Kate Henry [00:00:00]:

Welcome to Honing in a podcast for creative thinkers where we’ll hone our skills, explore our passions, and nurture our dream projects into being. Hi everyone. Welcome back to honing in. I’m Dr. Kate Henry and today I am interviewing my friend Bee, who’s actually Rebecca, so I’ll introduce her. Rebecca, or Bee Skolnick, is a writer, witch and weirdo who wants to help make meaning out of mess. Her books, the Witch’s book of Enhance your magic with numerology and marriage by the numbers planning your wedding using numerology are out now. And she pens swimming in the soup on Substack.

 

Kate Henry [00:00:50]:

She is also one third of Call your practical advice for nonsensical times, a new podcast that blends numerology, astrology and the tarot into one monthly forecast. Bea lives in Los Angeles with the loves of her life, her wife and their pup. Welcome, Bea.

 

Bee Scolnick [00:01:11]:

Thank you so much for having me. I’m thrilled to be here.

 

Kate Henry [00:01:15]:

We were just gabbing and chatting and catching up before we started recording. But now we’re going to get down to business, and I love to open my episodes by asking folks how they feel about the concept of a project. Like, quote, unquote, project. Is that a framework that feels helpful for you for your creative work or your projects or whatever other word you like to use for those things?

 

Bee Scolnick [00:01:38]:

Yeah, I do think the word project is helpful. Like when I think about a project, that’s way for me to separate one piece of writing from another piece of writing. And, and I think that I also use the word practice a lot, especially when it comes to my spirituality or more of my craft, my witchcraft. I think practice is just a longer form project to me has beginning, middle and end, or at least an end. This project will wrap up, this project will be completed. But I think practice just feels open ended to me on some of the things that could be called projects but aren’t.

 

Kate Henry [00:02:28]:

This also makes me think too. Like, what are your thoughts on like a system? Like, I feel like that feels appropriate for the work that you do, which we’ll get into more today. But like how do you feel about the concept of a system?

 

Bee Scolnick [00:02:43]:

I feel a little daunted by the concept of a system. I think that my Weirdo tab can be expanded to say that I’m just a messy, chaotic maker who really tries to form systems. But I think that that’s something I have to work on in my life and in my practice, in my business. I think systems would probably really help me and it’s just putting them into place for me, systems seems more disciplined then like my practice can be messy, but I would want my system to be streamlined and clear. So I’m working on it.

 

Kate Henry [00:03:27]:

Totally. I mean I don’t have a system. Like I know a lot of business owners are like, this is my four-step system to blah blah, blah. And I’m like, I haven’t found one of those yet that I’m like wedded to. I like projects, but I like also like the more open-endedness of a practice as well. That feels more like, okay, like what are my rituals, what are the routines? What are the like cyclical things that I do.

 

Bee Scolnick [00:03:53]:

Yeah. With business and systems too. I’ve had a change to my business in the last few years, which I’m sure a lot of folks have. But I went from having a really structured business with a lot of regularity, whether that was clients or softwares I was using, you know, how I actually did business and how I built my business. And then in the last couple of years that’s all been torn down. And so now I feel because of both job loss and health issues, I’m kind of back to, well, what was once a shaky foundation is kind of firming itself up again. But I feel like I’ve had to do a lot of tearing down. And so that’s another work in progress is like building those systems up again and even saying what do I want these systems to do for me this time around? Because my answer will be completely different from this vantage point in my life than it was like a couple years ago.

 

Bee Scolnick [00:04:55]:

And that just has to do with the nature of working across many fields and in various niches or genres which I’m sure we’ll talk about.

 

Kate Henry [00:05:04]:

Yeah, totally. I mean I was going to ask you questions like, and share questions with you around like the work that you did before working for yourself in this way, like doing like videography work, doing like those things are still on your website. Right. So like do you still feel, are those projects or practices that you think that you might want to explore again, or do you feel like right now like while you’re going through your health journey that you’re like, okay, I’m just gonna focus on what I’m doing now. I don’t need to get back into the field of directing or video or you know, things like that?

 

Bee Scolnick [00:05:38]:

Yeah, so I went to college. The first time I undergraduate I got an acting degree. And so my last semester I did a film and TV studies seminar. You know, semester that really, I was like, oh, this is What I want to do, this is everything. It’s writing, it’s editing, it’s acting, it’s directing, it’s producing, it’ wearing all of the hats, which is something that I do like to do. And so I kind of just let my career go in that direction after I graduated from college. And so I did end up with this really funny career in production that I had never expected to have. Kind of being Jane of all tradesy in terms of doing a lot of videography work, a lot of digital producing.

 

Bee Scolnick [00:06:28]:

And then I worked for W magazine for a while. I worked for Nickelodeon at Paramount. I was a huge videographer for Today Tics and working in the Broadway world. So again, I got to do one thing but work in a lot of different spaces, which was really exciting to me. And then during the pandemic, when Covid started, I was in New York and our whole day to day life just truly shut down.

