Eight Pretty Powerful Things
1.Favorite questions from this week
What to do when my pull won’t give me relevant answers? Am I just reading wrong?
This is an excellent question and something I think a lot of people struggle with when it comes to reading tarot and oracle cards.
Ok so here’s the tough answer to this question. Getting an answer that you don’t like is not the same as being a wrong answer. And just because a card doesn’t appear to be relevant, doesn’t mean that it isn’t.
For example, someone might ask for a reading about love and cards about money for keep coming up. Perhaps you want to know if you’re relationship is going to work but you get a card like the five of pentacles which is often interpreted as financial loss when really this card means loss in general and can mean the loss of a relationship or giving up on a relationship.
Or maybe you got the Justice card which can mean, there is a lack of fairness or diplomacy in the relationship. And since Justice represents karma, it can also mean your current love situation is being impacted by something from your past. Perhaps you have not been a kind person before and you are experiencing similar energy to how you’ve treated someone in the past. Or it could also mean, you don’t love yourself enough and as a result, you are not expecting your partner to love you either.
It’s your soul that’s drawing the answer to you so the card you receive is never wrong. The art of reading tarot is understanding how a card is relevant to your question, even if you don’t immediately understand how. Challenge yourself to accept the answer and to do some deeper inquiry to find out what this card might be telling you. It’s likely bringing light to something you’ve overlooked.
You can always meditate on the energy of the card, asking your guides to show you how it fits with your initial question. You can also pull one or two additional cards, asking for clarification.
How do you grieve a version of yourself behind to find a place to new beginnings and new goals?
I also really liked this question because grief is almost always associated with the death of a physical person but we grieve all of the time. For a while, I had a practice of grieving the end of each day because that’s a day I will never see or experience again. But you can also grieve the loss of a job, sending your kids off to college, the end of a relationship and the person you were in that relationship. Every new stage in life deserves the time and space to grieve what was sacrificed to make space for your new beginning.
So how do you grieve? First of all, let yourself feel what you’re feeling. Be angry, sad, disappointed, annoyed. Even allow yourself to still love that old version of yourself, even if you didn’t like who you were. Emotions are complicated and there is no right or wrong way to experience them. But ultimately, emotions are teachers and guides but you can’t learn from them if you don’t give them space to speak. Don’t judge yourself for feeling however you feel, no matter how irrational you think it is. Tell your mind to be quiet. This is the process of the heart, not logic.
Second is to journal. Write down any and everything from what this situation taught you, disappointments you’ve experienced, things you loved, things you want to remember. Really anything. Writing helps you to process your emotions and to give them an outlet. You’ll feel a lot better once you’ve written everything down rather than feeling like you have to think about it all the time.
Finally, write a letter from your future self to your old self, thanking them for everything they carried, ways this situation helped you to grow, being the stepping stone to something better. Show appreciation and gratitude for your old self and begin the process of turning grief into growth. Gratitude is really all about perspective and choosing to see the good even when you feel like shit. Writing a letter opens the imagination which then forces your mind to look for positive things to say. You’ll be surprised by how much you can come up with once you put your attention in a new direction.
2. A Look at Seasons of the Witch: Mabon Oracle
It’s nearly time for the newest sister in the Seasons of the Witch Oracle deck series to make her entrance into the world, and many of you are starting to get your orders from smaller, independent stores even though the official date is June 12th.
Here’s a preview of several card images to get you excited about your newest favorite oracle deck.
3.Introducing the The Witching Hour Oracle
I am so very happy and proud of this deck. I wrote it during one of the toughest times of my life and I didn’t even realize how much I needed. To be honest, I didn’t even want to write it but my publisher pushed me to do it and I’m glad I did.
This deck is meant to help you to work through the dark times but also to encourage you to rise after confronting your darkness. It’s magical, inspirational, and something that is near and dear to my heart.
I have written every single card meaning in all of the Seasons of the Witch oracle decks so if you enjoyed those, you will find the same firm but supportive meanings in the Witching Hour Oracle.
