A sigil for Mars, Jupiter & the South Node in Leo.
Music as Medicine / Mars, Jupiter & the South Node in Leo
As you all know, something I like to explore in my work is engaging with art or creating it as experimentation of a given astrological alignment. Particularly exploring a balance between the technical knowledge of astrological synthesis and the grace of artistic liberty. This is not to avoid the foundation astrology is built on or to downplay the difficulty of a given transit, but to alchemize it and perhaps provide an artistic, visceral perspective. In the future, I would like to explore this as a form of remedy.
This month, in written form, I would like to discuss Rebecca Black’s Age of the Exhibitionist as an experimentation of Mars, Jupiter & the South Node meeting up in the third decan of Leo. Age of the Exibitionist / Rebecca Black
You may have heard about Rebecca Black from her song Friday which went viral in 2011. What was intended as a fun song and video for friends and family, turned into a vehicle of the violence of visibility. Rebecca Black was brutally bullied and disrespected for years after. Her devotion to music carried on in spite of this.Demoralize me and change my name
How far I’ll go once you give me a taste
You villainize me, but we’re the same
How far I’ll go
Anaheim Star, Rebecca Black
"Age of the Exhibitionist" is Rebecca Black’s second pop studio album. In this album, which is a dual play on the concept of exhibitionism, she experiments with the lines between identity and performance and vulnerability and expression as an observation of the attention economy. Sprinkled throughout the album are expressions of her intimate experiences as a queer woman as well. Sonically and lyrically, the album is punchy, vigorous and fierce but also sensual, vulnerable and open-hearted. On a visceral level, you can feel the passion for her craft and the way her early experiences shaped her sense of self. Honestly, this is the first time in a while where a new pop album has truly grabbed me upon the first couple listens.
As Mars, Jupiter and the South Node meet up in the third decan of Leo in the middle of November, I wonder if this album could provide a personal narrative to our current experience of culture around visibility and success. On a takeover episode of Apple Music Radio, Rebecca describes the premise for the album. “We’re all performers in the age of the exhibitionist. We need to be seen, to be judged, understood, universally carnal. What are you willing to do to become unerasable?” She notes the animalistic desperation and fight to feel special which often results in exploiting oneself entirely.White countertops in my brand-new house
Begging you to come over and lay me down
The windows, wide open, the neighbors are hoping
To catch a glimpse of me on the wall
I need you to see
Every part of me on display for you
Can you bear to let the truth be the fantasy?
Exhibitionism, Rebecca Black
We’ve seen this many times. With the South Node transiting Leo for the next year, there’s growing awareness around how unsustainable and uncomfortable the hunger for visibility has become. We put every inch of our hearts out there for consumption in hopes to feel connected and alive, but it has become clear this does not fill the void inside. For Rebecca Black in this album specifically, this plays out in the way she was bullied for her expression and feels the struggle to be seen as a result. With Mars and Jupiter joining the South Node in Leo for the next several months, it seems they are showing us that we can’t exactly run away from this fight or throw it out completely. The fight to be intimately and authentically seen remains present. It’s survival. It’s natural for us to want to make an impact and be recognized for that. However, the journey toward this desire may need to take on a new form.
In the Apple Music Radio takeover episode promoting her album, Rebecca ponders, “What is for you and what is for other people, and what is the truth in all of that?” Towing that line is the key to this transit, I think. There’s a give and take that needs be experimented with. The desire to be seen is not inherently bad, but impulsive action pulling solely from that void leaves one perpetually dissatisfied. Throughout the album, she plays with the highs and lows of the insatiable, ambitious dream vision toward becoming a star.You wanted the world, you gave it everything
But now that we're here, you see the truth
You wouldn't be here without a destiny
But it doesn't feel like you wanted it to
Why's it always better in my head? (I'm getting visions again)
What if I was satisfied instead? (I'm getting visions again)
Visions Again, Rebecca Black
Oftentimes, people conflate Mars conjunct the South Node with a decrease of Mars’s significations. This is not the case. Mars is not less ambitious or destructive here. Austin Coppock describes Mars conjunct the South Node as “complete and total annihilation” or sometimes even competition that does not externally register as competition. Jupiter involved may egg Mars on in this pursuit. Mars-Jupiter asserts its greatness at any cost. There’s pain and spite in the neverending appetite to be seen. It breaks the body and heart down to the point of deterioration, affecting the relationship to self and to others, no matter how much it is masked.I can fake it for a while, I could smile in denial
Suck it in and pull it tighter, push me forward down the aisle
Perfect girl at home alone, I prefer a voyeur
All the wear could break my bones (Pain will make the idol)
I would take a deep breath, feel the air fill up my chest
(But my lungs are tied down)
I would let the tears fall, rip the curtain off the wall
But my eyes are dried out
Corsetry, Rebecca Black
As artificial intelligence is shoved down our throats and into the vehicles in which we are expressing ourselves, the convoluted fight to prove our humanity and expression as worthy will continue to become more and more real. "Age of the Exhibitionist" was released on September 4, 2026 while Venus in Libra was on the fixed star Spica, a star associated with the process of refining a craft and creation. Around the time Mars, Jupiter and the South Node conjoin for the first time this month, Venus will be applying to Spica. This star is prevalent throughout the album through the balance of diligent technique and the sensual response Rebecca Black’s music provokes. You can’t help but be in awe of the devotion here. She also self-funded the album, investing her own money and time into it, which takes another level of self-belief, audacity and courage. Here we see the value and joy in investing time, resources and energy into human-made art. Let "Age of the Exhibitionist" be an honest, complex outlet to this fight. Our expression deserves better.Other Albums with Similar Themes
Three of Pentacles / Spica
Venus stations direct in the middle of November and as she gains speed in the second half of the month, she approaches Spica, a fixed star associated with brilliance and creation. As creative exploration, I wanted to reflect on which tarot card could best represent Spica. My mind quickly landed on the Three of Pentacles.