 

Kate Henry [00:06:56]:

And.

 

Bee Scolnick [00:06:57]:

And so I started thinking, what is it that I want to do? I got laid off from my freelance contract and I had always been spiritual on my own. And at that point, I had been an Instagram Tarot reader for a few years. You know, just not really doing it for money or in any kind of way that I was like, yes, this is my business, and this is what I do. So during the pandemic, I just kind of leaned into it a little harder and it was a great time. I mean, obviously a lot of people were looking for insights and looking for connection in that way. So it made sense that something, you know, modalities like tarot and numerology would kind of be something that people would be looking for at that time. But it also was really about me being ready to speak about it and share about it as well. And so I just put out a numerology 101 zine.

 

Bee Scolnick [00:07:57]:

Nobody in the niche was really talking about numerology. And it was something that I’d studied for a long time and I was like, okay, let’s do it. So really even just saying this to you? Yeah, I’m always open to revisiting skill sets and I’m always open to whatever creative work wants to find me. But I don’t have any plans to go back in a production way other than if my friends are doing things or like, my dream is to publish a novel and sell the rights and then be a part of that filming experience, you know, that production experience. So it’ll never go away. It’s definitely in my wheelhouse. And that’s why it Stays on my website is because I do want to be a whole ecosystem of a person and a creator. And I like housing all of it still in one spot.

 

Bee Scolnick [00:08:54]:

But I really am kind of a go with the flow, like, seeing where opportunities lead me. And I’ve perfected the pivot, so I’m happy to do it at this point.

 

Kate Henry [00:09:05]:

This is excellent. I feel like I’m like, we could just end the episode. No, we’re not going to. But I feel like that was just, like. So such a wonderful journey through your experience. And there’s lots of lessons in there for us. So you do work with numerology and tarot and astrology, and I know our audience has probably heard of tarot and astrology. Right.

 

Kate Henry [00:09:24]:

But numerology is something that we may not have heard much of. So could you just sort of give us the 101 introduction to what numerology is?

 

Bee Scolnick [00:09:33]:

Absolutely. So numerology is a bit of a twofold practice. The first is study. So it is the study of the language of numbers, or you could say the divine language of numbers, if you’d like to put some extra spiritual pixie dust on top of it. And it really is getting to know the building block numbers of 1 through 9, which we are taught as children. You know, we see them every day, we interact with them in all these ways and. But learning kind of what they mean in terms of archetypal energies or life experiences. And see how they can also teach us about the journey or the adventure between one and nine as well, which makes up this cycle and this spiral that we’re always living through.

 

Bee Scolnick [00:10:26]:

So the first part is study, and then the second part is the application of that information about numbers. And we can apply this to ourselves. Just like we all have a unique astrological natal chart, we all have a personal numerology chart as well, a set of numbers that you can find based on the birthday. You can work with name numbers, if you want to know, based on which names are really interesting because a lot of people tend to change their names over the course of their life for a plethora of reasons. And so that’s kind of cool to look at your given name versus your chosen name or so on and so forth. But we all have this personal chart of numbers that we can get to know all of these various placements. Just like having a planet in this house or this sign, you know, there are nuances around. So a lot of the work that I do with clients is to, first of all, deliver the information to them of, like, these are your numbers.

 

Bee Scolnick [00:11:27]:

These are the numbers in your birthday. These are the numbers in your name. And then also just to engage in conversation and say, this is what this quote unquote, this means from a more technical standpoint. And then how can we figure out within the context of each person’s life, how that energy can either, well, can both validate and affirm things for them and also provide clarity and insight into possible challenges or areas of growth. And numerology, because it’s math based, tends to get a bad rap because we don’t, you know, a lot of people don’t love math. And so my book, the Witch’s Book of Numbers, my, my first book literally starts with a story of me yelling at my mother that I, unless I was in Math the musical, I would not need to know anything about math in high school. And so if I can do this math, then everybody else can do this math. And so that’s a big part of my work too, is inviting people who are math averse into the practice and saying there’s no shame in a calculator game.

 

Bee Scolnick [00:12:44]:

You know, we can connect with numbers and then hopefully that can just make them a little less scary in everyday life.

 

Kate Henry [00:12:52]:

Ah, this is so cool to hear this. I want to ask you about how you got into this because, like, my thinking of numerology has always, it’s either been like through tarot, like thinking of like a tarot card of the year and, you know, like figuring that out, but I hadn’t known much about numerology. And I said this to you in when I sent you some questions. But I remember growing up and like, for some reason we had a copy of the Secret Language of Birthdays with like the sun on the front. And I remember looking up mine and it was like, you’re the wanderer. And like I had the same birthday as Jim Henson, which I was like, that checks out. But I do remember as a kid, like, however old I was being, like, really into that. What is your sort of numerology root? What got you into this?

