Astrology: Your Sign’s Secrets with Heidi Rose Robbins
June 21, 2022
Glennon Doyle:
Hello and welcome to We Can Do Hard Things. How are you doing, Abby Wambach?
Abby Wambach:
I’m doing okay. I’m a little bit concerned because we have to put our house on the market because we found a spider upstairs.
Glennon Doyle:
Oh my God, we did find a spider.
Abby Wambach:
It’s somewhere now upstairs, and God forbid we walk back upstairs-
Glennon Doyle:
And we don’t see it.
Abby Wambach:
… and we don’t know where it went. We will have to move. We have to move.
Glennon Doyle:
Anyway, I am so curious about today’s episode. That’s what I want to say. I’m very curious. Today, sister, tell the pod squad what we’re talking about today on We Can Do Hard Things.
Amanda Doyle:
We are talking about astrology.
Glennon Doyle:
We are talking about astrology. Okay, here’s where I stand on this astrology thing. I come from a religious background, actually many religious backgrounds. Since I’m such a seeker, I have found many religions to fold into. One or two of them have been serious dogmatic religions that did not end up working in a way that made me feel like I could be both held and free. Because of this, I am wary, I would say. Usually, I mess up that word and say I am weary, which I feel weary and wary.
Amanda Doyle:
And both. And both.
Abby Wambach:
Weary and wary.
Glennon Doyle:
I am weary and wary of things that are religious, but in my heart, I am still a believer. I don’t know what the hell that means, I just know my heart says yes to believing what? I’m not sure. Okay, so the balance I have found from my type of personality is that I am a skeptical, weary believer, okay, which means that I believe in everything a little bit and nothing all the way.
Abby Wambach:
That’s good.
Glennon Doyle:
Is it?
Abby Wambach:
I like it.
Glennon Doyle:
Thank you, baby. Okay, so what that means is that I really believe that there is some truth and beauty and help and fun in all of the many different ways and paths that people follow and believe, and I will learn from everybody. I think there’s something we can learn from everybody and every path and every faith, I just won’t be part of anything that requires exclusivity. If you tell me that you found the way, you’re right and everybody else is wrong, and in order for you to share with me, I just need to become part of your religious pyramid scheme, then that’s a no for me. But-
Amanda Doyle:
It’s a no for me, dog.
Glennon Doyle:
That’s a no for me, dog. But if you say to me, “Hey, I have found this cool thing that helps me be human, and maybe you’ll find something helpful here too,” then great.
Abby Wambach:
You’ll try.
Glennon Doyle:
Let’s talk about it.
Abby Wambach:
You’ll try.
Glennon Doyle:
Okay.
Abby Wambach:
You’ll hear about it.
Glennon Doyle:
Right. What I’m trying to say is, as for me in our podcast, we will learn from everyone, okay?
Abby Wambach:
Yeah.
Glennon Doyle:
Right, sissy?
Amanda Doyle:
Yeah, it’s interesting. Yeah, I would describe myself as zodiac curious.
Abby Wambach:
I love that.
Amanda Doyle:
The gravitational pull of the moon controls 321,000 cubic miles of ocean tides every day, and if it can do that, it seems at least plausible that it can have some influence on me.
Abby Wambach:
That’s good. I like that.
Glennon Doyle:
Okay.
Amanda Doyle:
And it also just feels like it doesn’t… Believing in the moon and the stars and an infinite universe is no more ridiculous than many of the other things that we purport to believe in.
Glennon Doyle:
So true.
Amanda Doyle:
I’m not saying I believe it, I’m just saying that we should be intellectually honest about admitting that a lot of the other stuff we believe is actually woo woo wooier than this. At least you can freaking see it with your eyes, the moon and the stars and everything, you actually see it. 26% of Americans believe in astrology, but 42% of us, including Abby, believe in ghosts. I just think it’s just as absurd or legitimate as all the other shit we believe in.
Abby Wambach:
I love that.
Amanda Doyle:
Let’s just learn a little bit.
Abby Wambach:
I love that.
Glennon Doyle:
That’s so true.
Amanda Doyle:
And not for nothing, astrology just as a concept over history, for the centuries of meticulous records that astrologers have kept were what was used to demonstrate that the earth moves around the sun and that established time zones and are still used by Apple and Google to set all the coding for our phones and computers.
Glennon Doyle:
Interesting.
Amanda Doyle:
You’re all getting something out of astrology already.
Abby Wambach:
That’s right.
Glennon Doyle:
Okay. All right. Well, if sister thinks there’s something to be had here, let’s have it.
Amanda Doyle:
Curious. Curious.
Glennon Doyle:
All right. She is zodiac curious, I consider myself astrologically fluid. Okay, so our sweet pod squad has asked us so many times… So many pod squaders have asked us to do an episode about astrology. And then-
Abby Wambach:
Yeah, well honey, you host an event to support Phoebe Robinson’s book launch.
Glennon Doyle:
Right.
Abby Wambach:
And part of what she wanted to do to thank you was she wanted to send you an astrologer.
Glennon Doyle:
Yes, she wanted to send a gift to my home.
Abby Wambach:
And it was such a special gift. And Heidi came to us and brought our charts and told us all of the things. We’re so lucky. That person is Heidi Rose. Let’s welcome Heidi Rose.
Glennon Doyle:
Heidi Rose Robbins has been a professional astrologer for 25 years. She hosts The Radiance Project podcast and co-hosts the Chart Your Career podcast. Heidi has written two beautiful poetry books. You know me and poetry, and her books are lovely. This beckoning, ceaseless beauty – come on with these titles – and wild compassion. In addition to a 12 book series titled The Zodiac Love Letters, Heidi’s forthcoming book, Everyday Radiance, will be available this fall. Heidi lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two kiddos. Welcome, Heidi.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Thank you so much. Oh, I am so happy to be with you all. Thanks for inviting me.
