Astro-Retreat: Solar Return in the Mountains
Hello :)
It’s incredible to think of all the ways people are creative. In the ‘art’ category alone, I could make a list that goes on forever like Bubba in Forrest Gump with shrimp recipes: writing art, painting art, woodworking art, drawing art, digital art, sculpture art, knitting art, bead work art, singing art, needle point art, culinary art…ok, lol, I’ll stop there, but the list goes on and on, as you know.
So what is your favorite way of being creative?
This past week I had the opportunity to be immersed in a creative retreat experience in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. I was invited by Heather Matthews, owner of Kestrel Fields Studio and Art Residency in Fort Collins, to collaborate on some videos, and experience my own personal creative retreat in the residency.
The photo below is where I stayed. The Kestrel Fields Studio building rests on the edge of a stunning nature preserve with walking trails surrounding an organic farm.
Look at this breathtaking sunrise…
One morning, I went for a walk around the field, and I never wanted to leave this magic. Several of my next astrology videos on Youtube will feature this special place and Kestrel Fields Studio :).
So what does any of this have to do with astrology?
My genuine perspective is that everything is astrology, and life is a continuous metaphor of the archetypes coded into the zodiac and planets. More personally, Heather has been getting yearly astrological readings from me for the past several years around her birthday.
It’s been a privilege to see Heather explore the energies in her chart and co-create with them. One of her biggest dreams - supporting creative people, while simultaneously providing space for nurturing and genuine community - refused to be ignored right around Heather’s Uranus Opposition transit. In this period of time, she took the leap to follow her most authentic desires, and created the Kestrel Fields Studio and Art Residency.
What is a Uranus Opposition anyway?
The Uranus Opposition is when transiting Uranus comes into an opposition aspect with your natal Uranus position. Everyone has this Opposition (Genius Transit) sometime between ages 38 and 44, depending on their chart. It is a time of authentic rebellion and a reckoning with some roads less traveled.
Wanting to explore and talk about the U.O. was why I went deeper into astrology and took the leap to start a Youtube channel. At the time, I was reckoning with my own U.O. and NOBODY seemed to be talking about it. There are three big outer planet transits everyone gets around this time of life which are eloquently lumped together as the ‘mid-life crisis’ transits. Most of them are still not talked about much.
Anyways, learning about this once in a lifetime transit just as it was coming onto my horizon made all the difference in the world in my path forward. It pointed me towards authentic personal expression, and opened unexpectedly beautiful doors when I took the risks required.
This retreat space is designed for all types of artists, crafters, and creators. You can paint, print, or write poetry. You can dance, sing, draw, or make videos. Really the artistic options are beautifully up to you, but this space can do it all. It is like the Room of Requirement in the Harry Potter stories, if you know what I mean - whatever you need it to be, this space easily becomes.
Besides collaborating on Youtube videos with Heather and editing adventures, my personal goal for this creative retreat was to contemplate and create a new vision board for my upcoming solar return in September (AKA my birthday).
The past several years I have been honing in on my practice of using the astrology of a solar return chart, the sabian symbol of the SRC ascendent, and the Hellenistic astrology technique of Annual Profection houses/planetary rulers to guide this manifestation board. After analyzing these elements, I turn to intuition for the images, colors, and words to fill out the board. Included in the final product are symbols of things I want to embody, incorporate, or accomplish over the year to come.
This year was different than the others because I took deliberate time away to become one with my astrological creative process. The practice of creating this visual totem for the next year blossomed with a luscious sacred tone here, and I saw clearly, that life is art.
This was my very first retreat experience, and after having it, I KNOW it won’t be my last.
If this is something that speaks to you, and you would like to learn more about booking a creative or artistic retreat, Heather has generously offered a discount for your retreat, which is already priced at an incredible value for what you get.
Just mention you heard about Kestrel Fields Studio Art Residency and Retreat from L Natale in your contact form on her website, and it shall be done. https://kestrelfieldstudio.com/
Also, if you would like to book an astrological reading with me, I have bookings open starting late October and into the new year. I am offering a Solar Return discount code for you.
Just click here, LNatale.com, and put in the code Kestrel in the redeem coupon box to get the discount. The Code is valid until October 6th, 2024, but you can book a reading for anytime in the future with this code.
With tons of gratitude,
Lindsay
PS - This is a little video Heather and I worked on while I was in residency at Kestrel Fields Studio :) Cheers to creativity!
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