 

Bee Scolnick [00:13:40]:

Yeah, my mom is a little all over the place when it comes to like religion and spirituality. And so I was introduced at a really young age to both a more traditional, non-denominational Christian church experience, but then also reading horoscopes and you know, dabbling in what we would call spiritual practices, but for Western culture is largely like new age practices. And so my first numerology chart was actually done by a sidewalk mystic in a beach town in Northern California. And as of a couple of years ago, he was still there, which is wild, but literally just a mystic that sits out on the main street of this small coastal town and offers chart readings. And so my mom had my chart done by this man, and it was amazing, and I wanted to know so much more about it. And he gave me a list of keywords, like two words for each number. And it was the most instructional part of the reading, obviously. But I just.

 

Bee Scolnick [00:15:00]:

I’ll never forget how those keywords, I was like, oh, my gosh, I get this. Like, something about numbers and math had never made sense to me before, but then applying them in this way, I was like, oh, this is amazing. So then I just went down a deep dive.

 

Kate Henry [00:15:17]:

And.

 

Bee Scolnick [00:15:18]:

And so there aren’t a lot of numerology teachers or numerologists working kind of as prominently as astrologers or tarot readers. But one woman who was very integral to my journey, her name is Christine Delaure, and she writes creative numerology is her brand. So creativenumerology.com and she sticks, still does weekly, monthly, yearly. She’s the forecast queen, basically. And she’s still working, but it is harder to find kind of that information. So I ended up going all the way back to Pythagoras and Pythagorean numerology and doing a lot of study into the history of numerology and its different practices, because there are many schools of thought and still are many schools of thought. So I always tell my clients or students that if you’re out there searching on the web and you find something that doesn’t match what I’m saying, that could totally be true and is totally fair because it depends what kind of school of thought you’re dabbling in. So mine is Pythagorean.

 

Bee Scolnick [00:16:36]:

I committed to that, the Western practice. And yeah, it’s just been a lot of, like I said, DIY study because it’s not as prominent as some of these other modalities.

 

Kate Henry [00:16:50]:

But there are people we love DIY study here at Honing In. Like, weird. DIY study is our favorite. We want public scholarship. We want DIY study. This is so cool. This is a system. Just.

 

Kate Henry [00:17:04]:

I’m super duper fascinated by this. And I want to ask you about. Because as. As I hear you talk about these wonderful teachers that are doing forecasts, like, you also have wonderful forecasts and swimming in the soup. I really appreciate and like reading those and find them accessible and beautifully written and interesting and the right level of metaphor and literal. That is really satisfying. So you are also a good one who shares the forecast. So to ask you about Swimming in the Soup, I actually want to ask you about your approach to writing.

 

Kate Henry [00:17:38]:

We’re going to talk about your novel later. So your approach to nonfiction writing. So can you tell us like a behind the scenes on your writing process as you’re working on these different types of writing? I’m curious about, like, do you approach writing Swimming in the Soup in a similar way or different way than how you would approach writing a piece for an edited collection that you’re in or for writing like a book long nonfiction piece, you know? So like, what does your writing process look like?

 

Bee Scolnick [00:18:09]:

So Swimming in the Soup is the name of my podcast and newsletter project. So there’s that word. I literally do call it a project. And I started it in 2021, I think. Oh, that’s a long time now, I think in 2021. And I wanted to start an email list. It was a little bit of a everybody was saying you got to get an email list. And I was like, okay, let’s get an email list.

 

Bee Scolnick [00:18:39]:

But I wanted something that would be an umbrella for all of the topics that I like to talk about and that would be a little bit broader so that the offerings didn’t have to be as like focused or niche. And now, to be honest, if you want to talk about systems four years later, I am considering how having an open ended or broad container then also has its challenges because you would think like, oh, it can be anything. But then again, that’s very undisciplined and unplanned. So it’s been interesting to watch Swimming in the Soup kind of shift from one offering to another offering and to see what people like out of that and what’s working. So these weekly forecasts, that’s new for 2025 and it was actually something that was voted in by my readers at the end of last year, was that that was what they would like in 2025. And I have really enjoyed writing those. So I’ll just speak from a behind the scenes of what it looks like. This year I have this weekly forecast that goes out to readers and I always write it on Saturdays and it comes out on Sundays.

 

Bee Scolnick [00:20:05]:

And I didn’t always plan on doing it that way, but it felt very grounded to sit down and write what was going to go out the next day and also get as close to the week’s energy as possible just so I could write from that place. I have a system for this. I have a draft. I replicate it every week and fill in all the Forecasts. The other things that I write for Swimming in the Soup have to do with a lot of numerology, so I also do monthly overviews. I’m starting to think about removing those from the docket and seeing what I want to do with it now because Call your Coven does monthly forecasts. And so I find that I’m kind of writing about the month twice and that’s not very helpful for anyone. And I’d like to just stick with the one monthly forecast.

