If you’ve ever started learning astrology, you’ve probably encountered the lists.
Mercury equals communication.
Venus equals love.
Mars equals action.
Gemini equals curiosity.
Scorpio equals transformation.
The lists can be helpful. They give us a place to begin. They help us organize information and build a foundation of understanding.
But they are not the astrology.
At some point, I began to notice that many people were learning astrology the same way they learned subjects in school: by memorizing definitions, collecting information, and trying to arrive at the “correct” answer. And while there is certainly value in knowledge, I found myself wondering: What happens when we know all the keywords, but have never actually experienced the energy behind them? What happens when we can recite what a planet means, but have never explored what that planet means to us?
Many of us were raised in learning environments that prioritized certainty. We were rewarded for remembering the right answers and following established frameworks. Creativity, intuition, and personal interpretation often came second to correctness. Again, there is nothing inherently wrong with this, structure has its place. But astrology invites us into a different kind of relationship with knowledge.
Astrology is not a machine with fixed outputs. It is a symbolic language. That is, a language of symbols. And symbols are alive. When you encounter a symbol, it speaks to your experiences, your memories, your emotions, your imagination, and your unique perspective. Two people can contemplate the same astrological archetype and walk away with different insights. Neither person is necessarily wrong. They are simply relating to the symbol through their own lived experience.
This is why I don’t teach astrology through keywords alone. Keywords can point toward a doorway, but they cannot replace the experience of walking through it.
Take Venus, for example. You can memorize that Venus represents love, beauty, harmony, pleasure, values, and relationships.
But what does love mean to you?
What experiences have shaped your understanding of beauty?
Are you truly aware of your own values?
And most importantly, what do all of these concepts have in common – what is their source?
These questions cannot be answered through memorization. They require reflection, curiosity, and a willingness to listen to yourself and explore. In my experience, astrology becomes far more meaningful when we move beyond asking, “What does this mean?” and begin asking, “What is this showing me?”
Through the yin yoga studio, my intention is not to provide a final answer for what every planet, sign, or placement means. I don’t believe any single person holds the complete truth about a language as vast and mysterious as astrology.
Instead, I want to create space for exploration. A space where traditional wisdom can be honored while remaining open to new insights. A space where intuition is welcomed alongside study. A space where your personal experience matters.
This is also why Yin Yoga is such an important ally in my approach. When we slow down, become still, and bring awareness into the body, we move out of constant analysis mode and into direct experience. We become more receptive to the subtle thoughts, emotions, sensations, and insights that often go unheard.
So rather than learning astrology only through the mind, we can engage with it through the whole of our being.
The body becomes part of the conversation.
The heart becomes part of the conversation.
The imagination becomes part of the conversation.
And from that place, astrology becomes less about memorizing a learned interpretation and more about discovering your own relationship with the archetypes. I believe that each of us carries wisdom. I believe that curiosity is more powerful than certainty. And I believe astrology is at its most transformative when it becomes a living dialogue rather than a collection of definitions.
The keywords are only the beginning. The real journey starts when you allow the symbols to speak for themselves.
