164. Exploring Queer Identity Through Astrology (with Danny Santos)

Snarky Opener (0:00)

Danny Santos

As queer people, we almost have permission to be a little bit more avant-garde, a little bit more out there.

And, you know, the concept of masks and costume and magic, I think these are more queer facing.

Episode Introduction (0:34)

Rob Loveless

Hello, my LGBTQuties, and welcome back to another episode of A Jaded Gay. I'm Rob Loveless, and today, I am a non-jaded gay because I have just been feeling all the fall feels.

I've been watching horror movies nonstop, just getting into the Halloween mood. And I love it. It's so cozy. It's a relaxing time of year for me, even in a chaotic world. So yeah, I'm really just enjoying it.

Queer Astrology (0:58)

Rob Loveless

And with those fall vibes in mind, I'm excited to welcome you to this year's Halloween spectacular.

Yes, every year I like to do a fun Halloween-themed episode to celebrate the holiday, and today we are going to be doing that by talking about a slightly different topic.

Not so much horror-related, like we talked about in the past, but somewhat adjacent.

A couple years ago, I talked about queer mysticism, and we covered everything from tarot to crystals to astrology and witchcraft.

So today I'm very excited to welcome somebody on to talk about queer astrology.

So, we will get to that in a minute. But before we do, you know the drill. Let's pull our tarot card.

Tarot (1:36)

Rob Loveless

So, the card we drew today is The Hanged Man in reverse. This is a Major Arcana card, so it's signifying a big life event or important lesson for us.

The Hanged Man is number 12 in the Major Arcana, so we add double digits together to get three. And in numerology, three is tied to creativity, collaboration, and community.

And The Empress is the third card in the Major Arcana, so these cards are somewhat connected. Now, when we draw The Hanged Man in reverse, it's indicating that we may be feeling impatient.

Specifically, we may be feeling a surge of energy and are eager to move forward, but if we do, we may be forcing our movement forward.

Instead, we need to pause and quiet our minds so that we can tune into our intuition.

And it's important we take intentional time to do this, because many of us, myself included, tend to fill our days with tasks or distractions to pass the hours by, but it may be preventing us from taking meaningful action that's in alignment with our goals.

So, we want to just take a brief pause to get in touch with ourselves and our intuition, which can allow us to see things from a new perspective and unlock new potential for us.

Guest Introduction (2:39)

Rob Loveless

And with that in mind, I'm very excited to welcome today's guest. He is an astrologer, tarot expert, and psychic medium. Please welcome Danny Santos.

Hi, Danny. How are you today?

Danny Santos

I'm doing so good, Rob. Thank you so much for having me today.

Rob Loveless

Of course. As we were saying up front, I was super excited to connect with you and bring you onto the podcast today.

We talked about, in the past, I've covered kind of some Spooky Season topics and a little bit about queer mysticism, which, as you said, so well, has a little bit of witchy vibe. So, there's a little tie in there.

So, for our Halloween special edition episode, I'm excited to talk with you about all things queer astrology, psychic energies, all the things. I'm getting ahead of myself, though.

Before we start jumping right into the topic, can you introduce yourself to all the listeners and tell them a little bit about yourself, your career, how you identify, pronouns, all that fun stuff?

Danny Santos

Sure. So, my name is Danny Santos. My pronouns are he/him. I identify as a cisgender gay male.

And basically, I've been studying astrology since I was 11 years old. I'm currently 32 at the time of this recording.

I'm a trained Ayahuasca shaman, Reiki master, breath work instructor, and I also trained with the Shipibo tribe from Peru to learn how to serve Ayahuasca as an Ayahuasca Shaman.

So, I've got a lot of different trainings and experience under my belt.

Rob Loveless

That's awesome. And I like to ask all my guests today, are you a jaded or non-jaded gay and why?

Danny Santos

You know, as a gay person, I'm sure a lot of people can relate.