Oftentimes, Three of Pentacles represents the collaboration and skill required to contribute to a divine, greater work. In this imagery, three figures are working together on what looks to be a cathedral. Two of the figures are holding an illustrated plan while the third figure seems to be in charge of the execution. While they are hard at work, we assume each figure is present because they bring a desired skill to the table. There is structure, process and relationship here.
Spica is mostly associated with Venus and Mercury, two planets which are instrumental to relationships and to creation itself. Venus is the connection, sensibility and the relationship between elements in a given work. Mercury is the communicative aspect, the technique and clarity of concept. You cannot have one without the other in pursuit of good art and design. With this in mind and the star’s current position located in the sign of Libra, I have to wonder if there is a collaborative nature to Spica. To be in relation with a craft is to honor the artisans standing before us in the current moment and in moments past.
In collaboration, others also become a sounding board for our ideas and reflection becomes a vital tool for refinement. In Chloe Margherita’s article “Stars of Creativity” on her Substack Recent Bedroom, she discusses the introverted nature of this star and advises for solitude as a medicine for craft to blossom. This is also a beautiful point. From personal observation, Spica’s understanding of the diligence and solitude in pursuit of skill allows for humility in valuing what skills other people bring to balance one’s own praxis. This is a Venusian star after all. Rebecca Black’s collaborative nature in the creation of Age of Exhibitionist, which was released when Venus in Libra was conjunct Spica, is a brilliant example of this. Rebecca Black self-funded the album, fully believing and investing in her craft she’s spent years tending to. This allowed her to have full control in selecting trusted collaborators to help bring the project to life, especially after many in the industry wouldn’t take her seriously because of “Friday.” Throughout the album and in interviews, you can tell she has reverence for what each person brought to the project. Lastly, another way to look at Spica’s collaborative nature is the ability to understand every little detail and moving part that contributes to a body of work. In Austin Coppock’s lecture of the fixed stars in Fundamentals of Astrology Year I, he discusses how Spica has “an awareness of design and how things work.” To transmute information or something of utility into an artform is the essence of design, and we see this clearly in the Three of Pentacles imagery as well. Retrospective / New Moon in Scorpio
As we approach the New Moon in Scorpio at the middle of the month, I wanted to share this collage I made for the New Moon in Scorpio in 2024. I really enjoyed working with this color palette, and using red brain imagery to depict the mutual reception between Mars in Cancer and the Moon in Scorpio.
Updates & Availability
Hello hello hello!
I hope you all survived October okay. This Venus retrograde has been rough and humbling for many, me included. I have been doing a daily and weekly Venus ritual to accompany her in her retrograde journey. I will write about my experience in my next newsletter!Aside from that, I’ve been doing lots of fruitful, comfort zone expanding design work and studying in Fundamentals of Astrology Year III.
Due to the volume of work I have, I have decided to push back the design workshop I was planning to give in November. When I give this workshop, I want to make sure I give it with the utmost poise, quality and attention. It will happen though, I promise!
I’m really missing giving natal chart consultations, so if you’ve been wanting one, I have lots of avaliability for the second half of November! I give standard natal chart readings, creativity readings and readings on the Lot of Spirit & Eros. I also do solar return readings!I’ll see you all in December :)Sincerely,
Rishima 