Michael Lutin Has Beamed Up and Out
One of this century's wisest, funniest, most generous astrologers has died.
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“I GOTTA GO, I’M BAKING A CHOCOLATE CAKE.”
Most conversations with Michael Lutin would end that way. He always had something ‘cooking,’ — literally or figuratively. Although he never gave out his birth chart, a sly astrologer I met once at a convention in Seattle told me that they’d caught a glimpse of Lutin’s driver’s license, and he was a Virgo.
And that made sense. We think Scorpio is the most private sign, but Virgo is an equal and much more sly about how they protect their secrets. Despite knowing very few personal details about Michael, he knew tons about me.
He found all of this out through casual conversations, not by digging or probing. Quite mercurial as Mercury is apt to be. And he had that Virgo way of offering care and practical advice that was pragmatic and from the heart.
After I’d had surgery some years back, he would call and ask, “Did you make your bed this morning? You’ve got to make your bed right after you get up. That will set you off in the right direction for your day. For your healing.”
Prior to the surgery, he’d asked me, “Did you study your chart to see what was going on?”
I said, “No. I didn’t practice astrology that way, especially with health issues. I needed the surgery and that was that.”
He said, “Right. Same for me. I wouldn’t have paid any attention to it.”
Over this past weekend, Michael bid adieu and moved on to another star dimension—if such an afterlife exists.
We frequently debated over the ‘life after death’ stance and he had scores of ‘personal experiences’ to counter my ultimate ‘who the hell knows’ attitude. What I liked about his philosophy is that he didn’t need to preach about it to ‘prove’ anything; you just got a visceral sense that he felt secure with his insights. His belief system was ‘body-based.’
Aside from the books he wrote, and the generous wisdom he shared with his clients and his active and very wild social media presence (he loved Facebook), Michael is also known for his time creating stellar content for Vanity Fair. Most famously, his article Special Alert: Horoscope USA, about Pluto’s ingress into Capricorn, written back in 2007. That essay was a molten hot, prescient peek into where we were headed and how we ended up where we are today. Here is a snippet from that article:
“The greatest time of upheaval will be between 2015 and 2019, when the square of Uranus in Aries to Pluto in Capricorn peaks. Then, from 2023 to '25, the final stages of the Pluto return and the Capricorn effect will reach a climax. Some astrologers believe that an empire lasts no longer than one Pluto cycle, and by 2025 ours will be played out.”
And rereading this, I think I understand why Mikey high-tailed it when he did.
On the flip, he wrote to me once: “We always have to remember to think in bigger terms. Today’s news wraps tomorrow’s fish, so it’s way too easy for pundits and astrologers to look too close to the minutiae of daily events when actual history is unfolding.”
I dislike most obituaries, especially when the author talks more about themselves than the person who died. So here’s some fun astro stuff I retained from Michael over the years, from our time on the phone (as my memory allows) and our emails.
About Mercury retrograde, he wrote:
After I explained to him that I didn’t pay any attention to Mercury retrograde he wrote:
“The mystery of Mercury retrograde is never resolved among astrologers, mainly because it’s never the way we think. You have to go on living, and the wrinkles that appear are rarely predictable.
It’s complicated. Some astrologers think nothing should be taken on or agreed to, no decisions made during the retrograde. But many people who come to an astrologer during Mercury retrograde have a Mercury retrograde, either natally or by progression. It’s their recurrence and the proper time for them to have their charts interpreted.
Also projects that come to you during the retrograde are not necessarily doomed to fail. They are Mercury retrograde projects. We can’t stop living every time a planet moves this way or that. We have to be aware, however, of the ephemeral nature and fleeting meaning of events in our lives. I try not to be attached to outcomes.”
On our political moment:
“The more resistance that appears against the Old Patriarchy, the more it will crack down and attempt to quell any rebellion. This is natural when revolutions occur. It’s going to be a war between the young voices and the efforts of the Patriarchy (which many women belong to) to silence those voices. That’s what revolution is.”
He was also the first astrologer that planted in my brain the significance of the fixed star Regulus shifting into Virgo, he told me: “Royalty is done with: Regulus is leaving Leo. The worker is in.”
Boy, I guess we’re about to find out if that assessment is true in the years ahead as Pluto moves through Aquarius, the sign of the ‘every man and woman.’
“Change is great when you yourself initiate it,” he advised. “When it is imposed upon you from force majeure, or some great social, cultural or economic upheaval, the natural human thing to do is try to regain a shred of control over life by attending to your own affairs as if you weren’t being affected by ‘Something’ beyond your comprehension or control.”
Oh yes, indeed.
And death is the final force that we relinquish control to. I can’t help but think (and hope) that Michael met that part of the cycle with as much grace and humor as he expressed while alive.
I will miss him so much!
Love,
PS: Here’s a podcast from Aeolian Heart Astrology, where Michael and I joined Andrei Burke and Rachel Capurso for one of our casual chats!
Photo of Michael Lutin by Gaspar Tringale.
⭐️ My new book, I Love You Jeffrey Dahmer arrives soon! ⭐️
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Thank you for sharing this- from a fan and client of his. I can understand why he pressed the eject at this time. What a magical creature, powerful in word and silence, fiercely capable of establishing justice in the face of any demon. Reaching him for a reading was like trying to play a Vitrola. He was impressively analog. He worked in a way that set the bar highest for anyone dealing with the psychic space of others. Small interactions with him were priceless gateways. One of the last things he said to me was “Libra is the manifestation of not having murdered someone.” Amen. RIP ML! ♥️
Thank you so much for this. One of the best dinner parties I ever threw became even better when Michael showed up. (EDITED to add that it was a dinner for my friend, the divine and brilliant Australian astrologer Jessica Adams.) And I saw him not that long ago as he lived in the same building where my dentist's office is, and I was there in a bad mood for a long-overdue visit, when out popped Michael just as I was leaving. It was the only time I'd ever been glad to go to the dentist! He was in good spirits....am just so sad. May his memory be a blessing.