Abby Wambach:
All right. Well, you say that astrology is a map. Now, even though you’ve been to our house and have given us our first lesson about astrology-
Amanda Doyle:
It’s going to be a real stretch for you, Heidi.
Abby Wambach:
I just want to know what is astrology? And how does it help us understand ourselves?
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Yeah, it’s a beautiful and perfect question to begin. And I just will be very simple about it and say that astrology is the study of the cycle and relationships between the planetary bodies and how those patterns impact us at the moment of our birth. I like to say that astrology is a beautiful tool of self-revelation, of compassion, of encouragement. We’re each given this beautiful map of the moment we were born and the precise place we were born at the precise time we were born, and that gives us some insight into our relationship with the heavens, really. And so it’s a beautiful tool for us to understand who we are, to understand our gifts, and to help us grow those gifts.
Amanda Doyle:
How in the world did you get into astrology, Heidi?
Heidi Rose Robbins:
I was raised by an astrologer. My dad was an astrologer, and I learned the zodiac with my ABCs. When I was two years old, I learned the zodiac. And he was a teacher, a profound mentor in my life. And it’s so interesting because we were supposed to talk a couple months ago, and I was in Finland because my dad passed away. And it was heartbreaking, but I was so glad that I was with him. But I thought to myself, isn’t it fascinating that I was going to be with all of you and that I was actually holding my dad’s hand as he passed? And that I thought, oh, I thought I had done hard things, but this moment with my dad… And I was like, it’s perfect that I get to talk to you after that because he’s so with me. He was such a profound teacher. I get to honor him. This is his language that I got to steep in as I grew up. He would whisper in my ear, he’d be like, “Okay, so your boyfriend or your friend is a cancer rising with a…” da, da, da, dah. When they were there. It was so cute. But anyway-
Amanda Doyle:
Aw, that’s cute. Beautiful.
Glennon Doyle:
Heidi, how are you today and now? Where are you in the whole grief journey? What is your experience?
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Thank you for asking that. Yeah, it’s so fascinating. I haven’t been with somebody as they passed, and it was… I know it sounds strange, but it was almost euphoric. We were like priestesses around him. His wife was there, I was there, one of his stepdaughters was there. And it was just I felt light in the room. I just felt this great release. And I rode that for some time. Of course I was devastated, but it was a kind of high. And now I would say a couple weeks ago there was another layer that just was a realization. He lived in Finland, so I was always like, oh, he’s over in Finland, he’s over in Finland. I’ll see him soon. But of course, then it lands. And so it’s a ride.
Glennon Doyle:
You said it reminded me of when my mom’s mom passed, the landing kept coming each day. I just heard you say, “He lives… He lived in Finland.” She used to say, “I still think, oh, I have to tell my mom this,” and then a year later, and then think, oh, she’d remember every day. It’s-
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Yeah. Yeah. And I talked to him every day. When we were with him in the final day that he was really conscious, he made a comment about coming back as a bear or something as a joke, a Kodiak bear in Alaska. And so of course now everywhere I look, bears everywhere. And so it’s just like, that’s just a gift, those sweetnesses. I’m so grateful for them.
Abby Wambach:
Thank you for sharing that. And forgive me for this, but I always thought that astrology was the same as horoscope. What’s your sign? But turns out that your horoscope is just your sun sign, which is… It might not be the most important sign in your life. But what I have come to understand, because after you came here, we went on vacation in Mexico and the stars were out, and I finally figured out that the natal chart that we have that you gave us was actually a snapshot above the stars looking down upon where you were specifically on the map, and that is what your natal chart is, and that is what you get all of the information that you need to read somebody’s chart from which, first of all, that was mind blowing to me.
Glennon Doyle:
And can you say that in astrologer language?
Abby Wambach:
Yes.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Yes, I could just say it this way. A horoscope is actually the map of the heavens the moment you were born. And yeah, sometimes people say, “Oh, my horoscope, and it’s there.” It’s the interpretation, but it is the map itself. And then astrology is the science, is the art, is the study of the stars, right?
Abby Wambach:
Okay.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Yes. And Abby, that’s beautiful. It’s if you look at your chart and you picture yourself at the center of the chart, that is like the little baby self, and there’s the heavens all around you. That’s what you’re looking at. And most of us only know our sun sign, which is the circle with the dot in it, which I love because it’s like a sun and it’s like this little dot, which is the self, is growing in its radiance.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Most of us only know that one position, but if you look at a chart, there are symbols all the way around it, and every symbol has something to say about who you are. Every symbol is a voice in the choir of you. That’s where astrology gets really interesting because it’s not just I’m an Aries, I’m a Gemini, it’s all this qualifying, beautiful energy that helps us grow in love and wisdom if we use those energies available to us.
Amanda Doyle:
You’re saying the birth chart that Abby’s talking about, that’s why the place of your birth and the time of your birth is so important because you’re saying that at the moment of your birth, exactly where you’re born, that’s a picture of the way the universe was at that precise moment at that precise place, and that dictates where your sun and moon and rising are.
Glennon Doyle:
You could take a picture of the room you were born in; snapshot of the moment you’re born. That would be a moment that will never be repeated; that was the moment you were born in that room. You could also take a snapshot of the sky, and that would be a moment that was never repeated the moment you were born. It’s just a picture.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Yes. I actually love that you said that because I often say if, “I was born right now, I would be in relationship to you and you would be affecting me as a little being,” It’s just saying, “Well, I’m in relationship to this planet here. I’m in relationship to this planet here.”
