In order to approach the spiritual, we have to be pretty solid on the material plane. It's really hard to think about eternity when you're in survival mode, trying to meet your basic needs. But you made it! You're thriving, and you're ready for the next big stage. Take a moment to appreciate how far you've come.
When The Chariot shows up, it's a reminder that you have more than enough to survive, and you've checked off all the boxes on the material success list. Now it's time to go deeper. It's time to take care of your spirit. If there's something that feeds your soul and puts more kindness into the world, do it today. This is where the really wild journey starts!
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This card is from a Marseilles tarot deck I found this morning at the flea market. It was right next to a pewter USS Enterprise model, because it was totally meant for me (or some other space witch). I bought it from the original owner, who used it in the early 70s. He thanked the cards for their time with him and I promised to give them a good home. I'm so excited to get to know this beautiful deck!
Daily Tarot: Page of Wands
Ground your fire with play. Passion and ambition are amazing, but you can hold your fire lightly, like an instrument, not a weapon. A playful approach keeps you in the present moment rather than trying to play only to win or plotting five moves down the line, which is another Wands approach. There's no benefit to you right now in trying to force anything to happen or pushing to get your way. The Page of Wands is a wild sapling, bursting up from the ground any old place, not a precisely planted and manicured topiary. Anytime today you feel your fire heading toward force, pull it back to the present. Make a game of it, notice one thing you're picking up from each of your senses. This is a time of new growth, leave room for the unexpected.
Daily Tarot: 6 of Wands
After pulling the 4 and 5 of Wands earlier this week, it feels right to see the 6. This is a realignment of energy after a clash, and it feels like rising up. It's being able to hold the experience of being seen and praised. Because you have come a long way, and you are worthy of recognition! Let this feeling of lightness carry you through the day.
Not every reading needs to be intense - sometimes we just need to come up for air. I think we're all ready for this after some intense work this week.
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Photo from today's art adventure at the @brooklynmuseum with the lovely @kknightingale 💙
Tonight! Lips, Teeth, Tongue
Tonight! Lips, Teeth, Tongue
8-10pm at the William Vale
In the Franklin Room, lower level.
I hope to see you there!
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Featuring NYC's coolest, smartest food writers and burlesque performers sharing stories about the intersection of pleasure and necessity.
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Tarot by me, astrology by @thedailyhunch!
Funny sexy readings by: @kimchiforbreakfast, @calamitychang, @katkinsman, @kimberchou, @missmarycyn
Entrance: $5-10
#lipsteethtongue .
Image by Dailyville on Flickr, inspired by Donna Summer
Daily Tarot: 4 of Wands
There's an "if you build it they will come" aspect to the 4 of wands. If you want joy (or love, skill, baseball ghosts, etc), you have to make a container for it in your time and space. Set the time, go to the place, set an intention for what will happen there. Then it will happen. It's simple but not easy.
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When I pulled the 4 of wands this morning, it was reversed. That usually means we're invited to do a little work to turn the card right-side-up. I've been experiencing a lot of worry and stress lately, and honestly haven't felt like joy or celebration are even possible. Even though I know that's not true, my emotions were telling me that story. Feeling isn't fact, and I'm grateful to have learned that from my teachers Lindsay Mack of @wildsoulhealing and Michelle Sinnette. So what I'm practicing today is container-setting for my truth, that joy is available in every moment.
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This afternoon I scheduled myself a break to get outside. I walked around the block holding this card in my hand, feeling my way through the message, when I spotted something orange in the gutter. A flat of nasturtiums! A synchronous bright spot in the sludge. I'm still feeling the stress, but now it's joined by some joy and humor. Thank you, universe.
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I'm not sharing this anecdote to provide a generic "everything sucked but this one pretty moment made it all better" story. More like, we can experience multiple emotions at once, and we don't have to judge any experience as good or bad. We can choose how we respond. I'm learning this every day. And whatever I can learn, I'm here to share. So if this calls to you, practice creating containers for joy today, and hmu if you want to talk about that or if you found any cool trash.
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For more insight into this card, another one of my amazing teachers, Jeff Hinshaw @brooklyntarot pulled it yesterday, go read his post. 💛
Daily Tarot: 2 of Cups
In the 2 of Cups, the mirror of a relationship helps develop our capacity for love. Sometimes you don't know what's going on within you until you see it reflected by another person. I believe that a big part of healing is in feeling seen for who you are. When you're not putting energy into hiding or editing or controlling yourself, that frees you up to put energy into love, joy, and creativity. So today, see and be seen, because witnessing another person without judgement is an amazing way to show love.
Daily Tarot: The Magician
In case you forgot, and we all do sometimes, you are a powerful magical being with the ability to channel ideas from the ether and into physical existence.
I certainly forgot this today, and got into a place of maybe-I-can't. We truly always have the Magician's creative power inside us, even when we feel like we don't. Sometimes a card pops up because we need its medicine, and we have to do a little work to meet it.