Society in the world has a lot of challenges towards gayness or queerness, and I think I'm somewhere in between, because I've had a lot of life experience and I've had a lot of challenges.

I mean, growing up in the Catholic Church as a gay person, and being told that I was going to burn in hell, and, you know, just so many other things.

Toxic relationships, big life challenges as it pertains to my gay identity.

And I think for me, what it's coming down to is like, regardless of the adversity, I'm still here, I'm still queer, I still want to find a husband one day.

You know, it's, I'm so very open to to life and love, and I guess I'm I'm not so jaded. I may be, I could be, but I'm not. I'm optimistic about my future as a queer person.

Rob Loveless

That's awesome. We love to hear it. And hopefully, as you're talking about your future dreams and aspirations, the stars align on that, which I think is a nice tie into astrology there.

As we said up front, we're gonna talk about all things kind of within the mysticism realm. So, I wanted to kick off, you describe yourself as an astrologer, tarot expert, and psychic medium.

So, for listeners who may not be familiar, how do all of these practices tie together, and how did your spiritual journey begin?

Danny Santos

Sure. So basically, I started studying astrology at 11 years old, and this study of astrology happened at the same time as my spiritual awakening and my sexual awakening, you know, so I started realizing I was gay.

And even earlier than this, when I was a kid in school, I would like start zoning out and just, you know, maybe what, what you might call astral projecting, or astral traveling to other realms and dimensions. 

And I didn't realize that I was practicing mediumship at a very young age, or, like spiritual travel, astral projection, until I started training as a medium this past year.

And my teacher, Colby Rubble, who I studied with this past year, I, she, she kind of helped me realize that, like when you were doing those that almost like dissociating as a child, that was you using the same tool that you use for mediumship.

And, you know, I experienced trauma as a child, and supposedly, like, mediumship comes through being being someone who has experienced trauma, as well as, like, genetic, and it certainly runs on both sides of my family.

So, yeah, it's interesting to see, like, my queer awakening, my mediumship, and my study of astrology all coincided at the same time, and then that's just led to a life of, you know, I went to film school at USC.

I ended up working in the entertainment industry. I worked as the personal assistant to the actor Darren Criss.

And then during the pandemic, I started running my own business, and it's just taken off from there. So, what I do is I help rehabilitate people spiritually.

And all of these tools are just different ways of like pulling out the scrubber and getting people clean, as I like to say.

The Queer Appear of the Metaphysical (7:22)

Rob Loveless

And October always seems to stir up something mystical, whether it's Halloween, Spooky Season, or thinning the veil. So why do you think queer people are so drawn to the metaphysical?

Danny Santos

Well, as queer people, we're, we almost have permission to be a little bit more dramatic, a little bit more avant-garde, a little bit more out there. And October, specifically, Halloween, falls during Scorpio season. 

So, it's the darkness, the underbelly, you know, the concept of masks and costume and magic. I think these are more queer facing than than other times of the year, because life is drag.

You know, I believe RuPaul said that. Life is dragged. So, when we have the opportunity to dress up and to put on a performative identity and get to play and experience the magic of life, queer people love it.

And also, I find that a lot of queer people are more intuitive than your run-of-the-mill person.

Maybe that's because of having to, you know, hyper vigilantly scan your environment as a child for your own safety or to try to fit in.

And then that hyper vigilance could translate into like, higher intuition, or maybe a love for wearing masks, or a love for this, you know, life in drag mentality, especially during Halloween.

But these are just some observations off the top of my head.

Astrology & Queer Identity (8:53)

Rob Loveless

And as it relates to astrology, what exactly is a birth chart, and what kind of insight can it offer someone who's just beginning their astrological journey?

Danny Santos

Sure. So, the astrological birth chart, I like to say, is your soul's blueprint. And it's the snapshot of the exact place in time that your, that the stars were at the time of your birth.

And I do believe that the astrological birth chart will show you the secrets to your soul's self-actualization, to the ways in which you can really expand your full potential.

