“Girl, I love those bangs!” That was the first thing a receptionist at a Colorado Springs hotel said to Roz Hernandez, a transgender comedienne who had decided to take her show on the road. Her books were empty and her plan was simple, but definitely not the usual route for a comedian: she posted on Instagram and asked gay clubs around the country if they wanted to book her. She kept the tickets affordable, but just high enough so the people who showed up really wanted to be there. Still, she had some understandable trepidation, perhaps very Saturnian, because her first booking was at a bar in Colorado Springs, where a queer club had been targeted years before.
Her friends warned her to be careful, but she trusted herself. She spoke with the people at the club, found them kind and welcoming, and decided to keep going with the tour on her own. When she walked into that first hotel, she was understandably guarded. Then the receptionist looked at her and said, “Girl, I love your bangs!” Just like that, the ice broke. And the rest, as they say, is history.
How many times have we had an idea, only to run straight into all the reasons it might not work? At first, the obstacles can look too big, too strange, or too opposite from what we imagined. But sometimes, if we give things enough time, those very differences start to work together. They can create something new, fresh, and surprisingly useful. This feels like one of those moments in history when unlikely people, from hugely different backgrounds, may be able to create something meaningful together.
Another story came to mind from a book I read earlier this year, The Professor and the Madman, which was originally published as The Surgeon of Crowthorne. It tells the story of how the twelve-volume Oxford English Dictionary came into being. The editor was not officially a professor, but he took on the enormous task of creating the world’s greatest dictionary. To do it, he asked people all over the country to send in quotations, notes, pronunciations, and definitions for the words being gathered.
Those newspaper notices eventually reached Dr. W. C. Minor, an American surgeon, Civil War veteran, and deeply educated book lover who had been committed to Broadmoor Asylum for war crimes. The request for help caught his imagination, and he began sending in contribution after contribution. Years went by before editor James Murray realized that so many of the dictionary’s most valuable entries were coming from this one unknown man.
Eventually, Murray decided to meet Dr. Minor. He thought Minor lived on an estate in Broadmoor, but when he arrived, he discovered that Broadmoor was actually an asylum. Even so, he met Minor and found an extraordinary collaborator from a completely different world suffering probably from severe PTSD never diagnosed. Over time, the two men became lifelong colleagues, and even friends, as Minor grew older while still helping to create that monumental twelve-volume work.
Was it unlikely? Absolutely. Extreme? No question. Was it a successful collaboration? Most definitely, though not without sorrow. Both men had to cross shadowy boundaries, perhaps a Plutonian journey through the underworld, to help uncover one of the richest treasures of the English language.
So, what is the point of this week’s stories? Sometimes the most unusual people, from the most unexpected places, are the ones who help create something remarkable. As Jupiter enters Leo on June 30, and Saturn begins slowing toward retrograde with Mercury, this may be a good time to look around and take inventory of the people in your world. Some may come from different class structures, professions, or ways of thinking, but their talents and ideas could fit beautifully with their own. As the North Node moves back into Aquarius on July 26, it may help to set aside pride, ego, or fixed opinions and look instead toward community. Aquarius reminds us that many vastly different parts can come together to make a stronger whole.
With Saturn stationing in Aries, the message is not to rush blindly into unfamiliar territory while realizing you can’t do it all alone. Be optimistic while also being careful, while also listening to your instincts which may ask you to define further what you need in specific terms – an especially important piece of this process. Do your research. Then, as summer winds down and the planets begin direct motion, you may be ready to act and choose new pathways that grow out of these unusual collaborations.
One last example comes from Ferdia Lennon’s Glorious Exploits. After the Athenians lose the war, their soldiers are thrown into Sicilian quarries and left to starve. Two characters, both out of work potters but devoted to the Greek playwright’s plays known as Euripides, cannot bear the thought of his words disappearing naturally a possibility as the Greeks are defeated. So, they produce the idea of searching among the starving Athenian prisoners for men who can still recite the playwright’s work from memory. What follows is a powerful story in which enemies become support systems and history is kept alive. A twist with a good ending. With that said, have a unique week. And to all of you… “Girl, I just love those bangs.”