Heidi Rose Robbins:
And the other thing that’s important to say is astrology, we make it geocentric. In other words, we put the earth at the center so that we’re looking to where the sun is in relationship to the earth. And that’s important to say. Yeah, the center of the circle is the place that you were born, and the 9:00 hour on the chart is the rising sign, and in the astrology I practice, that’s the most important position because that is what was rising over the horizon the moment that you were born, and it is what we are meant to grow in our life. You could imagine this energy coming up above the horizon, a little baby looking to the side and saying, “Oh, that’s the energy that’s mine to cultivate.”
Glennon Doyle:
There’s energy in a room if we believe that energy affects us. You’re an infant, the energy of the people in the room affect you, the energy of the planets affect you. We’ve got the snapshot of the sky.
Amanda Doyle:
It’s like skin on skin but with the planets.
Glennon Doyle:
Yeah. Planet on human. Okay.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Okay. And I also just want to say don’t feel like the planet is… They’re not doing anything to us. We’re not being impacted by Mars. It’s this dance of the energy and it’s what’s available and how we can meet it. I love to think about it’s free will meets the design.
Glennon Doyle:
Cool. Okay, so in the snapshot of the sky, which is our birth chart, you told us… And it was really cool, y’all, because our podcast team happened to be at our house. Well, actually Phoebe arranged it that way, right? For the whole team to be there.
Abby Wambach:
Yeah.
Glennon Doyle:
Sister was there, Allison and Dynna were there, of course Abby was there, and Heidi read all of our charts to us. Now, the chart gave us information about a lot of things, but for astrology for dummies, which is what we were-
Abby Wambach:
And are.
Glennon Doyle:
… and are, you told us three of our signs, which are we each have a sun sign, a rising sign and a moon sign, right?
Abby Wambach:
Mm-hmm. Yes.
Glennon Doyle:
Heidi, can you just go through those and tell us what in the hell a sun sign, is a rising sign is, and a moon sign is. Because everybody has all three, right?
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Yes, yes. And of course, those are the three big positions. We also have a Venus placement, a Mars placement, a Pluto placement. But these three, if you know these three, you are in good shape. And the way that I like to say it is the moon has a lot to do with our past, it has a lot to do with our childhood, our bodies, how we feel emotionally safe. It’s childhood.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Then imagine this: You get in your sun car, which is really just like your personality self, and you drive towards the rising sign, because the rising sign is what we’re cultivating. It is what is rising in us, the sun sign is our doing personality daily self, and the moon is what we steeped in as a child and what feels safe to us. If you know those three positions, they help you grow and evolve all of those areas.
Glennon Doyle:
Okay. Are you saying my sun sign is my personality?
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Yeah.
Glennon Doyle:
The way I show up in the world.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Yeah. It often is reflected in the career. I will say that. Yes, mm-hmm.
Glennon Doyle:
Oh, interesting. Okay. And the moon sign is where I’m coming from?
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Yeah.
Glennon Doyle:
What I’m growing from.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Childhood experience, childhood experience. How we were mothered, how we mother ourselves. That’s, that’s a big one.
Amanda Doyle:
Okay. I heard you describe moon, Heidi, as a confining place where we go for comfort, but we don’t want to live there.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Yes. It’s such an interesting place because on one hand, we all want comfort and we will all want to feel good in our bodies and we want to feel safe, but we can get into a habitual behavior there where we need to crack it open. Amanda, you just had an experience where your moon in Taurus was hit by Uranus, or Uranus lined up with it, which got you out of old behavior patterns in a way that never before in your life have you had the opportunity to start shaking it up like that, you know?
Amanda Doyle:
Mm-hmm.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Yes, the moon, we want to grow and evolve the moon. There’s actually a little formula that I would give you. It’s called the shore formula. You strengthen the rising sign, you use the sun, you rely upon the moon, and you eliminate all the negative qualities associated with all of them. You want to strengthen the rising sun.
Amanda Doyle:
Okay, say that one more time. Okay, we strengthen-
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Yeah. We want to strengthen the rising sign. Yeah, we want to like, this is the energy I want to live in. And most people don’t know their rising signs, so this is a gift when you know it. Strengthen the rising sign, use the sun. I know how to do this, rely upon the moon, because it’s just part of your instinctual behavior, and then eliminate all the other negative qualities that don’t serve you.
Abby Wambach:
I love that.
Amanda Doyle:
And so if you only know one sign of yours, the sign that you know, if it’s you were born on X date, therefore you’re a… That is the sun sign that you know.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Exactly. Exactly.
Amanda Doyle:
That’s the only one you know.. Okay.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Perfect. Yes, yes.
Glennon Doyle:
And how do people figure out what their other signs are?
Heidi Rose Robbins:
That’s where the astrologers come in. But now we’re in such a beautiful age that you just go to the computer and you type it in at astro.com and you get your chart and they’ll tell you what the positions are. But yes, you ask an astrologer and they present your chart,. But Glennon, and you had an experience where we weren’t even sure about your sun sign until we actually.
Abby Wambach:
Actually, I was just going to ask… This is a point of contention in our household because Heidi-
Amanda Doyle:
Ruined Glennon’s life.
Abby Wambach:
Yeah. Honey, just tell the story of what happened.
Glennon Doyle:
Okay. Now Heidi, we have not talked since this day, so I just am telling right now for the first time… Abby’s laughing because this is actually, it’s funny.
