Two Wise Trees

We answer two listener questions, both essentially about the effects of drugs and medication on the body, and wanting insight from a Chinese medicine perspective. Give it a listen!

Notes:

Art by Georgia O'Keeffe

Why We Love Why We Cheat TED talk by Helen Fisher

Because it is August and the weather is hot and muggy, we discuss how to cope, or at least how to put the swamp-like weather into perspective.

This goes into a discussion about Heart season, the height of summer, when we can relax and enjoy human interconnectedness. Summer is unique in that is characterized not by the work of planting and harvesting, or hunkering down to survive the winter, but by a certain ease and openness. The extra daylight is also related to the archetype of the heart as Sovereign, surveying their kingdom. When we are connected to our heart then the rest of the body is correctly ordered.

The listener question we spend the rest of the episode getting into is about how we find our true vocation according to astrology.

We answer with "It's simple, just look to … the Sun, Moon, Ascendant, Midheaven, North Node, Saturn, major stellium, planetary rulership etc." In other words, look at the whole chart and see the tendencies. Look at your life and see your own proclivities. Meditate and trust what guides you. Don't be afraid to follow something that doesn't automatically lead to money and wide social approval.

Books, articles, and movies referenced in this episode:

• Human Heart Cosmic Heart by Thomas Cohen

• Takahiro-Style Teishin Technique in Vancouver by Daniel Silver and Sara Bergman, NAJOM July 2025

• Five Spirits by Lorie Eve Dechar

• Movie "I Am"

• Yesterday's Sky by Steven Forrest

Thanks for listening and please write in with your questions!

Audrey and Carly

At the top of this episode Audrey poses an epistemic question: how do we reconcile different ways of knowing? There knowledge that is more based in data, stats, facts, "book learning" (aka internet learning nowadays), and commonly associated with science. And there is knowledge that is based more in intuition, faith, living experience, internal comprehension and commonly associated with religion.

Both ways of knowing can lead us to the truth, and both ways exist not in conflict but in a relationship on a polarity. Both ways of knowing can also lead to falsehoods, i.e. from science that is corrupted by bias or influence, and religion that is corrupted by dogma and power.

Astrologically speaking, the data or "science" based way is Mercurial and manifests in the Mercury ruled signs of Gemini and Virgo, characterized by their logic and intelligence. The intuition or "religion" based way is Jupiterian and manifests in Jupiter ruled Sagittarius and Pisces, famous for their affinity to religion and spirituality.

We take this interesting topic and apply it to tackle the perennial question of "what is up with this relationship that I'm in/want to be in?"

We look at the charts of a married couple that kindly wrote in to ask about the astrological patterns in their relationship.

Then we tackle the perennial Virgo question " How should I structure my daily routine for the best health and harmony?". We look to the Chinese organ clock which shows the flow of qi throughout the different organs in a 24 hour cycle.

We go into it in more depth, but basically: be awake and do stuff when it's light out, rest and sleep and fast when it's dark out.

Happy listening!

Audrey and Carly

For episode #8 we looked at the natal chart of someone suffering from gallbladder issues, and used this as a jumping off point to discuss how the gallbladder and liver energy functions according to Chinese medicine.

Some key points:

• The gallbladder and liver energy is an energy of bursting forth and starting new. The emotion of anger is related with these organs, so we look at healthy ways to manage anger.

• The gallbladder channel is characterized by a zigzag pathway back and forth along the side of the length of the body. The gallbladder is the intermediary between the inner and outer, trying to regulate and determine if there is congruence between our inner and outer life.

• This related to the immune system, the ability to regulate our response to the outside. Good nutrition and digestion (ability to process) is necessary so the gallbladder has the fuel to do this job.

Looking at the natal chart of the querent we used the Pluto in Sagittarius placement to discuss Pluto as a generational marker in general, and the challenges faced by the Pluto in Sagittarius generation in particular.

Enjoy! And as always please write in to us with your questions.

In which we answer more listener questions!

First off, you can now show your appreciation and support by buying us a "coffee" (tea). Thank you for listening and writing in!

