Home By Horoscope

0:00Guest Astrology is the study of cycles, not necessarily a magical thing.

0:04Lyssia Katan What does it tell you in terms of how they should be living or the space they should be occupying?

0:08Guest Astrology is much more complex and complicated than what you're reading in a magazine that's telling you that you're gonna have a good financial day today, Pisces. Astrology happens with us, not necessarily to us, so it's the intention that you put behind something. I always say astrology is more anticipatory than it is predictive, because we can never say with 100% certainty that something is gonna happen.

0:26Lyssia Katan Across all 12 signs, is there a design principle that works for everyone?

0:31Guest I think it's always helpful to understand maybe different parts of your chart to make it easier for yourself.

0:37Lyssia Katan Can you answer the question no doctor has been able to like answer for me? It's kind of scary. How much of your design style is actually written in the stars? Welcome to Room to Think. Today I'm sitting down with interior designer and astrologer Anthony Perata to explore the connection between astrology and design. We talk about why certain colors, materials, and spaces may naturally feel right to us depending on our placements. We break down what each zodiac sign might need at home, and we even get into Mercury retrograde and the surprising ways astrology can show up in everyday life. And because this episode happens to come out on my birthday, it felt like the perfect excuse to have a little

1:23Lyssia Katan fun with the stars. Let's get into it. Hello, Anthony. I am so excited to chat. Anthony Perata is an astrologer with over 16 years of experience and the founder of AP Astrology with a background in fashion, interior design, and marketing. His work explores how our birth charts can guide the way we style and live in our spaces, turning astrology into an everyday practical tool for designing a home. Anthony, welcome to Room to Think.

1:53Guest Thank you. Thank you for having me. I'm so excited to be here. That was such a nice intro. Um, I'm like, oh, okay. I feel like it sums up everything I do in the most beautiful way. So thank you for that.

2:05Lyssia Katan So, Anthony, for a listener who thinks astrology is just their horoscope in a magazine, how would you describe what you actually do and why you do it and why it's so important?

2:16Guest This is such a good question. Um, if there's one thing I want people to understand is that a lot of magazine horoscopes are written for the sun sign. So in astrology, there are multiple signs within a chart. So there are multiple planets within a chart. So you encompass all 12 signs in some ways, and then there are certain attributes that you kind of reflect within um those different signs. So a lot of the magazine horoscopes are written for the sun. The thing is that the sun doesn't actually dictate the energy of your chart, it is the rising sign. It's where the sun was coming over the horizon at the moment you were born. Sometimes you might hear this called the rising or the ascendant, is

2:55Guest the other word. So how are they different? Well, a chart, I wish I could show it to you, is like this beautiful story, is the way I like to tell people. It is this dynamic story of who you are and where the planets were at the moment you were born. So it encompasses sun, moon, Mercury, Venus, and it kind of allows these planets to come together in different aspects that are uniquely you. So a natal chart or a birth chart, what I do is I explore what a natal chart is and how do we tell your story personally for you. With this being said, astrology is the study of cycles, not necessarily a magical thing, right? It's cyclical. We're looking at how planets move around our solar system. It is geocentric,

3:46Guest meaning that it is revolved around the earth versus the sun in some ways, uh, because it is from our vantage point. So in this case, although the sun is the center of our solar system and everything moves around it, because we are at a fixed point in Earth, right? We're looking at how everything moves around the earth. So in that case, the sun would look like it's moving, even though it's not, right? Um, and that's why, like, you know, at different seasons or different times of the year, the sun um dips lower into the sky, or maybe the days are shorter or longer, like in summer or winter. Ultimately, what I'm trying to get at here is that astrology is much more complex and complicated than what

4:27Guest you're reading in a magazine that's telling you that you're gonna have a good financial day today, Pisces. You know what I mean?

4:32Lyssia Katan Absolutely. So before we really get into the charts, your background is in fashion and interior design before astrology. Was there a moment when these two worlds really collided for you and where you realized that the stars and space um really affect the home that someone lives in?

4:49Guest So I think this is really interesting as well because um I started correlating astrology to interior design in interior design school. And this happened because we were doing projects on different interior architects, and I started to notice a correlation between certain architects' birth dates and how they designed. A good example of this was Frank Gary, um, being a Pisces, and a lot of the creation or a lot of the architecture that he made was very aquatic or oceanic or very like undulating and reflective and very like the scales of a fish, right? It was um iridescent. And um so I did a whole project specifically on him actually correlating his work back to his birth tape. And I remember having

5:38Guest a professor tell me this was the most interesting thing he's ever heard because he's never thought about that before. And I thought, oh, I have something here. Now keep in mind, this was probably like 20 years ago or something like that. Maybe a little, maybe a little less than that, like 16 years ago. Um so it was really interesting to kind of get that feedback and then begin to correlate them. And then throughout my time in my career, I actually worked as a store designer for the majority of my career. So I did a lot uh for like major retailers. And one thing about astrology is it really looks at behavior and cycles, right? And a lot of the work I did in store design was consumer behavior,

6:18Guest right? So there's like a big psychological piece that kind of goes behind this too. And I was able to correlate the two. And I noticed that certain astrological seasons brought in new fashion concepts or like new seasonal concepts, and then we would change over the stores, you know, to match that. But even, you know, it also allowed me to think like, oh, Mercury's retrograde or Mars is retrograde. So maybe the project will move a little slower. So it actually let me build in more time in some of the like construction timelines that I was doing, which sounds really crazy. I know for people who probably don't follow astrology, but um, it worked really well.

6:52Lyssia Katan So wow, absolutely fascinating. So was astrology something that you've always been into that you were able to put these two things together, or it's something that stumbled that you stumbled upon later?

7:03Guest I always tell people I came to astrology as a skeptic. Um, and that is how I approach everything in life is I am skeptical about it first. And here's the thing about skepticism to me, skepticism means that I'm curious. And if I'm curious, I care. And if I care about something, then I'm gonna research it. And so when I was looking at, you know, reading these magazine horoscopes, I am a Pisces. And I was like, this isn't me, right? And like, I don't feel like this at all. I am a much more deeply analytical person than they were talking about. And, you know, Pisces are so emotional and so sensitive. And I'm like, yeah, I'm sensitive to my environment, but I'm not necessarily like, you're not gonna

7:38Guest make me cry at the drop of a hat, you know? And so I was like, well, there has to be more to this. It can't just be this wishy-washy thing that I'm reading in a magazine. And so then that's where the curiosity piqued. And I started to do some deep dive research into like, well, what is astrology? And that's when I realized it's the study of cycles. And I'm really big history buff, um, like art history, architecture history. And so obviously, astrology is very tied to the concept of time. And so, like, history was really easy for me to track um throughout our different cycles. And then I don't know, from there it just sort of blossomed. Things started to click and make sense. Like I learned about

8:14Guest a moon sign and then a rising sign, and then I learned about transits. And then, you know, the last 16 years have just been deep dives into astrology. I think I'm always going to be a student, even though I have now taught classes, spoken, um, been filmed by media about this. I would still consider myself a student at this point.

8:29Lyssia Katan Some of our listeners are really all in on astrology, and some are listening and raising an eyebrow right now. Uh you said that a chart isn't concrete, it's a loose outline. For the skeptic in the room, how do you explain what astrology is without asking them to really believe in magic?

8:50Guest Well, I think it's worth noting that astrology isn't magic, right? Let's start there. I think, you know, there was a point in history in which astrology and astronomy were actually aligned, right? It was pre- it was pre-scientific revolution. So we're looking at like the middle evil late medieval times and like the Renaissance. And during this time, um astrology was the root of so much. It was the root of art, it was the root of science, it was the root of medicine, it was the root of dietary needs. People, even like when you read about um Shakespearean plays, there are different temperaments that are given to different characters, and those are related to astrological temperaments, right? Like

9:28Guest you think about Romy and Juliet, well, Marcusio, that's Mercury, right? And his nature is very mercurial. So when people say to me, Oh, I don't believe in astrology, I'm like, that's okay. You don't need to believe in astrology for it to happen to you, for you to experience it and for it to be a part of your history. And, you know, if we look back at our ancestors thousands and thousands of years ago, some form of astrology has occurred across all cultures. We're stargazers.

