Heyyy the North Node shifted to Leo today! It'll be there for the next 18 months.
North Node is the position in astrology that shows where your life's purpose is found, or what lessons you're here to work through.
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What this means is that for all of us, our life purpose and path is colored by this Leo lens for the next 18 months. Think bolder, shinier, BIGGER in all of your dreams and projects, with lots of warm sunny generous LOVE in the mix. This is opening you up to work from the heart, in joyful service to the planet.
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This is my personal North Node and my sun sign is also Leo (Virgo cusp). So I like to think of this as a chance to open-heartedly do what I'm here to do!
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Thanks to Leisa Haddad for talking about NN in my birth chart reading a few months ago- clearly I've been thinking about what you said! If anyone is looking to get some insight on their ~~stars~~, reach out to @leisah for a reading, she's magical.
Five of Cups
The traditional meaning of this card is, hey some cups have spilled but look over here at these non-spilled cups! Meaning, yes, something is lost, changed, gone, but focus on what you do have. But another layer is, don't rush yourself in turning away from the spilled cups, from your grieving process. We're really quick to push down emotions and try to get to the "positive" lesson in stuff, but that is not always appropriate. Like, if you'd just lost your mom, how helpful would it be to hear, "yeah, she died but it's so great that you still have your dad!" Zero helpful, right? We gotta grieve when we feel loss. And however that happens for you is ok. Like if you feel angry, numb, relieved, sad, all or none of the above. There's nothing negative about facing your feelings and giving them space. Grieving makes space for us to fully appreciate what we still have, and not as a performance of positivity.
I love when a new layer of a card reveals itself unexpectedly. I was talking about this card in class yesterday and this nuance came through, and I just found myself saying it out loud. Truly the learning is in the doing, with tarot as with everything else in life. Next Tarot for Creativity class is 6/22 at Pioneer Works, tickets available here.
Please reach out if you're interested in a reading, private tarot lessons or a group class. I'm looking to share as much tarot magic as possible this spring and summer!
Look up
Don't burn out thinking you have to do everything alone, or that you have to control and plan every minute of your life.
Ask for help, trust that help will come from the right place at the right time. You don't have to know exactly how everything will work out ahead of time, you just have to know that it will unfold how it's meant to. And it's unfolding now! Everything you experience is a step on your path, one more layer of life that makes you stronger and shapes you into the person you're here to become. Wherever you are is not the end, it's just where you need to be right now. Look around and notice where you are, physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually. Even looking up for a minute can take you from that place of being overwhelmed.
See if you can loosen your need for control today. Make space for the universe to send you unexpected help. In fact, expect help. It's likely already here, waiting for you to notice.
Loving yourself is resistance
I've tried a bunch of times to write about all the things that have been happening this week in the world, the continual abuse of power and degradation of black folk, women, immigrants, queer and trans folk, anyone with "preexisting conditions."
And though I can't make sense of it on a rational level, and I can't come up with a clear way to lay out all of my thoughts, I do have one thing to share right now.
Loving yourself is resistance. When you're told that you are not valuable, not worthy of living, valuing yourself is a radical act.
So please know that you are awesome and powerful, and please take care of yourself in whatever way feels right.
Tarot for Creativity Class May 7, 2017
Hi friends! I'm teaching a tarot class this weekend, want to come?
Tarot for Creativity
Sunday May 7th, 2-4pm!
At my place in Red Hook, Brooklyn. (116 Wolcott St, Apt 2)
Suggested donation $10-20. Email moriah.simmons@gmail.com if you want to come.
Feel free to invite other friends, too!
Class description:
My goal for this class is to give you practical tools to connect with your own creative power, using your tarot deck. Because really owning your creativity and personal power is important for happiness and also overthrowing the patriarchy. All types of creators, with all levels of tarot experience, are welcome.
This class will cover:
1. daily tarot practices for creative empowerment
2. tarot card interpretations to support personal and creative growth
3. tarot spreads to generate ideas and flesh out concepts
4. lessons from tarot archetypes to help us stay in the flow of creative thinking
Please bring your tarot deck, a notebook, and a pen. (If anyone doesn't have a deck yet, I'll have a couple you can borrow for the class.)
