Moon Mondays: Good girl or bad girl? 

Are you a good girl or a bad girl? Which grabs your attention? Which one makes you squirm? I support you either way because I’m a feminist. But when you start trying to control my choices, I get pissed off. 

I’m totally pro-women. Ever since my first women’s studies class in college, I’ve claimed that title. What woman (or man, for that matter) in her right mind wouldn’t be? Betty Friedan’s “The Feminine Mystique” opened my previously closed eyes to the lower rank women hold in society.  

Unbeknownst to me, I’d moved into the feminist college at UC Santa Cruz. All I cared about were the apartments and kitchens, sans dorm rooms. Returning to college after some years off, I prayed a degree would save me from cleaning and waitressing. It didn’t. The women’s studies course was a requirement for my coveted lodgings. Who knew women were second-class citizens? Not me. 

Righteously outraged, I gobbled up the teachings, and the veils fell away. Something had felt off, but I was previously ignorant of my female predicament. I was shown exactly what I had been experiencing — all my life. Now, armed with consciousness and words to express it, I leaned in. It’s amazing how dark my awareness was until the teacher showed me the light switch.  

Girl power is alive in the sky this week. Venus, our planet of feminine power, and Jupiter, the planet of expansion, are coming together. A little after sunset, look for their twinkling lights in the west, showing their stuff. They’re easy to spot. They’ll be the first “stars” you’ll see at dusk. Venus is the brightest — suck it, Jupiter! 

Jupiter is called the “great benefic,” the planet of expansion. He gets all the love, while Saturn, known as the “great malefic,” gets all the hate. We tend to think of Jupiter’s amplification as all good, while Saturn’s contraction is all bad. But is that true? Is an increase continuously better and a decrease infinitely worse? Body weight and Ozempic immediately pop into my mind. 

If we take it to the breath, Jupiter is the inhalation and Saturn the exhalation. Too much breathing in and we hyperventilate. Breathing out is desired. Ask any pot head.  

As Venus and Jupiter merge in the sky this week, it’s an excellent opportunity to tune into your female side, regardless of how you identify gender-wise. What aspects of your inner feminine would appreciate a little extra loving?  

In our constant do-do-and-do-more world, the first feminine trait that comes to mind is some simple be-ing. How can I slow down and allow for stillness? I don’t always need to be listening to a podcast when I walk, watching a show when I eat alone or reading in bed before sleep. I hold the power to stop and just be. I’m capable of lying in my backyard and watching Venus and Jupiter come alive.  

There are tons of cool spots around town to plop down and humbly be: benches in the mall, grass in the parks, boulders along the river. Our hurrying is killing us. 

Our feminine could use some attention right now, as the manosphere and the bizarro trad wife forums heat up. I’m all for women doing what’s right for them, but I’m into keeping my right to vote. What I do with my body isn’tany of your beeswax. You do you — just let me do me, too.  

Live and let live is really what the social justice movements are about. Life’s not a zero-sum game. We rise higher and faster together. 

I once had the privilege to be on a Zoom with Regina Jackson, co-author with Saira Rao, of “White Women: Everything You Already Know About Your Own Racism and How to Do Better,” and she pointedly remarked, “Equality is going to feel like persecution to the dominant group.”  

The backlash to that truth is spraying all over the place. White men and women erroneously feel like they’re losing power and are making these gross grabs to keep what they fear is slipping through their fingers. The saddest part is that we truly succeed when we all prosper. Your success paves the way for my own. We can all fly. 

As you behold Venus communing with Jupiter this week, notice where your feminine energy would benefit from a bit more devotion. As you guide yourself into greater balance, the collective becomes more whole. 

Sheridan Semple is a life coach who uses astrology to help women untangle from trauma, shift their patterns, and take practical steps to reclaim their lives. Explore her work at sheridansemple.com.