9:56Lyssia Katan Yeah, absolutely. Going back to hundreds and thousands of years, that's what we've been doing for so long. And just recently we, we forgot, we forgot about it.

10:06Guest Yeah, I think so. I think um, you know, I'm never one to make people try to believe in something that they don't believe in. I don't think that's fair. Uh, but I do like to remind people that there's a reason why we were attuned to this anyway. It's a natural rhythm, it's a natural cycle. We follow lunar cycles. If you think about farmers, a lot of them plant along lunar cycles that's still following astrology. Even if they don't believe in it, it is a form of astrology.

10:28Lyssia Katan And I love that you're saying this so much because I am uh very new to the world of astrology, but I love it. I'm always asking people, what's your sign? When's your birthday? This, that. But I feel like I'm still just like at the very, very tip of the iceberg.

10:41Guest Yeah, skimming the surface.

10:43Lyssia Katan It really is. It is skimming the surface. So, uh, what does it actually look like in practice? Before we started recording, you were telling me a little bit about the whole chart. Um, and I would love to hear more about what it looks like when someone hands you their birth chart. What does it tell you in terms of how they should be living or the space they should be occupying?

11:03Guest You were asking basically uh what it is I look at when I'm talking about a chart, right? Like what is a chart? When someone gives me their information, what do I do? Well, you can take the birth. So this is actually your chart. Um, you take your birth information and you can input it into a software or you know, you can go to astro.com or astrotheme.com. There are so many different places you can look up your natal chart for free. But hot take, I wouldn't use CoStar. You can input the information in your chart and essentially it's a wheel, right? So it is this moment where the where we look at where the planets were the second you were born, and it begins to tell this story of who you are. So

11:43Guest in this case, you know, you have your sun sign in Virgo, you have your moon sign in Libra, and you have your rising sign in Aquarius. That's something that we call the big three in astrology. Okay. So the sun sign is sort of like your essence, what you know yourself to be. It's where the sun was when you were born. Where was the sun? What constellation was it moving through at the time of your birth? And in your case, it was Virgo. And there are obviously like personality attributes that are given to Virgo based on that, like orderly, clean, diligent, right? Organized. I think a good example of that is I said to you, oh, you sent me like these this list of information prior to us getting together.

12:22Guest And I was like, of course this person's a Virgo. Like, how could I, how could I not believe that? But then we have the moon, which is core sort of like the emotional, instinctual core self. I always explain this as like, it's who we are when everything is sort of removed from us. So it's like our needs, our safety, and yours is in Libra. Uh, mine is also in Libra. And there is Libra is the aesthetic, the designer. So I'm like, oh, of course, like you are into interior design and you you work in that field. Of course, I do the same. Um, but when we have our moon in Libra, it's about balance, it's about harmony, right? And of course, there's like asymmetrical balance and there's the rule of three

13:00Guest and all these different things, but ultimately what we seek in a space is uh peacefulness, right? Some people really want their spaces to be bold and dynamic and angular, and you know, Libra moons really want their place to feel like um like a harmonious place to be, like somewhere they can unwind and truly be themselves, right? And then with your rising in Aquarius, I always tell people the rising is how you see yourself, not necessarily how other people see you. So with Aquarius as the rising, there might be something about you that you feel like is a little offbeat, right? A little different, a little eccentric, a little uh weird, if you will. And, you know, people might even say that there's

13:42Guest something about how you approach your practice or your business that's a very unique in some way eclectic, is another word I often give to Aquarius. Um, but when we look at the rising, there's a sign opposite that, and that's the descendant. And the descendant is actually how people take you in in a one-on-one dynamic. So although you might view yourself as a really big team player with Aquarius as the rising, like you like to do things behind the scenes and you're really like good at project managing, there's something about you that's very visible with the Leo descendant, right? Here you are hosting a podcast, right? There's a desire to be seen, to be heard, to be experienced. And there's

14:20Guest nothing wrong with that. If anything, people actually see you as more of like a focal point than you see yourself in some ways.

14:26Lyssia Katan That's so funny because I actually was not very willing to get on a podcast for a long time.

14:31Guest So it's funny you say that. Yeah. Well, and your moon and rising are both in air signs, and so is your Mercury. So there's a desire to communicate, right? Like you're like, oh, I want to speak, I want to share, but I want it to be in collaboration because that's what Aquarius says, right? It's not in isolation, it's not just like you talking into the ether, it's you talking with, right? It's you sharing with, it's you hearing stories. And, you know, Aquarius is very much about expanding the mind. So a lot of what you do is built on the concept of like expanding the mind. You know, you bring the intersections of like science, behavioral, psychology, and design together. And that to me is like

15:06Guest unbelievably Aquarius Rising.

15:08Lyssia Katan Wow. So accurate. This is there's so much accuracy here. Now, is it that most people only ever look at the sign or the big three? Because you're telling me things that I I would have never even looked at the descendant. I didn't, I didn't even know that was something to look at. Right? Yeah. Right. Yeah. And what about I I've I've heard, and correct me if I'm wrong, different houses and different signs being in different one of your houses. Well, how does that work?

15:33Guest Yeah. So essentially the way I like to explain it is that if this is the story of you, the houses are the settings of that story. It's where things are taking place. So it's the areas of your life, it's the, you know, um, you know, like career, love, relationships. And I'm really dumbing them down here, like to be quite frank. Like they are they're very nuanced and there's a lot of um depth to what each house represents. But I think in order to make this so digestible, you know, like the first house's identity and the second house's resources and the third house's communication, so they all rule something different. So the houses are the setting, the planets are the characters within your story.

16:14Guest Okay. So it's like who's showing up in that room, in that setting, in that place. So, you know, like the moon for you, the moon is in the ninth house, right? Where like my moon is in the fourth house, and you know, you hear about this, like I think about the song The Age of Aquarius, when the moon is in the fifth house. Anyways, you know, and it and it's really speaking to like, okay, well, then your expression of your Libra moon will be different than my expression of my Libra moon given the house that it's in. So that character plays a little differently in your story. Then you layer in the fact that it is in Libra. So that becomes the costume that the character wears. And then, in if you

16:51Guest if you have this visual up and you're looking at this with us, you'll see there's all these crazy lines in the middle of this chart, right? Which feels like chaos, pure chaos. And those lines are actually mathematical degrees. They talk about like how far something is away from something else. Is it square, 90 degrees? Is it trine, 120 degrees? Is it sextal, 60 degrees? And those aspect lines are actually communication points. They are how the planets talk to each other. So then it becomes the dialogue of your story.

17:19Lyssia Katan Wow. How where do you even start looking at something like this?

17:23Guest How do you like so much going on? So I think the best way to explain this is um I always tell people that the best place to start is your big three, right? Then there's a reason why we call it your big three. It's the it's the essence. If I were to like capture a fragrance of you quickly in a bottle, it would be your big three, right? So then like, and you can look at it's funny. I um used to host a podcast and a really good friend of mine is a is a perfumer. And we've talked about this like in terms of notes, like fragrance notes. Um, so you have like the top note, right? Which is maybe the rising. It's like the first thing that people get a whiff of, right? And then you kind of have this like

18:01Guest middle note, which is like the sun, right? It's like your essence. It's like, what is the essence of the fragrance? And then you have the moon, which is like the bottom note, right? Like the thing that ends up like settling into the skin, kind of stays with you. So if I were to say, like, where would you start? Sun, moon, rising, because that's the essence of your fragrance. It's kind of like who you are, like what you evoke. And then you can begin to dive in a little bit more. So then without getting a little too crazy, your rising sign, which is basically the energetic ruler of your chart, also has a planetary ruler. So in your case, Aquarius is your rising, Saturn is the ruler of Aquarius.

