In my best newscaster voice:
Yes, hello and welcome to The Stir! I'm Ash Burnside reporting LIVE from my 8th house season...which has surprisingly NOT eaten me alive this year!
In all seriousness, I thought my 8th house season this year (aka, the house of underworld journeys, shadow work, transformation, rebirth, and hidden desires) was going to be gnarly.
I thought that because...well, historically, it has been gnarly.
My 8th house season is when shit goes DOWN.
(por exemplo: I started having PTSD flashbacks a few years ago during Cancer season. Before that, I was kicked out of my ex-best friend's wedding...when I was 6 months pregnant with my third son...while my husband was deployed. Rude.👎👎)
So...through my data and lived experience, I came to associate the 8th house = bad vibes. Not a fun time. Super shitty personal season.
But this year?? This year is lovely. This Cancer season, nothing is breaking (emotionally or mentally 🙌). There's no darkness lurking under the surface and no monsters waiting for me under my bed (in a psychological sense).
This year, the 8th house feels (dare I say it) tender and I've finally unlocked WHY:
The "hidden desires" part of the 8th house is also referred to as the "taboos" of the 8th house. But it's not taboo just for nothing. It's actually, something deeply sacred that has been demonized, defiled, or made into something taboo.
So, the reason the 8th house feels so sticky & dense to navigate through is because our task in the 8th house is to actually do the inner work required to return what has become taboo, back to a sense of sacredness.
That's not lightweight stuff.
That is the work of underworld journeys. Of rebirthing ourselves into the version that has the capacity and the audacity, the vision and the voice to return whatever that is back into something that deserves our reverence.
Whatever sign that falls in your 8th House will tell you not only what is taboo to you, but will show you where you need to do your work in order to return to a sense of sacredness.
For me, that work is in everything that Cancer season symbolizes.
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Cancer season is ruled by the Crab — soft, tender, and vulnerable underneath that protective shell. That shell is more than armor for what lay underneath, though. It’s a container. A home. A boundary. A sanctuary.
This season is about emotional safety. It's about intuition — and the kinds of containers that actually allow your intuition to speak. It's about spaces that allow you to feel held and safe. It’s about ancestral memory and sacred rest.
We talk a lot about inherited trauma…but Cancer season reminds us to focus on inherited nourishment, too.
What if that deep, quiet part of you doesn’t need to be more disciplined… it just needs to feel safe?
This is your invitation to mother yourself. To rest. To remember that softness isn’t the opposite of power — it is power.
✨ So the more safety you create, the more your intuition speaks.
💪 The more rest you claim, the more resilience you hold.
🔥 The more tenderness you allow, the more truth comes through.
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This is your personalized breakdown of where this astro energy is hitting — and how to work with it, not get worked by it.
(A.K.A. where you’re being asked to soften, rest, and remember that being held is not a weakness — it’s a birthright.)
♈ Aries Rising (Cancer in the 4th House):
Home is holy ground this season. And I don’t mean the aesthetic Pinterest kind — I mean the inner sanctum kind. You’re being asked to re-parent yourself. To excavate what safety actually feels like in your bones. Let yourself be soft at home. Cry in the kitchen. Let the dishes sit. Take your shoes off and stay a while — even from yourself.
♉ Taurus Rising (Cancer in the 3rd House):
Your voice deserves to feel safe. You’re finding your sacred softness in everyday conversations, in the nuance between text messages, in the unspoken spaces between words. The way you think and speak is shifting — let your intuition write the captions, the emails, the stories. You don’t have to shout to be heard.
♊ Gemini Rising (Cancer in the 2nd House):
What would it look like to feel nourished by what you already have? To let your sense of worth be built from something deeper than productivity or what’s in your Stripe account? Your values are being bathed in moonlight right now. Let money, pleasure, and resources feel safe to receive, not just earn.
♋ Cancer Rising (Cancer in the 1st House):
It’s your main character moment, baby — but it’s not about performance. It’s about permission. Permission to show up as soft. As complex. As someone whose presence alone is medicine. You’re rewriting what it means to be “strong” by allowing others to witness you exactly as you are.
♌ Leo Rising (Cancer in the 12th House):
This season is about rest, reflection, and quiet trust. Cancer in the 12th asks you to release the need to “figure it out” and instead surrender to the sacred unseen. Dreamtime is potent. Your intuition is loudest when your mind is quietest. Go take a bath and talk to your ancestors, okay?
♍ Virgo Rising (Cancer in the 11th House):
Who helps you feel spiritually held? Cancer season invites you to redefine what community means — to find soul family in the softness. You might feel yourself longing for shared values, safe group chats, or group hugs. Make space for intimate friendships that honor your weird, your woo, and your wounds.
♎ Libra Rising (Cancer in the 10th House):
Tenderness in public? Gasp. Yes. Cancer at the top of your chart asks you to lead with your heart — not in a performative way, but in an embodied one. What does a soft, sustainable legacy look like for you? You don’t have to grind to be great. Be a lighthouse, not a machine.
♏ Scorpio Rising (Cancer in the 9th House):
Your sacred feminine is itching to stretch beyond your current beliefs. This is a soft philosophical awakening. Rest isn’t an obstacle to your growth — it is your growth. Let your worldview be reshaped by your intuition. Consider taking a spiritual pilgrimage… or just reading a mystical book in a hammock.
