This person is all earth and water. They would do well to engage their earthy qualities of common sense and practicality to create a safe container for themselves; then the water aspects of their personality — emotion, imagination and empathy — can flow more easily.

Kyra Pollitt: basic natal chart reading. Mel Skinner, 12.09.18

20.09.18. The house is upside down. My daughter has emptied countless cupboards onto the floors of the communal spaces and is organizing piles of items; to be taken to charity shops, to be taken to university, to be taken to the bin. In the corners of all the rooms are boxes, plastic bags and unruly packages that my son has recently deposited. He is leaving the flat he has shared with his girlfriend for the past 5 years and is unsure of his next move. Also in my absence, the household chores have been left undone by my overworked partner, the garden neglected, disheveled and desiccating in the season’s mischievous winds. 

It feels like chaos.

But it’s a chaos I have faced down many times before. I know, then, that this is also an opportunity. I know that if I can organize this space, then in so doing I will find some strength and organisation in myself.

By 22:00 I am exhausted, emotionally dredged, and sporting a painful, severely swollen and possibly broken big toe. But the house is neat, I have a to-do list, and a modicum of control. I am beginning to feel I can do this, I can face the challenges of this course.  

I have the basic outline of a container.

P.s. Hexene (n): C6H12

Cyclohexane is a colourless, flammable liquid with a distinctive detergent-like odour, reminiscent of cleaning products.