18:40Guest So then Saturn would be the most important planet in your one of the most important planets in your chart, basically. It kind of lords over you, and Saturn is about like structure, right? And it's about diligence and and hard work. And you we're getting a theme here, right? Uh, it's about like rules and regulations, but your Saturn is in Pisces, right? And so then Pisces is very enigmatic and very whimsical, and it's opposite your sun. So maybe you feel this push and pull between like wanting to come off as someone who is has their stuff together and someone who wants to be very go with the flow and very like whimsical and creative. And you are both, right? Like we we we are multifaceted. It's

19:16Guest just allowing yourself to kind of find your space between the two. And of course, that opposition is 180 degrees. So math kind of coming into play here. I always tell people astrology is sort of like geometry. Am I singing you?

19:28Lyssia Katan Right. No, no, no, you aren't. It is exactly like geometry. It but it's it's crazy how it's something that we don't learn in school at all. Nobody is teaching us that. And it would make our lives so much easier if we knew, okay, you have a tendency to want to be structured and organized. So maybe you can adjust your life accordingly, or you have a tendency to want to be whimsical or a million different things.

19:50Guest Yeah, you can play into all this. You know, I um I think, you know, we took like career tests in school, or like the um, I think in a psychology class, we took the Myers-Briggs, right? And then there's like, I think the other big one is the Enneagrams. People are really into that as well. These are all just different ways of exploring and figuring out your own personal psychology, your own personal sense of self. And astrology is just another layer to that from a psychological perspective, right? Now you can use astrology to also take a look at like cycles that you've been in in your life. And they can begin to like, I always say astrology is more anticipatory than it is predictive, right? Because

20:23Guest we can never say with 100% certainty that something is gonna happen, right? It that's almost impossible. But and I think that's even statistically speaking, right? Like no one can really say anything with 100% certainty. But I always say that looking at astrology and anticipating a cycle is like a hypothesis, right? It's an educated guess. We're kind of saying, like, oh, okay, last time you had, I don't know, like a Saturn return, this happened. Then we can anticipate a similar theme, like a hypothesis, an educated guess would come up, maybe not exactly the same way. And then we test the theory by seeing kind of how things unfold over that period of time. And then we come back and we rule how

21:02Guest the experiment came out, right? I always say science is magic that we've explained, and so magic is science that we don't yet to explain. I think quantum physics is a good express uh exp example of that overall. Um, and astrology is also a good example of that.

21:18Lyssia Katan And what about uh I mean, I guess when you talk about anticipatory, I've heard a lot of things like during Mercury retrograde, you're not supposed to make really big decisions, or you're not supposed to make big moves in your life. Does that, is that connected in any way?

21:33Guest Totally. I it's the same idea, right? So they're they're anticipating a cycle coming up, Mercury retrogrades for about three weeks at a time. Um, and it's about three to four times a year that it happens. So when a retrograde like Mercury retrograde comes up, retrogrades mean that the view of the planet from where we are looks like it's going backward. It may not actually be going backward literally in space, but it looks the appearance. Experience is that it retrogrades backward. And so what ends up happening is that it's a moment or a period of reflection going back, right? The rees. I always tell people when it's a retrograde, it's all the rees. Reset, reflect, recycle, redo, re-re-re-re,

22:15Guest right? And it's it's just our natural rhythm or way of understanding, like, oh yeah, we deserve and as people, as beings, we we need rest, right? We can't just be go, go, go all the time. And the planets are sort of, I always say, um, the symbol for retrograde is RX. So it looks like a prescription. So the retrograde is the remedy, is what I always say. And so it's the opportunity for us to prescribe ourselves a period of like low or rest, knowing that maybe, yeah, things we may not progress forward as quickly as we want them to. But maybe we can go back and recapture something or reclaim something or rework something or edit something. So that way when the time comes, it can progress much faster.

22:56Guest So you can use it as like your editing period.

22:58Lyssia Katan So it's not as scary as people say, where it's like a bad time, you don't sign any leases or any mortgages, or like people are from the sense that I get is people are kind of scared of Mercury retrograde. Like things are going wrong.

23:12Guest So here's the thing about Mercury retrograde. It it has been put into the cultural zeitgeist as like this this demon, right? Um, I'm gonna tell you this. And maybe this is not the advice of all astrologers, but for myself, I believe that you can you can't stop your life, right? Astrology happens with us, not necessarily to us. So it's the intention that you put behind something. There most planets retrograde. The only two things that don't retrograde in astrology are the um luminaries, so the sun and moon. We consider them celestial bodies or luminaries, not necessarily planets. Um, and I think that makes sense, obviously, because they don't retrograde, right? They just keep going forward. But

23:53Guest everything else will retrograde. So Mercury, Venus, Mars, and the reason why I'm calling this out is because it's not, you know, we demonize Mercury, but there are other retrogrades that happen. And some retrogrades happen for half the year. Okay. So we don't even care about them as much, right? We don't put as much weight or emphasis. Now, Mercury is a fast moving planet. It's what we call a personal planet. So, you know, we notice it and it does rule communication and contracts and commerce, right? So sure, you know, that's why the advice is oh, don't buy technology, don't buy a new car, don't sign a lease, don't do because there might be something about that contract or that negotiation or

24:31Guest that thing that needs to be reworked, reevaluated, or reconnected. Here's the thing, though. I'm gonna use my mom as an example because she had um, she worked in for a university and she did a lot of grant writing for a program that she was a director of. And every she wrote the grant the very first time in the Mercury retrograde. And she asked me, she goes, Is it doomed? And I was like, No, you're just going to have to redo this grant often, more than you would like. And she did. Every like it was like clockwork, and it always happened in Mercury retrogrades that she had to rewrite the grant. Okay. Another example I can give people is um, I'm born in a Mercury retrograde. So my relationship

25:15Guest with the Mercury retrograde is very different than like yours because you were not born in one. I tend to find Mercury retrogrades very lucky for me. I have signed so many contracts in a Mercury retrograde, and I have been completely fine with it. Um, you know, I bought a house in a Venus retrograde, which is like a big astrology no-no. Now, I did end up selling that house. Okay, but we made uh a good amount of resource back from that sale. So typically like Venus retrograde would be like, oh, this is a bad financial decision. It actually ended up being a great financial decision for both my husband and I. Um, but you know, it's sort of I didn't stop my life just because something was retrograde.

26:00Guest And sometimes you don't have control over it. So, you know, you can't always say to your lawyer, Mercury's retrograde, so I can't sign my contract. You know what I mean? Right. But you can't take an extra second to look it over. You and I actually would. That would be that's the thing to do. It's to make sure that you have an additional party look it over, that you renegotiate the terms. If you don't like something, speak up. Maybe if you want to wait, take extra time around it. Doesn't mean you can't sign it, but it needs more care, more attention, more curiosity, more understanding.

26:28Lyssia Katan I'm glad you're making this clarification because I think people really have demonized it for so long that it's it's scary when it comes around, especially in the in the astrological world for anyone who, like me, is just dabbling and doesn't even understand what we don't understand. It's this fear. And often fear comes from not knowing.

26:48Guest And you know, it's interesting. Uh another thing that comes up a lot that we hear is like eclipses, right? It's like, oh, it's eclipse season, right? And like that's another big one. And we're in eclipse season as we're recording this. So by the time this comes out, we'll no longer be. But in the process of recording this, we're in eclipse season. Um, and it's a really energetic like surge. So like a lot of people feel like really energized, really tired. You know, there's a lot, there's a lot of change going on. Eclipses tend to impact like world politics and you know, big global moments. And so they, if we think about, you know, our ancestors, well, yeah, if you saw the sun turn black for

27:24Guest a little while and everything go quiet, of course you're gonna be like, this is a bad omen, right? This is horrible. Of course. Be terrified. But as yes, wouldn't you? Like, you don't, we don't have the tools to our disposal to understand like what is happening. But as we have a greater understanding of like astronomical events, right? Or or just the world or science in general, we begin to be like, oh, okay. So eclipses are naturally occurring. They happen about four times a year in some capacity, sometimes six times a year, depending on the year. And so they're not irregular, right? But maybe they are uh there is something really important about them, right? They are like that momentary, like,

28:04Guest oh, everything goes dark. So maybe like we also need to go dark for a minute. So we just had an eclipse the other day uh prior to recording this. That's why I'm bringing this up. Um, but yeah, you know, and sometimes people are like, don't go into the baleful rays or the baneful rays of the of the eclipse, meaning like, oh, don't don't let the eclipse light touch you. And it's like, okay, well, if that's what you believe, then that's what you believe. But personally, it's just a part of life.

28:29Lyssia Katan Yeah, I mean, I I have an interesting relationship with eclipses because I uh on my um the last time that it was a solar eclipse, correct, where the moon goes over the sun. That day I ruptured my Achilles, which is so rare for someone my age and my gender. It was like very, very rare. And then like two years later, I had a lunar eclipse on my birthday, on the eve of my birthday, and I was already recovered by then. So it's like I always have like such an interesting um relationship with them, and I never really understood them. So you telling me a little bit about this is is helpful.

29:05Guest Yeah, it's interesting that you ruptured your Achilles. I just want to throw this out there to you. Um, Aquarius rules the knees and ankles and legs in astrology, and Saturn rules uh the bones and tendons. And so it's really interesting to me. What eclipse was it? Now I'm curious.

29:23Lyssia Katan Uh April 2024. April 8th, 2024.

29:28Guest Okay. I bet you were in your exact Saturn return around that time. I'm gonna look real quick because I am very curious. It's kind of scary.

29:40Lyssia Katan Can you answer the question? No doctor has been able to like answer for me. It was so rare. Nobody had a reason or an explanation.

29:48Guest It was like April 9th, wasn't it? April 10th? April 8th, 9th, something like that. I think it was the 8th.

29:53Guest The day that that happened. Um, yeah, Mars, the planet of action, was next to Saturn, the planet of obstacle, on your Saturn in your first house. So yeah, it makes sense that you would. And how old were you? You were 30. No, you were not 30 yet. You were 29. So it was a moon year. Sorry, I'm gonna like really go into like astrology jargon. So go into it. I want to hear. It was a moon year, so the eclipse ruled by Mars, Mars being active on your Saturn. Yeah, this makes sense to me, actually, that you would end up with an injury or like something like that would happen to you that probably in some ways changed the course of how you relate to your body more than anything else. And how you felt

30:39Guest resourced in your body too. Oh, this is fascinating. And it is funny. Um, does it still bother you? A little bit here and there. A little bit here and there. Were you like moving something when you I was playing tennis? Oh, yeah, okay. I was like, yeah, like fast movement. Interesting. Yeah. I mean, I can show I'll just show you quickly on the chart so you can see what I'm talking about. So, like, here's your Saturn in your chart. Okay. This is the moment of the eclipse. So here's the eclipse, sun, and moon, right?

31:07Guest Yeah.

31:08Guest Um, Saturn on your chart, here's Mars, and here's Saturn on your Saturn in the first house. So they're like next to it. And so that's sort of like you were in your Saturn return. So actually, this was part of your Saturn return story. Um, some people have all different things happen in their Saturn returns. That's another one that gets demonized a lot that we hear about. And for you, yeah. And Pisces actually rules the feet. So you have like this connection to the, you know, Aquarius with the ankles and then Pisces to the feet, and then Mars like moving and like turning the wrong way. Yeah. So I'm not surprised.

31:43Lyssia Katan Wow. Very cool. I mean, it it sounds like this goes so much more in depth than than we really, most of us really know, like the mass media really understands. How can understanding our charts help us in ways that uh unexpected ways, like you just said, like avoiding injury or creating a space that uh energizes us or fuels us, or or even knowing like when to rest and when to move and when to make big decisions.

32:14Guest So I think it goes back to what I was saying about astrology being anticipatory, right? So some of the things I like to do when people are new to astrology is I'm like, okay, well, why don't you follow a cycle? Pick pick a planet. Usually I usually uh recommend the moon because it moves so quickly. It moves signs every two, two and a half days, three days. And I will ask them for a month because that'll be a full cycle, right? Note how you feel and what went on every time the moon changed signs. So, like right now, as we're recording this, the moon is in Virgo, actually. And right when this comes out, uh, we'll be getting ready to do a new moon in Virgo. So there's a whole cycle, right? We're

32:52Guest recording this in a moon in Virgo, and it's gonna come out near a new moon in Virgo. Uh, so there's one cycle. So they're they're connected. But I will usually tell people like, just record how you feel. You know, maybe you can start to anticipate, okay, every time the moon is in Leo, I feel playful, or every time the moon is in Libra, I feel sab, right? And then you can kind of create your own interpretations to your own cycles and begin to make your own anticipations. Uh, that's usually how I teach people to start with astrology. When it comes to utilizing it for like design or for space in particular, I think it's always helpful to understand maybe different parts of your chart to make it

33:35Guest easier for yourself. So I mentioned the moon being our safety. Well, that's gonna be like our core comfort needs, right? So that would be a place I would start when looking at designing a space for yourself is like, well, what's your moon sign? What does it need? What do you need? Right. Venus is our aesthetic, oftentimes, or connected to our aesthetic, also what we value. So it's where we're gonna put our money because we value it, right? Or our resources because we value it. Um, you know, the fourth house in astrology rules home. So I usually tell people look at like what sign is on that house, right? What's the ruler of that house? So uh like my fourth house is ruled by Virgo, actually. And

34:14Guest so, you know, the way I take care of my home is very different than maybe how I like live my life. Um I'm a clean freak at home. I'm like constantly cleaning, but you know, and so like that comes up for me. Um, and then, and then you can layer in additional pieces to this. So, like if you're partnered, you know, that's where the descendant comes in, right? Or the eighth house, because these are like shared things. So like your partner's interests in design can also be reflected in your own chart too.

34:40Lyssia Katan I see. And what about the elements? Because astrology breaks down um everyone into four elements the fire, earth, air, and water. Um, how does that impact how someone may want to live in their space?

34:53Guest Yeah, I think that's a really great question. Um so elements can help us maybe determine sometimes the way we move through space or colors that we might enjoy. Um now again, I'm not gonna like utilize a sun sign at that point. I'm gonna look at like what's the dominant element in your chart. So like you can take a distribution and be like, okay, maybe you predominantly in your chart have more planets in earth signs. And then, you know, that would impact maybe more of the color palette or style. Because I hear a lot of people are like, well, I'm a, you know, I'm uh an Aries, but I like blue, right? And Aries always like are supposed to like red. I'm like, well, what else is in your chart? Do

35:36Guest you have a lot of Pisces? You know, that might determine why you're more watery overall. Uh actually, you have a fair amount of water in your chart. So I would probably say that you like like cooler tones, darker tones sometimes. Tons of blue.

35:50Lyssia Katan Tons of blue. This podcast, the main color is blue.

35:54Guest It's blue, right? Um, and then your secondary element is earth. So then there's like earthy neutrals that go blue and eyes. There you go. So immediately I'm like, oh, okay, so I can start to create a color palette just from the elemental distribution of your own chart and then go from there. I have like um, I'm gonna show you an example of like a client that I worked with in in France. Um, I created like like a just like a curated inspiration for her, but like, you know, you create like I created a color palette based on her elemental distribution. Through this, you would see, you know, like here's her chart, right? And then like what was the strongest modality? Fixed, which there are three

36:39Guest modalities in astrology, which we may not get here, but fixed is mostly about like definition of space, is how I like to look at that in someone's chart. You know, she had strong moon, watery moon energy. Eventually, as you go through this, you'll see that like I ended up segmenting her her space based on the elements and then like creating habitats or or or definitions of that space based on color, texture, and like angles, essentially, because of the elemental distribution in her chart.

37:11Lyssia Katan Do you think that often people feel discomfort because they're living out of alignment with how they're supposed to be, according to their chart?

37:19Guest I don't think people truly live necessarily out of alignment with their charts, but I do because I don't. I think it's it's you, it's who you are, it's a part of your experience and your being. Um to say that you live out of alignment with it means that you don't understand who you are. And I don't think that that's fair, right? To say that. Because I think a lot of us have a pretty decent understanding in who we are. I think our spaces maybe we get them, and this happens because of trends and, you know, um, like what society is deeming correct or what we should be focusing on. So, you know, people curate and design their spaces based on like what's popular, not necessarily what they like. And

38:01Guest I think that becomes the problem more than anything else. And to me, you can utilize your chart as a way of maybe honing in a little bit more on what you like and getting more clear on like what's important to you. So an example of this was I had a client who came to me who had a lot of Scorpio in her chart. And something that I noticed was that she was trying to fit her style into the millennial gray beige box, right? It was like all like a white box. And um, and I asked her, I was like, Do you own a lot of items that you've inherited from people over the years or like from family or you know, ancestral pieces? Because a Scorpio has a really strong connection to like uh inherited goods. And

38:46Guest she did. And so we started to curate a space based on these inherited, like focal, like making that the focal piece of each room as like an inherited piece, and then using that as like color inspiration and design inspiration. So it's not even just using the elements for color, but also looking at some of the attributes and going, oh, well, you might have a lot of this, so let's do that and use that as like a way to make the space feel more like you. I do a lot of trend forecasting based on astrology too. Um, and so for interiors, one of the big trends that I saw um last year coming into this year was maximalism taking control and becoming a really big deal. And I attributed that partly to Jupiter,

39:29Guest the planet of expansion and growth, moving into Leo, this sign of like fire maximalism. It's the sun, it's bold, it's brilliant, it's it's a lot, right? And also the North Node moving into Aquarius, which is very eclectic. And so I was like, oh, I think maximalism is gonna have a peak. It's gonna like really hit this momentum again. Uh, and I felt that both in fashion and interiors, and that has proven to be true. Another trend that I felt was that we were gonna get away from trends and that people were going to want to put their personality back into their space and that things will no longer feel as homogenized as they as they have been, partly because of the transits I just mentioned, but

40:08Guest also Uranus and Gemini and really adding some like whimsy and some ethereal energy and some playfulness back into our homes, right? We need to romanticize our homes again. And I think um, I think we're getting there.

40:22Lyssia Katan I can actually say that in the tile industry, that's very accurate right now. We're seeing a lot of people moving towards handmade um uh zonish tiles, which are yeah, artisanal, very different, very unique. Um, also a lot of our patterns are cement tile patterns that are not as um, I would say, easily digestible for the everyday person. For example, like uh very whimsical shapes or uh dog faces. People are loving those right now. When four, four years ago they loved a lot of the geometric, four or five years ago, geometric shapes and very um let's keep it safe. And now it's very much like, I don't care about keeping it safe. I want to show my personality. Exactly. The colors that are flying

41:03Lyssia Katan off the shelves are just like the most bold. They would give 2016 interior designers a hard. A run for the money. Truly.

41:09Guest Oh my god, you know what's funny is I keep thinking about, I see this trend around people being like maxing, right? Like we're nonamaxing, we're this maxing, we're that maxing. I'm like, that's all maximalism, right? People are trying to take things to the nth degree. And I think it's just a response to the homogenized AI generated everything, right? People want, they want to see handmade. The new luxury is artisanal, right? It's it's slowing down. It's being able, if you are privileged enough to slow down, then that is a luxury, right? And so you're seeing that happen a lot in the design. Um, also, it's really gonna say something to you about you working in tile that I think is really fascinating.

41:46Guest Is tile is often used in wet spaces. You have uh a large amount of water and it is of the earth because it is often like clay, concrete, terracotta, right? And you the second most dominant element in your chart is earth. So I'm right where I need to be. No, sometimes we're really pulled uh subconsciously when you were talking about like, do we live in alignment? You naturally pull towards, even if you didn't want to, to a specific medium or or um a material that actually aligns with your own chart.

42:15Lyssia Katan So I would like to go through all 12 signs and get your one best tip for each, because not everyone is a Virgo listening to this episode. Shocking. Although there are a lot of Virgos, I will say it. Anyway, I want to go through all 12 signs and um and really get the elements and and and your best tip for anyone listening.

42:33Guest Yeah, absolutely. Let's go.

42:34Lyssia Katan So starting with Aries, what does an Aries home need?

42:38Guest So Aries is the first sign of the zodiac. It is an initiator and it is bold. So immediately I'm like, okay, from a design perspective, we need constant refreshes, right? Because we get bored. We need to see things change. I I feel like bolder colors come up a lot for my Aries dominant clients, same thing with angular designs. There's something about having a lot of like um sharp edges, and it makes sense because their ruler is Mars, and Mars actually rules sharp objects. So there's a really strong relationship to that. And then the other thing I notice about almost all fire signs, so that would be Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius, is a need for a lot of natural light. They love a like light-drenching

43:22Guest places, and lighting becomes extremely important to them. So Aries, I would probably say lighting.

43:28Lyssia Katan And just to clarify, when we're talking about these signs in general, we're looking at the the sun sign.

43:33Guest Yep, that's fine. I mean, you how however people want to interpret this, I'm gonna talk about it from placements because it's going to be like I have an uh a Venus in Aries, and I can tell in Venus is my aesthetic, my taste, right? My design sense, like even just the way I dress in general, is like I love really bold colors, but my home is not always that way. So we can start to make some of that distinction. So I will talk. About it from a placement perspective. But if people are like, I'm an Aries son, great, then that can be how you can interpret this.

44:06Lyssia Katan Next up, how should a Leo style their space?

44:09Guest Okay, so we kind of touched on this with like the Jupiter and Leo. But Leo to me is um because it is very maximalist, it's really playful. So even if you yourself are not a maximalist, there's something about like art and Leo really loving like really nice art, really good art, their quality, their luxury. So putting your your, I guess, money where your taste is sometimes might be helpful with Leo. Um, and I would say maybe not like really looking at quality is really important for Leo too. It's a fixed sign. So you might like really define spaces as a Leo versus like things being very loosey-goosey. You know, if you're a Gemini, maybe you're moving your furniture around a lot. Leo doesn't want

44:57Guest that. They're like, no, this is actually where the couch belongs. They don't like open, open, open, uh, um, open concept spaces. They may not. I mean, maybe they would like it from the light perspective, like when things have like a lot of light. Um, I've worked with some clients who are Leo who do like having like a separate dining room from their kitchen, right? And for that reason, because it's like they're big entertainers, right? Leo's a love to entertain. So it's like, oh, well, I can make a mess in the kitchen and then be able to leave that behind and you know, not worry about it until the party's done. Very cool.

45:30Lyssia Katan What about Sagittarius? What's the interior design move for Sagittarius?

45:35Guest Sagittarius is a very boho. Um, they love to travel. So anything that brings in like a lot of like travel inspiration or their education inspiration, you'll find that in their homes. So, you know, I don't I can't tell you how many times they've been in a uh a Sagittarius ruled house, and there's been like, I don't know, like images of like Paris or London or like India, you know, and I'm like, oh, of course, like you're you're a wanderlust. You want to go to these places, you're you're putting your home in a place that isn't here. Um, or sometimes, you know, a maybe more elevated version of like what was Pier One imports, right? Like that kind of like very well-traveled, well-versed kind of

46:16Guest experience. But um, Sagittarius also rules reaching beyond the horizon, so literal horizon lines. So eyesight, like what they can see at the horizon line is very important for them. So sometimes they like knowing that they're that things feel more expansive or open. So they're definitely more open concept than let's say like a Leo.

46:37Lyssia Katan All right, moving into Earth signs. Um, what does a Taurus want in their home? Um to never leave it. Tauruses are I thought that was cancer.

46:48Guest Both of them. They are both home bodies. They, I would say both Cancer and Taurus are the major homebodies of the zodiac. Um, Taurus is very luxurious, but like quiet luxury, unlike Leo, which is a bit more loud. Um, you will notice in a Taurus's home texture. They love soft material, soft texture, soft blankets, good bedding. Oh my God. I have friends who are Tauruses and they love to talk to me about bedding all the time. And, you know, natural materials. And this is true for all earth signs, though, is that there's a really strong emphasis on natural materials. So maybe as a Virgo, you would understand that as well. Like you might really love like a good cotton, a good linen, a good hemp,

47:31Guest a good wool of something.

47:33Lyssia Katan Love, love. And and Virgo is actually next um, as this episode is going to be released on my birthday as a Virgo. Uh, what is your biggest tip? I mean, I do love natural. You're very spot on with that. I love linen. I love, I love cotton, but what what else would you recommend besides organization? Virgo, I always say like refinement, right?

47:55Guest It's always about the details for Virgo. So it's it's putting in that extra bit that really elevates a space or makes it different, or um, maybe even less is more sometimes for Virgo too. So like uh simplicity, clean aesthetic. Doesn't necessarily mean everything has to be like gray or white or beige, um, because they're very they can be very color forward, but there is like this very soft, they're immutable. So very soft, uh, refined, simple, I guess, design style, I would say. I I love Japan and mid-century modern for Virgo, to be honest.

48:30Lyssia Katan Okay. Noted. How should a Capricorn set up their space?

48:33Guest So Capricorns love structure more than anything else. Okay. Uh, the thing I notice a lot about Capricorn is there's a slight traditionalism to the Capricorn aesthetic. And it doesn't necessarily mean that they like like a traditional house, but there is something about like this has utility or it has a purpose. And so they like pieces of furniture or design styles that emphasize the purpose of something. Um, I would say like spruce greens, naties, blacks, grays are great colors for Capricorns, or maybe taking something that is old and making it feel new again because Capricorn rules time. And so, like this timelessness, that sense of renovation, and really looking at the bones of a property

49:17Guest feels very Capricorn to me. Cool.

49:19Lyssia Katan It's like I'm I'm putting people I know in their signs kind of in in these categories as we speak. I love it. What does a Gemini need at home?

49:28Guest Uh variety. Um, I love when I work with Gemini clients because it's always about flexibility, whimsy, really pulling on uh things having like unlike Capricorn, who's like this thing serves this purpose, Gemini is like, this one thing serves seven purposes, right? Like this couch is also gonna be my guest bed, is also gonna be this thing. And you know, but um, nothing too oversized. They want things that they can pick up and move around because they might move their spaces around a lot to have that sense of variety and flexibility. And I love um modular or putting things on wheels sometimes for Geminis just to make it easier for them.

50:05Lyssia Katan It's very accurate. My mom's a Gemini and she loves to move things around. Her coffee table's on wheels, it just goes everywhere. I see on wheels. It's very accurate. So Libra, ruled by beauty.

50:15Guest What is your tip for a Libra's home? Libra to me is like the quintessential Paris apartment. Okay. Like you have like the really beautiful detail. It's ornate, but it's not overwhelming and it's like it's light, it's bright, it's airy, it still has character. Um, you know, it's softer colors, everything is balanced again, harmonious, maybe like fresh flowers, really adding in like that natural element into a space, light woods, also kind of being like a good color or like material. They don't like anything that's too void of personality, right? Um, and because they are constantly balancing themselves internally, right? Like they're thinking about the scales, the weight of things, then visual

51:00Guest weight becomes really important. Proportion is really big to a Libra.

51:04Lyssia Katan Interesting. Okay. So in in terms of like art, they're hanging or like the size of their chairs versus their table.

51:12Guest Yes, absolutely. Like nothing can overwhelm the other unless they really want something intentionally out of proportion. Right. Like I'm looking behind you right now, and like you're a Libra moon and like you have the symmetry of the artwork. Although the artwork is different, there's, you know, again, it's that balance. Like you've created this harmonious balance. Same thing. You you balance plants on either side of your of your mantle there. So I'm like, yo, yeah. So we're we've created symmetry, we created harmony in that, which is very Libra.

51:40Lyssia Katan And I'm actually having a really hard time swapping out this one because one of Feng Shui masters that I interviewed, she said that dead plants are not good for feng shui or dried plants. And I'm like having the hardest time trying to find a replacement for this one because I love it so much. It's like such a great balance. But stay tuned. That is gonna move at some point. Aquarius. How should an Aquarius dial their space?

52:03Guest Aquarius is really interesting because they are eclectic. Um, there was a trend called, let me think about this. I wrote about this a while ago, shambolism. Have you heard about this? Um, okay. So basically it's like throwing things together and seeing how they stick, right? And and sometimes Aquarius has that sort of vibe and it's like it shouldn't work together, but it does, right? When you look around a space. Um, they're also very early adopters. So you'll see them on the cutting edge of certain trends or even like technological advancements within the home, and they're already like playing with it. My husband has an Aquarius placement in his chart. And let me tell you, the way that boy

52:40Guest loves like smart devices is insane to me. Um, but it but it's true. And so, you know, it is very much that that sort of um, and maybe things that are a little bit more obscure or like things that people haven't heard of feels very Aquarius to me too. It's very like underground. They found like this niche artist in this one place, and you know, no one else can get that piece of art but them.

53:01Lyssia Katan It's funny because like the smart fridge and the smart oven and the smart sometimes for like for some people it can be a little overwhelming. Like, I don't, I don't need my my my fridge to talk to me. But some people love that and they want that in their home.

53:14Guest I know. And I would say because Aquarius rules electricity, like as a as like a an energy or whatever, um, I'm gonna probably double down on lighting for them in some ways too, and like really about like the mood lighting overall. And like how mo how lighting defines a space, right? Because Aquarius is also a fixed sign. So even if they don't mind to change things up a little bit, they still like a strong definition of space.

53:41Lyssia Katan Okay. All right. I I see that. Like they like to know that like this is the bedroom, lighting for the bedroom, this is the kitchen, et cetera.

53:49Guest And okay, yeah, and they'll have moods for each room.

53:51Lyssia Katan What about a cancer? Because you said cancer is one of the most like at-home homebody signs.