Abby Wambach:
A few times a week we get into it about it.
Glennon Doyle:
But it was jolting, it was jarring to me because here… Okay, pod squad, here’s what happened. In order to get your birth chart, you have to know the time you were born and the place you were born.
Abby Wambach:
Exact time.
Glennon Doyle:
The exact time. I, of course, my sister and I text my mom and we’re like, “What the hell time we were born?” Of course, my mom’s like, “Oh my God, now I have to figure out what time my kids were born.” She tells us the time we were born, we send the information over to Heidi. Heidi comes to our house and she sits down and she says, “Okay, first of all, I have to tell you something, Glennon. You are not the sign you think you are.”
Abby Wambach:
Because you thought the… What is the sign that you think, based on your birth date?
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Well, on that day, the sun shifted from Pisces to Aries.
Abby Wambach:
Yeah.
Glennon Doyle:
Right.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
And on that day, Glennon, and the moon also shifted from Scorpio to Sagittarius, so you were either going to be a Pisces with a Scorpio moon or an Aries with a Sagittarius moon depending on the moment you were born. It was a very dramatic shift.
Glennon Doyle:
And I was born-
Amanda Doyle:
Oh, shocking to everyone. Glennon was subject to a dramatic shift of forces.
Glennon Doyle:
Right. I see where you’re going with that, sister, but also I was only born 27 minutes after the switch. My entire life, Heidi… This is what I’m trying to tell you. I have had many identity shifts in my life. Thought I was straight for 40 years, thought I was a Christian for… I’m just losing identities left and right. And I have one identity that has remained constant, and that is effing Pisces. And then Heidi walks in and I find out that I am also neither straight nor Pisces.
Glennon Doyle:
I do want to talk to you a little bit about that because I cannot get myself to understand myself as an Aries. What do people do where their signs just make no sense to them? Because I think you told me that Aries sun-
Abby Wambach:
Sagittarius.
Glennon Doyle:
… Virgo rising.
Abby Wambach:
Virgo rising.
Glennon Doyle:
If you read Virgo rising, it’s like these people are very analytical and very organized and always have their shit together.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Yeah. That’s obviously there are stereotypes around the signs, and for some there’s truth in them, but there’s so much more. Let’s go to the Aries. Yes, you would’ve been a Pisces if you had been born just a little bit earlier, but you’re in Aries. What I know of you, all your books that I’ve read, love warrior is an Aries name. The first quote from Joan of Arc, “You were born to do this,” is an Aries phrase. Untamed is like letting loose. You’re an entrepreneur. Aries rules the bright, bold idea. Aries rules writing, to a certain extent, because it has to do with the communication of the idea. It’s springtime. It like a little crocus coming up from the concrete. It’s like, I will bloom.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
But you, Glennon, you have a mercury in Pisces and you have Venus in Pisces, so your Pisces is still very much present. Mercury and Pisces is how you communicate. You communicate with love, with artistry, with sensitivity. Venus in Pisces is like big, big valuing of artistry and love. Your Pisces is still very present, you just get a little extra umph through the Aries.
Glennon Doyle:
Okay. All right. I’ll buy that. I’ve thought about it maybe every day since you’ve come months ago, and I have decided that sometimes it is scary for me to think of myself that way, and that is why I’m more comfortable in the identity of sensitive, wilting flower of Pisces. And it is scary for me to think of myself the other way, and that is why I’m resisting this. Is there any room for cusp people who are both? Is there any room for astrologically fluid?
Heidi Rose Robbins:
I would say that you waited to be an Aries. That’s what I would say. And I would say this is a very powerful moment if you really claim the Aries in yourself now because right now, as we are speaking, the planet, Jupiter, has lined up with your Aries sun. It only happens once every 12 years. Aries has allowed you to reinvent yourself multiple times. Aries just said, “I’m jumping, I’m daring. I’m going to do this even though I’m terrified.” That’s Aries. Red Rover, red Rover and Glennon over. Boom. You’re busting through.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
I love that you’re in Aries. I feel like it’s exactly right. And I think what you just said is perfect, that maybe identifying sometimes with the qualities of Pisces that are a little more sensitive or behind the scenes feels comfortable, but you’re here to forge the new.
Abby Wambach:
Okay. Can I ask you just really quick before we move on?
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Yes. Yeah.
Abby Wambach:
You just said that Jupiter aligned with… I don’t know. What did you say?
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Her sun right now. Yeah.
Abby Wambach:
Okay. And this happens once every 12 years.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Yes.
Abby Wambach:
What happens?
Glennon Doyle:
What happens? And what should I do right today?
Abby Wambach:
What?
Heidi Rose Robbins:
You have your map, right?
Glennon Doyle:
Should I get a new puppy today? Is that-
Abby Wambach:
Oh, God.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
It’s actually a really exciting time. The last time it happened was 2010. If I’m thinking, you started writing in 2009. But 2010 would’ve been the last time it was there. But let me explain. You’re born at a moment in time. Boom, there’s your snapshot. Of course the planets keep moving. They’re moving right now. And they are lighting up that snapshot in different ways.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Jupiter has come all the way around; it has orbited. We know planets orbit. It is orbited, and it’s come back to the sign of Aries where it was when you were born, so it is lighting up that part of your chart. And it is a time of expansion, it’s a time when you must say yes, it is a time when you outgrow an old self, when you are daring yourself into new territory. It is a very auspicious time.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
And guess what. Amanda, you’re going to have the same thing just a little later because you’re in Aries too, but you’re going to have it more early next year. It is a huge time for Aries. And Jupiter moves into Aries today.
