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Milky Way at Quairading, Western Australia by Trevor Dobson
Before I start I'd just like to thank the traditional owners of this land and this wisdom. The Jardwadjali, Djab Wurrung, and Kulin peoples.
I love astrology, but there is a lack of ways to engage with this knowledge in an experiential way. And when you do find someone talking about the signs in this way, it’s always with a tie in to the northern hemisphere and a euro-centric seasonality such as:
“Imagine the first buds of flowers breaking through the soil, the trees beginning to sprout fresh green leaves, and the air becoming infused with a palpable sense of vitality. This mirrors the Aries energy, symbolized by the ram—a sign known for its dynamic, passionate, and adventurous spirit.”
Which is a wonderful way to experience the sign. However here in the southern hemisphere, Aries is in the middle of autumn, when the introduced deciduous trees are losing their leaves and reptiles are getting ready to hibernate. This has always made it difficult to understand the signs in the same way as our friends ‘upstairs’ seem to. As someone who has a deep respect for the nature and life around me, I want to understand the signs and seasons in the same way. We find meaning in these macrocosmic symbols and this in turn allows us to know ourselves better. This year I plan to try integrating myself into the zodiac that is around me, and learning what these cosmic seasons mean here in Melbourne. While trying to decide how I was going to structure this path, I decided to try aligning the zodiac to the seasons around me. Living in Australia, both in Brisbane, and Melbourne, has let me know how badly the European seasons don’t work here. As such I’ve aligned one of the local first nations calendars to the zodiac, which explains the seasonal changes much better than the European system ever did here. As the indigenous seasons are timed off of what’s happening in the weather and on the land, you can’t have exact dates of when each season starts and finishes. However in the process of aligning them to the signs of the zodiac some patterns started showing up pretty early in the process. Thanks to BOM for compiling much of this information.
I’ll start this series with the current season: Kooyang.
Kooyang tends to start in late January and run till Late march. This aligns almost perfectly with the start of Aquarius, till the end of Pisces season. Kooyang is the hottest and driest season, leading to scarce surface water, and a high bushfire risk. Gariwerd communities during this time considered it the prime time to fish, especially for eels. With Kooyang having clear skies, the stars were used abundantly during this time to navigate. These stars and constellations were taught as parts of myths and stories. As with all seasons here, there is always something flowering, at this time mistletoes and certain eucalypts are still flowering. To see everything active during this season, feel free to look at BOM’s page.
Back to the astrology, we have Aquarius and Pisces. Aquarius is the sign of individuality, altruism, and logic. While Pisces can represent kindness, sensitivity, and imagination. These two represent fairly opposing ideals, but it is in their negative traits that they have similarities. Dissociation, escapism, distant, vague, overwhelm. Further looking at the signs, Aquarius is ruled by Uranus who is Independant, radical, and brings sudden change. In turn Pisces is ruled by Neptune who is clouded, unreal, nebulous. Together we have a time to be compassionate to those around us, to check in with people who may have trouble coping with the heat at this time. Community thinking is also paramount as this is peak bushfire season. This is also when the sky is at its most clear, and if you take time as many do, to leave the cities and get outside at night you will see the starry expanse above. I think now more than ever this can truly inspire awe.
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