I hope to see you there!
Beltane & International Workers' Day
Happy May Day - Beltane - International Workers' Day
I have some thoughts about the power of connection, and collaboration, and how that's been tapped into by witches and workers. I love how this ancient fire feast is evolving into a deeper meaning, by sharing a date with Workers' Day.
Today we're more free, more individuated than other times in known history and that is a direct result of the work put in by our ancestors who fought for this freedom. It's thanks to the workers who stood up and demanded a fair wage and 8-hour days that we have a weekend and labor laws. And it's thanks to the people who practiced their ancient religions despite persecution, that we can reconnect with these practices centuries later. And I don't mean that these witches and workers were merely taunted or had to work a lot and got tired. They were robbed, beaten, murdered.
But you know what, they won.
They endured suffering and made a lasting difference, even if they didn't know what effect their actions would have. Most likely, they didn't have any idea of the outcome, but they knew what step they had to take in the moment, and they took it. They understood the importance of the human spirit, and the power of human connection, and they acted to protect those rights.
Your ancestors gave this life to you.
And know that you aren't here just to spend the privileges they worked for. You're here because you, too, can make a lasting impact on the world. That's the best way to honor your ancestors, to continue the work of supporting and connecting other people, and lifting up the human spirit.
Take time today to feel your inner fire, how it connects you to all other people who did this work in other times, who are doing this work now. Light a candle and meditate on the flame, or make a bonfire if you have the space. Feel the fire enter your eyes, and move to your heart. You are carrying the same sacred flame as your ancestors, as your living family.
You have the ability to know what is right, and act on it, even without knowing the outcome. You have the ability to warm and protect other people with every act. Use it well.
Earth Day
Happy Earth Day. Going super literal with the picture but Earth is more than dirt, more than a place we live. Everything we have ever seen, touched, tasted, is earth. The sky and ocean are part of earth. We are earth. Love her, love yourself
New Moon in Aries
Hello under there!
Aries new moon is a check-in with The Self, the you-iest you under all the layers of disguise and insulation. That, naturally, can feel a little raw. But you're ready to emerge. This is the season of growth popping through, fresh shoots standing up to say I AM. You try it, too.
Fill in the blanks:
I AM here to:
I AM worthy of:
I AM showing up for:
Here's mine:
I AM here to be a channel for healing. I AM worthy of love and attention. I AM showing up for individual and social changes.
What's yours?
Full Moon in Virgo
This is the message that came through for me to share about this full moon. I hope it serves you!
Virgo is all about the individual in direct service, and connecting to spirit through work. We are after all, "spiritual beings having a human experience" (thank you, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin). So part of each person's spiritual path is to help other people physically. Use your body and mind to help the suffering of other peoples bodies and minds. Your body is your physical life here on earth. Your body includes your voice, your mind, your work, your hands, your heart. There is always something you can do that serves other people. Even when you feel you're not doing enough, or that you couldn't possibly be of service, you can accept the kindness people show you -- that is an act of service, too.
Whatever you do, please know that your life can be of service of other people. You will find the right way for you. I truly believe that every task, every career, can be one of deep healing for yourself and others. You can be the designer who creates clothing that makes people feel safe and beautiful and strong. You can be the cook who makes warming soup on a cold day. You can be the accountant who helps clients release their fear of money. You can be the cashier who waits patiently while a customer counts out exact change. You can do all of those things in everyday life.
Please also use some of your free time to do extracurricular healing work, in volunteering, protesting, calling. If you can call or email representatives currently in power, do that. If you can go to protests, do that. If you can step in when you hear racist or sexist comments and say, that's not ok, do that. If you can donate your money, time, food, or labor, do that. If you can listen to and believe people who speak out about the injustices they face, do that. Those are things we can all do every day.
And there are some things you can do that you may need to do soon, that are beyond the everyday. If you can use your home to keep someone safe from wrongful detainment, do that. If you can help defend someone from attack, do that. You are strong enough to do what is right.
