Take Your Own Advice: Isaiah

Three words to describe how you’re feeling right now.

Jovial, Present, Grateful.

What art are you taking with you into this new season? What are you: Reading / Watching / Listening To?

I currently have Doja Cat’s new album on repeat; every song is just too good! I’ve also been listening to a Spanish singer called Maye: I really love their soft, chill vibes every time I am doing focus work.

I haven’t watched any movies recently, but I’ve been watching the new docuseries on Disney, which I’d definitely recommend.

I am reading a book called Heroes by Stephen Fry: it’s a massive work of Greek mythology stories restated and revised, that will probably lean into my work too. I am also reading a couple of Astrology books. Outside of my work, I’ve been reading 21 lessons for the 21st century by Yuval Noah Harari; it speaks about maturity, human civilisation and socialisation, how they’re connected to each other and what we can learn about ourselves. Considering this past season, it’s helpful to recognise how we’re connected to other people, realising what’s our value, how we create organisational structures with ourselves to be then implemented with other people.

What role has community played in your approach to astrology?

I am massive on community because I believe that having a foundational structure with other people is how we are meant to be living, also being someone that comes from a cultural background that really supports community and community living. It’s ancestral to me.

I was not necessarily embraced by any particular community though: I have always felt divided with my race and each different part of my background. There has also been a divide within myself with my religion, because of my sexuality and how I present myself. As well as a divide with the community because some of the experiences I went through meant that I’ve never had a place to really fit in for a long time.

Coming into astrology was interesting, being a niche that’s not widely accepted at the moment. The astrology community itself is not as welcoming as I thought it would be. I’ve made great friends and colleagues, people that I can rely on within the community, but this is 3-4 years of trying to go there. Community became important to me because I’ve lived most of my life on my own with such turmoil and pressure on me as an individual, when life is supposed to be lived with others. I truly believe that having such deep structures, a place to relate to each other without judgement, with free choice and validity of the experience being accepted helps us to become a better version of ourselves. It helps us in being accountable and responsible for each other while being responsible for ourselves. We’re always finding community depending on what our identity is; so me trying to create a space within astrology also meant creating a community that also accepted LGBTQ+ issues and free choice - as long as it stands within moral reasoning.

It’s been a journey to do so! I’m also very aware that a platform and an influence can quickly turn a community into a cult. I never want to see myself as an imminent leader, as someone who’s on top of others. This would not be a community, this would be a dictatorship. I would prefer people to recognise we’re equals, with different skills and intelligence in different areas of life that can build something long lasting when combined together. Especially with the pandemic leading people even further away from each other, we should recognise that the conditions we work within are made to keep us in certain positions where it’s hard to create community with each other.

Then, making a space for people to recognise their identity and utilise their skills and resources to give to each other is important.

What is the greatest lesson that astrology has gifted you so far?

I want to say… everything! Firstly, the understanding that life is made of patterns. To recognise your individual and energetic patterns means making them work in your favour and living a better life. In general, recognising that these patterns can be changed is crucial and knowing them means knowing your life. This has helped me build relationships with people I would have never met otherwise. It has allowed me to live a fulfilling life and support my creative abilities.

Take Your Own Advice: this series is meant to make us look inwards and realise we are more equipped than we think to move through life. What advice do you need to hear the most at the moment? As an astrologer, what advice do you think most people need to hear now?

I’m in a deep process of change within my business and myself. The advice that I would give to the present and future version of myself is to always implement gratitude and forgiveness for who you are and who you have been. Sometimes we put blame on ourselves when things go wrong, when we can’t control or manipulate our lives the way we want to; we have to recognise that not everything is meant to be controlled.

Sometimes we’ll live in survival mode and I’m trying to remove that survival instinct from my body and consciousness, while forgiving certain habits that arise and being grateful for the fact they have risen, as they can be used as a resource for future versions of myself.

The advice I would give people now from an astrological perspective is recognising that the issues that we face and where they stem from are constantly concurrent within our present lives. When we approach a pattern or a cycle that is coming up again, we have to recognise that we don’t “release” patterns or shield from them; instead, as we evolve as people, these patterns evolve with us. The lesson that comes with some of those cycles is approaching them while integrating the lessons you’ve been given from your past experiences. Nothing is to be released, everything is to be reformed within you.