And more than anything, it's it's a roadmap to understanding the self. So, we can think about some of the greats like Carl Jung or Sigmund Freud.

They had their own tools of psychological psycho analysis and tool development.

And for me, when I work with my clients, the astrological birth chart is a way of getting into the psyche and the soul and the lived experience of the individual, and then help fine-tune them, as if like tuning strings on a guitar.

So, you can coach someone with their astrological birth chart. Because the point is, your birth chart is something that you are born into, but also, ultimately, the point of the chart is to transcend it.

You're not meant to be confined by the box of your stars. You're meant to learn the lessons of it and then ultimately master it and then move beyond it.

Rob Loveless

And astrology can be incredibly affirming for queer folks. So why do you think this tool resonates so deeply with LGBTQ+ individuals, especially those navigating identity and transformation?

Danny Santos

I love this question, and I first was brought this concept when I was a guest on, a friend of mine, he does the HomoLicious podcast.

So, they brought me on to do astrology a few times, and he brought up the fact that queer people really gravitate to astrology, because sometimes, like, you know, maybe straight people, one of the easier questions to ask is, like, where are you from?

And as queer people, the connotation of home and family and personal life might be a bit painful.

So, talking about astrology is like a more neutral way of like, breaking the ice or getting to know someone.

And I think gays are just more open to the idea of, like an astrological archetype, being able to dictate your life and being able to move you in the direction of like understanding yourself or understanding others.

So yeah, there's kind of a two-fold there, like the openness of of our queer community to, like, self-analyze and actually, like, look into it, whether or not something is true, and then be open to it.

But also like the familiarity of like, not talking about home, but still wanting to connect with someone on a first impression.

Rob Loveless

And you've said that working with an astrologer can be part of someone's healing team. So, what does that look like in practice?

Danny Santos

Well, for me, using the astrological birth chart is the cornerstone of everything that I do.

So, it started off as me just doing birth charts for people, but then folding in, you know, the tarot and seeing like, okay, you know, you're a Gemini.

So that means that the tarot card associated with Gemini is The Lovers. So that Lovers archetype is coming to you in this lifetime. You know, you're studying it. You're learning it.

And then we combine this also with the concept of life coaching. So, when we think about your birth chart, it is that soul's blueprint. It's that map.

So, if I can do an astrological birth chart reading with someone, then I can basically coach them through all of the things that are holding them back, because the 12 astrological archetypes are masters in their own right, and they represent the 12 main archetypes of life.

So, the program that I most often have been running with clients lately is walking people through a 12-step program while also teaching them the 12 signs of the zodiac.

So, I don't know if you know much about 12-step work. The program that I work through is called ACA, so it's the adult children of alcoholics and other family dysfunction, and it's basically the idea that you don't have to be an alcoholic or even have ever touched a drink in order to express the qualities of an addict or a love addict or a sex addict or codependent.

It's really about family dysfunction being the main thing that that will cause somebody to be dysfunctional themselves. So, week after week, I walk people through the 12 Steps.

We learn the signs of the zodiac, we see where that archetype shows up in their individual birth chart, and then you can ultimately coach somebody to transcend the trauma and challenges of their life.

Rob Loveless

I love that, and is reassuring to hear that The Lovers is in my birth chart, because sometimes it feels like it's more like The Lovers in reverse.

So as a little plug too, we'll be doing a bonus episode for this month, will be actually an astrological chart reading from Danny for my chart.

So, if you're not a Patreon subscriber, you'll definitely want to consider that after this episode, and there'll be more information in the show notes.

Saturn Return (13:57)

Rob Loveless

But circling back to astrology, there's another big cosmic cycle that many of us feel, and that's Saturn's Return, which is something that I've heard pop up a little bit more in pop culture over the past few years. 

Both Kacey Musgraves and Ariana Grande have songs about it. I've actually done a little research into it, and some of it seems very relatable to things I've experienced around certain times.

