Goodness, we all made it through last week!! Facebook suggested I “boost” last week’s week-ahead spread, which I had shared with something along the lines of “looks like it will be a great week!” On seeing it again I felt a little irresponsible for posting such a promise, as last week was a bit of a corker — there were some great moments and achievements, but it was also an emotional mire that more than anything felt very difficult to navigate. But! We are in a new week, and while this one has a much different tone, last week left us feeling more empowered than ever to pursue our own truths and keep seeking and pushing towards that which makes our hearts and souls sing <3<3<3

This week holds some interesting astrological shifts, aligned with — at the very least — some of the emotional maelstrom letting up, as Mercury moves from Pisces into Aries on Monday afternoon, followed by Venus on Tuesday. Our minds and our hearts will be feeling much more energized, invigorated, ready to fight!! Then on Thursday, Jupiter goes retrograde in Scorpio — this will find us thinking about ourselves and our fortunes in a far more “internal” way for a while, figuring out what we personally can do to mould our own destinies into something that speak to us on a soul-level, which we’ll be ready to take action on when Jupiter goes direct again on July 10. I’ll do another post on how to make the best use of this retrograde period!

This week-ahead spread is drawn from Creative Whack Pack, the Nature-Speak Oracle, and the Morgan-Greer Tarot. I actually drew a spread with the Morgan-Greer yesterday, but it was so intensely negative that I decided it was meant just for me (oh joy hahaha) — after “sleeping on it,” I asked Morgy if it didn’t want to be used for others, or if it just didn’t like the decks I put it with for that reading. Ding ding ding, it didn’t like Mama’s ideas to shove it with the Rider-Waite-Smith and the Thoth! It’s much happier with these oracle decks, which were actually my first instinct to pair it with. The Morgan-Greer has got to be the spunkiest, grumpiest, most interesting deck I’ve worked with so far! I love it!

For this reading, I laid out a crystal grid centred around a big celestite for connection with your spirituality and your higher guidance. I chose clear quartz for Higher Self connection, angelite to further strengthen that connection with your higher guidance, tiger’s eye for courage and emotional strength, moonstone for understanding of your personal cycles, leopardskin jasper to help you find power in your personal patterns, unakite to protect and help find balance your personal relationships, aragonite for grounding through Higher Self connection, a big dark green aventurine for heart-centeredness, carnelian for creativity, and black obsidian for protection of your personal energy.

First we will look at the Shadow cards for insight into the underlying themes of the week ahead:

Shadow Cards: 7. See the Big Picture + Holly | Be a spiritual warrior + 3 of Wands reversed

This week is very much about PERPSECTIVE — about striving to see clearly int he face of challenge. There will probably be a lot coming up to try and sway you, now that you’ve made so much hearty progress on your path! Stay strong, stay centered, stay grounded. Do your best not to be shaken to your core when these challenges crop up, instead trying to think about how you can use these hiccups as tools to keep picking along. I things start to feel stagnant, know that at this point you have done all you can to further progress for the moment, and that the time is ripe to be still and realize that you really are exactly where you need to be, doing exactly what you need to be doing, in preparation for a massive windfall that will find you having moved leaps and bounds ahead in the weeks to come <3<3

Oracle Cards: 64. Give Yourself a Pat on the Back + Sunshine | Shine forth reversed

When I flipped these cards, the song “Steal My Sunshine” by Len popped into my head — this week probably won’t be much one for external validation. It’s going to have to come from within! We’re all still reeling from a dark winter and a rumbler of a Pisces season, so it’s safe to assume that if your proverbial cup is feeling too empty to give from, surely others’ are too. We’re in the waning phases of the Moon when our bodies naturally ask us to slow down and go within, and that’s exactly what you should do when it feels like someone else is trying to “steal your light” this week — go shine it elsewhere, and preferably on yourself! You are bigger than these minute conflicts, and you have come too far to let that sort of thing be a real thorn in your side any longer. You’ve been working hard to be a “better you,” and here come the tests to your mettle — rise above!

