close out on, because it's it is you make it what you want to make it. There you go. How it moves you, what it speaks you do not have to do anything, not really. I mean, like, we have to do some stuff, okay? But like, you don't have to do astrology. If astrology is just feeling like, oh crap, like everything's going to be terrible. So I don't want to do a single thing. It should be helping you feel, as you say, alive, like finding things, like looking out and or, like curious even about the the stars, like just literally looking up at them, because we forget, like this is based on real stuff that is out there that you can look at. It's not this book or this person or this like app that's like, banging at you, although, like I said, I find that very helpful, yeah, especially when you're about to faint and you're like, Oh, it's just the mood. Thank

Colin Bedell  52:28  
you, Chani. I know, dr, Chani,

Megan Hamilton  52:30  
thank you and and love you and so thank you. Thank you so much for your time today and for you. Know I could have to. I well, we'll talk again. I know we will, but I you just, you're, you're, you're, you're beautiful take on everything, and especially with the focus on relationships, because you're gonna be a relationship counselor, aren't you?

Colin Bedell  52:53  
I did get the training for but you know what? I decided not to get certified, simply because I actually think what I'm going to wind up doing is more so go into, I don't want to say, like the entertainment industries, but I again, I don't think that the future of astrology needs any more intellectualizing. I think it needs to make people laugh and make people shake their ass, and I had to be really deliberate about, Do I want to be a counselor, or do I want to take stand up comedy lessons?

Megan Hamilton  53:25  
I Okay, sorry, pardon, yeah.

Colin Bedell  53:28  
So as soon as I move back to the city, the I'm gonna with my lesbian husband, she and I are gonna go to improv workshops and, just like again, teach astrology in a different approach.

Megan Hamilton  53:41  
This is the best news I've ever heard. I cannot wait for this. So good. Are you kidding me?

Colin Bedell  53:47  
You better be the Aries woman that's front row and I'm coming to New York. Guess

Megan Hamilton  53:51  
what?

Colin Bedell  53:52  
That's you're not that far. Okay, no, I'm

Megan Hamilton  53:54  
not. My best friend lives like a train. Right away. She lives in what's it called fish fish kill, fish kill, do you know fish kill,

Unknown Speaker  54:02  
right? Yeah, yeah.

Megan Hamilton  54:05  
Beautiful. We, I go stay with her. We hop on the train. We'll come to stand up comedy. I cannot, like, literally, cannot wait for that. That sounds like a good time. And then, of course, we're gonna go dancing after, because that's apparently what we're gonna do.

Colin Bedell  54:18  
Apparently, okay, right back to Hell's Kitchen. Okay,

Megan Hamilton  54:23  
so aside from your stand up, that's coming up. What other stuff do you have on the go? You have a wonderful book, the queer Cosmos book, right? Yes, yes. I have three books, which is, I guess, where it all started. Oh, yeah. Three books now. Okay, yeah.

Colin Bedell  54:37  
So a little bit of astrology in 2018 which was published by Sterling, and that was my first book, and it's a it's a condensed version. And yeah, I kind of taught the signs through narrative, through a metaphor of music. You'll learn about certain technical approaches. But yeah, Megan, because I only had 20,000 word count, what am I gonna I can talk about one planet for 20,000 words. I. I it's called a little bit, all right, in the title, set your expectation. And then the second one is queer cosmos. So that was 80,000 words, and that's really where I got to go in and like each chapter, I hope my friends and family and readers just feel like, Yeah, this is who I am. And I took it through the approach that as queer folks. We of course, you know, everybody experiences shame. Ours is just very specific and acute, you know, making them feel like we're unworthy because of particular things. And so each chapter, I hope, helps my readers feel that they are fundamentally worthy of love, joy and belonging because of the story of their astrology, because of the Aries leader, disruptor, you know, punch first, ask questions later, you won't tell me. You know, that's what makes it Aries worthy, and so many other things. Okay, one, take one, there's Celine Dion, and then the last one is just about Gemini. So I fortunately, literally, got to write the book On Gemini as a Gemini twin, who but me? So just

Megan Hamilton  56:01  
those three, yeah, literally, who but you and my two ex boyfriends.