Abby Wambach:
No.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Today. Yeah.
Amanda Doyle:
Since a lot of people only know their sun signs, and I know there’s a lot of, oh, this is stereotypical, this is just a caricature of the things. But can you run through the sun signs? Which I understand it as how you would complete the sentence, “I am,” unless you’re God or Glennon who just stop at I am. But if we pretend that we’re at a dinner party with a dozen folks and each of them with a sun sign, what are they doing? What are they feeling? Just-
Glennon Doyle:
Who are they at the table?
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Okay, so I’m going to blaze through these, okay?
Glennon Doyle:
Yes, yes, yes, yes.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Because there’s 12 of them. Yes. And this relates to your rising sign as well. If you know that you’re a Cancer rising or an Aries rising, then you’re cultivating the highest part of the sign. Aries initiates, Aries is bold, Aries comes forth, Aries dares, Aries is the entrepreneur. Taurus is the manifestor, Taurus is steady, Taurus loves nature, Taurus is intuitive. Gemini is the connector. This is Abby. Gemini is the connector. She’s everywhere, the messenger. It moves, it’s quick, it’s bright, it’s has a child-like wonder, it wants to ask questions relentlessly. Cancer is the builder, the mother, the caretaker, the nourisher, the one who wraps her arms around something and wants to see it grow.
Amanda Doyle:
Liz Gilbert.
Glennon Doyle:
Lizzy. And mom.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
And Abby’s rising sign as well. Cancer rising. I should call these out as we go. Obviously Amanda, you have the Aries. And Amanda’s got a Taurus moon. Abby’s a Gemini sun. Already, we’ve touched on a lot of your signs. Cancer rising, that is the protector. Family is everything. And your chosen family, your biological family, your team family, it’s everything.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Leo. Leo rules the heart, Leo is expression, Leo is the artist, Leo is the radiant one, Leo loves generously. Virgo.
Amanda Doyle:
Glennon.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Virgo is not just analytical and meticulous, but it’s an incredible editor and refiner and perfector. And it says, “I can make this better.” And not only that, it is a sign of great devotion, and it wants… It’s practical in its devotion. What can we do about this? Let’s take the steps.
Amanda Doyle:
Tarana Burke.
Glennon Doyle:
Tarana. Yeah.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Okay.
Glennon Doyle:
I’m thinking of all the people that been the pod who intersect. And Alok.
Amanda Doyle:
Oh my God.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Alok has lots of Cancer. I was looking at Alok’s chart.
Abby Wambach:
Oh, really?
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Beautiful. Yeah, lots of cancer too.
Abby Wambach:
And Glennon is a Virgo, she’s a Virgo rising.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Virgo rising. She is calling in this energy of devotion through practical acts and refinement and perfecting, making something beautiful so that love can exist in the space. Virgo gets a bad rap, and it really is a gorgeous sign. It’s a very maternal sign that takes care of the form of things so that love can exist within it.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Libra is the sign of relationship. Libra is the sign of balance and harmony and social justice. Your son, Glennon, shines in the area that is ruled by Libra, so it’s like speaking up for what is right, what is just, what is fair. Libra wants to bring the marriage in the heavens. It wants to balance the opposites. And it’s all about right relationship.
Amanda Doyle:
Sue Bird and ocean Vuong are Libras. That makes sense.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
I love that you’ve checked this. I love that. Yes, yes. Yeah, Libra is a beautiful… Libra is the host, the diplomat, the peacemaker. Come into the house; let me sit you by someone. Let’s have a nice conversation.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Scorpio, deep dive, penetrates, it rules, glibly put, sex, death, money, power. But it’s a sign of great healing. It’s a sign of death and reverse. It is intense. You can see a Scorpio’s eyes. But it’s all about overcoming fear, and it’s all about emerging victorious from the most difficult inner battles. It’s gorgeous. Each sign is so gorgeous in its highest manifestation of love and consciousness. And many people don’t know the higher manifestations of the signs, but Scorpio is a warrioresss.
Amanda Doyle:
Brene’s a-
Glennon Doyle:
Brene is a Scorpio.
Amanda Doyle:
Brene is a Scorpio. Mm-hmm.
Glennon Doyle:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, that makes sense.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Yes, yes, yes. Yeah, the Scorpio phrase is warrior am I, and from the battle I emerge triumphant. That’s the Scorpio esoteric phrase.
Amanda Doyle:
That checks.
Glennon Doyle:
That checks out pretty.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Pretty powerful.
Glennon Doyle:
Queen bee, queen bee.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Sagittarius is visionary. And Glennon has a Sagittarius moon. The visionary, the one who sets a goal and reaches it. It is the mentor, the teacher, the cheerleader, the encourager, the philosopher asking the big questions.
Glennon Doyle:
Yaba.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
And the traveler and the world citizen wanting to make the world a smaller place. Take the blinders off. That’s Sagittarius.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Capricorn. This is Abby’s moon. Capricorn is like, I am determined, I will climb, I will achieve, I will take care of things, I will be responsible. I will be responsible to the people that I’ve said I’ll be responsible to. And it’s all about a determination to excel and be the best at what you do. That’s Capricorn.
Glennon Doyle:
Luvvie.
Amanda Doyle:
Luvvie. Okay.
Glennon Doyle:
And Yaba is Sagittarius, which is so-
Amanda Doyle:
Dr. Blay, Dr. Blay. And Paulson, Sarah Paulson and Yaba are Sagittarius.
