the dragonfly shoal
+ hellenistic/archetypal astrology
+ vitalist herbalism
+ decolonial education
reflections from clients
"My chart reading with kel was so illuminating and nourishing! They have this amazing gift of delivering vast and affirming cosmic truths with grounded and simple clarity. I walked away with a clearer sense of who I'm meant to be and how to work with both my gifts and limitations."
-Meghan
"In the past, I found birth chart astrology overly complex and more confusing than helpful. kel changed that entirely by presenting my chart in a way that felt grounded, clear, and deeply relevant. The reading helped me connect the insights to my personality and current life situation, giving me clear actionable steps for growth while helping me find acceptance for other aspects of myself. I left the session feeling empowered and genuinely supported."
-casey m.
"kel comes from a place of great depth and empathy. The lens through which they
explore a chart is nuanced, dimensional, and respectful of the many energetic and
elemental interrelationships that inform a deeply personal and unique ‘map.’ Astrology has many layers, and kel is able to lift those layers for examination and then speak about them in language that is profound, poetic, and empowering."
-Toni A.
ABOUT
a site of transformation,
a shoal is a shallow in a body of water where dragonflies lay their eggs. upon hatching into being, they live out their early incarnations as water nymphs: strange bulky-bodied creatures who breath through gills and dine on tiny fish or tadpoles, or even other nymphs! throughout their first few months to years of life, a water nymph cycles through numerous avatars, periodically shedding their old exoskeleton to accommodate a growing body, until one day they emerge from the water for a final reveal. this time, as they crack through the dry brittle shield of their former self, a new creature emerges, winged and wild. transformed, this creature—once a being of the waters—has now become a being of the skies.
astrology can be like a shoal, holding us as we swim the watery depths of our emotions and providing a point of departure from which we traverse the airy realms of our hopes and dreams. held as we are by the body of the earth and compelled by our own inner flames, our elemental natures express in relational patterns, written in a language of planets and stars. like the 300,000,000-year-old dragonfly who has witnessed the rise of the dinosaurs, the blooming of earth’s first flowers, the formation of Saturn’s rings, and the birth of early humans, the cosmos watches, and reflects back to us the deepest truths of self, path, what has been, and all that could be.
ABOUT
kel rose, m.a. (they/them)
+astrologer
+herbalist
+artist
+gardener
+survivor's advocate
i believe in our capacity as humans to live in right and loving relationship with our earthly home and all who dwell here, and i also know that we are not presently realizing such capacity. in this moment of profound inequity, oppression, and very real threat to our collective existence, we find ourselves at a choice point: will we realize the sacredness of our interconnection and uplift our world through relational care? or will we perish in acquiescence to fabricated scarcity?
the profundity of this moment can be overwhelming. the world is huge and complicated and messy, and you may wonder what power we even possess as individual humans among billions. what i hope to offer you through astrological consultation is a deeper understanding of your relationship to the world, the roles you inhabit in this life, and the awarenesses you can hold + actions you can take to support the embodiment of your life’s deepest meanings. because we—not just humans, but all who dwell here—are interconnected in the most vital of ways, each of us holding one distinct thread of the exquisite tapestry that is life on Earth, our healing and growth as individuals supports the wellness of the whole. in other words: as you transform, we transform.
let’s grow wings together!
i bring my education in decolonial queer & feminist studies and generative somatics to all that I do, so be ready to talk about identity, positionality, feelings, and the constructs and systems which inform our experiences.
MA Gender/Ethnic Studies + certified herbalist + enrolled in APAI Astrology certification
explanation of services
what kind of astrology is this?
i practice hellenistic astrology through an archetypal and transformative lens. rooted in traditions from Mesopotamia & Egypt and practiced throughout the SWANA region (Lands surrounding the black, red, caspian, & mediterranean seas) from roughly the 1st century BCE through the 7th century CE, hellenistic astrology utilizes a tropical zodiac that directly correlates with Earth’s seasons as experienced in the northern hemisphere, as well as a whole sign house system in which each sign of the zodiac aligns perfectly with a given astrological house. archetypal astrology is a branch of practice that posits a direct relationship between planetary archetypes and the human psyche. in other words, the positions and signs of the planets in each natal chart give the reader insight into the inner workings of a person’s perceptions, emotional landscape, tendencies, and potentials, as well as the relationships between one’s inner world, outer world, and the cosmos as a whole.
i read the chart as a site of ongoing transformation. whether you believe in reincarnation or you’re sure this is the only life we’ve got, we each come into this world with a certain set of gifts and parameters to work with and within, as well as desire for experience we’ve not yet known (or have simply forgotten?). perhaps this is an inheritance from prior lives, or the result of our early childhood conditioning within the context of our social, physical, and economic positions, or some combination thereof. whatever the case, i believe we are in constant evolutionary movement toward realization of our desire—desire for wholeness; desire for relational oneness with all of life. through reflection and conversation of your natal chart, it is my desire to support you in this dynamic, tender, and liberatory process of embodied self-knowing.
what kind of herbalism is this?
i practice herbalism in the vitalist tradition. vitalism, in the words of my past mentor Paul Bergner, is an “empirical strategy” grounded in an understanding of wholeness: the “life power” that moves through the body and its many tissues is the same life power that moves through and animates the whole of existence. vitalism recognizes that the body is not distinct from the heart, from the psyche, from the soul, from nature.
incorporating modern science—namely (patho)physiology—with naturopathy, homeopathy, thompsonian/physiomedicalism, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ayurveda, Four Humors, and other Indigenous traditions from across the globe, vitalist herbalism seeks to support life in expressing fully and freely. this is achieved through tailored nourishment, rest, movement, and connection to purpose & the natural world. through consultation, it is my desire to support you in gaining greater access to your own vitality. be ready to talk about your habits, health challenges, general disposition, and poops :)
what kind of education is this?
who are the ancestral stewards of the Land you live on? where are these people today? do you belong to this population or are your ancestors from elsewhere? if not here, where are your people from, and what are the processes that brought them here? how do these legacies live on in you today?
how do you identify? how do the identities you hold shape your life? how do they affect the way you move through the world? the resources you have? the limitations you face? the violence or disparity you incur, if any?
and what of the Land? is it well cared for? are native plants allowed to thrive? is the water abundant and clean? is the air?
how are Land and identity connected? in your life? in the lives of your ancestors? in the lives of the peoples who long stewarded this Land? in the lives of the 1%? of the unhoused? of incarcerated persons? of victim-survivors?
I hold a master’s degree in gender & sexuality studies and a graduate certificate in ethnic studies. as a white-bodied person holding several marginalized identities, understanding my own position within the systems that shape our world is, to me, a vital and ongoing process. in reckoning with my complicity in the enduring colonial legacies of violence and control that have shaped life in “North America” for centuries, as well as the ways these same legacies harm and oppress me, i engage in the work of decoloniality: the active deconstruction of oppressive systems + the active construction of a care-centered world. through private classes, i desire to share with you some of the origins of this great big mess we’re in while offering potentials to leverage the tools we’ve gained through collective suffering toward liberation for all.
from a client...
"kel is a healing portal. I have consulted with kel on plant care, herbal care for digestive and skin issues, and birth chart reading. My experience has been excellent on all these fronts. Specifically in astrology, I really appreciate the patience and care with which kel explains your chart to you. I have been to quite a few astrologers and with kel I have learned the most about astrology, and specifically my chart, as a result of their caring and detailed readings. I highly recommend a reading if you'd like to understand yourself more deeply and all the ways in which you act in the world."
-Rahma M.