Eight Pretty Powerful Things

1.Inspiring Instagram Page

I shared an Instagram page last week and got really amazing feedback from comments, emails, and DMs on Instagram. I love discovering new people to follow so this week when I found this next page, I knew I wanted to share it and I think you can really benefit from it. They post inspiring quotes, many of which for me hit home like the one you see below. 

Give Philosophors a follow if you are someone who finds motivation and inspiration in quotes. 

2.Tell me about your tarot problems

Some of you might know I have been working on writing a tarot course for about 9 months. I’m very excited about it because I really pride myself on my tarot and oracle readings, as well as making oracle decks and it's something I would love to share with others. I believe anyone can be an excellent tarot reader with the right practices and guidance and I know I can offer that to you. 

But I also want to hear about your concerns when it comes to reading tarot. I’ve made this course primarily for beginners with zero to some experience pulling cards. Reading cards can feel intimidating so I’d like to know if you have any specific challenges I should address before wrapping up this course. 

Please comment below and let me know what you’re struggling with or even anything specific you’d like to know about. You can also email me to hello@spiritelement.co if you’re uncomfortable commenting here. Thanks so much darling for being willing to share. 

3.Gemini Bathing Oil

It is officially Gemini season! If you’re a Pretty Rituals member, you will find a selection of Gemini inspired potions in the portal and I am finishing up a Gemini ritual to go up for this week. For everyone else, please enjoy this free Gemini bathing oil recipe. I kind of made this oil by accident and ended up loving it so I am going to use it for the entire season of Gemini. 

You can find the recipe here. Enjoy!

4.Upcoming Travel

This is more of an announcement but I wanted to share because I will be more or less out of touch for the next couple of weeks. 

My family has a tradition of going on a cruise for high school graduations. As my sister in law put it, it's like a big send off into the world. 

But there hasn’t been a high school graduation in my family for a long time, lol. I’m the youngest of five siblings and without divulging my age, it's been many moons since I graduated. And now, the very first of the grandchildren, my nephew, is graduating this week and we are celebrating with a cruise to the Eastern Caribbean. 

I won’t be posting anything on Instagram or sending out any emails from May 26th until June 8th with the exception of an email for this coming Friday and Sunday. But I am going to take plenty of photos and videos as well as posting to my stories. 

I’ve said many times that I want to be more vulnerable with my community and let you guys get to know me better and I absolutely LOVE to travel. So you guys get to see a very personal and passionate part of my life. 

I’ll also be filming a bit of content for spirituality while traveling so stay tuned and check out my stories for sneak peaks. 

Please note, there will not be email support during this duration. 

5.Spiritual Lessons that I learned this week

I am learning a lot about alignment recently. 

What I mean by that is, when you are in alignment, things really do feel like magic. I struggled with many things for a long time but this year, I made a decision to do what lights me up and it's working. Little miracles keep happening to me and I believe it's a direct result of finally listening to the signs and guidance I receive. 

I get ideas all the damn time but I will admit, there are hundreds of brilliant ideas I never acted upon, some of which I see other people doing and thriving. But fear, discomfort, feelings of inadequacy prevented me from acting upon the spiritual guidance I received. Don’t get me wrong, I still have all of those feelings and more, but I played it safe for years and I was still afraid, still uncomfortable, and still had feelings of inadequacy. Staying in your comfort zone doesn’t prevent any of that, it just makes it easier to ignore it. 

So I made a commitment to myself to try things, even if I’m bad at it. And you know, I have found so much joy and success in doing that. I’ve surprised myself many times this year and I’m sharing this as a lesson because you’ll be surprised by how good you are too. 

Do what lights you up!! 

I can’t say that enough. Trust me, learn from my experiences. Staying small serves nobody, least of all you!

The second thing is more an observation. I’m learning how many people are having a hard time building a relationship with their spirit guides and ancestors. I’ve been lucky to have family members who over time, got on board with this spiritual thing but many of them are struggling to connect to a higher power. 

Likewise, I’ve had several conversations with people on social media over the past two months who have said the same thing. Being in relationship with your spiritual support team is a struggle. 

Are you feeling the same way? Is this something that is a regular occurrence? 

Building a spiritual practice isn’t easy so don’t feel bad if you’re having a hard time. Social media is pretty and all that but us folks taking pretty pictures have years of failures, challenges, changes, and reflections that allow us to live that way. 

So if you’re having spiritual problems, please let me know. I’m here to support you in whatever way that I can. Comment below and let’s let the work begin. 

6.Spirits of the Otherworld

I love cocktails! Food is a big thing in my family since we have three culinary arts majors and we’re all very adventurous foodies. I will try anything at least one and I do mean anything that is edible, including cocktails. 

I also love making cocktails and I see no reason why a cocktail can’t be a spell or ritual just like a body oil or bath. And it seems there are more and more people who agree with this sentiment. Over the past year or so, I have discovered witch minded cocktail books like the one you see here which is probably my favorite. 

Out of the books I’ve bought so far, it's the most technically perfect execution of cocktails, has interesting techniques and utilizes more unique ingredients. Which for me, is exactly what I look for when buying a new book… a new perspective. And the photos are absolutely stunning! It may not be the witchiest out of the bunch in terms of making cocktails into a spell but the drinks are delicious and if nothing else, will make a big hit at your next dinner party. Get it here.

7.Favorite Questions from the week

Be sure to submit your questions each Wednesday and Thursday for a chance to have your questions answered here. I post a prompt on my Instagram stories every week. 

What are your favorite tarot decks?

My favorite decks right now are La Flora Tarot and the Ophidia Rosa tarot. I really like minimal decks in earthy tones and that is exactly what these decks offer. Also, I love flowers, also the main features in these decks. 

Outside of these two, I use the Rider-Waite-Smith deck a lot. It’s the old school one of course but 99% of tarot decks on the market today are based on it (except for Lenormand of course which I don’t use and Thoth to some degree) so I say if it ain’t broke… and all that. 

Some other favorites include the Moonchild Tarot, Linestrider’s Tarot and the Wildwood Tarot. 

How do the SOTW decks help you to connect with the sabbats?

Hopefully I got that question correct since I didn’t get a chance to take a screenshot of it in my notifications. 

Just like the seasons of spring, summer, fall and winter, the sabbat seasons Samhain, Yule, Imbolc, Ostara, Beltane, Midsummer, Lammas and Mabon each represent a different energetic dynamic. All of the SOTW decks are based on and designed to encapsulate various energies of each sabbat. For Samhain, we focused the energy around themes of death, shadow work, and releasing while for Beltane, we focused on fire energy, lust and passion. 

Each sabbat is a portal of opportunity to take advantage of the energy it represents. It isn’t always enough to build an altar or light a candle. Evolution is the result of mindfulness meeting action and these cards provide both a chance for awareness as well as advice on how to act upon this information. By working with the decks, you give your higher self an outlet to explore these dynamics and to understand how they can best serve you in your life using the guidebook’s meanings as your blueprint. 

8. Ingredient Spotlight: Honeysuckle

I’m kind of obsessed with honeysuckle right now. Its energy reminds me a lot of a mix between lemon and chamomile. It helps to raise energy, promotes spiritual openness and it draws in more abundance and happiness. 

I’ve been playing around with this idea of portals lately and I’ve been adding honeysuckle tea to the bath since the last new moon and immediately, I got an extra $2k out of nowhere. I highly recommend getting a bag of dried honeysuckle and adding it to your routine.