Colin Bedell  56:04  
Yeah, I needed them as co authors, because she actually in true Gemini fashion, she's a skeptic. How fun was that? Yes,

Megan Hamilton  56:14  
that is lovely, interesting, like it

Colin Bedell  56:16  
helps him, and he's very happy, and that's all I care about.

Megan Hamilton  56:21  
That is so, so wild. I know I love it, I

Colin Bedell  56:24  
love it my twins, but thank you for giving me the chance to speak into that. Thank you. Thank you. Thank

Megan Hamilton  56:29  
you. Yeah, of course. So again, aside from stand up, though, what, what? Where do we find you? What else is coming? What do you want to do? You got anything on the go?

Colin Bedell  56:38  
You know, that's really it for now, just because I am trying to move back to New York City. Well, oh, right, the resting, yes, as often as I can. So I've been, I've been really careful not to initiate anything while I am couch surfing. Hello. So once I'm in my own place, I will have a little bit more to to update. I'm in a very much a mutable threshold of, like, should I be here? Should I be there? So, yeah,

Megan Hamilton  57:05  
damn it. I didn't even get to ask you about mutable Cardinal all of the because I'm like, do it in three

Colin Bedell  57:11  
minutes or less. Okay, let's

Megan Hamilton  57:12  
do it. Let's do it. Tell us

Colin Bedell  57:15  
the cardinal signs, Aries, cancer, Libra, Capricorn. They're all born when a season begins. So they are the natural leaders of the zodiac. They are the alphas. They are the top dogs. They are the boss bitches. Okay, then we have the fixed signs, Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius. They're born in the peak of a season. So they are the specialists, the processors, the engineers. They are the ones that eliminate questions with two answers and say no, it's a or b. And there are questions that are A or B? Are we married or not? Are we pregnant or not? Are we doing this or not? So they're all about eliminating the world of wrong alternatives. That's what I like to say about the fixed signs, the mutable signs, Gemini, Virgo, sag and Pisces are the people who I like to say, minister to the dying and midwife the new. They stand at the threshold between what is ending and what is beginning, and when they are born similarly to the others, it's always when a season is in transition, if from no matter where you are in the earth, right, like Right, right. Now we'll just go through this quickly. It's a cardinal sign season. So autumn has just begun. Then we're going to have a fixed sign, Scorpio, the peak of autumn in the northern hemisphere, followed by mutable Sagittarius falls becoming winter. And each sequence follows that structure. The cardinal signs begin both the Zodiac season and an elemental season. The fixed signs lift it to its highest form of perfection and excellence, and then the mutable signs wrap it up and give space for the next one.

Megan Hamilton  58:37  
Thank you so much for that.

Colin Bedell  58:40  
Thank you. Let me get tangential on it. I love the modalities in astrology. Such a quick little hack that's,

Megan Hamilton  58:46  
that's the piece, right? Because you could, you could just do, you could just do, like, basic sun sign stuff. And that's fine. But you can also do like all of the different like intricacies, and get as you, you know, like, get super into it. Um, I love it. Colin, you are an absolute joy. And thank you for thank you for being you and for all of the wonderful work you do. You've got you I'm going to read a thing, because that's I want to make sure I get this right. But you know, we've got to make sure that you're following Colin on Instagram, at the very least, for I haven't seen one in a while. However, the Britney Spears dance videos,

Colin Bedell  59:28  
I was just dancing to have a comeback, yeah, and I said

Megan Hamilton  59:32  
they were follow Colin, because he's going to be doing some more dance videos. I'm sure now that I've just put that in his head. Please. Thank you. So find all the information and takeaways from today's episode in the show notes. Or at embracing enchantment.com which is a new website I'm so excited about that you can subscribe and follow wherever you get your podcasts. Leave a review, leave a voice note, so find out more about Colin and where to follow him in the show notes again. Or. At embracing enchantment.com. Make sure you're subscribed, because we have some exciting episodes coming up about tarot, human design, shamanism and so much more. Until then, here's to building an enchanted life. You.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai