How Astrology and Spiritual Practices Got Me Through Troubled Times

A guide to the stars and spirituality, Wiji Lacsamana writes a monthly astrology column for Vogue Philippines. This May, the astrologer shares how astrology and other spiritual practices have guided her through difficult moments.

I sit here in a tiny little motel room on a windy afternoon in a city called Joshua Tree.  I put the blinds up, and the commanding presence of all these rocky mountains stare back at me. My editors task me with writing about astrology and spiritual practices during troubled times, and it could not have been the most perfect thing to ask of me at this very moment in my life. How have I found myself here, my body and mind vibrating to the pulse of the frequencies of the high desert, despite everything I have had to go through in my life? 

It always starts with a story that looks back. One must always look back to trace the stories that move forward.

I was always the kid reading the horoscopes beside the comics sections in the newspaper. I adored Wendy the Witch and was obsessed with The Craft when it came out. One summer afternoon, after playing, my cousin and I went over to their house to rest, where I saw her other grandma playing with her cards, but she seemed to be playing it differently. My cousin disappeared into her room, but her grandma asked me to sit beside her. I did. She taught me how to read ‘fortunes’ with just the regular playing card decks. She said it was important to use playing cards that were never used for gambling. 

When I was in high school, I was so excited to find an American magazine that came with free tiny major arcana tarot cards. These were my first ‘real’ tarot cards, as tiny as they were. I would read and reread the meanings of these cards, and consult them about my silly little crushes.

Somewhere along the way, as it always does, life happened. I would still read horoscopes at the very least, but I wasn’t actively participating in the enchantment that consumed me in my younger years. I focused on the usual things adults are supposed to focus on: relationships, getting a job, and being able to pay rent. I tried different kinds of jobs, never lasting more than 3 months in most of them. Fortunately, I was able to become friends with people who inevitably became expanders for me, people who modeled the kind of life I aspired to. They were passionate about what they were doing, were able to actually earn from it, and got to choose the kinds of schedules that seemed appropriate for their life.

The first question I had to tackle was the most basic but the most difficult: what do I actually want to do with my life? But this question was a portal. As soon as I stepped into the threshold of that thought, that deep internal interrogation, I felt the wheels of my life start to move. The actual progress took years of reviews and shifts. But on a November night many years after the question, I entered a very transformative year. A year that I needed unknowingly yet so desperately to happen in my life. (Because life felt so unsure and stagnant before this time.)

I was invited by a friend to celebrate his birthday at a tattoo studio our friends owned. I assumed it would go as it normally would: friends having drinks and food, chatting it up til late. As I entered the tattoo studio, I saw the birthday boy lying on the tattoo bed. He wanted all of us to tattoo his back. We had one real tattoo artist friend there, Dyun, teaching us how to use the machine. As soon as I did the first tattoo line on his back, there was a rush and a big exhale, a revelation: this is what I was supposed to be doing. It was like falling head over heels in love, but this time not with a person, but with a craft. I managed to convince Dyun to take me in as his apprentice. I did so thoroughly and passionately soon after.

As I write this, I reviewed what was happening to my stars that very month it started. The North Node (which represents what we are hungry for) was in Aquarius in my Daily Routines and Service sector: I was hungry for something new, something progressive. The South Node (what we are supposed to shed) was transiting my natal Vesta, an asteroid that represents devotion: I was supposed to shed the old ways in which I did things. Jupiter was in Capricorn, transiting my sector of self-expression and creativity: there was an energy of hard work and expansion in that area of my life. Pluto, the planet of deep transformation, was in the same sector as Jupiter: there was to be a profound experience in terms of creativity. The astrology was, as it always is, on point.

In my practice as a tattoo artist, I have met so many wonderful souls. A lot of them have pointed me towards fascinating directions, often not consciously. I was introduced to Reiki (a Japanese energetic healing modality) by a client who was about to practice at that time. She shortly moved out of the country after, but I often thought of her, especially during the times I felt burnt out by my job. Tattooing is a deeply connective craft; it is inevitable to absorb other people’s energies. I sought out Reiki to ease the heaviness that I felt I was holding. After multiple and very effective sessions, I realized it was perhaps to my advantage to learn Reiki. I could heal myself and my family and friends, and possibly even tattoo clients who were open to it. When the student is ready, the teacher appears, they say. As soon as I declared this intention, my teacher appeared on my Instagram feed.

Reiki has been a wonderful tool and practice I keep on a daily basis. I would do Reiki on tattoos I make, and clients say it has helped them heal faster. Some tattoos I put Reiki on, as I would on a talisman, with the intention that the tattoo will help them heal whatever needs to be healed in their life. Sometimes, with memorial tattoos, I give the client Reiki afterward, so that they can unlock and release all the grief they hold. I jumped back onto reading tarot as well, and even created an oracle deck called The Quiet Mystic with a good tarot reader friend of mine, Chinggay.