 

Bee Scolnick [00:20:54]:

So maybe letting people know, you know about what I had said in Call you Coven in a different format while also sending you the link to the full episode. I also do interviews with creators, so I have a few coming up that I’m really excited about with Tarot Deck creator and an Oracle deck creator that I’m going to kind of pair up. But Swimming in the Soup is really kind of whatever I feel called to write. And I’m always playing with format and then also seeing where I get really stuck in like, okay, this is working. But I do feel some pressure sometimes around a continual newsletter to always be offering more. And so the behind the scenes look on that is like if I’m writing for a essay collection, like I’ve contributed to the Rebbes, which is a tarot magazine. It comes out once a year in the fall. This year’s issue is on the Devil.

 

Bee Scolnick [00:22:00]:

I do have an essay on the Devil, Tarot Card and Love island, the reality show that I’m very excited for folks to read. But something like that kind of collection, those feel much more manageable to me and much more like here is a really solid idea and I’m gonna follow that. And that’s a little bit like the nonfiction book work that I’ve done as well has been, okay, here’s the idea. Let’s flesh this out. Instead of oh, here’s this container. Now I need to figure out ideas for what I’m going to do with this. So I think I actually much prefer the here is the clear idea. Let’s get to work on this.

 

Bee Scolnick [00:22:43]:

Let’s flesh this out. Other than and it’s a prison of my own making. Right. Like I created Swimming in the Soup. I could create something different at any point. It is a funky way of working. Like idea first or container first.

 

Kate Henry [00:22:59]:

Yeah, I find that writing. I used to write a weekly newsletter and then I was like, holy cow, this is way too much work. And I shifted to doing twice a month and now have the podcast release or the other weeks. Something I want to Try to explore. Because I really admire folks who are like, this is my day that I write this thing and this is the container. I tend to like have multiple newsletters. They’re not like, here’s a forecast of something. They’re like a topic that I’m just sort of like chipping away at.

 

Kate Henry [00:23:28]:

So I’ll have like a multiple ones that I like, put some things into. And then I’m like working at them all over a few weeks. But I end up spending way more time than I would like to spend on them. So I’m gonna. I’m curious, I might experiment with being like, you get a three hour timer and that’s it. And then you said, you know, like, I don’t know, because I end up spending like a lot of time. I’m curious about it, to think about, like, what would it look like for me to have more of a container? Because my writing process is very like, chip away for a long time, a little bit here and there. And I end up usually spending way more time than I would like in that way.

 

Bee Scolnick [00:24:06]:

Totally. Yeah. And the exchange is funky as well on a newsletter. And I think also it’s just a sign of the times that we’re in. A newsletter does not mean what it used to mean. And you know, with Substack and Beehive and Ghost and all of these other platforms that are really bringing back long form writing as a newsletter, I think there are pros and cons to that. And one of the cons is a lot of time spent and not a lot of exchange on that. Swimming in the soup.

 

Bee Scolnick [00:24:40]:

In 2024, I had this whole idea for what I was calling the Year of Yearning. And it was going to be a different subject or theme each month that I divined from a tarot poll. And then over the course of the month with weekly newsletters, we explored that topic. And my plan was for the first one of the month to be free for all subscribers and then for the remainder of the month to be for paid subscribers who opted into the Year of Yearning. And of course you have to do something for a while to prove your concept to get people to, you know, engage and want to get on board and want to support. But by March, I had done three months of like, heavy writing, academia, like, you know, but it felt like that. It was like I’m writing these very thoroughly researched essays and sharing experiences and it was so much time and so much energy and so much output and people were just not signing up. And it was that really funky thing of Like I, on some level really do want to keep doing this.

 

Bee Scolnick [00:26:00]:

Like, it was good for me to be writing those things and exploring those topics as well. I wouldn’t have done it if there wasn’t a personal passion behind it. But then my wife and I both suffered job loss on the same day. So our household went from having money to not having money. And all of a sudden I was like, I can’t keep giving this much time and this much energy to something that just. There is no exchange. So again, I, I don’t have any answers about that. I sometimes think if I had just kept going, maybe I always do feel, feel a type of way when ending a project that I had said I was going to do.

 

Bee Scolnick [00:26:44]:

You know, this was definitely one of those moments where I had to say thank you so much to everyone who supported this. Unfortunately, based on a life change, like, I can no longer continue this project. And I ended up just shutting it down and, and kind of moving on to, to something new. And that’s a little bit why this year I was like, poll the audience. What do you want to hear? Like, what would be helpful and supportive to you otherwise? I do think it’s, it’s kind of just me playing with myself in a dark room and then hoping somebody will be interested in that.

 

Kate Henry [00:27:19]:

Totally. I’m enjoying, I am very much enjoying reading these now. And do you think you’re going to do another poll at the end of this year of what to do next year? Are you still deciding?

