Last week found us working through some difficult themes, needing to maintain perspective on the good that was to come from struggle — here we are in a new week, reinvigorated and full of energy to keep pushing towards what we really want from our individual situations! This week finds that end goal very much within reach, with a few adjustments to be made to keep things running smoothly and on schedule.

This Week Ahead spread is drawn from the Art of Tarot (used as an oracle), Easy Lenormand, and my brand-new Minchiate Tarot! If you’re interested, the unboxing video of the Minchiate can be viewed here. After the slight heaviness of last week’s reading, I wanted to use some no-nonsense decks to get right to the heart of what we need to know this week. These decks are very direct, which makes the message of this week that much sweeter! To feed into this week’s “moving forward” energy, I laid out a crystal grid of brown goldstone for grounding through the knowledge that we are the masters of our own environments, black tourmaline for protection of your energy and shielding form negative influences, snow quartz to solidify your sense of hope for the future, clear quartz to help reflect clearly on the past and gain a foothold for the future, brecchiated jasper for further grounding through understanding of your personal patterns, two yellow jasper to help heal your sense of self and find you realizing the power you have over your situation, sodalite to unite your intuition and your self-expression for clear communication of your needs, rose quartz for heart-centeredness and compassion for your self and others, and smoky quartz to help you “see through the fog” thus finding yourself totally connected with your spirituality and your own individual thought process.

This week’s reading flowed so beautifully from the Shadow cards, to the main reading, to the Higher Self cards… we’ll start with the Shadow cards!

Shadow Cards: IV – The Emperor reversed + Snake + 0 – The Fool reversed

Indeed, last week was a mild bruiser, whipping you into shape in order to better be able to identify the structures that were absolutely not working for you, in favour of getting back to your true nature and reinspiring you to “take better care” and reconnect with that which makes you feel creative, loved, and alive. Yes, you were able to see clearly where your situation was being “poisoned” in such a way that things can actually begin to heal again — you may have been taken down a few pegs, but now you’re really able to get back to basics and start again, moving in a better and more suitable direction for the results you are prepared to achieve.

Oracle Cards: VII – The Chariot + Rider – Ship – Clover

Holy moly! Indeed, things pick up rapidly this week, finding you completely launched in the direction you want to be going — you have truly settled into your “will,” and antidoting the “poison” mentioned above has found you feeling light, free, and ready for action. It’s almost as though you did a “note to self” but actually remembered to take your own advice, finding you far further in your pursuit than you thought you’d be at this point — there are still a few things to be moved around and accounted for, but truly, luck is on your side this week in such a way that if you believe it, you can 100% DO IT.

Card 1: Theme/Focus of the Week: 8 of Swords reversed

So lovely ❤ When I first started reading tarot, the 8 of Swords freaked me out so much — the Rider-Waite-Smith deck shows a woman tied up, blindfolded, trapped in a fence of swords. This card upright is about “traps of your own making” — I’m seeing that little monkey right in the thick of the crossing swords, representing your “monkey mind” getting the better of you. Reversed, this becomes one of my favourite cards! You have been honest with yourself recently to the point that you are completely aware of how you’d been getting in your own way, finding you resolved not to do that any more at all — you are ready to think clearly and efficiently towards how best to accomodate what needs to be done to “win this war,” to remove the obstacles that are still apparent, and to keep slicing away at the work at hand.

Card 2: What to release this week: 5 of Swords

Stop fighting this so hard! You deserve every success that is waiting to be delivered to you, and you can know that no matter what anyone else does or says, they cannot effect your outcome. Only you can! Leave behind what you know is not working for you, do not engage in what you now know to be needless struggles — you have a crystal-clear picture of your next step, and oh my, are you ever ready to leave all that past baggage behind and make a clean, fresh, healing break for what will serve you, what will make you feel like if there needs to be a fight, at least it’s for something you whole-heartedly believe in!