This is a good time to get lots of ideas down, even if they're rough. No judging yourself, just putting pen to paper. There's a potential waiting to become real, and you're invited to be the channel. That's the Magician's real work: showing up to the altar, picking up the tools, giving form to whatever comes through.
Tarot at Lips, Teeth, Tongue 7/13
This Thursday 7/13, 8-10pm! I'm offering tarot readings at Lips, Teeth, Tongue, an evening of food sex lit at the @thewilliamvale.
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Featuring NYC's coolest, smartest food writers and burlesque performers sharing stories about the intersection of pleasure and necessity.
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Readings $10 for 10 minutes, and we'll look at ways to heal and celebrate our relationship to food and sex and our bodies.
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Also on tap: astrology by @thedailyhunch!
Readings by: @kimchiforbreakfast, @calamitychang, @katkinsman, @kimberchou, @missmarycyn
Entrance: $5-10
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This is going to be such a great evening and I can't wait!
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(also I hope Beyoncé and her family are having some quality twin baby bliss time. I just really want her to be happy, ya know?)
Updated Offerings and Schedule
Hey sweet people, I have some news!
I'm here to be of service to as many people as possible, and I'm happy to share my updated offerings and schedule!
Here's what I'm offering now:
--weekly service hours Weds-Sun
--online booking for tarot & reiki
--daily channeled tarot posts on Instagram
--Tarot for Creativity classes 7/23 & 8/17
--private tarot lessons & classes
--monthly email full of fun stuff (sign up here)
More on the way as I keep evolving and expanding my service!
I'd also love to offer a monthly or weekly holistic/spirituality/magic column for a website or magazine. If you know a place that's a good fit, tell me and I'll pitch it!
Is there anything else that you'd like to see, or a way you'd like to connect?
A class you'd like to take, a place I can offer readings or classes, a topic you'd like to explore, or a question about energy/tarot/plants/magic? I'm available for events, rituals, collaboration, and anything else we can dream up.
If you feel called to work with me, I'm here, let's make it happen!
📷 : Ian Crowther
Full Moon in Capricorn
Hey it's FULL MOON IN CAPYBARA!
Or Capricorn or whatever goat-fish is local to you.
I unapologetically am reusing this joke and picture from the Cap new moon 6 months ago because we are all reaching the peak of a cycle started then, a cycle of evolution in our work and physical presence in the world. What has sprung out of your earnest hard work this year? How have you shown up consistently in your life? How does your work ground you with joy and play? You're at the top of this cycle and can look around and see what's gotten you here before continuing on. This is a point of both clarity and hands-on action. I think this full moon will actually really feel great for a lot of people, because we love to feel like we can see where we're going and what to do to get there. Today you can see practical course corrections, next steps, and concrete to-do lists.
This full moon also brings together Cap's steady earth with Cancer's intuitive water. In the past few weeks, I've been getting messages about trusting the body's wisdom. We're now at a point where our bodies' messages are strong and clear. Today is a great time to be actively, generously kind to your body -- like your body is a beloved child. Hug yourself, give yourself healthy treats, take yourself out to play. And ask your body for wisdom about what you do in your daily life, like your work, job, food, sleep, play, practices. Just intend to feel the answer in your body and notice what physical sensations come through, then journal it out. Nbd if you're not sure what you're sensing, make it up and journal anyway.
May your full moon be full of good work and play and clarity. And maybe some capybara videos for inspiration.
📷gianthamster.com
Daily Tarot: 5 of Wands
The 5 of Wands energy today is prickly, irritable. Ready to throw down to defend your turf at the slightest slight. It's not a bad thing when you feel prickly! It's a totally normal human response. The prickly feeling is like a motion sensor alarm, usually it goes off when one of your boundaries is close to being crossed, or where an important need isn't being met.
Are you giving too much, not feeling valued, feeling vulnerable or unsafe? Irritation is piping up so you can take care of that boundary, by stating your actual needs and desires.
How freaking smart are our bodies to do this for us? Our bodies are literally picking up environmental info all the time and transmitting to our conscious minds via our emotions. When we're willing to listen, we have the opportunity to understand and take care of ourselves better. When we're not willing or don't know how to listen, we stay in a state of irritation where everything annoys us and we don't know why.
This is a great reminder for me. I've lived whole years in this constantly irritated state and I still experience it from time to time. I've been feeling it this week, so this is a message I needed for sure. I'm grateful I have the tools now to work with it and listen to my body. That helps this cycle be shorter and less frequent (or prevented!), and I can be more patient with myself and others.
If you're feeling irritable today, I invite you to listen to your body and emotions and thank them for showing you what needs attention. And please share what tools help you feel better!
I hope this helps!
