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Melissa Behm

@melbehmastro

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Fellow citizen of Earth✨Astrologer, Herbalist, Editor, Writer, Director & Unhinged garden gnome behind the @judithhillastrologyacademy account🧙‍♀️

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Surprise harvest from the garden yesterday 💗🌿
For context, I’ve been working so much that I neglected the garden for two weeks. I usually like to wait to go with my daughter who really enjoys it but yesterday I really needed that earth medicine and sunshine. 🌞

I went to do some weeding and garden clean up and didn’t expect anything to be alive because of the early morning frosts we’ve had here in NJ, but I came to these beautiful surprises as I was pulling out weeds and dead plants.

I’m saving the bean pods for my daughter to chuck with me- she loves it and it makes her really want to eat all that fresh produce. The garden was where she first tasted kale, kohlrabi, lemon balm, black tomatoes, fennel seeds, Swiss chard, and a few others I can’t remember at the moment.

The love, sharing and energy at a community garden cannot be replicated elsewhere. This is our second year participating and she’s learned so much from planting seeds to weeding to harvesting and more. She’s learning the time it takes to grow things and that some seeds don’t pan out while others that we never planted surprise us and thrive.

The Academy just got through our annual Herbalism & Medical Astrology summit this past Saturday and I felt immense gratitude at being able to put into practice some of the wellness tips we’ve learned through our teachers over the past few years. Wishing you all a fruitful autumn 🍂 by @melbehmastro

🌿 A DECADE OF HERBAL CARE: MARCOS PATCHETT'S WORK WITH IMMUNOCOMPROMISED PATIENTS 🌿

Did you know that clinical herbalist and medical astrologer Marcos Patchett spent nearly a decade supporting people living with HIV through herbal medicine?

In this interview, Marcos shares how his desire to give back to his community led him to work at a London clinic supporting patients with HIV, multiple sclerosis, chronic pain, and cancer.

With over 20 years of experience in herbal medicine, Marcos brings a wealth of clinical knowledge and a deeply compassionate approach to patient care.

🎥 Watch the full interview on our YouTube channel to learn more about Marcos's fascinating background and experience as a clinical herbalist!

JOIN MARCOS AT OUR 2026 HERBALISM & MEDICAL ASTROLOGY SUMMIT!

In his lecture, "How to Read a Consulting Chart (with Practical Results)," Marcos will explore how horary astrology can be applied to consultations, drawing on his extensive experience working directly with patients. Sign up today:

🌐 MedicalAstrologySummit.com

📅 October 16–17, 2026 | Virtual
🎟️ Tickets: $150 (includes all 10 lectures!)
💳 Payment plans available
🎥 Lifetime access to all 10 lecture recordings!

#MarcosPatchett #ClinicalHerbalism #HerbalMedicine #MedicalAstrology #HoraryAstrology #TraditionalHerbalism #MedicalHerbalist #HolisticWellness #HerbalismSummit #AstrologyEducation by @melbehmastro

🌿What happens when you follow your calling? Sometimes, the path begins to open before you. ✨

We sat down with Stephanie Gailing @stephanie_gailing , archetypal astrologer, author, wellness educator, and a featured speaker at the 2026 Herbalism & Medical Astrology Summit to talk about her journey weaving together astrology, nutrition, self-care, dreams, flower essences, and holistic wellness.

In the full interview, Stephanie shares how following her interests led to unexpected opportunities, including the creation of her first book, Planetary Apothecary, and a career devoted to exploring the intersection of astrology and well-being.

🌙 At this year’s Summit, Stephanie will teach TWO lectures:

✨ Self-Care Through the Stellar Life Stages
Explore major astrological cycles and turning points: from Saturn and Jupiter Returns to the Uranus opposition, Neptune square, Pluto square, and more. And learn how they can help us better understand the different chapters of our lives.

🌸 Blossoming with the Moon: Flower Essences and the Lunar Cycle
Journey through the eight stages of the lunar cycle and discover how flower essences can support greater awareness and alignment with the unique qualities of each phase.

▶️ Watch the full interview on our YouTube channel: Academy for Astrological Medicine.

Then join Stephanie and our incredible lineup of teachers for two days exploring the intersection of astrology, herbalism, Traditional Chinese Medicine, flower essences, holistic wellness, and the wisdom of the natural world.