And it's something that really impacts us as we're coming into adulthood.

So, with that in mind, can you tell us a little bit more about what Saturn's Return is, and why does it hit queer people particularly hard?

Danny Santos

So, the Saturn Return happens between the ages of 27 and 30. It's like a two-and-a-half, three-year window, and I believe it happens again between like 57 and 60. Approximately those times.

And then there could be a third one, if someone lives long enough to make it.

But it's the idea, the reason it's called a return is is it takes Saturn about 27 to 30 years to return to the exact degree in the sky that it was that a person was born.

So, when Saturn's returning, that means that it's returning to that degree, and Saturn represents karma. That's like the simplest way that I can explain. And the point of karma is to bring us back into balance.

So, depending on what sign Saturn falls into, you're going to have to take on the archetypal lessons of the, the karma of that sun.

So, when we think about how that works, is between 27 and 30, an individual is going to experience all of their karmic lessons that they have not fulfilled from their past life journey.

And if they don't fully get it, they're going to have to repeat it at their next Saturn Return, or carry the karma with them to the next lifetime.

So, Saturn's purpose, he's he's the divine Heavenly Father. He wants to restrict you and discipline you and get you to sit still long enough to heal your past karma and trauma.

Birth Charts & Compatibility (16:04)

Rob Loveless

And you said that getting someone's birth chart info is the new background check. So how does astrology help us navigate dating and compatibility?

Danny Santos

Oh my gosh, I will not date somebody if I don't know their birth chart.

So, astrology will just tell you, like, if you're going to take this ingredient and this ingredient and cook them together and bake them into a pie or a cake, like, is it going to be good?

And there's what's known as synastry, where you overlay two charts on top of each other, and you can see how two individuals are going to contact, like, the contact that they make affects each other on a day-to-day basis.

And then there's also what's known as a composite chart, which is when you blend the two charts together and create midpoints.

So, like, let's say I was born at one degree Gemini and you were born at 10 degrees Gemini. That would put the sun at five degrees Gemini in the composite chart. So, you split the difference.

And then that kind of chart will tell you, like, Okay, what's the long-term compatibility between two individuals? What are the long-standing pluses and challenges that they're going to navigate?

And I have clients come to me all the time, and they don't always have the best long-term compatibility. So, what do we do with that?

Well, you have to understand all relationships take compromise, and some things like can't be compromised.

You know, if you have somebody who wants to be polyamorous and somebody who wants to be single, the two individuals are going to have to find a way to rectify that, or to compromise, or to just uncouple from each other.

And so, what I noticed most with queer people is, like the need for freedom. I see that a lot in their birth charts.

And then, just like being different, you know, being different out in the world, and maybe having a hard time finding more stable relationships.

Queer birth charts will often reflect people who are more progressive, more innovative, having a more open mind.

And that's sometimes makes it a little bit more challenging to find long-standing love in relationships, but it's not impossible.

And again, the point of the astrological birth chart is not to be a slave to it or not to just take it for face value. Ultimately, we want to transcend whatever challenges show up in the birth chart.

Rob Loveless

I really appreciate that explanation, because I feel like in the dating world, people ask what sign you are, and they'll be like, oh, that's such a Libra thing, or that's such, you know, a Capricorn thing, or Geminis and Scorpios get bad reputations.

Which, interestingly enough, I'm a Gemini. My sisters are both Scorpios. So, I don't know what that says about my side of the family.

Maybe we're just cursed, but it sounds like, from what you're saying, it's not so much just what your sign is, but more about, like, within that sign, the alignment of stars within that time frame.

So, with that in mind, which zodiac signs tend to be emotionally tethered to each other, no matter what, especially as it relates to romantic relationships?

Danny Santos

Sure. Well, I just want to start this by saying any two signs of the zodiac can be compatible and be really happy together.

