#40: Emmalea Russo
"I’m a typical Virgo: if I don’t have a routine, I go batshit."
#40: Emmalea Russo
In a long spreadsheet of names that I’ve kept since launching this newsletter, Emmalea Russo’s is close to the top. Next to it, a ★ — originally used to signify priority, because I enjoyed her appearances on Contain and wanted to hear more, but now, in retrospect, vocation (she’s a working astrologer).
Naturally, the stars seems to inform much of her other work, too. Psycho-Cosmos, a year-long course exploring psychoanalysis, astrology & creativity, starts this Sunday (there’s still time to sign up). Vivienne, a witchy look at the art world and female relationships, was published last fall (more on that here). And her Health Gossip responses? … well, dear reader, simply keep scrolling.
At a glance…
Location: Bucks County, PA and the Jersey Shore
Astrology: Virgo/Taurus/Aries
What does health, or being healthy, mean to you?
Freedom. An ability to see outside my own little worldview. Space between thought and action. I’m teaching this trippy class called Psycho-Cosmos this year and it’s all about astrology and psychoanalysis, so I’ve been reading a ton of Freud. Health, maybe, has to do with the way he describes a goal of psychoanalysis: “turning your hysterical misery into common unhappiness.” But I guess health can be a kind of prison, too. Lou Andreas-Salome (a very badass and interesting thinker, and apparently irresistible — Nietzsche proposed to her several times) wrote, in an open letter to Freud on his 75th birthday, that it’s not only illness that prevents people from seeing patterns — but also a certain kind of health that gets in the way. Her example of this health that gets in the way of vision is “when someone puts up with too small an expectation of his life’s possibilities.” I love this.
How would you describe your current lifestyle?
Beach-rural?! Quiet with bursts of intensity. We go back and forth between our house in rural Pennsylvania and an apartment we’ve had on the Jersey Shore since we left New York several years ago. Also, I’m a typical Virgo: if I don’t have a routine, I go batshit. I love planners and lists and a certain amount of rigidity and boringness is necessary for me to be able to write and function and feel free. I like that thing Flaubert said: “Be regular and orderly in your life so that you may be violent and original in your work.” But shit happens, and often the routine gets smashed and things get chaotic, psychedelic, weird.
How do you start and end your days?
I wake up EARLY. Before sunrise. This is the best time. When everyone’s still asleep, I write, read, plan. The very early morning is when I tend to get the most writing done, when the dream energy is still lingering. So, I write/edit whatever I’m working on. Right now, it’s my second novel and also, regular Substack posts for Cosmic Edges. I take a handful of supplements with sparkling water and have a few bites of whatever’s around. I make a pot of coffee. Walk the dogs. My nightcap is typically a little chocolate and a New Age soda (this brand and flavor is the best) or old school Kombucha. Reading in bed. Novels are for nighttime.
Was there a specific moment that made you more conscious of your health?
When I was a teenager, I started having seizures. Like, the showstopping and dangerous kind. Meds didn’t work, so I went rogue and began trying out different diets and practices. I was literally shook into paying attention to my body, mind, health back then. I’ve been experimenting ever since.