Aerin Fogel on being Queen of Swords, Core Pattern readings & The Craft: Legacy
Aerin Fogel on being Queen of Swords, Core Pattern readings & The Craft: Legacy
The Toronto-based Musician and Astrologer TALKTALKTALKS a life extraordinary
Aerin Fogel was a consultant on the 21st century remake of the 1996 film, The Craft. It was her job to make sure the magic was real. The spells. The rituals. Years of practice have made her a go-to for occult matters. She's basically the girl your inner goth teen aspired to be in high school. And some of us still aspire to be. She's also a musician and professional astrologer based in Toronto, who specializes in a form of channeling called Core Pattern Reading. If you have no idea what that last part means, I didn't either. In fact, I'm still not sure if I entirely get it, but I have friends who've had real breakthroughs after sessions.
Aerin founded Venus Fest, the Toronto-based music festival she organized for seven years. When she makes music—which is all her life—she is Queen of Swords. Her latest album is Year 8.
The following interview is the result of a long weekend spent with Aerin at the Detroit conference, ConVocation, which she was attending as a presenter.
CVh: How do you introduce yourself at parties?
Aerin Fogel: As an astrologer / musician.
CVh: What’s the most obnoxious response you’ve received when you introduced yourself at a party?
AF: Some variation of people confusing astrology with religion.
CVh: Who is the Queen Of Swords?
AF: The Queen Of Swords is a tarot card that has gained wisdom and perspective through a certain kind of adversity.
CVh: Are you left or right handed?
AF: Right handed.
CVh: What did you want to be when you grew up?
AF: A ballet dancer - or an astronaut ;)
CVh: Did you find magic, or did magic find you?
AF: A little bit of both. I think magic is always there around an individual, but it is up to the individual whether they are interested to hear it and pursue a deeper relationship
CVh: What does it mean to be an astrologer? Why have you chosen to devote your life to this field?
AF: Astrology is, to me, a recognition that we are part of a vast and profound ecosystem. Like all ecosystems, movement and changes on one level will be reflected on all levels. Becoming an astrologer has been one of the most honest and meaningful ways I’ve found to engage with my reality and all the other beings in that ecosystem — and to support others in finding this sense of meaning in their reality and shared connection as well.
CVh: If you could write a love letter to any planet, who would it be? What would it say?
AF: I’d write my love letter to Saturn, as the strength and capacity to find genuine, lasting change. While Saturn may be represented through many of the obstacles I’ve experienced, it is also my ability to find the limits in myself and then stretch those limits through growth.
I appreciate Saturn’s decomposition of the bones and detritus in our world, which fosters new life and growth and facilitates the cycles of nature. I appreciate my internal decompositions which have allowed me new life many times over — and a deep connection to the cycles around me.
CVh: On a lighter note, I happen to know you like to snack. What astrological signature do you most associate with snacking? What’s your favorite snack?
AF: The moon loves to snack, and snacking brings us emotional comfort! I love homemade baked items like sourdough or cookies and chocolate.
CVh: What are Core Pattern Readings? Tell me about them.
AF: A core pattern reading is a channeled session that elucidates a person’s repetitive life patterns. The reading helps to understand the root cause of the pattern, how it has become a self-perpetuating defense mechanism, and where the path of healing and integration lies. This supports the individual in freeing their energy from the pattern itself so they can have more space for their gifts and the things that bring them joy.
CVh: Are there two Aerins? One who performs on stage and another who sits in consultation? What are their personalities? Do they ever meet up?
AF: I would say it’s the same person! Playing music and working with people through consultation are both highly creative acts for me. There are pragmatic skills and techniques I work on my own and bring into both practices, but what is shared comes forward relationally and creatively. They are both, to me, a simultaneous act of seeking truth while sharing love.
The difference is that my personality is probably more at the foreground in my music work, as I strive to hold a neutral space for clients and to meet them where they’re at. In music, I am putting forward my own stories and perspectives, whereas I try to be more objective or relational about that in client work.
CVh: Do you ever need to take time from one practice to focus on the other?
AF: Over the last 15-20 years they have both been consistent parts of my life. My work in music has been more cyclical, partially because I chose to step back for a bit and then was running a festival for seven years and have recently returned to more of my own creative work. But also partially for pragmatic reasons, as my client practice has been my primary “work” focus over the last 12 years.
I don’t like to force creativity. While it is helpful to keep a consistent songwriting practice, I trust the timing of how things unfold in my music work. When it comes to my client practice, consistency and persistent learning are integral to my own skills as a reader and astrologer, as well as to hold stability and framework for clients I work with over longer periods of time.
CVh: Do you use magic for time management?
AF: As you can maybe tell from my love letter, I have a strong Saturn. So it’s not something that’s really felt necessary for me. Magic has been helpful in allowing me to be more spacious with my time, listen to my body and needs, and not fill all the openings with work or productivity.
I think magic can be a great support for time management with other people though.
CVh: Are you an early riser or night owl?
AF: A night owl, ever since I was a kid
CVh: What’s the best part about being a musician? The worst?
AF: I’ll start with the worst, which is easily the industry around music itself. Like many industries, we find tremendous misogyny, racism, homophobia, ableism, and other forms of othering, despite the fact that music (like magic) gives voice and power to the oppressed, to fringe-dwellers, to revolutionaries and progressives. And our current moment in musical history is one where huge corporations benefit from an artist’s work while they receive little, and where touring to share one’s music has become a costly, unsustainable, endeavor both in caring for the earth as well as for the artists’ wellbeing.
The best part about it is that there are things that can be said through music that can’t be said any other way. It expresses something true, connects those who hear it, and ideally offers some kind of catharsis or greater meaning to a person’s life. Music, like all art, is some of the truest joy and Eros we have as humans, and that is one of the best things about being human to me.
CVh: What’s the first instrument you learned to play?
AF: Piano.
CVh: What's your favorite instrument to play? Why?
AF: For a long time it was saxophone - I was an art school kid raised on classical and jazz saxophone with a fairly traditional music foundation. In this chapter of my life though, it’s guitar because I do all my songwriting with my guitar and it’s my dominant instrument for Queen Of Swords.
CVh: What am I missing?
AF: Nothing, these are such wonderful questions!
CVh: What’s exciting?
AF: Right now I feel excited about embracing the season. In Toronto, we are entering the colder, darker months of the year. I always feel unsettled at first as we approach, but have found that sinking into the quiet, dark space is actually quite exciting. I am looking forward to seeing what new inspirations and directions come out of the space.
CVh: Where can people find you? How can they work with you?
AF: https://linktr.ee/aerinfogel - for my website, Queen Of Swords work, and some other features.
I’m always accepting new clients on an ongoing basis, and am particularly excited about the Core Pattern Accelerator Program I’ll be teaching this winter, supporting people in learning how to work with their patterns in a deeper way, and unraveling all the energy that gets bound up in them.
FOR FURTHER ENTERTAINMENT:
LISTEN to TalkTalkTalk w/ Aerin HERE
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CONNECT with Aerin HERE