4.Spiritual Lessons I learned this week
I AM WORTHY
I had an epiphany this week. I am worthy of every good thing that happens to me and even if I’m not, even if I feel like I’m a terrible person who doesn’t deserve good things, the fact that I have it means the universe thinks I deserve it.
Somehow, being blessed with something good facilitates something impactful for the rest of the universe otherwise, spirit would not have given it to me. And when I look at it from that perspective, I would go as far as to say it's selfish not to accept something good. Surely the universe knows more than you or I. So by saying no, I am disrupting spirit's plans which ultimately affects everyone else in some way. Doesn’t matter that I don’t understand how. Seeing myself as small and insignificant in the universe’s plans doesn’t serve me or anyone else.
So often, we look for ways to validate our worth or the positive things that happen to us in the name of humility. When the only justification you need is that you were blessed to receive it. You don’t need a reason why you are worthy of something. You just need to learn to be grateful when good things happen to you.
5.Inspiring Instagram Page
I found this page this week and I literally scrolled through thousands of entries. It’s called inspired to write but really she is speaking to all creatives. I love how encouraging this page is, with so many mythbusters about things like imposter syndrome, oversaturation in the market, wealth beliefs, and other excuses behind why creativity is often dead on arrival. Things I’d like to say I’d gotten over but, I still have a lot of work to do.
If you are a creative or hope to be a creative, I highly recommend you give her page a look over and consider enrolling in one of her courses.
Credit @inspiredtowrite
6.Favorite Podcast
I’ve been listening to this podcast a lot lately. Don’t let the name fool you as they talk a lot about spiritual work and manifestation. But even the things that aren’t very woo woo have been so enlightening for me. In particular, I loved Brene Brown’s episode on self-worth as well as Gay Hendricks and Carol Kline’s episode on their book Conscious Luck which I hadn’t heard about until listening to the podcast the other day on my way to Magick.com. I purchased the book immediately and am looking forward to reading it this week.
I am working my way through all of the podcasts but I thought I would share it for those of you who are interested in self-development growth strategies.
7. Conflicting Beliefs
This is more of a question. The other day, someone on Instagram asked me if I ever have old beliefs that conflict with spiritual or witchy beliefs and the answer is, all the damn time. And it got me thinking about how many other people have the same struggle.
Both sides of my family are from the deep south (Mississippi and Louisiana) and though my family isn’t super religious, there was a fair amount of religion around as a result of those deep south values.
And this may not be a popular belief but I still believe in God, but I don’t believe in religion. To me, God, the universe, spirit, the great intelligence, all of those things are the same, expressed in different ways. I don’t believe witches do not have access to that energy. Quite the contrary, I believe witches understand it better than most.
But it's very hard to undo a life’s worth of negative messages about magic and witchery and all that. Sometimes I still struggle with guilt, feeling like I’m doing something wrong, or that I’m walking the wrong path.
So my question is, do you feel the same way?
I’m curious to know but also, I am sharing this because I’m human and so are you. I want to be clear that no path, no matter how committed to it you are, is without doubt, fear, guilt, reflection, or anxiety.
Fortunately, my family knows and totally accepts who I am and what I do and I’ve even converted quite a few people and I still have doubts sometimes. A lot of people don’t have that kind of support so if you’re feeling guilty or bad in any way, know that it's fair for you to have these feelings. And that I’m here to talk about it if you do.
8.Ingredient Spotlight: Basil
Recently, I felt a deep need to protect and clear my energy. I’m sure I speak for a lot of people when I say there is always a need to evolve, grow, and be successful but many of us overlook the need to clear, release, and unblock.
It’s the waning moon right now and I really wanted to do work on expanding but it's just not the right time energetically so I’ve switched to unblocking myself.
I made an infused oil specifically for this purpose to rub on my body after dry brushing and the main ingredient is basil. This ingredient is often used for wealth but it also aids in overcoming fear and negativity, protection against ill intent, and to restore hope.
You can find fresh or dried basil in pretty much any grocery store which means you can start working with it right away. You may even already have it in your kitchen. Brew up a cup and add it to the bath tonight to help you unblock and release what’s not serving you.
And let me know if you’re interested in the recipe to the unblocking oil as well.