You know, it's going to be more about, like, what it looks like when you cook them up together, because sometimes you could take, like, a Gemini and a Scorpio, and maybe that's like a horrible match on paper. 

But when you actually, like, do the calculations and see how compatible two people are, it can be golden.

So, it's less about the individual signs, and it's more about, I think, the way that they're aligned to each other.

So, some of the most successful relationships are going to see people that have complementary elements of the zodiac.

Like earth signs being compatible with other earth signs and water signs, water signs being compatible with other water signs and earth signs.

And then fire signs being with air and fire, and air being with fire and air. So that's kind of like the cookbook astrology version of it.

But if we go a little bit more nuanced, some of the ways that we're going to see. Do you want to talk about, like, really being in The Lovers' tether?

In astrology, so how I mentioned that you can have a composite chart, which is when you blend two charts together.

One of the stickiest things that you can see between two people is Pluto opposite Venus between two people, because Pluto is the planet of obsession, intimacy, deep connection, the unconscious mind, and Venus is love.

So, when we see this alignment between two people, you can get two people that are just obsessed with each other, and no matter how much they try to fight tooth and nail to get away from each other, it can be really, really tricky to get them away from each other.

So, the Venus opposite Pluto is one of the most famous sticky alignments.

Anytime Pluto is going to be really involved between two people, that's also going to show a really high level of at its worst obsession, but at its highest, we're going to see deep intimacy, powerful attachment, you know, loyalty between two individuals, but Pluto will force them to change.

The last thing that I think is really what we see between people is when someone's sun sign is compatible with another person's moon sign. So, Freud's theory of the ego, the id, the superego.

The sun sign is your ego, and the moon sign is your id. So, when we have these things compatible, that's an incredibly powerful connection. So, let's say there's somebody whose moon sign is Gemini.

Knowing that, Rob, you are a Gemini sun, when the sun and the moon are in the same sign and they're close to each other, that creates a lot of sweetness and intimacy, and almost like a soul mate connection between two people.

So that's another way when the sun and the moon are compatible, but especially when they're in the same sign of the zodiac, that's beautiful.

Rob Loveless

What advice do you have for someone who feels like their chart is quote unquote incompatible with someone they love, and can they still work?

Danny Santos

Absolutely, any two people can make a relationship work.

Now, the way that that relationship is going to work is going to depend on, again, how willing the two individuals are to compromise, and it's going to be important to see that there's energetic balance between two people.

I'll use myself as a personal, real-life experience. I had a long-standing relationship with a man who was married, and we had an aspect in our birth chart that made it very difficult to see the truth, you know.

So, I had this fantasy that, oh, one day he's going to actually be courageous enough to come out of the closet, leave his wife, like, you know, all of the things, and it never happened.

And in our relationship chart between the two of us, we had this aspect that it was always going to be an open relationship, or there was going to be something unusual about it.

So, in that instance, I could have kept going, knowing that it wasn't in full integrity. And instead, you know, I opted out. I said, I can't keep living in this way.

So, in that instance, there are, sometimes things are just like, you have to live with the way things are and find a way to make it work.

And in that circumstances, I was not willing to be the quote-unquote other woman or the other man, you know.

But in in other relationships, it's important for people to to understand that the birth chart and the compatibility charts are people's lives on autopilot.

So, when you're experiencing a relationship and you're hitting challenges, just because the relationship chart says, oh, we're going to hit this challenge, it's not an excuse for bad behavior.

It's not an excuse for infidelity or for treating your partner poorly. Instead, I'm all about this concept of transcend your birth chart.

Move beyond the challenges of it. Find a couples therapist, have open dialogue. You know, astrology is meant to be a tool to help us grow, not to put us in a box.

Rob Loveless

And looking beyond just romantic relationships, how can we use astrology to better understand family dynamics, especially when chosen family becomes so important in queer lives?

Danny Santos

Yeah, yeah. And that kind of goes back to what we were talking about, that sometimes, like the concept of home, can be very painful for some queer people.