Glennon Doyle:
Cool.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Wait, Sarah Paulson is a Sagittarius. This is perfect because she’s playing you, right Glennon?
Glennon Doyle:
Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
This is an overlap. Your moon in Sagittarius her Sagittarius. There’s an overlap in your energies. It’s instinctual to her to be you. It’s your moon, and it’s her sun. Okay.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Aquarius. Your producer, Aquarius, Lauren. She is the water bearer that distributes the waters of life, the cutting edge; go your own way. It rules technology, but it is the humanitarian. Aquarius is the humanitarian that really cares about who we are together. And Abby has her sun shining in the Aquarius house, which is the area of the team, the area of the community, and wanting to uplift the team.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
And Pisces, Amanda, your rising sign, is a sign of incredibly powerful love and standing in love and saving and redeeming and uplifting and allowing yourself to be the sensitive person you are. And it’s all about our connection to God or our connection to source or our connection to love. Many philanthropists have strong Pisces. For you with a Taurus moon, Amanda, and a Pisces rising, I would say it’s like trusting the sensitivity beneath the capability. The Taurus moon is the capable, and your Pisces is like this beautiful permeable ocean of love that you need to listen to and trust ever more because that’s your rising sign.
Glennon Doyle:
Could we just pause there for one second?
Heidi Rose Robbins:
I’m done. Yeah. Yes, yes.
Glennon Doyle:
No, I don’t want you to ever stop. I don’t want you to be done ever, but I just think it’s interesting. You, sister, Heidi said you trust the sensitivity beneath the capability. I feel like I’m trying to trust the capability beneath the sensitivity.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
That’s that’s perfect because Virgo is so capable, and that’s what you’re calling in. You’re Virgo rising, you’re trying to call in that, well, I’ve got it all figured out and worked out. And so yes, you’re calling in earth, Glennon, and Amanda, you’re calling in water. Just think about that elementally. It’s different. You’re calling in put me in a lake and let me float. And Glennon, you’re calling in, okay, how can I really ground this in practical ways? And how can I use my intelligence to manifest what I want to manifest?
Abby Wambach:
You just got into water, earth. What the hell?
Glennon Doyle:
Yeah, tell us about those, the elements that related to us because that’s so cool.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Yeah, it’s so wonderful. Even at this simple level to know, okay, Aries, Leo and Sagittarius are fire signs. Fire is passion, creativity, dynamism, motivation. Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn are earth signs. Manifest, ground, breathe, slow down, achieve. Gemini, Libra and Aquarius are air signs. Connect, connect, connect, distribute. Who are you? I want to know about you. I want to be collaborating with you. You’re an air sign, Abby. Your sun sign is an air sign. And then Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces, water signs; totally intuitive, fluid, listening, receptive, deeply divine. Feminine. And water can be very powerful too, of course.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Let’s use Amanda as an example. She comes from earth. We know this. She gets it done. She manifests it. She went to law school. She made it happen. I come from earth, I’m doing this work. She’s living in fire, this dynamic, go for it entrepreneur. We’re going to make this happen. But she’s here to learn to surrender. She’s here for water.
Glennon Doyle:
Oh, good God.
Abby Wambach:
That seems right.
Glennon Doyle:
Yeah?
Abby Wambach:
That seems right. Okay. I just want to-
Glennon Doyle:
That’s so beautiful, Heidi. Thank you for being so beautiful. That was so beautiful.
Glennon Doyle:
I have a question, Heidi. You are a mom-
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Yes.
Glennon Doyle:
… and just a brilliant human being. And I have a question for you in terms of how you apply and teach your kids what you believe. So many parents who have a spiritual way of life, of understanding the world want to pass that on to their kids. And we all want to do it in a way where it doesn’t in any way limit them because I feel like the way that you’ve… You’ve probably figured out how to do this with your kids, and so I think it’s a good way to… However you do it with them is how I want to explain it to our pod squaders. How do you talk to their kids about signs and this and that without making them think, oh, I’m a this, so this is the way I am? You know how in some families are… For sister and I, since I was a wild, lost, creative soul, I got to be the creative one, and so sister had to be like the responsible, analytic one. We just figured out she’s wildly creative when we started this pod, right?
Abby Wambach:
Yes. Not just when, but-
Glennon Doyle:
How do you talk to them about this without limiting them?
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Yeah, that’s so beautiful. First of all, as a parent, it’s a beautiful thing to know your children’s sun moon and rising sign. Even if you just know that, it is a beautiful gift because then when you start seeing them behave in a certain way that reflects that, you can invite them to look at it from a different perspective. For sure, I never impose this. We’ll play a game sometimes where I’ll say, “Guess where the moon is today,” just because I see them behaving in a certain way or reacting. And they’re gotten really good at it. Now they know where the moon is.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
But I would just say I always reflect the next stage of growth. Let’s just say you have a Capricorn moon, like Abby has. Capricorn moon tends to keep it in. A Capricorn moon tends to be like, “I’ve got this. I’m fine. How are you? I’m fine. How are you?” If my child has a Capricorn moon, I’m going to be like, “I know how strong and capable you are, and I know that you’re like a little adult, but please tell me. I want to know all the messy parts underneath. It’s okay to be a mess.” I invite them to the next stage of growth. And I never say you are this, so you… You’re a cancer rising so you are crying all the time. It’s never imposed. It’s always like, well, there’s another way to look at this.
Glennon Doyle:
It’s an invitation.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Does that help a little?
Glennon Doyle:
Yeah. Invitation. That’s really cool.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Yeah.