 

Bee Scolnick [00:27:29]:

Yeah, I’m starting a form, like a Google form that I’ll send out and it has, so far it has questions of like what that I’m already offering, do you like and would you want to do more of. And then based on this little list of other options and then obviously I’ll leave a space for people to make suggestions like what’s something that you would like next year? Because I, I’m open to continuing to do the weekly forecasts if that’s what people are really finding to be supportive. And I also think at the end of a full year of weekly forecasts, I write them based on numerological yearly cycle. So if you are in a one year, and this is a little bit. I’ll do a little explaining on this one before I say it, but numerology has yearly cycles. So you can add the month and the day of your birth to any current year or any year that you experienced. And you. We always add until we get a single digit.

 

Bee Scolnick [00:28:37]:

So just keep simplifying those equations and what you’ll find is that your yearly cycles do run in one through nine and then start over at one. Like, the math just works itself out. And so what I’ve done this year is I’ve written every week there are nine forecasts, one for every yearly cycle. So technically, if you are. Whatever year you read this year, it’s a little bit evergreen in terms of. These forecasts are based on the specific energies that are going on. But you’ve only been reading one entry this whole time. So what would it be like if you read the next year’s entry, you know, on the next year? I’m curious if, like, what I’m working on can be evergreen or if it requires a new one every week.

 

Bee Scolnick [00:29:30]:

And for anybody who’s listening who’s like, no, no, no, that’s not how forecasts work. I will say it’s a little bit numerologically interesting. This year we’re in a 9 collective year 20, 25. 2 +2 +5 is 9. 9 is the last number. It also mathematically disappears into equations. You can do this. If you’re trying to get.

 

Bee Scolnick [00:29:55]:

Keep using addition to get one number. You can actually just cross out all the nines in the equation and the answer will be the same with or without them. And so energetically speaking, that leads me to believe that we’re looking at numbers in their purest forms. They’re like most whole forms, you know, the good, the bad, the ugly, the otherwise in this year, because that nine kind of just amplifies that energy instead of changing it. And so I do think the ones I’m writing this year are a little bit more evergreen than other years. But I don’t know. But I want to support people where they are and also help them get to where they want to go. So I’m open to hearing what works for other people and to keep showing up in that way, especially as.

 

Bee Scolnick [00:30:51]:

And this is now everyone’s going to think I’m so chaotic, but I’m pivoting a little bit. I am starting a graduate program as well. And my. I’m getting a master’s in clinical psychology that’s geared towards licensure. And so that to me is more. It’s like same, same, but different of the work that I’ve already been doing with numerology and tarot. Just again, hoping to formalize the practice a little bit and to learn obviously new techniques and to deepen my understanding. But yeah, especially with that pivot, I would like to spend my newsletter time really providing something that People want.

 

Kate Henry [00:31:36]:

Yeah. Also as a reader, I would be perfectly fine, just as a data point of one, I would be perfectly fine with you repurposing it again, you know, like working through it as like a, you know, like where we have like the page a year kind of book. You know, like I would like that would feel fine, like a little paragraph, a little update from you and then that I would still be pleased to be a paid subscriber of that newsletter.

 

Bee Scolnick [00:31:59]:

Oh, thank you. Yes. Well, I would write. If you were paying for the newsletter, I would write new ones next year. What I’m going to have at the end of this, I am wondering if that’s like a small book offering or a digital PDF offering. I’m still figuring it out, but yeah, I’ll have at the end of this year a whole year of forecasts for each yearly cycle as well as a write up on the numbers 1 through 52. So.

 

Kate Henry [00:32:25]:

Wow, you’ve been busy.

 

Bee Scolnick [00:32:27]:

I’ve been so busy.

 

Kate Henry [00:32:28]:

Like you’ve been creative, perhaps you’ve been like, haha, this is in the back of your head like all year. But I’m like, look at this wonderful, I don’t know, like comprehensive creation product, you know, that you’ve been. We don’t have to say product in like a selling kind of way, but like this is just like what a wonderful little being of a project you’ve been creating.

 

Bee Scolnick [00:32:48]:

It’s been really grounding to do it every week and it’s really nice and fulfilling at this point to see it stack up. Because there are a lot of ways in which I don’t feel like I’ve moved the needle at all this morning. Definitely not this morning this year in terms of some of my creative projects. And I am notoriously hard on myself. So it is very nice to look back at this and be like, oh yeah, there’s something here that the very least has accumulated into. Yeah, we just hit week 40. We’re in week 40. So that means I’ve written 40 weekly forecasts and that feels cool.

 

Kate Henry [00:33:37]:

I love it. And like 40 times nine, which is 54.

 

Bee Scolnick [00:33:43]:

Yeah, 540, right?

 

Kate Henry [00:33:44]:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. That’s a lot. Okay, so you have been doing an excellent job so far, you know, really making numerology accessible and like breaking down like some entry points to us. And I wanted to share just like a little personal story and then also ask you a question. And so the personal story is that when Chris, my spouse, and I got married October 14, 2022, we were actually gonna get married October 9, 2021. But we rescheduled because of COVID Wow.