Card 3: The energy to increase this week: 6 of Swords

So many swords! But what a complete confirmation that this week marks to beginning of your forward trajectory, the action of actually “getting into the boat” that will carry you to a place of mental freedom. This can be very easy — the community you need to support your healthly processing of all this here with you, and opening up to being supported as you continue to make progress will cement the revealing of the next steps once you make it over the river. Things are unfolding in a way that can be easy, and if not effortless, at least spiritually rewarding! You really are learning to go with the flow in a way that allows you to stay present and active. Keep up the good work and trust that you will be rewarded for your positive efforts!

Card 4: Advice: 23 – Air

Absolutely keep communication lines open this week, while at the same time doing whatever you can to keep your head “clear.” Listen to any random thoughts that occur to you, as they are sure to have value! The sun is coming up and there is a definite “friendly” vibe to the week. Your loyalties will play a big part in this week’s unfolding — keep those you love close and be present with them even when your mind is whirling and twirling with excitement at all the cool plans that are underway. There is time for everything now! While it’s not time to stop or relax, a minute or two here and there to indulge in daydreams and other lovely dalliances is always affordable. Keep an open, happy, even childlike mind — eyes on the prize, of course, but have fun with it!

Now the Higher Self cards — I actually squealed at these for their delicious confirmation at the direction this week is headed.

Higher Self Cards: 4 of Wands + The Fish + King of Coins

Yes, there is a “celebratory” energy surrounding this week! The 4 of Wands is one of the happiest cards in the deck, about unity, return on investment, wishes being granted, while The Fish is about fortune flowing in and filling you up with optimism for more of the same to continue to pour in. The King of Coins is on top of finances, business, stability at home — this week finds you empowered by your circumstances, as a direct result of all you’ve been doing to ground yourself and prepare yourself to welcome whatever life wants to send your way. Well, this week life is sending you bountiful gifts, useful resources, and the solid ability to trust that you are allowed to shine in your life — your success is not a fluke, it is the reward for conscious and concentrated action towards your vision of what you want your life to hold.

This week finds you set in your direction and empowered to launch forth! It will be important to maintain a happy, open mindset, as the attitudes of others have the potential to trip you up a bit — if it’s not your circus or your monkeys, let it be! Your circus and your monkeys are open and ready for business, and you’ve set it all up and trained so well that nothing can really stop this thing from achieving the success it deserves. You’ve received “the Call” and are answering happily — time to get excited, and get ready for an awesomely productive week!

This is an example of the $25 4-Card Reading in my Etsy shop! If you’re interested in a full month of personalized readings like this, feel free to use the coupon code 4WEEKS25 for 25% off the purchase of four 4-Card Readings — the 4th week is free! I look forward to working with you <3<3

Art of Tarot. Liz Dean. Illustrated by Emma Gamer. Metro Books, 2001.

Easy Lenormand. Marcus Katz and Tali Goodwin. Llewellyn, 2015.

Minchiate Tarot. Brian Williams. Destiny Books, 1999.

 

Blub blub blub — do you feel like you’re swimming in a deep pool today, one that feels like you’d rather just be at home sleeping, daydreaming, taking care of yourself instead of having to muddle along with everyone else, who are also just trying to keep swimming and would rather burrow somewhere else too! What a fantastic opportunity to connect with the Piscean energies of compassion and unconditional love — we’re feeling this way because Venus, the planet of love and beauty, and Neptune, planet of spirituality and creativity (as well as escapism!) are conjunct today. That means they’re sitting right next to each other, combining their energies to create an atmosphere of deep feelings, massive creative inspiration, but also some very real potential for misunderstandings with the people we love the most, as well as heaps of emotional overwhelm and desire to “swim away” from whatever problems we are currently experiencing.

