Cosmic Dive 06: Toronto turns 190
Can Toronto make a come back?
Image via Stephane Legrand/Shutterstock
I’ve lived in Toronto since my undergrad. I started in Scarborough and slowly slid west. I logged hours and hours on the RT. Lived in a crappy apartment at Woodbine and Danforth with people who aren’t my friends anymore. Moved to the Annex. Couldn’t afford it. Flit back and forth between Queen Street West and King West. Morning walks home at 5am when the light is streaking through the skies, drifting on a cloud of champagne and cigarettes. I’ve always felt like a tourist in this city. Even when I learned every slip in the concrete and how to skip over puddles in heels. Imposter syndrome is real. And in Toronto, everybody’s got an angle.
Toronto is where the really rich eat cake.
Or…it used to be. Until the pandemic. During the pandemic, if you could get out of the city, you did. If you could buy in the country, bully for you. And if you couldn’t, well, you were stuck. You were stuck in your own dystopian nightmare.
In the long, dark night of the pandemic, Toronto changed.
Eglinton Avenue has long been a problem. Mired in construction, pot holes and a steep hill, this essential thorough-fare through uptown is in serious trouble. The street improvement was supposed to have been completed in 2020, but pandemic and legal issues stalled completion. It feels never-ending. Nearly all the local shops along the main strip have been forced to close. Today, it’s just a maze of orange pylons and a long line of empty storefronts, broken up by newly minted pot shops. The weed dispensaries are every. where. now. Along Queen Street West, too. It’s ridiculous.
I started to wonder if streets themselves can have a locational astrology. What about Cities? How do you determine someone’s astrology: you look up their birth day, time and location. When was Toronto’s official birthday? I looked it up and get this — it’s today. The 190th Birthday of Toronto is today, March 6th.
Toronto was talking to me.
I found the party invitation to the incorporation date via the Toronto Public Library.
Birth Date: Thursday, March 6th, 1834
Birth Time: 3:00 PM EST
Location: Toronto, Canada
Calculated…
Image via Astro.Com
Toronto’s Natal Chart
Image via Astro.Com
Toronto’s Astrocartography
Image via Astro.Com
Et voilà.
Toronto is under the influence of its Mars Line.
Mars/DS Line 194 km
Primarily, the influence of this line is exciting but can also be difficult. For a limited period of time, there is an opportunity to deal clearly and effectively with partner issues, but on a long-term basis, the energy of these places can cause unrest and conflicts in human relations.
Relationships bear the mark of intensity and passion, and your partner becomes a reflection of your own wishes and desires. Acceptance or rejection is quick to surface, and a negative reply can really activate your powers of persuasion and conquest. This is especially so in your sexual behaviour. Your clever use of erotic and sensual appeal becomes a useful weapon in acquiring favours, recognition and love.
You need interaction with a partner to define yourself, but at the same time you fear for your freedom of choice, the results of which could mean arguments and disharmony. All encounters are a testing ground for your independence.
Excerpt from Robert Hand, Planets in Transit
Oooo Toronto, so naughty yet so uptight
Mars’s influence is interesting to examine. When you look at the natal chart, Mars falls in Toronto’s Sixth and Seventh House.
The Sixth House is about health, wellness and daily routines.
The Seventh House is about money, home and friends.
These placements manifest as traits of self-discipline and hard work.
Toronto’s Sun Sign is in Pisces. This amplifies Toronto’s serious nature, and means it will go through many important changes as it matures. It is a place of mysteries and where people can find out the deepest aspects of life.
With this Sun placement, in its early days Toronto will have had trouble distinguishing what makes it special. This brings to mind its reputation as being too uptight and having no style versus Montreal. Robert Hand in his book “Youth Portrait” writes about the Sun placement in the 8th House , describing a personality suited to “make a career of handling other people's property or money”…Yes, Robert. That resonates with Toronto.
I have had a rough time living in Toronto. So much of my focus has revolved around money. Making enough money to afford outrageous rents, expensive restaurants, clothes and food. I’ve always had a personality more suited to being a beach bum, and I’m pretty terrible at capitalism. Toronto and I have gone up and down.
I was legitimately worried about returning from Costa Rica and landing back in Toronto. I had such an amazing time down there, and I really wanted to carry the freedom and inner lightness I felt from time spent living in such a heart-centred culture. The Monday after we returned, a homeschool friend spontaneously came to visit and we took our daughters to Ripley’s Aquarium. I had never been, but I wanted to challenge myself to doing something touristy in Toronto - and it was actually really, really fun.
We took the UP Pearson Express from the Weston Go Station and it was easy and fast. The girls LOVED the train. It was clean and bright, not overly crowded. The train ride became a celebrated part of the adventure.
Exiting at Union Station and walking the big tunnel that connects to the Aquarium was also a highlight. As was the escalator. And the bicycle stands.
Men in suits walked briskly past, but our wild children still felt free to climb and swing on the brutalist architecture. We emerged at the base of the CN Tower. Staring up at that wall of cement was truly awe-inspiring.
A child’s keen eyes immediately spotted the glass floor and cried, “A glass floor! Imagine!” Their minds were blown and we hadn’t even made it to the Aquarium yet.
Ripley’s Aquarium was magical. So many amazing fish live in Canada’s freshwater lake systems and it was fun to learn all about them. The playground mid-way was also fabulous. The sharks and sting rays truly impressive. Two hours went by in a blink.
Seeing Toronto through a child’s eyes ignited a love for this city that I had largely lost.
Happy 190th Birthday, Toronto.
Tonight March 6th there’s a drone show at Casa Loma and Saturday March 9th fireworks at Nathan Phillips Square to celebrate Toronto’s birthday.
The next time I send you a newsletter, it will be from Màlaga, Spain.
World Schooling continues…
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