♐ Sagittarius Rising (Cancer in the 8th House):
You're in the underworld, baby — but this time, it’s wombspace, not warzone. Cancer in the 8th wants to nourish the parts of you that feel too much, too needy, too tender. It’s time to reclaim what’s been made taboo and return it to sacredness: Sensuality. Dependence. Femininity. Emotion. This too is sacred.
♑ Capricorn Rising (Cancer in the 7th House):
This is a season for emotional reciprocity. For soft eye contact. For being held in relationship — not just being the one doing the holding. Cancer here wants your partnerships to feel like safe harbors. Say what you need. Let yourself be chosen — not for what you do, but for who you are.
♒ Aquarius Rising (Cancer in the 6th House):
The daily grind? Needs a bath. You’re being asked to reclaim your body as a sacred site, not just a productivity machine. Your routines, your health, your nervous system — they’re all asking for a gentler rhythm. Let yourself soften into structure. Make rest a ritual. Nourishment is a schedule-worthy event.
♓ Pisces Rising (Cancer in the 5th House):
Creative play is the portal. Softness comes through joy, through belly laughs, through writing the weirdest thing your muse whispers to you. Cancer here wants you to parent your inner child like the divine spark they are. Rest doesn’t make your creativity evaporate — it makes it overflow.
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From Ash's Corner
So here’s what’s wild: historically, my 8th house season has been… a lot, right?
I have the emotional scars receipts and I assumed this year would be just as sticky-icky.
But, The Universe said surprise, bitch! Because not only did it not break me…this Cancer season has felt gentle. Nourishing, even.
🌊 I’ve been swimming every week.
🍦 I’ve eaten probably half my weight in ice cream already.
🙌 I’ve been making memories with my boys (we’ve got two summer bingo’s in the house, what what!).
😌 I’ve been absolutely flowing with my cycle & intuition and it has been BEAUTIFUL.
All that would be enough to report on, but NO!
There’s two very tender interactions that rewired something BIG for me:
1. The Client Who Saw Me
I was mid-call when my boys started wrestling upstairs. C'est la vie, this is what it is to be a boy mom (and one during the feral summer break). I muted myself, called up the stairs like “Hey guys, I’m on a call,” and they moved their WWE match into one of their bedrooms.
When I came back on, my client looked at me and said:
“Don’t apologize. I was thankful I could be home with my babies too when they were little. It’s so special. I’m really glad you have a business that lets you be with your kids.”
I could’ve sobbed. It felt like someone looked me in the eye and said, “What you’re doing is sacred.”
2. The Coaching Client Who Honored My Summer
Another private client was sending over some materials and asked:
"do you want me to Vox you questions or email? I want to be respectful of you, your brain, your summer with the boys"
Again — the care! The consideration! 😭😭😭 It cracked something open in me.
Because here’s the thing: I’m used to being the safe space for others. But in those moments? I was reminded I get to be held too.
And that kind of tenderness is Cancer season medicine. That’s 8th house alchemy. That’s taboo-turned-sacred.
So here’s what I’m learning:
- Being a present, soft, maternal version of myself is sacred.
- Building a business that allows me to mother AND lead is sacred.
- Resting without apology is sacred.
- Being seen — truly seen — by the people I support? Sacred AF.
I used to think Cancer season was where I went to break. But this year I’m watching parts of me heal.
✨ I hope your Cancer season feels just as healing and delicious. Even if it’s your 8th house, too.
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Thanks for reading!
In cosmic camaraderie,
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One Last Sip
for June 15-30, 2025
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CURRENT ASTRO SEASON 🪐
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UPCOMING BIG SKY EVENTS 🌛
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It's CANCER SEASON aka baby gurl season aka feel your feeeeeeels season!!! We've immersed ourselves in the womb-like waters of Cancer, the archetype of the Divine Mother, family roots, sacred passage, and intuitive protection. Cancer season is ruled by the moon so we're gonna be following that glowing orb real close this next season because she has a lot to teach us right now.
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TWO BIG SKY EVENTS HAPPENING! We have Uranus entering Gemini Monday, July 7th! Uranus symbolizes disruption, innovation, and evolution. It's one of our slow rollers so entering a new sign is a big deal because he'll hang out here for the next 7 YEARS! Since Gemini is about communication and tech, we can expect shake-ups and massive innovative leaps forward here over the next 7 years. ALSO HAPPENING: Full Moon in Capricorn happening Thursday, July 10th! This is a fab moon to do some reflection on what stands in the way of your devotion to your own path and vision.
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WHAT I’M WORKING ON 🤓
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK 📚
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HOLY SHIZ DUDE, my creativity is flowingggggg. So much good stuff coming! Including a new workshop on how to work with the moon (happening this month!), a snazzy sales page for Sacred Aftermath as I get more beta feedback roll in (only 2 beta pricing spots left!), and some fun projects like reviving an old IG by bringing my unhinged sparkle into the limelight.
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It is a serious thing
just to be alive
on this fresh morning
in this broken world. — Mary Oliver
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