Living On My Chiron Line & Puerto Rican Size Triggers
Next in my year of travel, I spent the summer in Puerto Rico, which coincides with my Chiron IC line. This asteroid can be summarized as an annoying comet that travels the same path in our solar system, symbolizing our deepest triggers carried from previous lives and the key (hence, the symbol for this comet is an upside-down key) to accepting our flaws to go on and live an actualized life. Flaws and all, baby!
I say annoying in the same tone in which I don’t acknowledge reversed cards in tarot. Shit is rigged enough out here, and there were/are plenty of forces that have kept us from tools that support our healing and self-actualization, especially as a Black woman in America! We tired boss lol, give us the healing codes and get on with it already so we can get this work done.
In case you couldn’t tell from my tone, my time in Puerto Rico was vastly different compared to my time living on my Jupiter line. This goes without saying, but I obviously LOVE and deeply respect the island, the culture, and the people. The point of this series is to add the canon of conscious travel by exploring how astrocartography can provide context to our experiences in various places. So, outside of the few trip highlights listed below, I’ll mainly be talking about what the energy of the island conjured within me during my time there.
But for the full story, we gon start from the beginning.
At the beginning of 2023, I had a dream about my father’s ancestors calling to me from Puerto Rico. I woke up with a strong urge to research more about the island, its indigenous people, and its history because according to our family records, ain’t no Borinquens.
But, as is the plight of being a product of the enslaved, even with those in the generation before me doing extreme sport-level research and record keeping, we only have solid information on about five generations back so I’ve learned to be open about the intricacies of our ancestry. We all have some sprinkled in Native American roots from the Blackfoot tribe, AM I RIGHT? (Please, if you got this joke, send me a DM on Instagram so we can laugh together.)
By August of that year, after a number of wild synchronicities that kept calling Puerto Rico back into conversation, I booked a two-week vacation to the island. Mind you, this was my first time stepping foot on the island, even though to a well-versed traveler, PR is a baby milestone because you don’t need a passport, you can easily navigate only knowing English, they operate on the US dollar, and it’s a quick quick flight from Miami. It’s a US territory, but ‘round here partna, we acknowledge their sovereignty!
During these two weeks, I stayed in San Juan and then traveled to the other side of the island to stay on a coconut farm in Patillas. Fast forward to the summer of 2024 during my year of travel, over the span of three months I experienced more of San Juan, Luquillo, and Yauco.
Long story short, my time on the island was filled with divine rage and triggers coming at me from left and right because of its deep ancestral feeling of home. And not the warm fuzzy feelings that home can bring, but the bullshit that gets swept under the rug type of home. The fuckshit that be causing generational cycles of trauma type of home. The bullshit that gets swallowed to decay and rot our insides, causing autoimmune diseases in our wombs to be passed down to our daughters and manifest as drinking problems and emotional stuntedness in our sons type of home.
I actually cut my trip short (and still ended up navigating a random category 5 hurricane the day my flight was scheduled for that triggered all the feelings from working Hurricane Irma and Maria back in 2017, which ALSO deeply affected PR, but that’s neither here nor there) because my heart was broken.
Like what you mean I’m on a lush green island but still in a food desert in which most fruit and vegetables are imported FROM THE MAINLAND, expensive af, and damn near rotting at both the local grocery store and the only Walmart available for miles?
What you mean they can’t vote in presidential general elections despite being U.S. citizens and what you mean racists had the audacity to call this sacred land a floating island of garbage when historically extracting genius from this land has been second nature since acquiring?
What you mean even those paying top dollar are still experiencing power outages from bullshit energy companies? Fuck being a digital nomad (which in my opinion don’t exist - you either there to exploit the culture and land or nah), because wth is reliable wifi??
What you meannnn tourists navigate this island like they’re on fucking spring break with no attempt to try speaking in Spanish, thinking Bomba is just some dance with pretty fucking skirts, and would even think to hurt the SACRED ANIMAL OF THE FUCKING ISLAND BECAUSE THEY FIND THE NOISE OF THE COQUI ANNOYING?
Pause, and what you meaannnnn Bomba, the dance that embodied the story of aaaaall the emotions from enslavement and their path to freedom was fucking shunned because of its African roots and is now being commercialized and watered down with them janky ass Airbnb experiences? What you mean a damn near royal family of Loiza (an area of the island with rich, Black af history) has been going toe to toe with the community over showing pride in its African roots through Bomba and its carnival masks and celebrations??
My blood is beginning to boil just writing this, so we’re going to pause here.
For whatever reason, I never once felt like I was on vacation or could relax while on the island. At every turn, I was reminded of the work to be done in ways I had only felt growing up in relations to systematic oppression, on my racist ass college campus during undergrad, and my now home, in which I’ve been navigating the chamber of commerce chapters and other local government shenanigans.
With home and deep wounds that can only be caused by those who claim to love us most comes a responsibility to transmute that hurt into progressive action that leads the way to our healing, a lesson that traveling to my Chiron line pulled to the focus even though I was in the beautiful tropics where tourism boards would love for you to forget your worries and social responsibilities. We don’t wear the badge of “activist” round here and you don’t get a fucking cookie for standing with our marginalized groups because community care isn’t a theory to sit around philosophizing about - it’s a daily practice that should be integrated into how we move through this world.
Because of this practice, enjoying basic things was hard yo lol. I didn’t create much while on the island, as a lot of my time was spent soothing my nervous system, crying, having hard conversations, and sitting by the ocean late at night, journaling and reminding myself of my why. As I write this entry, I’m not gon say staying on your Chiron line will really test you on your foundational values and make you stand for what you believe in because as a reminder, the house my Chiron sits in as well as the Zodiac, degrees and play off other planets matters, but I’m also NOT, not gon say that.
