Featured in The Mountain Astrologer
Cover of June-August 2024 Issue no. 231
My featured article in the June Solstice issue of The Mountain Astrologer was originally titled From Bondage to Liberation: Working with the Four Birth Deities of Tyche, Daimon, Eros and Ananke. The Lots being central in my own consultation practice greatly inspired me to put this article together. The final print version has been nicely polished with the help of the amazing editorial staff at TMA.
The Four Birth Deities: The Lots of Fortune, Spirit, Eros and Necessity explores the origins and significance of the four principal hermetic lots. Drawing from Dorian Gieseler Greenbaum's revolutionary research, translations by Dr. Ali A. Olomi and more, I look at how these Lots (or daimons) shaped the course of Frida Kahlo's life as an example of how we can begin to understand their role and meaning in our own lives and how to work with them through profections and transits.
The Back Story
Last year, Camm Cassidy of Omega Astrology invited me to contribute to the inaugural edition of the CAELi Review. I began putting together this essay on the four principal hermetic lots based off the final chapter in Dorian Gieseler Greenbaum's quintessential The Daimon in Hellenistic Astrology.
At the time I was also preparing my first presentation for Astro Magia on Talismanic Filmmaking & Soundscaping, ON TOP of continuous consultations and parenting the joy of my life, ma raison d'être, my brilliant, curious and very mischievous toddler 😈 so I chose to not overstress myself and informed Camm I wouldn't be able to meet their deadline. They graciously left the invitation open for future CAELi Review publications, so I will keep you posted....
But I did end up finally finishing a first draft of this essay on the four principal lots! And published it to my patreon on 16 November 2023 right before the Astro Magia Conference. Later I added it to my website, which is where the wonderful Sasha Ravitch found it. Unbeknownst to me she forwarded it to the print editors of TMA, and they in turn reached out to me asking if I'd be interested in contributing the essay to the June Solstice issue(!!) That same day I received another invitation from another esteemed colleague, which I plan to announce details of in the coming weeks. It was such a fortuitous stream of opportunities, and this was reflected of course in my zodiacal releasing from both Fortune and Spirit.
I owe my daimones so much for all the blessings in my life. Hermes is one of my guardian daimons as my Kurios (the Lord of my nativity), my almuten of pregnancy, and rules my Fortune among other roles. I am humbly bowed before my beloved for delivering their promises.
Since beginning to develop a devotional practice with Hermes, they have brought me so many gifts in return. My faith has solidified in the presence of the divine, of the cosmic order and chaos, in my ancestors and the ancient ones.
I would like to extend my deepest gratitude and respect to the illustrious Sasha Ravitch for graciously recommending this piece to the editors for publishing. It means more than the world to me to be uplifted in this way by a new friend and esteemed colleague as I venture into the greater community as a professional astromancer, artist, ritualist and mother.
To be part of the incredible legacy of astrological writing that is The Mountain Astrologer is a HUGE privilege and blessing. Thank you to everyone at TMA, especially Valentine, Rachel and Mary who have been so patient and dedicated in their guidance and feedback.
I would also like to express my immense gratitude to each of you who cultivate community with me, who trust me with your readings and continue to support my work in all the ways. I hope to be able to give back tenfold+++
You can order your copy of The Mountain Astrologer's June-August Issue no. 231 by subscribing through their website: mountainastrologer.com/zineshop/
*I plan to offer a workshop on this topic to complement the essay, in which we will get the chance to look at these Lots more intimately with those who participate. More on that soon!
If you’re interested in receiving private 1:1 instructional guidance on your personal daimons, I also unpack the Hermetic Lots in all of my consultations. You can find my list offerings on my homepage. For fellow astrologers, astromancers and mages, I have also curated a specially discounted session for divining the Lots and Fixed Stars: Chamber of the Magoi
“The Egyptians also maintain that the attributes of the caduceus illustrate the nativity, or ‘genesis’ as it is called, of mankind; for they say that four deities are present to preside over a man’s birth: his Daimōn, Tuchē, Erōs and Anankē [Spirit, Fortune, Love and Necessity]. By the first two they understand the sun and the moon; for the sun, as the source of the breath of life and of heat and of light, is the creator and the guardian of a man’s life and is therefore believed to be the daimon, or god, of a newborn child; the moon is Tuchē [Fortune], since she has charge of the body, and the body is at the mercy of the fickleness of change; the kiss of the serpents is the symbol of Love; and the knot is the symbol of Necessity.”