But I think there are some aspects that we can see, like you'll be able to get a window into an individual's personal life in what's known as their IC so that's called, that's short for immune coli, and that's the place in the birth chart where we see someone's personal life, their roots, their concept of home, depending on what's going on there, you're going to see how the individual's life at home or what it looked like in childhood looked like.

You can also get a window into it by checking an individual's moon sign and seeing how well or how poorly aspected that moon sign is, and that's going to help reveal concepts of home.

But when we think about familiarity, one of the things that really draws us to other people is when the moon is closely aspected to other parts of an individual's birth chart, they're going to remind us of our family.

They're going to remind us of our emotional bandwidth, our emotional capacity, our roots, the idea of home. And as queer people, you know, if we think about the zodiac sign Cancer.

Cancer, at its best, is the sign of intimacy, and at its worst, it's the sign of family dysfunction and despair. 

So, imagine a queer person who's a Cancer, who's coming from a dysfunctional family, and they don't have that chosen family or that chosen or, excuse me, they don't have that that family that they grew up with, and they have to create chosen family.

You know, they're going to go and create intimacy elsewhere. I think as queer people, we we are dealt a more challenging hand, because it means that we have to look for people that are like us.

We're the only minority group that is born into a family of, most of the time, not fellow minorities, or at least not the same minority that we are.

You know, you can think about people from different ethnic backgrounds. I'm Cuban, maybe Black people, or people from other races.

When you're born into that family, you are, you're born into a community of people who share the same struggles and challenges that we do.

But as queer people, we, we're not. So, I think chosen family becomes really important. And if you can find people where you just feel that good emotional flow, that's beautiful.

And astrology will show you where you can find that.

Queer Intuition & Past Lives (27:32)

Rob Loveless

For folks curious about their own intuition, are we all a little bit psychic? And how can someone begin to tap into their third eye?

Danny Santos

Sure, so meditation is going to be the number one tool to tap into third eye. And I mean studies literally show that gray matter in the brain will reduce or, excuse me, increase.

We want gray matter in the brain, will increase significantly. I believe there's a Harvard study if you meditate 20 to 30 minutes a day.

Now, the transcendental meditationers believe that you should do 20 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes at night.

So, I try to do 40 minutes of meditation every day to help open my third eye chakra. And to answer your question, yes, we are all psychic, and we all experience psychic moments on a daily basis.

So, what that might look like is thinking about your friend, and then they suddenly call you.

Or you are really thinking about this concept repeatedly, like camping, camping, and then all of a sudden somebody invites you to go camping.

You know, there's, there's this idea of, like, foresight and intuition coming up, or even being able to psychically or intuitively read the people closest to us. So, you can think about it this way.

There are some people that are born into this world who have supernatural talent at singing, and just from a young age, they're just gifted at it. They're talented at it.

And then some people, maybe in their 30s, they decide they start want to take, start wanting to take lessons, and then they do, and they can improve, and they can get better.

But I do believe some things come from past life experience and singing or mediumship or psychic ability, these are things that we can improve with our free will and putting time into.

And then sometimes there's just natural talents, and sometimes there's genetics. So, there's all sorts of different factors.

But I think intuition is absolutely something that can be developed, and everybody has it.

Rob Loveless

And you've mentioned that past lives can be revealed through spiritual work.

You've given the example of Saturn's Return with learning those karmic lessons from a past life, or else we'll bring them into the future with us.

So, what are some ways people can begin to uncover who they might have been before this life?

Danny Santos

Well, I've, one of the main techniques that I've worked on with my clients is doing a past life regression. 

So that's where you take somebody into, like a meditative state, and then you guide them through the images of the past lives. And there's like a whole ritual you can do with it.

And crows, which are actually my spirit animal, and the animal protector that I've worked with the longest in my shamanic training, they're actually guardians of past life regression, which I didn't know starting this work.