🌿 2026 Herbalism & Medical Astrology Summit
📅 October 16–17, 2026
💻 Virtual Event
🎟️ Tickets & Full Program: MedicalAstrologySummit.com

✨Come curious. Be inspired. See where the path takes you. ✨

#Astrology #MedicalAstrology #Herbalism #HolisticWellness #FlowerEssences #AstrologyCommunity #AstrologyEducation #AstrologicalSelfCare #LunarCycle #WellnessJourney #HerbalMedicine #StephanieGailing #MedicalAstrologySummit by @melbehmastro

This book is a work of historical fiction about real life Chinese pirate queen Shek Yeung. I didn’t read her bio before picking up this book and I feel that made it even better and more suspenseful. Characters are brought to life by author Rita Chang Eppig @rche_types

Chang puts you in the mind of a woman who watched her brother be unalived by the same pirate who sold her to a madame. It was her mind and her wit that caught the attention of a pirate who led the notorious red banner fleet and eventually purchased her so she could be his wife.

She helped him run operations and after he died, she married his young apprentice to prevent mutiny among their ship and maintain an alliance among the other pirate fleets at a time when the Chinese Emperor was running a campaign to eradicate all pirates.

She was a master negotiator who had no time or patience for sentimentality but time proved she had a big heart and mind when confronted with a no-win situation, she thought outside the box and created her own path.

She was a true leader in every sense of the word.

If you’re not used to reading Chinese names, write down the names of the characters that come up in the beginning so you can keep up. I promise you the effort will pay off for the plot 🏴‍☠️

#deepastheskyredasthesea #ritachangeppig #booklover #melsreads by @melbehmastro

Hello and talk soon! 👋🏼🤓📚 by @melbehmastro

When the spirit overrides the programming people can surprise you and it’s beautiful. Also, since learning astrology I’ve improved the quality of some difficult relationships because understanding why someone makes the decisions they do allows for compassion even if you still disagree with them. Astrology is seeing more beauty in the world and all the possibilities if approached with the appropriate level of humility and reverence. by @melbehmastro

This video was taken the day after the Summer Solstice… for context, there was only one flower almost ready to bloom 3 days before. Look at how much life sprung! Here are some lessons I’ve been learning from the garden:

1) the tiniest seeds you plant can make a big impact (these black peony poppies came from the tiniest poppy seeds) and they’ve been attracting so many pollinators.

2) some things you plant never take root (because the conditions weren’t right for it) and that’s okay

3) some things that never seeded in the past may flourish if you plant them now. Don’t let past disappointments convince you it’s not possible if the desire is still there.

4) if you want the seeds you planted to flourish, you need to continue weeding out what doesn’t belong so that they don’t take resources from your seedlings

5) To my surprise, my biggest harvests are the crops given to me by my garden neighbors and friends- not what I actually planted. Just by showing up and showing love, I’m given unexpected blessings.
#gardenlife by @melbehmastro

Got this shirt from the incomparable and fabulous @lesley.francis at NORWAC and it’s quickly become one of my favorites. Leslie is a practicing astrologer (for decades) who knows her stuff and also has a podcast! Her energy is joyful 😄🌞

Full moons are such a striking astronomical event when you allow yourself to experience it. A few years back, I was in Heron Island off the coast of Australia and because half of the island is dedicated to wildlife research, artificial light is prohibited at night. We tourists used the light of the moon to navigate to the beach and once our eyes adjusted, everything was so bright and clear. We were able to see sharks swimming in the water, even witnessed a mother turtle laying eggs and baby turtles from another nest hatching and making their way to the water just based on pure instinct and the light of the moon.

Thinking back on this, it would make sense that the full moon would also illuminate themes, people and events depending on what part of your chart is being activated.

My desire for you is to experience a full moon with minimal light pollution this year if you can swing it. Allow its light to illuminate your path and pay attention to how the natural world responds to it- from the tides to the animals and plants. Happy full moon in Capricorn🌝 ♑️ by @melbehmastro

Solstice activity in full swing… we got our first black peony poppy bloom, another California poppy and our chamomile has been growing wild!

