Grief and the Afterlife III: Poetry and Astrology
Detrimental Signs From the Other Side
For those of us born with signs in their detriment or fall, this part of our natal charts can offer insights into some of the deepest life lessons we can learn in this lifetime. Some of these detriments can have more of an effect than others, and the rest of the chart needs to be taken into account when weighing the impact of any one aspect. For instance, Saturn is in its detriment in Cancer, and my birth chart includes Saturn in Cancer. For those with Saturn in Cancer, some of these lessons might arise in the form of a lost connection with part of a family, community, or heritage early on in life, which can be reconnected later in life as your relationship with Saturn matures. While history and ancestry can be in their detriment in this position, Saturn always brings a chance to heal ourselves and others so history and ancestry might become an area of study. Generally, signs in their detriment or fall can provide us with clues about the areas of our lives that might give us one of the greatest opportunities to heal ourselves and others— if we’re willing to do the work. While healing clues are also offered by Chiron, which is referred to as the “wounded healer”, detriments are areas that can be worked on, improved, and strengthened through self-awareness and effort.
Considering that Saturn is already a planet of life lessons and challenges, if you have Saturn in Cancer or Leo, you have been given a significant obstacle to overcome in this lifetime, but in the seed of that obstacle is an opportunity. This is true of every detriment or difficult position in an astrology chart, only in different areas and to varying degrees. Greater difficulties can act as conduits for the most valuable of possibilities. Contained within detriments are potential lessons that can exalt you to a state of spiritual transcendence if you use what you learned to help others in peril. One of the ways I encourage clients to heal from ancestral trauma is through singing, poetry, and sometimes both at once. If you were born with any sign in its “detriment”, this is an opportunity for healing others. More detailed descriptions of each detriment will be explored later in this article and are available to premium subscribers.
Astrology Poetry
Meanwhile, the following short poem is about family, what can be left behind with us when we lose our parents, and how we carry on the ancestral legacies that were given to us at birth. In one sense, it is a tribute to supposed “detriments” and “falls” in our charts, and for me is specifically about my experience of having Saturn in Cancer. It speaks to what I have from my family, ancestry, and heritage, and also posits a question: are poems about loved ones who passed on channeled from the Afterlife, or through feelings we have for those in the Afterlife? And can it be both? Additionally, this poem is about the ways we continue to connect with those who have been passed on, and can be read as a prayer:
“Mind the Time They Left Behind”
May my time be rewrit with what's been left behind,
In my mother’s clear voice, with my father’s rare mind,
Ghosting lyrics I learned from his ancestors' past,
Sung in sounds of my musical mother’s dynast.
Do dead poems inspirit from realms of beyond,
Or through fondness we feel for those we sing these songs?
-Kyra Oser, 2 July 2022 (Or did I channel it from spirits?)
The following article includes:
*How Astrological Oppositions Form Detriments
*Signs in their Detriment
*Signs in Their Fall
*How a Detriment Can Become a Benefit: Descriptions of Detrimental Positions
Premium subscribers can continue reading and post questions about their own life in the Q&A.