So, it's absolutely possible to get a perspective into your long past lives. I've looked into some of mine. 

And before I ever had an affair with a married man, I remember I did a past life regression, like 10 years before I met him, and I saw myself as a woman in England who had this long-standing affair with a married man.

And everything that turned out to be tumultuous in her life turned out, ended up happening in mine. 

And it was like, I didn't know it at the time, but that past life regression would be kind of a guidepost from.

So, I absolutely believe in past life regression and how it can help give us answers and clarity and move us in the right direction.

Twin Flames & Soulmates (31:03)

Rob Loveless

From talking about those parallels between your past life and that experience you had, it kind of makes me think of the concept of, you know, there's people that are going to find us in life regardless of time. 

And that can include lovers as well. So, what's the difference between the concept of twin flames and soul mates, and how can you tell if you've met one?

Danny Santos

Well, a twin flame is someone who is going to activate and aggravate every single most challenging karmic lesson that you've got.

And I actually believe I have two twin flames in this lifetime, because when I saw the past life regression, I had two really tumultuous relationships.

So, there was the married man, and then there was the addict. And I played both of those archetypes out in dating in this lifetime.

So, the twin flame is a soul contract of somebody who you agree to share a certain level of dysfunction and activation and spiritual karma and pain and healing and growth from. And most often, twin flames don't stay together.

So, their purpose in your life is to wake you up, to bring all of your demons and your darkness to light, and ultimately to help you transform and reach your highest version of yourself.

Now, a soul mate is a more broad term, so it's going to represent maybe a best friend, a family member. 

These are going to be souls that you travel with regularly or more than once, and they're going to be people that you just have a much easier connection to. They're not meant to activate you as hard.

Now, that doesn't mean that a soulmate doesn't activate you because there's disagreements and falling outs and these kinds of things, but a soulmate is somebody that generally it's it's more of a harmonious relationship.

So, if you think about the most difficult relationship that you've had, whether romantic or otherwise, and how that affected your life, it's likely there was some level of karma or twin flame energy, especially in the romantic and sexual sphere, that was there, that was activating you, but the point of it is to heal you. 

To bring you to wholeness and purity.

Meditation, Empathy & Everyday Magic (33:28)

Rob Loveless

Going off of that for someone just starting their spiritual journey, especially a queer person who feels a little lost, what's one small step you'd suggest to reconnect with themselves?

Danny Santos

The number one thing that I recommend is meditation because it's free. Anyone can do it. You can do it at any time, basically. Like, in between minutes, even five minutes a day is a great place to start.

And then even, if going beyond 20 minutes in the morning or 20 minutes in the evening or just 40 minutes a day, like, isn't even necessary. You don't need to do much. It's like flossing your teeth.

You know, as long as you do it pretty regularly and you're consistent, you don't have to spend forever doing it. But it's it's really good for the body, it's really good for the mind.

It can actually help us receive messages. It can open up our intuition. It can help us see the future. It can help us see the past a little bit more clearly.

I think meditation is the number one most important tool in the toolkit for expanding your intuition. 

Now the second most important one, I'm going to say, is probably empathy and being easy on yourself, being easy on others, and being easy on the world. Because we're all here, part of Earth's school.

And I don't know if you know the song, Earth is Ghetto. Have you heard that? It's a very famous song on YouTube.

The woman who posted it, she's a Black creator and a musician, and I believe it's got over a million views. But it just talks about how, like, Earth is ghetto, she wants to leave.

And this place is filled with violence and pain and, and, you know, shootings and all sorts of horrible things.

And as students to Earth and to life, we're all joined together by the fact that we're human and we have hearts.

So, meditation, probably the number one thing. Number two is empathy and trying to be kind to your fellow man, woman, or they, you know, person.

Rob Loveless

And finally, in the season of ghosts, transformation, and intuition, what's one message you want to leave our listeners with?