53:57Guest Yes. Um, nostalgia really feels like cancer to me. And it can be, and you know, it's funny. I will say, unfortunately, sometimes the trope of like the coastal home can be true for cancer. And it's not always true, but sometimes it can be. There's always like a seashell somewhere, you know, or like there's always like this knot, like sea glass, or like this soft blue a knot, you know. Um, yes, like a knot, something, right? It's it's sometimes like palm beach. But the cancer actually is the sign that rules like the home and real estate. So I find that for them, spaces are where they go to retreat and to recover. Um, oddly, bathrooms, I think, are really important to cancers, and kitchens are

54:43Guest really important to cancers. And I can tell you, as a cancer rising, I care a lot about my kitchen. Okay. Like I spend a lot of time in there. I cook a lot, I enjoy it. It brings me so much joy. And I care about how it is designed in the flow of the kitchen. And because all I would say this is true for all water signs, flow of space feels really important. Um, I would probably say the last thing for cancer could be like maybe Art Nouveau sometimes could be a nice because it's sort of nostalgic. It's like a little older Victorian homes also kind of playing on that Capricorn cancer axis. Um yeah, I don't know. There's so many ways I could spin cancer as an energy. And I'm trying to think like

55:28Guest they nest really well. So if you know anyone who's a cancer, they they just really know how to, they really understand their design sense in their home, usually. What about a Scorpio? Also a water sign, which most people don't know, right? Yeah, it's true. They're fixed water. So, you know, you have to again, we go back to this idea of like um like the modality of something. That's the mode of it. And so water, like what is stagnant water, right? Like that's it's like icy in some ways. And so there's always something going on below the surface. I find Scorpios do have a tendency towards like dark, right? Like dark woods, dark colors, but there's also like drama really is what it comes down to,

56:06Guest high contrast. So your Venus is in Scorpio, and like I'm looking again, your mantle is really dark and then off the white wall, right? It's like this high contrast thing that's going on that I see a lot in Scorpio homes. The other thing I would say too is Scorpios are the sign of transformation. They are the sign that I have that comes to me the most that wants to make a change but doesn't know how.

56:33Guest Interesting.

56:33Guest And they're always yes, they're always like, I am tired of this. I do want to change, but I don't know what to do to make that happen. Um, there's sometimes a witchy element to Scorpio too, I won't lie. You know, they always have a little bit of like that witchy element in their home. And they do like their privacy. So one thing that I always recommend with Scorpios is if you're in an open concept space, like a studio, still find a way to make your bedroom section super private. If you have guests over, keep the bedroom door closed because it's about intimacy. And they are really good about creating intimate spaces. So, like a conversation corner, a reading nook. These are very Scorpio to me.

57:17Lyssia Katan It's funny you say the witchy, because I have these like fun little um candlesticks that I can only imagine they're from like who knows when. And it's like they're kind of have like a witchy vibe to them of like let's light them and walk around.

57:29Guest Inherited vintage pieces, right? That's what I was saying earlier about Scorpio.

57:33Lyssia Katan Love, love my vintage. And finally, last but certainly not least, how should a Pisces set up their space as one yourself?

57:42Guest Yeah, I will say um Pisces is definitely an enigma. Sensuality becomes really important, I think, to a Pisces. Uh kind of similar to Gemini. They like some shifting, some changing, some moving around. But the thing I notice a lot about my Pisces clients is it's not just necessarily how something looks, but how it feels and smells overall. So like they're really sensitive to like the type of room fragrance you make. I um I did a project for a design network. And for the family that we that we shot or filmed for, I created a custom room fragrance because one of them was a Pisces. And they were like, oh, this really makes the room feel like home to me. Like they were really into the fragrance almost

58:27Guest more than they were the design in some way, because it like added this additional element overall. Um, and I would definitely say that they are more eclectic than a lot of the other signs, too, kind of similar to Aquarius because they sit next to each other in the zodiac. They kind of have that um that overlap. But Pisces is more artistic, so very artisanal. Pisces is very like handmade, right? It's like, you know, you talked about the tiles. Like I would totally redo a bathroom in like total full handmade, beautiful artisanal tiles.

58:58Lyssia Katan Yeah. And have a scent to go along with it.

59:01Guest Absolutely. I'm already like, yeah, sandalwood, ood, like what would I put in this bathroom? Yeah. So good. Yeah. Yeah.

59:08Lyssia Katan Wow. That's very cool. That like each sign has its own things that that really pull it and make it feel so much more at home. And and sometimes, like you said, blue, for example, I'm looking around my house, I have tons of blue. And so it it sometimes we don't even realize it why we're being pulled towards something.

59:26Guest It's true. And so it shows up pretty clearly usually in people's charts.

59:29Lyssia Katan So across all 12 signs, is there something that or a design principle that works for everyone across the board?

59:36Guest I'm gonna say no, actually. Because I think um I think we can force things to work, you know, but like your unique taste is your unique taste, and that's built into not just your chart, but who you are as a person and how you function and also your experiences in this world, right? Like I know Pisces who really love like that palm beach coastal cottage aesthetic. That is not my vibe at all. Like, uh like not even a little bit. But um I'm not sure that there is one size fits all, and I think that's true for anyone who does design, regardless if you use astrology or not, right? Like you've worked with clients, someone's taste is their taste through and through.

1:00:16Lyssia Katan And very often you don't they don't even know why they're drawn to something so intensely, but they know they want that tile and they will match every paint color, every hardware to that tile because they they're so connected to it. And and we don't know why sometimes. Yeah. So if a listener could change one thing in their home this week to feel more in tune with who they are, color, an object, a placement, what would you tell them to do? Or where would you tell them to start?

1:00:43Guest I would say start with your moon sign because it's your again, it's that safety, that core, that kind of point of comfort, and and maybe put something in your home that relates to the element of that moon sign. So we went through a lot of the elements, right? We went through the signs. You know, if your moon is in Taurus, maybe add something that feels more like literally physically comfortable. If your moon is in Scorpio, you know, maybe you you place some object importance on like an inherited piece or a vintage piece, you know, we're moon in Libra. If you have a moon in Libra, maybe focus on like where you can add more balance into your space. So if you're gonna use your chart, start with

1:01:20Guest the moon. Space is feeling and the moon is feeling, I think is how I want to put that.

1:01:24Lyssia Katan That's good advice because many times anyone who has no uh has never really dived deep into their signs, it can be really overwhelming.

1:01:34Guest Mm-hmm. It is.

1:01:35Lyssia Katan So you do trend forecasting, I have to ask. What is coming? What's the energy of the year? What should we pay attention to?

1:01:42Guest Um, it's so funny that you asked this. I was like just looking through some of my trend forecasts. So I'm I'm gonna peek over because I was I was already starting to put together some stuff. So I think I mentioned that I had looked at um like maximalism as like a as like a trend that we would see in color and texture. I feel like this will continue. Maximalism will continue. Animal print embossed leather is something else that we'll see, or like embossing overall is something that we're gonna see. Again, we talked about artisanal. We're gonna see more artisanal things coming forward. Um, I wouldn't be surprised if we see more metallics coming up too. So whether it's like hints of metallics in

1:02:19Guest a um in a tile or like in a threading or something along those lines. Uh, cerulean and teal are some colors that I think will be really big. And then um unusual pairings in color. And I'm starting to see this already. So, what I mean by that is like people are talking about like tomato and grape together, right? And like I, you know, there's a lot of that, or like ice blue and burgundy. So there's these colors that actually work really well together. And a lot of this has to do with the north node, which is this planet of or this um mathematical point of like hunger. Okay, it's kind of like cultural direction, um, maybe sometimes seen as like purpose. The north node is now an Aquarius, and Aquarius,

1:03:02Guest as we talked about, is a little unusual. So it's bringing very unusual things together and making them feel more aesthetic or more beautiful. Um, I do think we will see color drenching continue as like a big trend, too. And then I actually talked about um vintage tile and art. We're gonna see a lot of tile overall as a material, I think, like take a lot of precedence. People might start doing tile in like foyers or like even in their living rooms versus hardwood, engineered wood, or laminate because it can be a low cost, low maintenance sort of, I mean, depending on what tile you pick. Yeah, it could be very high cost, high maintenance. Um, but you know, it can be an alternative. Um, and I think

1:03:47Guest like in particular, uh, you know, cultures, there's a lot of influence. So like a brand that I thought was really gonna have a big year this year was Adidas. Um, and that has actually proven to be true. And one of the things I cited behind that was uh Bad Bunny. And the reason for this is because Bad Bunny was going through his Saturn return. And this is before I knew he was doing the Super Bowl. Okay. And then come to find out he did the Super Bowl, and then he had all these collaborations and then like all these personal, like particular design collabs with Adidas that kind of came, um, came forward. And the reason why I'm bringing this up is because there's that kind of Caribbean influence,

1:04:26Guest even just like in color, that we're gonna see like a lot of like um, or even like South American or like um like Puerto Rico or any of that sort of Central American, we're gonna see a lot of this kind of come up. And then in Eastern astrology, which I don't necessarily practice, but I do keep uh an eye on. So like Chinese or Japanese or um, it is the year of the fire horse, right? So there's something around like horse motifs, Eastern influenced Japanese art really coming forward. I saw this a lot. Um, like I think a lot about in fashion, there was this whole trend around like cowboy and like Western wear for a while, right? Which is very embossed and embellished, but also very like horse adjacent.

1:05:11Guest So you can start to see how some of these things would come up. And I actually wouldn't be surprised if there's maybe even a slight Western influence that starts to influence because interiors are usually a few years behind fashion in terms of like trends. And it's just the nature of like how long things take. And I mean, you know this, you work in the industry. So I wouldn't be surprised if Western kind of infiltrates interiors a little bit here and there too.

1:05:32Lyssia Katan And how long do each of these last? Like you're saying it's a trend. Is it a year? Is it a few years?

1:05:37Guest Does it depend on the industry? I think it depends on the industry. I think it depends on the transit that I'm looking at. So one of the things that I use a lot for color um analysis for the year is Jupiter, because it takes one year in one sign. Okay. And I have been able to correlate since 2017 the Pantone color of the year in relation. To the sign that Jupiter is in, and it has I'm either like on the money or close, or the color is associated to that sign in some way. Like, for example, and I did not like this choice. Uh, the white, obviously, this year was Pantone's color of the year. Jupiter is in cancer or was in Cancer at the point of that choice. Cancer is the moon, one of the colors

1:06:22Guest of the moon is cream and white. Wow. Okay. Yes. The year before that was why am I blinking? What was the year of the case? Mocha moose? It was Mocha Moose, yes. Mocha Moose. So and and they called it the versatile, dynamic, neutral. Okay. And which I thought was really interesting. And Jupiter was in Gemini, which is all about dynamicism and versatility. The year before that, it was like a rose color, right? Was like a salmon of some salmon-y pink, yeah. Yep. Uh Jupiter was in Taurus, ruled by Venus. Venus is connected to pink. Year before that, it was a Viva Magenta, right? Is that true? I think so. Yeah. Something like that. Jupiter was in Aries and Magenta being connected back to Mars and

1:07:09Guest Aries. So like I can keep going. But like Jupiter, you can keep like there was Periwinkle was a color one year. That was Jupiter and Pisces. Um, we had two colors in 2021, I think it was. It was um yellow and gray were basically the colors. And that was Jupiter and Aquarius, and Saturn rules gray and Aquarius rules yellow. The year before that, 2020, was um classic Navy and Jupiter was in Capricorn, and Capricorn's connected to Navy.

1:07:38Lyssia Katan Wow. And what is it next year? Let's let's do some trend forecasting here. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

1:07:42Guest So that's the thing. It's like, so right now Jupiter is in Leo. So when we start 2027, it'll be in Leo. So there's there's a couple ways this could go. However, we also have to think about halfway through the year, Jupiter will enter Virgo. So there's a there's a couple ways that this can go. One is we might go something in the color of like the sun, oranges, golds, ambers, or we might go something regal, right? We might look at like deep purples or like a like a color that's very connected to like royalty. However, um, or like deep indigos, um, with Jupiter coming up in Virgo, there might be an influence of like an earthy tone that might come in as well, or something that's, you know, around

1:08:26Guest that lens. Although I'm gonna go with probably it's gonna end up being a bolder choice, especially in reaction to the white that was picked this past year. I think sp particularly Pam Tone is gonna pick like a bolder color choice as a result.

1:08:40Lyssia Katan We're gonna circle back when it comes out and really

1:08:45Lyssia Katan say.

1:08:46Guest Yeah. I mean, I like I said, I've been I've been looking at Jupiter transits for the last 12 year 12 years, maybe even longer, um, to see how they correlate. And they have there's always been an association of some sort.

1:08:56Lyssia Katan Wow. So cool. I'm excited to look ahead and and look back on this episode and and see. So if a listener forgets everything we spoke about except for one thing or one idea from this conversation, what would you want it to be?

1:09:10Guest I want people to understand, I think two things. Um, astrology is not a scary magical force that can harm you. I think that's one. Um, I think too, the biggest thing I always tell people is you have autonomy over your life. So astrology happens with you, not necessarily to you. So it's important for you to understand that you have agency. You have at the end of the day, you have free will around your choices. So if you read something and you're like, oh my God, that sounds horrible. And I'm terrified of that, make different decisions.

1:09:45Lyssia Katan Right. And and people often blame, like, oh, I'm a Virgo, oh, I'm a Capricorn. Like, this is that like there's no reason to blame your personality, your choices, your consequences in life based on your sign.

1:09:56Guest No, I'm not Ethan. No, it's you. It's true. It's who you are. Exactly. Exactly. You can make different choices. But yes, I think um, I think it's important for people to understand that astrology happens with you. So if you really want to, if you see something, it's like it's the luckiest day of the year, okay, then work with it, right? If that's the case and astrology is happening with you, then do something with it. That's really smart.

1:10:16Lyssia Katan At least get out of the house and allow that opportunity to find you. Yes.

1:10:19Guest It's not going to just knock on your door. I mean, maybe it will, but I don't think it will.

1:10:22Lyssia Katan Perhaps. Um, so I would love to let everyone know like, how can everyone find your work and how can they follow you? You said there's a book coming out. I would love to hear about your book. Like, let's hear more about that.

1:10:35Guest Okay. Oh, you're so wonderful. So um, you can find me. My website is pirata.co. Um, on there, I write horoscopes for every new and full moon. So you can always read those. You can sign up for my newsletter there. I'm also on Substack, um, Musings and Trans. Beautiful Substack. Thank you. The Substack is where I do a lot of intersection between design, astrology, fashion, interiors, trend forecasting. Um, it's a place where I can be really creative with it. I did a whole deep dive into the astrology of denim and like as a material, um, and then linking it back to like gap ads and Calvin Klein ads and American Eagle ads. And it was like really, again, I'm a really big into history. So, like if

1:11:18Guest you're ever interested in that, I also help people curate like their own wardrobe based on their uh their charts. Also, same thing through Substack. It's very easy to see that there. Um, on Instagram, I am AP underscore astrology. And then I'm trying to think, I think on YouTube, it's just my first and last name. I haven't posted a lot there, but that might change. The book I wrote, um, I've actually written two books. One is looking for a new home, but that was a fashion and astrology book. So how to like style your chart or how to style your stuff with your chart. But the other book that's coming out in spring of 2027 is how to live intentionally with astrology every single day. So it's called

1:11:58Guest Cosmic Reflections, and it provides you opportunity to interpret the chart in your own way. It poses questions, it gives you poems, it gives you prompts, it gives you visualizations and opportunities to create vision boards that way you can begin to make your own relationship to your chart and astrology outside of necessarily what's being told to you.

1:12:18Lyssia Katan Amazing. Anthony, we're going to link it all in the show notes. Thank you so much for your time and your wisdom. This has been super eye-opening for me. And I'm so excited for our listeners to hear it and uh for this be to be, you know, the birthday episode too. I was I was so thrilled to have you on the show. So thank you for being here and and thank you for everything you're doing. We love it, and we're gonna continue following it.

1:12:41Guest Thank you so much. Thank you for having me this.

1:12:45Lyssia Katan Thank you so much for spending this time with me on Room to Think. If you enjoyed this episode, feel free to follow the show, subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who you think would really appreciate a more thoughtful approach to their space. You can find more Design Meets Psychology insights on social, in our community, and definitely in upcoming episodes so you can build a better life by design. Thanks again for listening. I'll see you next time.