The pandemic was a vortex of revelations, as I’m certain it was for you. 

In my questioning about what I was to do then (as tattooing was definitely not an essential job), Reiki appeared as a constant need by my clients. I found myself happy to be in service in the little ways I was able to, and even happier to find more openness towards this healing modality. Alas, healers are mere humans, too. Another alas: healing is rarely linear, often a spiral. Thankfully, we get to choose which side of the spiral to lean towards: upwards or downwards. You can always choose. 

I made a daily habit of walking for hours outside our village during the pandemic, and these walks came with more revelations. My mind, my heart would ask these things during these walks, and it seemed like the universe would answer in little clues. Little clues that are visible if you are looking for them. The intention to study astrology landed on me during these walks. Reiki is like emptying the contents of a stale cup so as to fill it with goodness; tarot is more about the declaration of questions than the answers (the answers are powerful: what you knew deep within you but never trusted), and astrology is getting to the bottom of the questions you always seem to ask, and how do you take these and answer them while moving forward in your life. 

I was always a subscriber to the wisdom of astrology, as you may have gathered from these little stories of mine, but I never intended to be an astrologer. It always seemed so complicated, and I can confirm now that yes, it is! But how marvelously so. I was able to see how beautifully complicated we all are and yet, at our very core, we are the same. We all want to be loved and to love, but in different ways and at different times. Astrology is the main practice that truly helped me commit to a new and better relationship with myself. Astrology helped me give myself more compassion. I was able to get to the bottom of my worries and my patterns, and I forgave myself gently. As soon as I was able to do that, I was able to extend this compassion to others. Not always, I have to admit, but it is a continuing practice I wish to master. 

As I mentally journey back to my adventures with spiritual practices, I am yet again amazed at the synchronicity of it all. How these spiritual practices found me at the most perfect moments in my life. How I met the right people for the right lessons. A vivid example is just a few paragraphs back when I tracked what the planets were doing at that significant moment in my life. Knowing where you are in life is always helpful. Awareness will always anchor us to what is being unfolded. Yes, I wandered through those seasons in my life uncharted, and how interesting the journey has been, but imagine if you could navigate your life more clearly now? What I love most about the time we are in right now is the access to all the practitioners who can help, all the resources available: people helping people from anywhere in the world. 

If you were ever wondering about getting your tarot cards read, or booking that Reiki or astrology session, I always say that they find you always in the most perfect time. If you feel uncertain about it, then perhaps it isn’t time yet. But I always hope you find the thing–whatever it is—that helps keep you afloat and grounded. Afloat during times that you feel like sinking, and grounded when you are at your best. I think this whole trip we call life is about feeling it all and yet finding balance. To be so kind but to never let anyone take advantage of you, to always gaze intently out at the expanse of the sky, but to never forget your presence in this time and land that holds you.

A spiritual practice is not avoidance of the uncomfortable and the unsightly. This is what it does to you: it is a mirror being held up towards you, revealing what you need to really see. And sometimes it is scary and ugly and painful. But necessary. A spiritual practice is about seeing the truths more clearly. Often, the truths rumbled inside you all along, but society has somehow made it a practice for us to doubt our internal wisdom. A spiritual practice does not need to involve a big, elaborate ritual. Often, it is the thing that comes so easily to you, and so you can devote yourself to it more sustainably. A good spiritual practice empowers you: it shows you the difficult truths, but it also shows you how to get out of that pattern. You are the navigator of your life; the good practice will teach you presence. Being here now. 

I do not advocate for blind positivity. What I am advocating for is for everyone to go find a practice that will help you see the truth in the different moments in your life. All these truths ripple and echo into each other. We are wading through difficult waters now, my friends, this is the truth. The other truth is that all of this comes in waves. And to add another beautiful cliche: we are all drops in this ocean. Healing, individually and collectively, is a spiral, and we are all journeying through this together. When we do the work on ourselves, we start to heal collectively.

It is not easy to get into a spiritual practice that will not give you quick solutions. It will teach you how to breathe everything in, the details and all. It will teach you how to build a solid core so that life does not shake you so easily. It will teach you that the most profound revelations often come in the most difficult moments. It will help you let go of what you cling to so fiercely. It will teach you that control is an illusion. I hope you find the spiritual practice that resonates with you, dear friend. I hope that it truly helps you. In the meantime, I will be here every month to guide you through the energies and transits of our cosmic allies, and I hope my guidance resonates with you. Now take a deep breath in and then exhale it all out.