In episode #6 we talk about fibromyalgia to answer a question from a listener who suffers from this painful condition. Fibromyalgia from a Chinese medicine perspective can often be traced back to an injury to the Lung system, the most delicate organ. The physical, energetic, or emotional injury causes a shock and a sort of freezing up of this system, leading to the characteristic generalized pain of fibromyalgia, and then of course affects other organs. We talk about how to allow the grief process to thaw out the shock held by the Lung system, and how this can be supported with good routines and self care.

Related, we answer a question from a reader about recovering her adrenals after childbirth and also with a history of trauma. This focuses more on the Kidney system, but we also discuss the necessity of taking care of one's heart space. This same reader shares her birth chart and we look at the configurations of a chart with lots of trines and sextiles, meaning that transits often affect multiple personal planets at once.

The heart space is also the focus of a question from a reader who is very health-oriented and wanting to find a partner and have that balance of personal space while keeping her heart open. Audrey shares some beautiful readings on the nature of the heart space and we reflect on what it means to cultivate that.

Our final questions are a bit more straightforward, what foods should be avoided across the board? Hint: refined and processed junk foods. The damage of which can also be mitigated with an overall healthy lifestyle so don't worry too much.

Until next time,

Audrey and Carly

In this episode we talk about some of our favorite books.

We also branch into topics related to hierarchal and egalitarian societies and hierarchy in nature, the masculine and feminine dynamic seen in the yin-yang symbol, and touch on a few Scorcese movies. Enjoy!

Update to add- here is our booklist:

Audrey:

The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber

The Chalice and the Blade by Riane Eisler

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Making the Gods Work for You by Caroline Casey

Carly:

Chinese medicine/bodywork/health

• The Spark in the Machine by Dr. Daniel Keown

• The Expressiveness of the Body and the Divergence of Greek and Chinese Medicine

• Japanese Classical Acupuncture: Introduction to Meridian Therapy by Shudo Denmai

• Job's Body by Deane Juhan

• Gua Sha: A traditional technique for modern practice by Dr. Arya Nielson

• Outlive by Dr. Peter Attia

• Social psychology/socio-political

  • Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss

  • The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt

  • Smokescreen by Kevin Sabat

  • The Price We Pay by Dr. Marty Makary

  • Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life by Luke Burgis

  Religious and Inspirational

  • Canonical Bible

  • Gnostic Bible and other Christian apocrypha

  • Christian mystics- St Theresa of Avila etc

  • Tao Te Jing and Hua Hu Jing

  • Joan of Arc: In Her Own Words

  • Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

  • Idries Shah books on Sufism

  • The Language of Creation

  • Last Temptation of Christ

  Astrology

  • Hellenistic Astrology by Chris Brennan

  • Alan Oken's Complete Astrology

  • Stephen Arroyo- various

  Poetry

  • Rumi

  • Rainer Maria Rilke

  • Fernando Pessoa (was just introduced to this, so good)

  Uncool/nerdy

  • Harry Potter series

  • Chronicles of Narnia

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In episode #4 we answer a wonderful question from a reader: How does Chinese Medicine/ Astrology help a person find their life path/ purpose?

Audrey takes the lead on this one and goes into a system of knowing one's purpose through understanding the combination of the Heavenly Stems and the Earthly Branches. In other words, looking at how the shen, or consciousness intersects with the physical body and physical circumstances we are born into.

There is also some discussion of how finding balance in the body and mind through this medicine clears the blockages that cloud our connection to our life's purpose and meaning.

As far as astrology goes there are several important indicators of life path, some more or less familiar, including the ascendant sign and ruling planet, the midheaven, and Saturn.

The second question we tackle is "I am curious if Chinese medicine recommends a particular food regimen and/or a consistent intake of herbs based on my chart."

This person's astrology indicated a strong emphasis on the sign of Libra and the planet Venus. so we delved a bit into the importance of balance, harmony, and paying attention to the rhythms of the day and the seasons.

Thanks for reading and listening!