Danny Santos

Oh, okay. I would like to say that, for better or for worse, existence is infinite. You know, we are omnipresent. And if that is true, have a little bit more fun with the witchy side of life.

Don't be afraid to experiment. Do rituals. Practice mediumship with your friends. Do spells. Like, find a way to bring more magic into your everyday life.

I think as human beings, we get so caught up in the day-to-day. A capitalist society, how much money am I making? Where, do I have a relationship? Am I happy? Do I like my job? What's going on with my family?

It can be really easy for us to lose the concept of magic. Magic is the most important thing to living a happy and fulfilled life, in my opinion, because it gives our life meaning.

And without meaning, we can fall into nearsightedness, and then our life might feel pointless in some capacity.

So, I just really want to say that, in my eyes, the most important thing this season, you know, during witchy season, or any time, is capturing the true magic of life. And creating.

Episode Closing (37:04)

Rob Loveless

And connecting it back to the tarot, The Hanged Man in reverse. Again, this card is telling us that we may be feeling impatient with where we're at in life, and we want to take action and charge ahead.

But if we do, we may be forcing our movement forward. So instead, we need to take a brief pause to get in touch with ourselves and our intuition, which can allow us to see things from a new perspective and unlock new potential for us.

Like Danny said, we tend to get caught up in the day-to-day things and may fill every moment of our day with things to do, thinking it's what we need to do.

And there are certain things we, of course, need to do, like work so we can have a livelihood. But we don't want those things to consume our entire lives and prevent us from achieving our full potential.

And Danny said it perfectly; we need to bring more magic into our lives. And this doesn't have to mean literal magic like you see in the movies, but the things that bring you joy.

You know, magic can be taking a walk in nature, or reconnecting with the hobby you're passionate about, or just turning your phone off and having a lazy day at home to relax.

There is magic all around us every day, and it's really important we allow ourselves to tap into that so we can reconnect with ourselves and make sure we're living our lives in alignment with what we want to achieve.

And astrology can be a means to help recenter yourself that way.

So, regardless of whether you're someone who's all about the metaphysical or someone who is a bit of a skeptic, make sure you take some time every day to bring a little magic into your life, whatever that may mean for you.

Connect with Danny (38:29)

Rob Loveless

Well, Danny, thank you again so much for coming on today. I loved this episode.

As we're wrapping up here, can you tell all the listeners where they can learn more about you and connect with you?

Danny Santos

Yeah, absolutely. So. Again, my name is Danny Santos. You can find me on my website at www.santoscrystalvisions.com or follow me on Instagram @santoscrystalvisions.

I do astrological birth chart readings, and I train plant medicine shaman through the Shipibo lineage, and I also do my spiritual life coaching program of walking individuals through their 12-step program while also learning the 12 signs of the zodiac.

So, anybody who might be interested in learning more, please do not hesitate to reach out to me. And let me know you found me through A Jaded Gay podcast.

Rob Loveless

And I have to ask, is the crystal visions a nod to Stevie Nicks?

Danny Santos

It absolutely is! Yes, my fellow gays always catch that reference.

Rob Loveless

Exactly, she's like, the ultimate, like queer mysticism, like, icon.

Danny Santos

Yes, she absolutely, she absolutely is. I love Stevie with my whole heart. I mean, she's a Gemini.

Rob Loveless

Oh, perfect.

Danny Santos

It's my band's name as well. So, I perform with with Santos and the Crystal Visions. And then it's also my non-profit faith-based organization where I walk the 12 Steps and the 12 suns of people.

Rob Loveless

I love it. And all that information is going to be in the show notes.

So, after you're done listening, definitely connect with Danny and head on over to Patreon to listen to this month's bonus episode, which is going to be actually a reading of my astrological birth chart.

So, stay tuned for that.

Connect with A Jaded Gay (39:58)

Rob Loveless

And for the podcast, you know the drill. You can send any questions or feedback to me rob@ajadedgay.com.

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Mmm-bye.