Independence Day : The Chariot
Success is a container we build out of beliefs and priorities we receive from outside sources and the approval we seek outside ourselves. We work so hard to check off all the boxes for a "successful" life: home, job, money, partner, degree, possessions. But once we have this container of success, built on outside approval, and achievement, we realize it is empty. A perfect-on-paper life, lived without awareness of our soul, leaves us deeply unhappy. And our unhappiness is what often sparks our desire to search for truth and meaning. It's the feeling of, "I have all of this stuff, but I'm still not satisfied. There must be something more to life."
This is the call of The Chariot, to step away from the societal ideas of success, and connect with our soul. Today we're asked to tune into our soul's purpose: what do you truly desire to bring into the world? Let that desire lead you. The Chariot can be a vehicle for our soul's purpose rather than the ego's desire to find outer success. The invitation here is to harness our ambition and drive so it can be in service of our soul's work. In the Motherpeace image of the Chariot, the Amazon warrior on her soul's quest, is rewarded with an apple from the Goddess. When you are working from your soul, you can feel it. You may receive tokens that confirm you are on the right path. Reflect on ways that you've gotten confirmations that you're where you need to be. When have you put your drive behind your soul work, and things have just fallen into place, or you've found just the right person or idea at the right time? You're being asked to move forward based on your own internal guidance, and trust that you already have all you need to start doing your soul's work now.
It's not lost on me that this incredibly powerful card came up on the 4th of July! We are taught so well in this country to seek guidelines and approval outside of ourselves, and to practice "American" beliefs and behaviors. How often do we do things because we're told to, or we think other people expect it, or because that's how it's always been done? True independence is listening to your own soul, not just being able to do or buy whatever you want. I have a lot of complicated feelings about the United States, I'm sure we all do. We can't celebrate freedom and idealism without facing the fact that real people are suffering and dying in this country and abroad -- all to keep the white supremacist cis-het vaguely-christian misogynist state in power. These people are just as real and alive as you are, and are just as worthy of living.
Today, remember that patriotism is another way of creating an arbitrary "us vs them," and that dichotomy is one of the threads holding the idea of this country together. We can honor our history, and take action to change the present. As we tap into our personal soul work today, let us all remember that we are all humans, all connected, no matter where we live. Each of us is here at this time to dissolve separation, and serve the collective. We are independent and intertwined.
If you can today, please donate to the ACLU, PP, SPLC, or any local organizations doing good work. May all people everywhere be happy and free.
10 Years
10 years with this beautiful man. I once told him he was an adventure, but he said no, WE are an adventure. And so we are.
Ian, I love you and I'm so glad you're my person.
We went to Florent on our first official date way back in 2007, and I guess we'll keep visiting this spot until Gansevoort Street is underwater and some future J Crew spinoff is selling seaweed pants there.
Happy Pride!
New Moon Fire Release Ceremony
Nothing is as cathartic as burning what you're ready to let go, and feeling seen and supported by a group of amazing women.
Thanks to Heather Hogan for a beautiful new moon circle, and for your flashy but safe pyrotechnics!
New Moon in Cancer
Rather than bringing feelings to the surface, this moon submerges us deep into our feelings. You have to feel your way, this is not the time for intellectual analysis.
The first thing to know is that you're safe here. And everyone around you is swimming in the same waters. We're all a bit more empathic right now so this is a good time to speak your heart and be heard. It can be really scary, but it is safe to be heard.
We often try to protect our deep tender feelings by strategizing ways to act to get approval, to show the "right" emotional response to get the reaction we desire rather than whatever we're actually feeling. But every time we use this strategy, we're putting distance between ourselves and the people we're trying to connect with.
Another way we protect our emotions is by not being present, specifically in dwelling in nostalgia. We always have these memories to visit, but when we compare the present to the past too much, thinking that the best times are gone, then we're closed off to present possibilities. It can seem safe and comfortable to be checked out, but it's not doing us any favors.
As we learn to roll with the discomfort of being seen, we can let go of strategies and distractions. We can be more present and more ourselves. This practice of being open is pointing us toward ways we can connect on a bigger scale. The invitation is to act on our empathy. When you feel connected and in tune with all of your fellow humans, you want to keep them safe and help them thrive. So be heard, keep calling your representatives. Show up to local community board meetings, volunteer, donate, be kind. Let your feelings be a motivation for connection, rather than an excuse for isolation.
Thank You! Tarot for Creativity Class
Thank you to everyone who attended tonight's Tarot for Creativity class at the Pioneer Works Bookstore! I had a blast talking about tarot with you, and I can't wait to see how you bring tarot into your creative practice.
I'm so proud and impressed to see everyone dive in and offer such insightful readings. You already know what all the cards mean, and now you've proved it to yourselves.
And thank you to the Pioneer Works events and bookstore teams for hosting!
Happy Solstice
Happy solstice to all you lucky honeys!
Self Care is Showing Up
Self care is showing up for what you *know* is good for your heart, even when it'd be easier to flake. Like meeting up with friends during perfect rainy nap weather.
(I love when the cards are sassy and literal.)
Ace of Wands
Happy Monday, hope you are all harnessing your fire and raising your vibration.