The tarot card associated with Venus is III – The Empress, and the card for Neptune is XII – The Hanged Man, further indication that today is a good one to “go easy” where it comes to matters of the heart — there is immense potential to feel like “hanging the other person [or project, heh]” out to dry, but know that this watery moment will soon pass, and that it is a perfect opportunity for personal introspection, for exploring where these feelings are coming from, and in turn channeling that energy more productively into an activity that feels like it feeds your heart and your loving nature (for me, that’s reading my own cards and drawing!). To help guide you through this transit, I drew from The Housewives Tarot, Crystal Reading Cards, and Everything I Need to Know About Love I Learned from a Little Golden Book. I laid out a crystal grid of red phantom quartz to help identify and release regressive patterns, a quartz geode to help “lift the veil” and connect with your Higher Self, chiastolite to find grounding through your chosen mode of spirituality, apatite to help you express yourself effectively from the heart, and amethyst to help you stay calm, release any anxiety you are feeling, and further establish Higher Self connection. I added a yellow fluorite at the end because the bands of colour in mine look exactly like the ones on the Crystal Reading Cards oracle card!

First, we’ll look at the Shadow cards, indicating the underlying theme of the Venus conjunct Neptune transit:

Shadow Cards: Dioptase | Heart Healing + Knight of Swords

This transit finds you processing a recent experience where cruelty was dealt — whether you were the dealer or the receiver, your heart is hurting, and Venus conjunct Neptune will stir up the emotions that will help you flow through this and settle into a better way of thinking about it. So far, 2018 has felt like a great big bandaid that you’ve been ripping off bit by bit — you’re getting at the real wound, and once it’s open, then even more productive healing processes can begin. For now, give yourself time to think through all that’s transpired, asking what direction will promote you getting better — you already know which direction will just cause more of the same, and it really is up to you whether or not that is something you can bear ❤

“Love gives us a voice, but it needs no words.” + Divine Temple | Source + 6 of Swords

Yes, this is a time for silence and reflection — trust that the relationships you know are working really are, and take any misunderstandings with a grain of salt. However, very important truths are being revealed at this time, ones that should not be ignored when they trigger your deepest intuition! If you are in a place where the silence is anything but comfortable, see this as an opportunity to really think about what would make you feel heard, seen, held. Today it could be that you need to look within for those needs to be met: as the saying goes, “happiness is an inside job,” and nobody knows better than you how to make you feel supported. At this time you are surrounded by divine support as well, being gently nudged in the right direction — unless the nudges feel anything but gentle, in which case that guidance is pushing a bit harder, needing you to pay attention! At present, your path may feel like a bed of nails, each step more painful than the last — goodness, you’re not wrong, and it gets so tiring to hear how “character-building” your current experiences are. But it’s true — you are being conditioned to receive something so much better than you can imagine, and all that you are muddling through now is basically demonstrating to you what is not working (and really cannot continue to) in favour of forcibly turning you in the direction that will. Today, try wrapping your mind around your ultimate ideal of where you want to be — Venus conjunct Neptune is a perfect formula for daydreaming and fantasizing, so feel free to really go for it! The Law of Attraction is very real — as you visualize, imagine to the fullest extent how it would look, feel, even taste, smell, and sound to be exactly where you want to be in your life! Major healing is underway, and as you know, you’re just at the stage where the past is scabbing over, preparing to drop off and free you to really begin the ultimate healing process.

Now, a message of hope moving forward — the Higher Self cards!

Higher Self Cards: Cuprite | Rites of Passage + Queen of Wands

I love when the Higher Self cards reflect the “body” of the reading — I always wait til the very end to turn them over for maximum effect! Indeed, you are going through a major character-building process, the type of trying experience that shows you exactly what you’re made of and forces you to answer the question of “what you’re going to do with it.” Yes, what you are experiencing will ultimately inspire you to nurture your passion, will find you with no other choice than to whip things into shape, to create the order that fulfills and inspires you! Both the Shadow/Higher Self Crystal cards are of clusters — I chuckled to hear “right now feels like a clusterf*ck” (I think I have a new swear-wordy spirit guide, I heard “cr*p” yesterday lol) — but really, really, trust that this is all stacking up into a much more useful energy, and everything will make more sense soon. It’s like an abstract sculpture that needs to be viewed from every angle before you start to feel like you “get it” — but even then, the secret is that meaning is always open to interpretation!