Work on believing that you have in you the power to make a difference in your daily life and in out-of-the-ordinary situations. Say it out loud to cement it. "I have the power to make a difference for other people." Then start to put your belief in practice. This full moon is the time to look at your life and see what's grown over the last month, through this Virgo lens. All you're being invited to do, is to feel the truth of your own wholeness and service.
Snake Medicine
I wanted to share this with you, it's something that's been on my mind a lot recently. I asked for clarification on things I've been seeing about the collective, so this reading is for all of us.
Your work here is to grow and change, in a continual spiral toward becoming your true self and living your purpose. A snake has to shed her skin as she grows. And you have to leave behind the things you've outgrown, too. This is a time of awakening for all of us, whether we choose it or not. It is uncomfortable to grow and outgrow, even when we're ready. There will be people who fight it, and try to stop change or even push it backwards, not just their own personal change, but the awakening and freedom of others. They will not succeed, and even the "success" they're aiming for is an illusion. No one's freedom, happiness, or abundance threatens that of anyone else. Please don't worry, even when the news is awful. There is no going back to a less awakened time. You can't fit a snake back into her molted skin. And you can't un-know the truth about yourself. We all have to keep going. The more each of us wakes up, the more we can all wake up.
In the guidebook for these cards, Snake is called the guardian of untapped magic and knowledge. There's a note that the snake card appears "when there is no more time to waste." So now, right now, what can you decide out of joy rather than fear? Where can you shed illusions of separation? Where can you embrace your magic?
And you don't have to do this all alone! Accept help whenever it's offered. Please reach out to me if you'd like a tarot reading or energy work to support you as you grow. Love you, hope this helps.
International Women's Day 2017
I have so much love and pride for the women of the world. And I mean all women, all countries, all races, all religions, all ages, all identities and all expressions. Specifically I am including trans women, black women, Muslim women, immigrant women, because they're facing the most of the racist, misogynist bullshit in this country. And I also want to lift up every person who had the label woman or man placed on them, who do not identify with it, who have to perform the labor of reminding other people of their names and pronouns. Women are not just people with wombs, and not just people who present as femme. I see you, I love you, I trust you, I'm proud of you and I stand with you. I love you every day, but today I make sure to make sure that I declare that love in public.
Image reposted from @h_e_r_s_t_o_r_y
Prepare Self-Defense Class
I just finished a 6-week IMPACT self defense class with Prepare Inc, and it was incredible, and not at all what I expected.
I thought I was taking just a scary exercise class, where I'd learn to punch, kick and yell "no." And yes, that's part of it, but I was unprepared for it to be so healing. The instructors held space for all of us students to be wherever we were, whether that was joking or crying. They discussed victim blaming, and how it's never allowed in class. It is never the survivor's fault. We covered ways to set boundaries, and how predators push those boundaries. We were taught to always trust our instinct about a situation. And we beat the well-padded crap out of the armored fight instructors.
We were taught to always deliver a blow with your full strength, so it'd be in your muscle memory and your body would know how to fight back even if your mind went blank with adrenaline and panic. The body's knowledge is so powerful, and something I haven't experienced before like this. In the last class, we had to fight in improvised scenarios. I was in full adrenaline reaction, and I don't really even know what happened in my fight. But I was standing at the end of it. And I watched my classmates each take on these challenges and fight so fiercely.
This class changed the experience of anger and fear for me, and let me feel my emotions and body in a whole new way. I feel more at home in my body, and more aware of my senses. And I feel safer, physically and emotionally. I am so grateful to my instructors and classmates for this experience.
If you're in the NYC area, you owe it to yourself to take a class with them. And there are other IMPACT organizations teaching this curriculum across the country. Scholarships, group classes, and private group lessons are available.
prepareinc.com
📷: "Hands Off" self defense manual by Bob Jones, featuring Stevie Nicks
(Of course we were working in sneakers instead of platform boots, but not everyone can live at Stevie Nicks levels of glamour.)