Card 1: Theme/Focus of the Week: I – The Magician

Yay!! I was thrilled to see this card as the Focus for the week, partly because it shows Morgy is much happier with these decks (lol) but also because I “knew” this card would show up — this moustachioed Magician floated into my mind when I was planning this spread, and the Magician is aligned with the planet Mercury, who is moving into action-oriented Aries on Monday. Woohoo! No matter what happens this week, know that “you’ve got this:” it may feel like it’s you alone keeping the “magic” flowing, but flowing it is, and bringing with it everything you need to succeed in your goals. This will be a week of things “blossoming in the dark,” poised to be fully appreciated by all soon enough.

Card 2: Release: Ace of Pentacles

This week, it will be important not to anticipated when/how the blessings being delivered to you will appear. Trust, trust that this is happening for you, and that there are just a few turns and “learns” left to go before everything is illuminated. You are growing, both in your physical body and its responses to your environment, as well as in your spiritual body, which is where the real “armour” you need this week will come from. Lean on what you know to be true this week, and let the rest continue to unfold organically, trusting that it is all coming together exactly as it should — let’s hear it for Divine Timing?

Card 3: Increase: 6 of Swords reversed

Keep moving towards what you need to feel like you are “healing” this week. There will be conflicts that test you to your core, and in the midst of the struggle, know that these pokes and prods are all road-markers leading you to where you do want to be, to how you do want to feel, to what you do want to be doing with your life! Is this something worth fighting for, or are you fighting against what you need to get better, do better, be better? These are questions that only you can answer, and you’re ready to stop letting someone else answer them for you.

Card 4: Advice: XV – The Devil reversed

Yes, this is the week that you confront your literal “demons.” Aieee!! Nah, you’re not surprised — you’ve felt this turning point screaming up at you for a while, and here it is now, needing to be faced. Again, you are healing! Or trying to, anyway — you’re well aware of the shackles still chaining you to the past, but have also become aware that they’re fully removable as soon as you feel like making the move. You’ve been poking at these bonds, testing them, like when you were 6 and had a wiggly tooth — you know it will fall out, but when? and what if you applied a bit of your own force…?

Now for the Higher Self cards, a message of hope moving forward:

Higher Self Cards: 48. Use Good Ideas + Carnation | Follow your passion + IX – The Hermit

You know what you need to feel “balanced,” and this week will provide lots of opportunities to act on your new ideas for how to better handle life and all that it throws at you while you wait for your vision to take its full form. Oh, you should be so proud of yourself, for planting the seeds of passion and continuing to nurture them — now that they’re seedlings this has all become very, very real, and you need to protect what you’ve worked so hard for. Keep your inner lamp lit this week as you face your detractors. They are seeking similar meaning in what they’re trying to do, and it can be hard to see others soaring with flying colours when you’re still just sewing your own flag’s pieces together. But look — you have a flag! And when it does fly, it will be just as bright as the rest of them — and it’s all yours!

Indeed, this week represents a gateway, the midpoint between the past and future. How exciting, once you excuse the frustration that you’re not *quite* there yet! A perfect opportunity to test-drive this new “best you” in the form of staying focused on “stopping to smell the roses” and finding the good, the useable, and truly, the joy to be had in the present moment. This week will provide opportunities to examine where your “heart” is — does it feel like it’s in the right place? Yes? Woohoo! No? Follow its messages to hear from your own perspective what’s the best action to take. You’re getting there, you really are! This week Challenge is the name of the game — think creatively to find your way out of the maze <3<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

Creative Whack Pack. Roger von Oech. Stamford, CT: U.S. Games Systems, Inc., 1989.

Morgan-Greer Tarot. Lloyd Morgan. Illustrated by Bill Greer. U.S. Games Systems, 1979 (2004 edition).

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