In the spirit of the Neptunian Hanged Man, pull back today if it all becomes too much — channel your inner Venus and love yourself through the confusion. Venus moves quickly, so today’s emotional currents will lessen before you know it ❤ Hang in there! Self-care!

This is an example of the $10 Super One-Card Reading in my Etsy shop! This reading is great for a quick overview of your situation at present. Thanks for reading!

Decks used:

Crystal Reading Cards. Rachelle Charman. Sterling Ethos, 2016.

Everything I Need to Know About Love I Learned from a Little Golden Book. Diane Muldrow. New York: Golden Books, 2014.

The Housewives Tarot. Paul Kepple and Jude Buffum. Quirk Books, 2004.

It’s almost the end of February! Have you noticed the days starting to get longer, the mornings getting brighter, and the general feeling that Spring really will come again? Yay!! This “fresh start” energy is very appropriate as we start the week with the Waxing Crescent Moon in Aries, moving through the first four signs as the week progresses — that means that this week is all about “getting back to basics,” finding ways to rediscover and integrate our selves to feel more able to connect with others when next week rolls around. Not much is happening with the outer planets, further supporting this vibe of resolidifying our sense of who we are and what we’re here to do.

In favour of connecting with our “animal natures” in this way, I drew this week’s spread from he Animal Totem Tarot, along with Astrological Oracle Cards and the Druid Animal Oracle. I laid out a simple crystal grid with some heavy-hitting stones: malacholla, a stone that combines malachite and chrysocholla, supporting protection of your heart and what you love while also allowing you to express yourself clearly; nuumite, a powerful healing and grounding stone; and lilac lepidolite, a calming stone that helps to release anxiety and see yourself from a balanced perspective, in favour of self-love “pockmarks and all.” To get a good picture of the energy surrounding this week I’m using my “4-Card Focus Spread” — although I did have two jumpers! The Animal Totem Tarot had a lot to say this week!

First, we’ll look at the Shadow cards for this week:

Shadow Cards: Taurus + Earth Dragon reversed + I – The Magician

Yes, this week will very much be about regaining stability after the tumultuous eclipse season vibes we’ve been muddling through the past few weeks! The Moon is in Taurus from Tuesday afternoon at 3:12 AST until 8:07 pm Thursday, and this will be the main timeframe for the “re-grounding” activities that this week promises. Earth Dragon reversed tells me that getting back on top of things will require a readjustment of how you thought things would look, but The Magician confirms that either way, it will come together beautifully — either way, you will find yourself with everything you need — time, resources, energy — to get what needs to be done, done! Seeing the fox in this card pouncing around makes me think of “looking in different places,” so if something seems not to be working this week, redirect and try something different — that is where the breakthroughs will appear. Slow and steady, slow and steady: stay calm and keep at it!

Oracle Cards: Neptune + Moon Moth

An “ending” is fast approaching — something you’ve been avoiding or having a hard time facing will be thrown into sharp relief, and it could even be pretty uncomfortable! However, this falling away will prove to be the final shackle that was holding you in a place of cold and darkness, and once it’s been addressed you will find yourself feeling light, free, and ready to soar to new heights of creativity and inspiration. There is beauty to be found in this process, and seeing what’s happening for what it is will provide even more fodder for your creative process.

Card 1: Theme of the week: 6 of Pentacles

The overall energy of the week is represented by the Hen: life in general is very much about give-and-take, balancing what we offer out with what we receive, and making adjustments when imbalance is found. this week, take a look at what you’re giving out — does it match up with what you find yourself receiving? Are you proud of your part in the equation, or is there something to be desired? As we know, this week is about self-connection — instead of blaming other people for what is or is not happening, zoom out to see if there’s anything more you could do to effect the results you seek. If you’re a farmer and your hens aren’t laying, they need something, and it’s up to you to figure out how to get them back to their egg-laying happy place! On the other hand, maybe you’re the hen stubbornly hanging on to what you’ve got — either way, take a look at the way you’re contributing to your environment, and take a position of leadership where it comes to seeing things through and keeping everything running like a well-oiled machine.