 

Bee Scolnick [00:34:16]:

Very different dates. I did the. I actually calculated your wedding date. So I’m excited.

 

Kate Henry [00:34:21]:

This is the one that worked. So I is the actual wedding date. But I remember, like, looking up and being like, is Mercury going to be in retrograde? What is the, like, the numerology? You know, like, just like, very, like, basic stuff. And like, the wedding was great. It went really wonderfully. And I said this to you, like, I’m like, I think it was because we’re like, both project planners and had all this stuff set up and had a day of coordinator, you know, but also, like, I do believe there was, like, this wonderful, you know, mystical support there too. So that’s my story about how I was like, huh, could numerology help? But how would you suggest. Also, if you have any reflections on my wedding, I’d love to hear that as a Libra who loves talking about myself.

 

Kate Henry [00:35:02]:

But besides that, how would folks, like, if they’re like, I wanna. I’m curious about numerology and like, what’s like an entry point they could do for that?

 

Bee Scolnick [00:35:11]:

Yeah. So first and foremost, there are no bad dates. There are no bad wedding dates. I have to say that every day is a beautiful day to get married. I really, really firmly believe that. And one of the things when I was writing my book, Marriage by the Numbers, that I was thinking about was how to be honest about some of the challenges that these numbers bring in a way that’s practical and that can be planned for and have some, you know, contingency plans in the back pocket in case anything comes up. But then also some of the harsher numbers, like, what are the really beautiful ways that you could work with them? And so there are no bad dates. Every date is a great day to get married.

 

Bee Scolnick [00:35:58]:

But of course, you can find the numbers at the core of your wedding date by adding the month and the day up or the month, the date and the year. So I will just do this with your wedding date and then everybody can do it with theirs. Listening at home, or any date that’s interesting, that is meaningful or impactful for you. So your wedding date is very interesting because the date that you chose, not the date that you were going to have, that would have been very different, but the date that you chose, both the month and the day as a six. And also 2022 was a six year. So you’re working with two sixes. And six is the lovers in the tarot. So six is a beautiful energy for A wedding, it’s all about giving and receiving and reciprocity.

 

Bee Scolnick [00:36:45]:

It’s about balance. It’s about coming together and really exalting in love and beauty and joy and community and all of these things. So that’s really gorgeous. And then six plus six is 12, and 12 is one of the double digit numbers that we are familiar with in our culture. There’s 12 months in a year, 12 signs in a zodiac, 12, whatever. In a dozen. We understand 12 as a whole number, even though it’s not a 10 or a 20. So you can look at 12 to be like a real culmination of a long journey together, you know, whether together and separate both what brought you both as individuals there, but then also how you built your life together, your community together.

 

Bee Scolnick [00:37:35]:

And then 12 is three. One plus two equals three. And three is all about expression and communication. So having an overall three day for your wedding and with this six energy that’s really getting you there is just such a beautiful, like, expression of love and commitment and the overall journey and just a beautiful way to say, hey, this is really culminating here in this ceremony and also getting us ready for this next chapter of life. But yeah, I love that date.

 

Kate Henry [00:38:12]:

Oh, thank you. That’s really beautiful. I. I love October, which we were talking about earlier, before we recorded that feels really nice to hear. I feel like that aligns well with like the vibes of our wedding. That’s so sweet. And it’s also a good reminder, I think, that folks can feel like, really nervous around like Mercury retrograde or like, is this good or is this bad or like, even with tarot cards, to be like the devil, the tower, you know, to like feel freaked out about that. So this is a good reminder to be like, don’t be nervous.

 

Kate Henry [00:38:44]:

You know, you’re gonna do an okay. There’s things that we can look at that are both good and bad. Like the same. Like, I don’t know, like, my Venus is in Scorpio and Chris’s Venus is in Gemini. And that’s like, do you know what, Amy? Sorry. For folks who don’t know astrology, but that is like, when we first started dating and I learned Chris’s chart, I was like, we are gonna have different ways that we are engaging. I’m gonna want to move in immediately. And Chris is going to be like, I need space, you know, But I knew that going in as someone who believes in this.

 

Bee Scolnick [00:39:14]:

Yeah, well, and that’s totally it as well, is like, okay, the flip side. And I’m glad you brought up tarot, because tarot, the lovers and the devil are both six cards. So this is what we’re talking about when we say like number energies encompass the whole. And so that’s a great way of looking at the fractals of six and going, okay, what does six look like in terms of the lovers? What does six look like in terms of the devil? How can they both be intrinsically 6 energy while showing different faces or facets? And so with numbers, it’s exactly the same in terms of a wedding date. It’s like, okay, if you’re getting married on a three day, three is throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks. So having a planners at the helm, having a day of coordinator probably was the best idea you could have had for a three day, because it could have gotten messy really quickly if somebody wasn’t there to like, you know, have the reins. And then something about six is like, well, it’s really about family. And that is awesome for a wedding.

