Welcome to April… astrologically the most intense month of 2026. Are you feeling it? A 7-planet line-up in the sign of Aries: Sun, Moon, Mercury, Mars, Saturn, Neptune, and Chiron.
Precisely where of twelve possibilities that zodiac sign / house is in your natal chart, tunes the flavor. The essence of Aries, a fire sign, of vim & vigor, courage, aggression, impulsive behavior; it is about the self, the ‘Me’ focus, whether that be about personal identity (1st house) or subconscious realizations appearing through dreams (12th house). There will be many variations of ‘bold’ energy as planets of differing speeds overlap and cross over each other; like when Mars and Mercury conjunct, expect feisty communication… be forearmed with a tempered mind (BREATHE). It always help to do some physical exercise to ground the energy.
For me this jam-packed energy is in my 9th house of philosophy, higher education/knowledge, beliefs, writing/publishing and international travel. Yes, I have an itch to move, to travel, to write, to explore and test out what I’m desiring for the future, mine and the worlds. What are you experiencing?
With respect to writing, I’m exploring that too.
I desire less analytical, left-brain descriptions of my visual art. When people see my art, they sometimes ask me to explain it. That makes them feel more comfortable but (honestly), it irks me. Such an approach diminishes trust in their own experience; what they see, feel, understand. I’m exploring ways to turn what I write about each piece to be less directed, more open-ended. My hope is for language to embrace knowing beyond facts, techniques, and connect to essence. Science/fact dominates the way to know something. It privileges the masculine, overriding the mystical, intuitive feminine. We have learned to disregard poetry, to distrust an embodied response – that realm, like astrology, is ridiculed by mainstream. Objective description is not the only Truth. Change is seeping in.
The feminine counterpart of simply ‘being’ with something, is quietly awakening in our hearts. Movement from the extreme end of a pendulum is happening. Verbal elucidation may enhance an experience, but a factual run-down is far from the only way of knowing, and often, once something is labeled, is perfunctorily dismissed. You hear and see a bird in the wild, name it and move on, disappearing it from your consciousness. Relationship is erased, not enhanced.
Thus, I’ve been exploring writing differently through brief posts on Substack, a social media primarily for writers, offering more thoughtful long-hand discourse. The numerous online fast scrolling options, (Instagram, twitter, Facebook) feel superficial to me; I struggle to maintain any consistency there. What follows is a way of finding a new voice to accompany my visual art offerings; this was my latest post on Substack. Please let me know how it lands with you.
Moonlight Heart Blossoms
18” x 12”
Encaustic & Mixed Media on cradled panel
© Debbie Mathew, 2025
In the Heart of the Muck
life’s grievances,
disappointments
griefs
Conditioning gags
our truth
playing acceptance
covering pain
Silencing
inner turmoil
suppresses, fractures
embodied knowledge
Shrinking potential
of fertile ground
to renew life
birth wisdom
Swaying – Lunar cycles
emotional currents
reflection upon
experience, truths
Coaxing growth
initiating healing
body, psyche, being
emerging
Growing upwards
wounded hearts
states of knowing
Burgeoning
blossoms
shimmer
Amidst shadows
En—lightening
brilliance, genius
There was a time when everything in my life felt submerged.
The birth of my son, and the unanticipated realities that followed, altered the course of everything I thought I knew, desired. What came after—loss, struggle, and the reshaping of my creative life—brought me into waters I couldn’t swim within. I was in depths that threatened to extinguish my inner fire.
What I discovered, slowly, is that what we try to suppress does not disappear. It leaks out; it demands attention; sometimes it waits.
The grief, the disappointment, the unspoken truths, the re-triggered childhood wounds—they settle into the body, into the psyche, into the unseen layers of being. And yet, those same places hold the potential for transformation.
This piece came from sitting in that space—not trying to escape it, but learning to listen. Long after I initiated ancient lineage practices founded in yoga… yoking wholeness, the realizations emerge.
The hearts in the “muck” are not broken things to discard. They are living aspects of ourselves asking for attention, for care, for acknowledgment.
As they are brought into awareness, something shifts. Not all at once, and not without effort—but steadily.
Like the lotus rising through murky water, what is held in shadow begins to reveal its own form of wisdom, its own beauty.
Interested in the older way I ‘described’ this work? Go to the post over a year ago here.
Today, I showcase 2 versions, one obviously more poetic. Do you have a preference? Does it work best for you if they co-habit: Poetry and Poetic-Prose?
I would love to hear how you experience these differing voices accompanying the imagery. Please comment below, or reply directly; any way is meaningful to me.
If you’d like to check out my Substack page, click here. My plan is to offer a short musing similar to above once/week (at most). If you subscribe, they ask for a name and email and the default is to receive only what you subscribe to, (and there is no advertising!). Alternatively, give me permission to add you to my subscriber list, and I will do that; please include name and email you prefer.
The reality is that community is global, and social media is an essential component to help evolve the dialogue of what we all want to create in a New Earth emerging. Sharing ideas, deeper conversations, allow the imaginal aspect of creation to take root. Please join the conversation.
Much love,
Debbie