Shepherd's Purse
This is how I know spring is coming: tiny shepherd's purse shows her white flowers and heart-shaped seed pods.
Astringent and tonifying, she is a regulator of bodily fluids, a diuretic and hemostatic. She reminds me that even when I feel stuck, or like I'm moving too fast, I'm still in flow, and right where I need to be.
Shepherd's purse grows all over my Brooklyn neighborhood along the edges of parks and in tree pits in the early spring. If you look around, she's probably in your neighborhood, too.
I highly recommend getting to know your local wild plants. If you notice the same plant over and over, look it up and see what medicine it brings. Ask if you can pick some, take it home, see what it inspires for you. Bring the plant into any meditation or ritual work you do. But unless you know the soil and water is clean, don't eat these plants or use them externally on your body. There's a lot of pollution, heavy metals, and pesticides, even in parks. So see and appreciate urban plants, and take a trip to the country to gather.
Group Reading, and Thank You
Thank you to everyone I had the honor of meeting and serving tonight at Chelsea Wine Vault's Cabernet Carnival. I love reading at events and getting to talk with so many amazing people!
A few cards kept popping up over and over, and together they're a group reading for all of us tonight. Three of Pentacles, Five of Cups, The World, Judgement.
We're all learning to honor loss while being grateful for what's still here. We're learning to work together, that truly we have to work together to get anything important done. And we're waking up first as individuals, to our own potential, and then as a collective to our combined power. We're ready to do the work and change the world.
So let's get started.
Surfacing
My phone thinks this is a selfie.
It might as well be.
I'm just surfacing after a few weeks of deep reflection and processing. All the movement is happening out of sight, and the surface is the last to change.
I'm learning over and over, to keep going, that there is no once-and-done lesson. And I'm learning that sometimes that is exciting, and sometimes it's excruciating. Learning is ok and necessary no matter how it feels. Also, it doesn't have to feel as hard as I make it. I'm learning how to do that, too.
But I can feel the thaw starting, and everything moves easier in spring.
Service & Self-Care
This is the cycle of action, like night and day. Get out there and help people, then accept help from people.
If you want to make a difference, know that you can and you will! But you will be more effective if you take time to recharge so you don't burn out. I'm seeing so many people already feeling overwhelmed by the straight-up fascist new regime. I'm feeling it, too. I had to take most of the day to recover from an injury from literally and figuratively carrying too much.
Please don't be "on" constantly, stressed and fighting, watching the news on one channel while checking another source on your phone. You might be feeling like you have to know what's going on all the time, that your anger and fear are good motivators, but that's not true. When you're in that fight-or-flight mode, you may feel active, but it's a short-term response. You'll be able to make better choices and carry them out when you're coming to the table well-rested and well-nourished. Yes, please check the news a few times a day. And sit with whatever feelings come up. And continue to serve your community and speak out about injustice. Just know that this is a marathon, not a sprint. Remember to take breaks, feel gratitude for the good things in your life, spend time with loved ones. And then you can return to work recharged and ready to do your best.
It's Your Turn
This is it. It's your turn. All the things you've been thinking and feeling and preparing are about to become real. All the people who came before have passed the torch to you. It's your turn to shine out, to be who you really are, to act on what you believe.
You have so much power. Don't give it away now by checking out, believing you're defeated, waiting for someone else to take action, or by spinning in a cycle of frustration and fear. Hold your power, use it for good. There are things that only you can do, and can only happen in this time. It won't always be comfortable, but it will be possible.
Stay present.
Love yourself.
Be kind to your fellow people.
Speak up against systemic injustice.
Hold elected officials accountable.
Make art.
Spend time with your family and friends.
Seek and accept support.
Take care of your body.
Take care of the earth.
Trust your intuition.
Keep hope alive.
I love you. We are going to get through this together. We are going to keep making the world a better place in every small thing we do, no matter how much resistance we meet. There is no law or ruler that can ever compare to the power of our hearts. Keep going. It's your turn.
(Art: closeup of Friendship by Agnes Martin)
Fool's Gathering
Brooklyn Fools Tarot Journey started tonight.