After my experience, I personally would summarize Chiron energy as deeply ancestral, like epigenetics-level type of energy within our bodies in need of veneration to transmute. It is a reminder that we are connected to something greater than us and that our shadows gon claw their way to the focus every time if we don’t deal with them. I’m grateful for my time on the island to experience that energy outside of me and related to things like palm trees, the ocean, Brown people, ancestral drums and dancing, mofongo and other things that have my heart. I’ve had elders channel reasons why my path is intertwined with Puerto Rico, but all in all, I love the island and its people. I made such deep connections with people who felt like divine counterparts while there and I’ll never be able to say thank you enough to my ori, egun and orisa to how I was held together while on the island. AND, the land to me feels disrespected and ready to get her lick back, so if you do visit, here are some things that kept me off the ledge while there.
Trip Highlights
Bomba on the Beach
Charlotte Serrano has been dancing for 20+ years. Ranked top 5 in World Salsa Cabaret Dancing, toured with Snoop Dogg in 2016. I took various Bomba classes during my time on the island, and I have mixed feelings about the way it’s portrayed but this class in particular was an insane workout, the drummers were dope, and she was intentional about teaching the different steps to lead the drum in an efficient way which I appreciated.
Afro-Puertorican Drum Workshop with Baba Beto
After taking all the dance classes, I was ready to dive into a drum class. I thought this was going to be a group class as I had seen in pictures, but when I walked in, I noticed a lit candle for Esu at the door and two chairs facing each other. Geeked, I asked if I was in the right place. Not only was I in the right place, but I had the pleasure of enjoying a one-on-one class from a fellow history buff who just so happened to also be an initiated Orisa priest. Baba Beto is a producer/singer who introduced me to some amazing community events and leaders who not only weren't scared of their African and Isese traditional roots, but celebrated them. This is one of my favorite experiences that showed how much Spirit had my back during my travels by attracting good people who treated me like their own.
https://www.airbnb.com/experiences/2523677
Good Food
La Fonda Gourmet in Luqillo for mofongo. Specifically, the one with pescado - I believe they used mahi mahi fish! La Pared Street Food & Beer Garden down the street for the lobster fries, good lord. Kiosks are a dime a dozen on the single road in and out of Loiza to San Juan. My particular favorite one called out one day, and I’ve yet to find better alcapurrias. The meat was cooked in these giant cast-iron pots, which made things so seasoned and tender!
A Taste of Puerto Rico Cooking Class with Vivianne
None of my travels are complete without a cooking class! Homegirl worked in the food industry for over 20 years and, after spending years as a food editor and recipe developer in NYC and as Executive Chef aboard a private yacht in the Caribbean, she created Gastropolita, a catering and private chef company. This intimate class was like a history lesson on cultural food staples while putting me on to some of the best tips. I MADE MOFONGO AT THE HOUSE literally the next week (pictured below) because I was obsessed. It is now a staple comfort food, so modupe Vivianne!
My girl Aminah “Mintah Tumbáo" Jackson
Another divine connection. Meeting Aminah and her partner was like a slice of home and another way my spirits were looking out for me. I’ll stay out of feelings for this one, so in short - go dance on the beach and decolonize that pelvis! Amniah is an African American/Haitian, Mexican American, Los Angeles native with a dance foundation in West African traditional dance and Mexican Folklorico. She received her formal dance training from the Debbie Allen Dance Academy, The Ailey School Summer Program and Howard University. She’s an absolute vibe and doing really important work through her classes, retreats, and community.
Samual Lind Art Studio
His house was a living museum and art studio that embodied the history of the island’s African influence. At a point in time, he made posters for Loiza’s carnival, which are unique time pieces within themselves. On the top floor of his home, his son quietly ate a sandwich while Samual told us about various pieces of art he had hanging in his kitchen, barefoot nonetheless.
Even though I wasn’t in a creative output mood during this trip, this tour was deeply inspiring. Sometimes you have to see it, to see it (dream it) to SEE it (create it) as Ebonyjanice Moore once said. During my travels, I did not have all my art supplies with me because I could only carry so much. Seeing and feeling the energy of his home/art studio/family/museum was the first time I had experienced the pang of desire for what my future home could look like. I don’t really get homesick while traveling, but for longer trips like this one, there does come the desire for stability and the ability to consistently create or show up for something in person. With my travels, most long-term projects and focuses were happening through my computer or in online spaces so I found this an interesting reflection moment. Good ol Chiron yet again making me ponder my life choices lol.
This is your reminder that it’s okay if you don’t vibe with a popular destination - your particular math (birth chart and energy) probably don’t vibe with the energy of the land or its ancestry. I have a love/hate relationship with the beautiful island of Puerto Rico because of how it stirs up triggers of possible lost ancestry and identity, yet be feeling like home. Bad Bunny and what he’s doing for the island is a VIBEEEE, and the future is going to be beautiful as indigenous energies reclaim what’s rightfully theirs.
Astro.com has a great astrotravel breakdown; tap in and don’t forget that any and all astrology interpretations are someone’s bias, and that your birth chart is a culmination of the synergy of a lot of different energies. Taking it a step further, when you apply that to your astrocartography, be mindful of the bigger picture our charts paint when considering planet lines.
Take time to get to know your birth chart first. Research astrologers to help you begin interpreting your chart and stay off ChatGPT. Then dive into astrocartography and use it as a way to be in tune and reflect on how you feel in certain places, not the end-all be-all of your travel choices.
Spirit knew I needed a hug after my time in PR, so interestingly, I was led back home to Los Angeles for my next stop.
More in my next entry,
Janiece Ifasooto