Card 2: Release: XI – Justice + 4 of Wands (jumper)

I had to laugh at this combination — indeed, since you’re “getting back to personal basics” this week, there is vast potential for some rather childish foot-stomping and the sense that things are “not fair.” As we saw with the 6 of Pentacles above, this week will be all about perspective, and asking yourself “did I do the best I could?” If the answer is yes, then fantastic, but if you know there were a few more details that needed attention, it’s probably time to go do just that. The only way to get a return on your investment is to make it in the first place — no more time for holding back and going over the “what ifs!” It’s time to go for it, because there is never a “perfect time,” and this week the only person you have to answer to is your Self!

Card 3: Increase: 5 of Cups

In accordance with that urge to foot-stomp will come some very real emotional currents. This week definitely has a challenging tone to it, combined with the promise that fully committing to “looking on the bright side” will absolutely find you making progress towards the better side of things, the shinier side of the coin, and truly, far less choppy waters. If you find yourself stopping to stare at what’s not working, what’s already been lost, immediately acknowledge what you’re doing and know that you can decide to “swim away.” There is so much that is going right, including new opportunities presenting themselves this week, so it will be very important to catch yourself if you start ruminating on the past — especially the parts of it that you have been consciously working to let go of in favour of self-improvement and true peace of mind.

Card 4: Focus/Advice: Page of Cups + VII – The Chariot (jumper)

When those waves of challenge start to swell this week, choose to lean in to them, embracing the emotions that come up and allowing yourself to feel them through. Primarily, know that it is safe to do this because at this point, you know exactly what you want — your vision is as black-and-white as it’s been in ages, and this release from the fog has you determined to push through and get what you want no matter what. Above all, find the fun in the moment, remember to laugh with yourself when you’re swept away by an unexpected emotional current! Take interest in the direction your subconscious sweeps you, listening within for little clues about what you’re trying to tell yourself about your surroundings in such a roundabout way, and allow yourself to be inspired all over again by the answers you receive and the directions they tug and toss you.

Now, a message of hope moving forward — the Higher Self cards!

Higher Self Cards: Sagittarius + Swan + 5 of Pentacles

These cards really reflect the variable, but ultimately positive energy of this week! This is definitely the week that you touch on something you can’t ignore, that sends you shooting off excitedly in exactly the direction your heart and your passion have been pushing you to turn. It is a week of beautiful transformation, and while it won’t necessarily be easy, it will be rife with opportunities to examine the stories we tell ourselves about what we do and do not have, what we do and do not want, how we are living and how we want to be living. You’ll be dropping off a huge load of past cr*p at the figurative dump, releasing that which holding on to was robbing valuable energy that can now be used to reestablish your connection with your self and your purpose, allowing you to make new waves in your life. The change you’ve been waiting for has arrived!

This will be a week of vulnerability, but allowing yourself to be raw and open will propel you towards that which you’ve been waiting so long to fully embrace. You really are moving towards what you know will truly make you feel happy and fulfilled — when you feel the opposite way, try treating yourself like a child, or the way you wish you’d been treated as one. Go easy on yourself through the emotional challenges that arise. This is a week of finding balance, starting inside and working your way out — you are connecting with your calling, and everything else is lining up accordingly, exactly as it should <3<3

This is an example of the $25 4-Card Reading in my Etsy shop! If you’re interested in a full month of personalized readings like this, feel free to use the coupon code 4WEEKS25 for 25% off the purchase of four 4-Card Readings — the 4th week is free! I look forward to working with you <3<3

Animal Totem Tarot. Leeza Robertson and Eugene Smith. Llewellyn, 2016.