My little home altar, after carrying the white rose in my hand for an hour on public transit, smiling to myself, yes, like a fool.
Thinking of one of the quotes from the Agnes Martin show we saw this weekend. "Love is all around us like air; pressing on us, making us more like love.”
I hope so. I hope that love is also like air pressure in that we have equal love pressing outward, keeping us in equilibrium.
Old Year Out, New Year In
2016 has been a year of cracking open and growing, in ways I never had imagined. I'm going to reflect on this and put together a longer post on all the changes and lessons of the year. One thing that I want to talk about now that I did this year, is complete my first ever Instagram tarot challenge. This was hosted by Jeff Hinshaw and Lindsay Mack, co-facilitators of The Brooklyn Fools, and two of the most tuned-in tarot readers in the world.
The whole month was an amazing learning experience (see all the posts on my Instagram here) and the last two days really brought some perspective to this time as we move from the old year to the new year.
Brooklyn Fools Instagram Challenge Days 30 & 31
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Day 30, The world. What karmic cycles did I fully release in 2016?
2 of Cups (then also drew 7 of Cups and The Magician, before chilling out and accepting the first draw).
I fully released connection and friendship JUST KIDDING. But I did release a lot of my expectations of how relationships "should" be, reservations about showing up and being vulnerable in existing relationships and taking chances on new relationships. I've put more time into long term friendships and my relationship with my beautiful partner.
I made a lot of new friends this year, because I got out of my comfort zone and actually did new social stuff with strangers. It's been great making connections, and that includes all of you lovely people I've met through Instagram.
And this occurred to me later, but a big thing I released, in terms of how I approach relationships, was my restaurant job. I worked at a great little neighborhood place where I met lots of my current friends, both as my coworkers and guests. I left to make more room for my healing works, and to have more quality time with friends and family. But that means that I no longer have this built-in face time in my week, and if I want to see people, I have to do it on purpose, and put effort into making it happen. This has been a amazing change, releasing what had become a barrier, albeit a pleasant one, to deeper, more purposeful connections.
The other clarifying cards I pulled because I was resisting the 2 of Cups, but they touch on other lessons of the year. I pulled 7 of Cups on day 27 of this challenge (message: get out of your head, your decision is made, now it's time to work on it), and The Magician (message: you have all this magic, time to put it out in the world) was my overall card for all of 2016.
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Day 31. What medicine does 2017 hold for me?
The Chariot.
HELL YES. I am so ready to move forward and embrace success and fulfill my potential. This sounds like another year of making things happen, which is great. The Chariot is balance in motion, and I'm ready to learn to incorporate some movement. I can do staying-still balance pretty well but this is new territory. I've learned so much this past year, and now it's time to put those lessons into action. I'm going to learn to trust the motion, trust what comes up for me, and work on moving from one yes to another. Bring it on, I'm ready.
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Thank you for hosting this challenge, Jeff and Lindsay. It's been amazing working with these questions and learning to tune in deeper and trust bigger. I'm grateful that you share your wisdom and experience so generously. Much love to everyone else who participated in the challenge, I've truly enjoyed reading your insights. I can't wait to see how we all continue evolving in 2017.
New Moon in Capricorn
NEW MOON IN CAPYBARA
I mean Capricorn, you know, the other goat-fish.
This is the last new moon of 2016, it's a great time to look back over the year and release old stuff and set new intentions, and that's really important, but it doesn't have to be serious and heavy. You don't need to plan out every detail of the coming year now. What will really help those intentions along, and make release easier, is some lightness. Shake it out, be playful. Nobody is grading you, and you won't get more out of the experience if you approach it with rigid rules. Cap is responsible and earnest, and in that earnestness is a kernel of sweetness and joy. Tap into THAT as you work with the energy of the new moon and new year. There's hard work at hand, but it's also awesome and transformative and fascinatingly weird, all at once. Laughter feeds your spirit, that's so greeting-card obvious, but it's true. Play with animals and children, watch comedy, do your silliest dance. You'll get more out of this time if you can let it be lighter.
📷: gianthamster.com