I’ve never seen so much chamomile or yarrow in the community garden as I’ve seen this year. Makes me wonder what this season will bring for these nervous system support plants to be growing as much since the astrology is pointing to lots of potential “shock” this Summer. Nature is intelligent and plants will grow where they’re needed. Looks like we are or will be in need of lots of calming support for our nerves and our liver, kidneys.

I’m being intentional about savoring sweet moments as much as possible. Cancer season post via @judithhillastrologyacademy coming tomorrow. Solstice blessings to you ✨🪻🌼🌷🫶🏼
#summersolstice #blackpeonypoppy #poppies #californiapoppy #chamomile by @melbehmastro

Juneteenth was yesterday and while I was in my own little world so I was a day late, I still want to talk about the significance of it.

Abraham Lincoln issued the emancipation proclamation on January 1, 1863 but it actually wasn’t fully passed into law until June 19, 1865. This is when black slaves were freed in the United States.

Slavery wasn’t just a thing that happened to black folks, it happened to America too because it was their labor that built industries (textile, farming, etc.) and enabled a thriving US economy that basically had the rest of the world take us seriously as a country and trade with us. Even though there were scattered attempts, proper full scale reparations were never made and black folks are still catching up from the repression they have and continue to experience.

Yes, there was affirmative action for a bit but that was a bandaid to institutional discrimination that left them with lowly funded school districts, high crime neighborhoods, and loan denials from banks. We have made progress but still have a ways to go as a country and society.

Yes, other groups are also oppressed but other groups did not build up our country on the scale that black labor did for free. We stole black labor, people steal their music, their style, use black athletes to win championships and the best gifs and memes have black folks in them so we even steal their expressions.

Juneteenth is a way to acknowledge the black contribution to our society and also make a conscious effort to support black businesses, employees and artists.

The book pictured here is Kindred by Octavia Butler which I read this past February and I highly recommend. It’s a historical supernatural fiction and draws you into the story in the way only Octavia Butler can.

You may have missed this Juneteenth like I did, but you can always support black businesses which is the best modern form of reparations we can do as a society. by @melbehmastro

🌼Garden things:
1) my first California poppy blooming
2) the larger poppy variety we planted finally starting to show the flower heads
3) mama’s little garden helper watering the plants 🪴
4) a little butterfly in a sea of chamomile

Moon is in Virgo today and we were on the land. Decided not to pick the chamomile today since I’m still drying some from last time. The energy in the garden really feels the subtle shifts in the earth. I have a feeling we will get lots of blooms and new fruits showing up immediately after the summer solstice to kick off Cancer season. Stay tuned 📻 by @melbehmastro

I received a very special package last week that happens to be @amandawalsh369 ‘s very first book and I CANNOT WAIT to tell you about it!
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For context, @amandawalsh369 and @astrology.hub staff have been friends and business partners with Judith since before I even started working with @judithhillastrologyacademy
👩‍🏫
Judith has done classes, podcasts and I even had the chance to interview Amanda on this new book last year as a bonus for our Summit attendees.
🎙️
She had asked us if we wanted to be early readers of her book before it came out and Judith and I excitedly said yes! Knowing what an amazing platform Amanda has built, I expected a motivational business book - it was so much more than that ‼️
🥹
Amanda shared her story of how she got here and the tools, lessons and heartbreaks she’s had along the way. It’s deeply personal, relatable and so incredibly well-written. Amanda does quite a lot of writing already for the Hub, but a memoir is a whole new body of work and it makes me want to read more of her writing.
⭐️
The artwork on the cover is Amanda herself (isn’t she stunning?!), the book comes with an option for a personal journal for self-reflection and she even has the audio version with her own voice out too. Pardon my French but Amanda never half-asses anything and this is proof of that🤌🏼
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So as an early reader and a book aficionado who is this book for? This book is excellent for folks who are new to astrology and curious about it. Folks that want to hear about how it can be applied in life. It’s also great for existing astrologers who are curious to know what it took for someone to change careers, go in a totally new direction and build an astrology empire from the ground up. Yes, it’s motivational AF and you may also shed a few tears. This book is available on Amazon or directly through @astrology.hub
🫶🏼
Thank you, Amanda, for sharing your life and light with the world 🌍 📘 by @melbehmastro