 

Bee Scolnick [00:40:23]:

You know, obviously that’s a huge family day. But are you a people pleaser? Are there boundaries? Like, this is very stereotypical of me to say, but, like, are the mothers too involved in the day? Like, 6 Energy can also bring this host of other things that could complicate a wedding or a ceremony that, you know, just as much as they bring like a focus on love and joy.

 

Kate Henry [00:40:49]:

Yeah. To shift to another really fun thing, I asked you about your nonfiction writing, but I know you’re writing a queer romance novel, starting with the one, maybe more to come as well. And we’ve talked before privately around. I’m very into romantasy, like, no shame, I love it. And so I’ve read less actual romance if there’s not like dragons and things like that, you know, which is fine. I’m just really excited about a queer romance novel. And you’ve published a lot of nonfiction in different forms and published two books. And what led you to write the queer romance novel and what’s the process been like so far? Is it similar or different to experience with writing other books?

 

Bee Scolnick [00:41:34]:

It’s been so different. I have to say, it’s been so different. I’ve always written fiction as, you know, a little kid even. Not too long ago, my dad sent me a picture of a shoebox that had been in his closet for years. And when he flipped it over, I had written a little story or like a paragraph on the bottom of the shoebox. And so I’ve always written fiction. And when I was in college, I was writing a lot of screenplays and short films and stuff like that. And so a couple years ago, when I was really.

 

Bee Scolnick [00:42:10]:

The majority of my work was nonfiction, I started writing a lot of fan fiction to just get creative juices going and be a part of another creative community. And it totally turned me back onto fiction in a way that I had lost in just my life and my work. And so I started writing alongside a lot of really horny fan fiction. I started writing original fiction and going, okay, I think romance is. I like to read romance. I love, love. It was really exciting to me to write queer people and to make decisions to say, okay, no one’s explaining themselves in this universe. They’re just as gay as they come.

 

Bee Scolnick [00:43:00]:

And that’s perfect. And, like, not a plot point, essentially, unlike some other ones where, like, it’s a whole coming out story. Like, I’m not interested in that. Like, what if these people just really were like any other book and got to just experience love and romance and plot in the same way? What makes it really different is that sometimes I have a plan. I guess I’m what they would call a plantser. There’s a pantser, which is like a writer by the seat of their pants, and then there’s a planner who has an outline and really understands where they’re going. And my sweet spot for fiction is kind of in the middle. Like, I know the broad strokes of the story, but I’m still kind of meandering my way through it.

 

Bee Scolnick [00:43:46]:

But that means that where I can finish a nonfiction project, I have not yet been able to finish a true fiction project. I’ve had multiple novels that I’ve written 50 to 65,000 words of and then truly put them on the back burner and moved on. And I don’t think anything’s wasted. But I will also say, as somebody who does like to complete things, it’s a huge, like, popcorn kernel in my teeth right now of not being able to finish fiction projects or not yet have finished a fiction project. So this current one that I’m working on, we will see. I hope it can go the distance, but this one has been very fun. It was a little idea that I had based on. Again, I’m a huge reality dating show, TV show fan.

 

Bee Scolnick [00:44:38]:

In fact, Love is Blind has a new season that comes out today, and I think that’s what I’ll be doing after we hop off. But I wanted to write a queer reality dating show. And so what started as an idea for a main couple, I very quickly was like, oh, I need a Whole cast of characters. So this one’s been really fun because I did tarot pulls for all of my characters, which now means I have this small deck of cards that are all of my characters. And so when I’m having structural issues, I will just pull cards and see which character should do what. So that has been fun to have, like, a tool. If you want to talk about systems within projects, that’s been a very fun tool. But, yeah, the process is just so different because I think with nonfiction, you can kind of research your way out of snafus.

 

Bee Scolnick [00:45:36]:

You can say, okay, this is what I’m writing today. And that feels very straightforward. And with fiction, it’s like, maybe what comes through is in chronological order, but maybe it’s not. Maybe it’s some scene that’s, like, way on down the line, but if I don’t grab it now, it’ll go. So it’s been a lot messier of a process for me. And my dream would be that once I do it once, one time, then I can start to replicate that process. But I really. My hat’s off to fiction writers.

 

Bee Scolnick [00:46:11]:

It’s really tough.

 

Kate Henry [00:46:14]:

I can’t wait. No shade to it at all. But I am not a reality TV watcher. Except my spouse. Chris really likes the Queer Ultimatum and went downstairs to, like, update my bullet journal for the week while Chris was watching season two. Got it. I was like, I’m sorry, you have to start back over. So I can now watch this whole.

 

Kate Henry [00:46:33]:

And we, like, binged the whole thing in two days. And then they, like, convinced me to listen to watch the first one. And then we were, like, listening to podcasts about it together. Like, really got into it.

