Astrodeck: Three Generations of Women and the Planets

Astrodeck, to understand astrology. Created in the 1980s for serious astrologers. My mom, at the time a soul-searching teenager, received these from her East Village astrologer mother to better understand herself in relation to the planets. Thirty-five years later, when her daughter, i.e., me, sparked an interest in astrology, she passed on the cards. 

Astrodeck comes in a little red box. On the front, it states, "You can lay out the cards to explain astrology charts, abilities, influences of the past, present, and future...For all 12 zodiac signs, 10 planets, 12 houses, 24 aspects." The cards are worn, yellowing a bit, but perhaps the age adds more sentimental value. The Art of astrology is generational in my family. I assume by this you think we're kooks, and trust me, we are, especially my unapologetically eccentric grandmother Linda. 

Linda is a Capricorn; according to Astrodeck, she is organized, ambitious, and methodical. Of course, she would object to me focusing only on sun sign astrology which is surface level. Regardless, she is very much a Capricorn. Raised in Buffalo, New York, my grandma always felt confined to the normality of her environment. Normality wouldn't suffice for someone with Jupiter as their most predominant planet, the planet symbolizing expansion, spiritual seeking, and foreign cultures. So she jumped at every opportunity to branch out of the suburb of Cheektowaga. In her teens, she traveled through an exchange program to Ecuador, where she spent the summer at a Hacienda, something rare for a girl of her time. My grandma had a deep interest in Art, eventually obtaining a degree in Art education. Through her interest and her environment of Buffalo, she met my Dziadzio (grandfather in Polish) John Wolanczyk, an artist/teacher and an equally eccentric man, and they made their way to New York, the home to creatives. In New York, she became a mother, after her divorce a phenomenal astrologer, and now a grandmother of eight. 

On October 1st, 1971, Linda and John's first daughter was born, my mother Roxanne. Roxanne is the quintessential Libra; relationship-oriented, sociable, fun-seeking, and diplomatic to everyone but me. Roxanne was and forever will be an NYC cool kid. Her youth was spent at CBGB's and Rasta lounges in the Lower East Side. She attended Pratt art school, majoring in sculpture. Roxanne never left the city, because like every NYC kid, we are too spoiled by the cultural riches to be content anywhere else. In 1994, Roxanne met a scrawny man from Japan named Dyske. With oversized glasses and a uniform of white V neck tees and ill-fitting khakis, Roxanne was convinced she'd met her match, and Dyske, despite his cold nature, was smitten. They began dating by '97. 

By 2004, Roxanne was pregnant with her first and thankfully only child, me. Because of Roxanne's lack of good health insurance, Dyske and Roxanne decided to tie the knot for financial simplicity. So, in an uncomplicated legal affair, my mom wore an orange tank top with a bulging baby bump and a cream skirt with converse down to city hall alongside my father. They brought their friend Nadav, a cynical unemployed Israeli as their witness because, because as an unemployed person, he happened to be doing nothing. They got hitched on June 30th, 2004, and on February 11th, 2005, I was born. 

I am an Aquarius, as Astrodeck would describe me; friendly, innovative, independent, and non-conformist. Perhaps it's the Aquarius in me, but more so, I think it's the models of independent non-conformist women that my grandmother and mother are. Challenging the status quo and breaking from tradition must run in our blood because you cannot cage the intellect and will of the women in my family no matter what their husbands are led to believe. So when I received the Astrodeck cards, it felt more like an heirloom than jewelry or embroidery; it was the knowledge of an art form passed down from one generation of women to the next.