Abby Wambach:
Well, I think it’s also helpful that she said your sun, your moon and your rising sign are really cool and important maybe to know as a parent. And also understanding the relationship, because everybody’s is different. These astrological readings that you give, it’s its own little book of poetry to be-
Glennon Doyle:
Which hers literally are.
Abby Wambach:
Yeah, exactly. It’s like being able to take this little nugget of information into your life. It’s so helpful.
Glennon Doyle:
Can you tell us a story of… Or tell us a time recently when astrology really helped you make a decision or something practical? So we can understand how you actually use it in your everyday life.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Yeah. Well, I’ll just say the first thing that came to mind. Interestingly, when I was in Finland and my dad was passing, there was a once in a lifetime hit in my chart. It was on Mercury. And mercury is the planet of communication. And I also have Mercury in Pisces. It is a very sensitive placement, and Mercury and Pisces, which you have Glennon, is about poetry, it is about sensitivity, it is about deep feeling. When I first saw this, I was like, oh, I’m going to be talking to Glennon and Abby and Amanda. And I thought, this is going to be a time when inspiration can pour through, and I just need to stay open.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
But in fact, I was apprenticing to impermanence. I was apprenticing to my father’s passing. And at the time he died, that day I was writing a poem that I was like, this is what needs to come through now. This is what I need to open to, and this is what I’m being asked to is not… It’s not so much my own inspiration as it is my own deepest listening to this moment, my own deepest presencing to this moment. That’s not a real practical example of I saw this coming so I used it this way, but it was this example of I can now soften and listen and be so present during this once in a lifetime transit and let whatever needs to come through, come through. Yeah.
Amanda Doyle:
I have a much less profound question.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Yes, please, please, bring it on.
Amanda Doyle:
But something that we’ve been attributing the dumpster fire of the universe to for the past couple years is the Mercury in retrograde. We feel like it’s become a cultural hashtag for-
Abby Wambach:
Yeah. This is good.
Amanda Doyle:
… why we’re huge mess. Are we? And what does that mean?
Heidi Rose Robbins:
It’s a great question.
Amanda Doyle:
And can we attribute our madness to that?
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Okay guys, do you want to know this? This is so funny. This morning at 4:47, Mercury went retrograde.
Glennon Doyle:
Yes, we can suck today.
Amanda Doyle:
What does that mean?
Heidi Rose Robbins:
So funny.
Abby Wambach:
What does that mean?
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Retrograde means that the planet appears to be moving backward. We know that the planet is not moving backward.
Amanda Doyle:
Well, it sure as shit does, Heidi.
Glennon Doyle:
Yes. Astrology works. You heard it here first.
Amanda Doyle:
They leaked Roe. We’re in retrograde.
Glennon Doyle:
Moving backwards.
Amanda Doyle:
We’re moving way the fuck backwards.
Abby Wambach:
The Mercury planet or the earth planet?
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Mercury, Mercury.
Glennon Doyle:
Oh, to earth too.
Amanda Doyle:
The earth too.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Mercury. I want to reframe it for you. Yes. Should you be careful with technology? Should you check your travel plans? Yes, yes, yes. Should you probably not initiate a bold, new thing during Mercury retrograde? You probably shouldn’t. But mercury retrograde is a three week period when you are allowed to reflect and review and think about what has happened over the last number of months. And it’s a pause. That’s why you get messed up if you’re trying to do too much during a Mercury retrograde. It’s actually meant to be a moment of let me close the doors, let me meditate, let me receive, let me write, let me think about how I have felt. I would love to reframe Mercury retrograde is actually a sweet time to remember and review.
Abby Wambach:
How often does it happen in the year?
Heidi Rose Robbins:
It happens three times a year.
Abby Wambach:
Okay.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Yeah.
Glennon Doyle:
One of my first weeks in LA, I got here and I was putting my credit card in one of the machines at the grocery store and it wouldn’t work. And this sweet lady looked at me and said, “Mercury’s in retrograde.” But because my credit card wasn’t working.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Yeah, yeah, machines. Yeah.
Glennon Doyle:
And I was like, “Oh, oh, we’re in LA now. Yes, yes.”
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Yeah. No. Exactly, exactly.
Glennon Doyle:
That’s correct.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Can I give you another example of-
Glennon Doyle:
Yes.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
You said, “How do you use the energy when you know it’s coming?” Glennon, in 2012 when you started Together Rising, I think it was 2012. You guys write your book so I can look at dates. You had a once in a lifetime hit of Uranus, or Uranus, say it two different ways, on your sun. That planet takes 84 years to go around the chart. If you already were talking to an astrologer and you knew that was coming, I would say, “This is a time of being a revolutionary, bringing change in, reinventing, doing something electric, exciting.” You would’ve wanted to meet that, which you did even not being aware of astrology. But that moment catapulted something that is about progress, is about change, is about upliftment. And Uranus was exactly on your sun at that time.
Glennon Doyle:
Wow. And we’re at the 10 year anniversary of Together Rising right now. And we, along with many, many pod squaders, have raised $40 million for women and children in need all over the world.
Abby Wambach:
I can’t believe it. That’s so awesome.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
And that is the combination also of Amanda and your rising sign because Pisces feels the pain, Pisces feels like, “Oh, I need to do something about this,” and Virgo is like, well, “Okay guys, what are we going to do? Let’s just collect a bunch of people that feel as passionately as we do and let’s take practical action and let’s decide where we’re sending the money on a really simple level.” And that’s the combination of Glennon and Amanda’s rising sign is I feel it; I want to take practical action. And Abby just is the big protector, nourisher mama holding it all-
Glennon Doyle:
It’s so true.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
With Cancer rising, rising cancer.