 

Bee Scolnick [00:46:45]:

Yeah, the ultimatum is really bad idea that people have agreed to do. Like, to follow out. And then the Queer Ultimatum is just, again, a really bad idea that now queer people have decided to do. And it’s a good time, is what I’ll say.

 

Kate Henry [00:47:09]:

It’s a mess. It is a mess. But I definitely. Yeah, I had a few favorites. I don’t remember. I told you this. One of my favorites was. I forget her name.

 

Kate Henry [00:47:19]:

The, like, really tall one who was in the second season. Merida, maybe. And Chris called me a toxic femme apologist.

 

Bee Scolnick [00:47:28]:

Incredible.

 

Kate Henry [00:47:30]:

I know. Which I’m like, I’m fine. I’m fine with that. I am a toxic femme apologist. I’ll take it. You know.

 

Bee Scolnick [00:47:35]:

Yeah, of course.

 

Kate Henry [00:47:37]:

I want to close this out today by asking you about one thing you’re honing in on right now.

 

Bee Scolnick [00:47:46]:

Okay. My one thing that I’m honing in on right now is really figuring out what it means to give myself grace around a project or a practice that is moving at a pace that is slower than I would like it to move or not coming together. I think the giving myself grace is like the one piece of the puzzle that really eludes me. And I was talking about it with another creator earlier this week, and they were reflecting back to me that they went through a phase of reading a lot of biographies. And a really common thread in all of these biographies of really prolific famous creators is this constant feeling of not doing enough or needing to do more. And how it’s a little bit of conundrum because without it would they have gotten the same amount of work done or at the level that they were working. And many attributed their success to that drive. But I also think just like we can be toxic femme apologists, there is like a dark side of drive and ambition as well.

 

Bee Scolnick [00:49:15]:

And so I am honing in on how to make peace with the part of me that does always want to be doing more without turning that narrative of you’re not doing enough onto myself in a way that is A, not reflective of reality and B, just harmful and a waste of my time. And I could be making something instead of chastising myself for not making something.

 

Kate Henry [00:49:45]:

Yeah, I feel like that is an honorable thing to hone in on. And it’s like, easy to get stuck in that story of not doing enough. And like you said, you’re like, nope, we’re just gonna do something in that time instead of ruminating on not doing enough.

 

Bee Scolnick [00:50:02]:

Yeah, yeah, well, and you’ve already even helped in this conversation. The part of me that would really like to be, quote, unquote, finished with one project can also look back and say, wow, here’s 40 weeks of forecasts. That’s, you know, however many forecasts I’ve written this year, like, that has to mean just as much, if not more as the projects that are still works in progress. And so how to really sit with the satisfaction of a job well done over here while still saying, we’ve got work to do over there.

 

Kate Henry [00:50:44]:

Yeah, well, I’m happy to be here shouting from the rooftops and reminding you of all the amazing berry hard work that you’ve already put into this stuff. How can folks learn from you, work with you, read your wonderful writing while they’re waiting to read your wonderful queer novel?

 

Bee Scolnick [00:51:01]:

Yes, I am online@rebeccascolnick.com and then that website has all of my links. You’ll find Swimming in the Soup, which is on Substack.

 

Kate Henry [00:51:13]:

You can.

 

Bee Scolnick [00:51:13]:

You will find links to tarot readings with me on a platform called Moonlight. Right now I am just doing video readings. They’re 15 minutes, they’re 25 bucks. You toss me your question, I’ll toss you a video. And then of course we can go from there if that doesn’t cut it. And then numerology readings, I’m available by request, so you can just reach out to me, whether through my contact page or. Or emailing me. Rebeccaebekaskolnick.com and I also have a few workshops and courses that are available for purchase.

 

Bee Scolnick [00:51:53]:

One that I think would be really cool is called Numerology for Witches. It is an hour video lecture. I recorded it last year around this time and the information is totally evergreen. The only thing that won’t hold up from year to year is that I do go into the Numerology of Samhain, but I tell you how to get there. So you can just do the calculation for this year and I will have given you enough information in the lecture to support your spell crafting for Samhain of this year or any year. And that’s just $44 on Gumroad. So that’s probably like my big sales pitch for the day. But yeah.

 

Bee Scolnick [00:52:35]:

RebeccaScolnick.com and then I still have an Instagram account, bskolnik, and I’m on Bluesky at Bskolnik as well. But I have not really been on Instagram in a few months, and it feels kind of nice. So email me, reach out through my website and we’ll connect.

 

Kate Henry [00:52:54]:

Yay. Thank you so much, Bea. This has been really fun. I’m excited. I’m energized. You’re welcome to listeners for learning about what numerology is and I really do hope you’ll check out these resources.

 

Bee Scolnick [00:53:06]:

Thank you. Dr. Kate.

 

Kate Henry [00:53:11]:

Thanks so much for joining me. You can learn more about honing in and my work as a productivity coach on my website, KateHenry.com Take Good Care.