Astrological Oracle Cards. Lunaea Weatherstone and Antonella Castelli. Llewellyn, 2012.

Druid Animal Oracle. Philip and Stephanie Carr-Gomm and Will Worthington. Touchstone, 1995.

On February 18, just after midnight in Atlantic Canada, Mercury moves into Pisces! This is my first post since New Years’, and what an appropriate energy for a Pisces like myself to start blogging again — Mercury in Pisces is about expressing yourself from your deepest depths, empowering yourself through your emotions and intuition, and channeling these strengths into creative endeavours including writing, painting/drawing, and even self-care activities like journaling and taking baths to stoke that creative impulse. The tarot cards associated with Mercury and Pisces are I – The Magician and XVIII – The Moon, the first being about having all the resources needed to succeed and being ready to communicate your “personal power,” the second about making sense of your personal cycles, learning to see in a “different light,” and going within to learn more about yourself and your truths. Mercury in Pisces is a great time for “mental healing,” for making sense of where your fears are rooted and for seeking new perspectives on how to use that knowledge for self-empowerment! Mercury’s transit through Pisces is all about connecting with what makes you happy from the inside out, by bringing your inner world forth to be loved and celebrated <3<3

I’m already feeling this energy and have felt totally inspired the past few days in terms of new ways to express myself through my blog, my business, my tarot offerings, as well as two really exciting creative projects that I can’t wait to share! I drew some cards from the Astrological Oracle, Nature-Speak Oracle, and Tarot Mucha for how to make the most of the energy of Mercury in Pisces. I laid out a crystal grid of Apache tear for grounding through emotional understanding, carnelian for creative energy and emotional connection, moonstone to connect with and understand your personal cycles, raw sodalite to help you express yourself authentically, raw black tourmaline for protection of your personal energy, amegreen to connect your heart with your intuition, amazonite to balance your masculine and feminine dualities, raw emerald to deeply connect with your creativity from your nurturing heart, amethyst for Higher Self connection and dispelling of any anxiety you are feeling, ruby zoisite for heart-centered modifications of the patterns that are no longer serving you, howlite for unshakeable spiritual connection, and labradorite for further connection with your intuition that allows you to feel safe “going with the flow.”

Uranus + 7 of Pentacles + Maple | Relationship balance

The cards have such an amazing tendency to reflect the intentions set before they are pulled — I was looking for a way to connect with both Mercury’s quick and communicative energy (lots of new project ideas) with the more Piscean free-flowing, intuitive and boundary-less energy. The cards say yes, keep thinking and coming up with new ideas, because they are really going to take you places — but first, get your space in order! Write these ideas down! You won’t be able to ficus on what you want to be doing if your space is a mess, if there is boring-but-important paperwork to be taken care of, if you don’t finish your other projects to make room for this new work that you want to be able to give your Whole Self over to. As added encouragement, taking the time to get things in order before you dive in and start creating all these wonderful new things will in turn improve your relationships, first with yourself as you feel ride and responsibility through checking off your list of mundane tasks, but also with your partner and the other people you share your life with as you will free up more time to focus on them too through gaining a grip on the loose ends that winter tends to find us letting go of. The days are getting longer, and you can trust that your energy levels are expanding too! Keep picking away, taking time also to keep yourself excited about what you’ll soon be able to spend all your time doing — for now, find the fun in creating new systems to make it all work!

If you’re interested in a private reading with me, head over to my Etsy shop! This is an example of my $10 Super “One-Card” reading.

Decks used:

Astrological Oracle Cards. LWB: Lunaea Weatherstone. Artwork: Antonella Castelli. Torino, Italy: Lo Scarabeo, 2012. © Lo Scarabeo Italy.

The Nature-Speak Oracle. Ted Andrews. Jackson, TN: Dragonhawk Publishing, 2006.

Tarot Mucha. LWB: Lunaea Weatherstone. Artwork: Giulia F. Massaglia. Torino, Italy: Lo Scarabeo, 2014. © Lo Scarabeo Italy.