Abby Wambach:
It’s so wild.
Glennon Doyle:
The ultimate mother you are, the ultimate mother.
Amanda Doyle:
You think?
Glennon Doyle:
Yes. I know.
Amanda Doyle:
Wow. Thank you.
Glennon Doyle:
I do know.
Amanda Doyle:
Wow. This is fascinating.
Glennon Doyle:
Heidi, what would you say for our love bugs who are listening? So many, by the way, were asking for us to discuss astrology on the pod. I can’t imagine a more beautiful hour than the one you’ve just spent with us. We have this thing called the next right thing. Just something little. We don’t like the next right thing to be hard. The name of our title is mostly for shelf.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Glennon Doyle:
We like to actually do easy things for our next right thing because the of life is very hard. Let’s just say if someone is a varsity astrology person, so they know everything we’ve been talking about, can you give us a next right thing for them? And let’s just say that another type of person is on the freshman team of astrology and is just new to it. What should each of those types of people do next if they’re curious about this?
Heidi Rose Robbins:
I’m going to keep it really practical. I’m going to say if you are brand new to this, within the next hour get online and find out what your rising sign is because this is your soul’s calling. This is what you should be apprenticing to in your lifetime. And find one or two qualities that you’re like, “Oh, I can get behind those qualities,” and start to grow them in your life.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
And I want to say if you’re a varsity astrologer, that doesn’t mean that you’re living your chart yet and it doesn’t mean that you’re making the most loving, conscious choices. I would say for the varsity astrologers, put that quality at the center of your heart like a sun, and everywhere you go, let that emanate. And choose to live into that quality every moment that you can.
Abby Wambach:
I have a followup.
Glennon Doyle:
Choose to live into that quality, not this is what you are, this is who you are. It’s an invitation to live into that quality more. I love that.
Abby Wambach:
I have a followup. You said, “Okay, Mercury went into retrograde today and the moon is…” Is there a place that we can go that we can find the daily situations that are happening with the planets and the moon and the sun?
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Yeah. First of all, every day for the last five years on my Instagram, I write a moon note, which is where the moon is, and also some of the other planetary placements. It’s meant to be a way to start your day, a moment of inspiration. Just Heidi Rose Robbins. And it is a great way to know where the moon is because once you start to notice where the moon is… Today that we’re talking, it’s in Virgo so we want the details, we want to know, we want to speak specifically about why this works and how it works. If you know where the moon is, you can start studying the energy and how it changes.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
That’s one way to do it. Astrology online everywhere now. It’s grown so much in the last five years, it’s unbelievable. And you can sign up at astro.com, or you can go to my website and you can start to get lists of what is happening in your life and what is happening in the heavens.
Glennon Doyle:
We will link to your Instagram, Heidi, which I follow. Everybody can start there.
Abby Wambach:
Yeah, it’s a great place.
Amanda Doyle:
Can I just say I think this is so special? Because the way you’re describing this rising sign, we just live in a world where people are praised for a lot of different things, and we’re incentivized for a lot of different things. And some of the praise and the incentives and the paths that are easier to go down are not always the ones that make us feel most alive and most fulfilled. And it feels like what you’re describing is why, for someone like me, being encouraged to foster my sensitivity instead of my efficiency is so important, whereas for someone else, it’s the exact opposite that will lead them to more fulfillment even though there’s nothing inherently better or worse about either of those qualities. That’s fascinating to me that it points you in the direction of the thing that is yours to look at and to-
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Yeah. Yours to grow. Yeah. My father always said, “If you know who you are, you’ll know what to do.” And he would say, “It’s an act of spiritual virtuosity to become who you are.” And an astrological chart helps you understand who you are and helps you become it.
Glennon Doyle:
And for you, sis, it’s like… I could be wrong, but what I hear you saying is we live in a world that would continue to only praise you for your productivity because of capitalism and who we are as a culture. And very rarely will anyone say to you, “No, no, no, no. Also, you’re invited to be sensitive,” because that wouldn’t benefit anybody in the short run.
Amanda Doyle:
Well, and even more so that knowing that my productivity is prized and valued to view sensitivity as antithetical or actually would be a destroyer of this other thing as opposed to believing that, actually, it might be coming together with it that makes it even more fruitful.
Abby Wambach:
That’s good.
Amanda Doyle:
It’s interesting.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
No, it’s beautiful. And I thought a lot about your Pisces rising, Amanda, because it is such an invitation to your artistry, to your permeability, to your trusting your deepest listening. And it is such a sign of profound love, it’s such a sign of profound love and standing in it with strength and bringing things to an end that do not support that love. It stands in its powerful strength as a person of love in the world.
Glennon Doyle:
Heidi, you are such a wonder, really so wonderful.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Thank you.
Glennon Doyle:
And you have helped us. I really think you have helped us. Everybody, next right thing, go follow Heidi. We’re going to link to her. What a good teacher you are. Thank you so much.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Thank you.
Glennon Doyle:
Thank you so much for being here.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
It was so wonderful to be with you. Thank you so much for inviting me.
Glennon Doyle:
I’m very, very sorry about your father. And it’s beautiful to see everything that he taught you just emanating from you. It really is beautiful.
Heidi Rose Robbins:
Thank you.
Glennon Doyle:
To the rest of you, we can do hard things like learn about astrology. Yes, we did.
Abby Wambach:
We did. We’re doing it. We are.
Glennon Doyle:
We will see you back here next… Someday soon is when we see you.
Abby Wambach:
Next time. Next time.
Glennon Doyle:
Okay. Love you. Bye. Bye.