 Here's hoping your year is off to a good start despite Mercury and Mars being retrograde at this Cancer Full Moon.
These two retrograde planets can make moving forward into the new year more challenging, but they are giving us permission to take pause to retreat, reflect, and review. Which, as it happens, is part of the reason I am writing this. My Divine Muses shop will be going on hiatus soon. I am taking a break from selling my deck creations. (More on this below.)
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 Happy Holidays! Pick an oracle card for a message about your upcoming Solstice and/or Holiday festivities and read the section for it below. 🌟
Or read all three if you’re feeling a multi-layered reading from the Divine Muses Oracle! This oracle reading uses the Magical Child Oracle spread:  Antiquarian Tarot's Sun card. Summer blessings! The Sun in astrology is about self-expression, power, vitality, and well-being. In Tarot, it teaches us to connect with our creativity to find what makes us thrive. The Lord of the Fire of the World is inviting us to shine our unique Light brightly with confidence. In a world that pushes fear, strips away faith, nuance, and is turning us into dedicated cynics, the Sun reminds us of our positive potential—our beautiful life force. It reawakens us to our creative source, helping to open our eyes wider with childlike wonder. This card asks us to unblock our hearts, dissolve bitter walls, and spread much needed joy. May the Sun shine its optimism on your path!
 Gateway to eclipse season is here! The first eclipse of the year is a Taurus Solar Eclipse, this Saturday April 30, at 1:28pm Pacific.
An aspect of Mystic Rapture, from the Divine Muses Oracle, reveals a message about eclipse season that is ripe for reflections. Eclipses bring change and can make us look at our shadow. It's a time to adapt & grow beyond our current perception of ourselves and that of the Universe.  Solstice blessings from my Magical Child to yours! Shine bright on the longest night. The stars don't twinkle without the darkness.
The photo above shows a prototype of my latest deck creation, the Magical Child Oracle. Read more below.  The Lion's Gate, a celestial stargate, is when the 2nd brightest star in the heavens, fixed star Sirius (aka our "Spiritual Sun"), aligns with Earth; and it is “activated” with the New Moon this weekend.
As I continue to read and travel through 36 Secrets, A Decanic Journey through the Minor Arcana of the Tarot by T. Susan Chang, I keep finding fascinating connections between the cards and the stars. For example: The Lion’s Gate happens during this Leo II time, the decan of the 6 of Wands “Lord of Victory” card (Jupiter in Leo).  Lua Tarot Three of Coins This Three of Coins shows two men singing the Gregorian Chant, an abbot who is stroking his chin, a six-pointed star from an architectural feature that I multiplied into the three that you see, and an arched hallway.
Sometimes these images are from an accompanying story, so there isn't a representation of someone specific. Quite a few of the people in the Lua Tarot are anonymous or unidentified, like this abbot. All that is identified about the other two people in the collage is that they are doing a Gregorian Chant.  Lua Tarot Emperor Discovering the people in the Lua Tarot. This is not Jesus. I know he looks like him, but this is from a photograph of a Persian man from the late 1870s. (That’s a laurel wreath on his head.)
As a deck creator, particularly one who excavates from 19th century photographs and engravings, I dig for images that for me fit intuitively and functionally with the collages that I create. It’s hard to explain, but there’s a process where I get into a “space” for the card I’m designing and open myself up to its particular flow of creativity.  The Retreat card generally means it’s time to pause and create space for solitude & silence. Or, it may be necessary to take a long break, especially if you’ve been burning the candle at both ends. Time for retreat!
Another message, here locally at least, is needing to Retreat from the heat. The weather app says it’s supposed to be 115° (45.5° C) here! If you don’t know, many people in the Pacific NW USA don’t have AC, so this weather event can be quite dangerous here. There are cooling centers in the area for those seeking reprieve from the heat. I am taking a break from work and am officially on vacation Friday, June 26th to Monday, July 5th. I won't be shipping items from the shop or replying to emails during this time. If you place an order, items will ship Tuesday, July 6th. Thanks for your patience & understanding while I'm away. Stay safe and hydrated. Summertime blessings!  Shine bright like the sun. Happy Solstice! The Fool, The Sun, and Juno from the 1970 1JJ Swiss Tarot cards on the Celestial Spheres Mat
 Sometimes we get stuck in dualistic thinking. Either/or. Right or wrong. Us vs. them. But what would happen if we transcended this type of thinking? There are numerous ways of being that are not expressed in the binary. We don’t have to choose just one option. This or that. We can go beyond the binary. There’s magic to be had here. Either/or thinking becomes both/and thinking. The archetype is the Divine Androgyne—the Divine And. This archetype is a reflection of the alchemical Rebis. The Divine Masculine & Divine Feminine are two parts of the wholeness that is the Divine. By making sharp distinctions we are blinded to the fact that all opposites in reality spring from the same source, and that the whole of creation is in truth still one. The opposites, and the material world which they constitute, are a subjective reality, and the enlightened mind can see through this to the unity which is its true nature. –David Fontana, Secret Language of Symbols We see things not as they are, but as we are ourselves -H.M. Tomlinson  The Law of Reflection (aka the Law of Cause & Effect) can be seen in the following ways:
-The beauty you see in others exists within yourself. -What you resist and react strongly to in others can be found within yourself—or you may fear exists within you. -What you resist in yourself, you may dislike in others. “As within, so without, as without, so within.” The outer world is a reflection of our inner world. The world inside of us is the cause, the outer world is the effect. If we want to change the outer world (effect), we have to change the inner world (cause). The answer to most issues we seek to resolve can be found when we look inside—it begins with our thoughts and attitude. This card reflects that adage: Life is 20% what happens to you and 80% how you react.  We’re in the midst of eclipse season! I pulled the Mystic Rapture card reversed from the Divine Muses Oracle and one of its reversed, or shadow, messages is about eclipse season reflection. Eclipses can bring change and force us to look at our Shadow. We are being asked to adapt & grow beyond the current perception of ourselves and that of the world.
Eclipses are an obscuration of the sun or moon, and this phenomenon reflects the darker side of our nature—or Shadow. If you are sensitive to energy, this reversed card is suggesting that you take heed during this eclipse season.  New Card in Divine Muses Oracle: Crone Magic There are two new cards in the 2nd edition Divine Muses Oracle. Today, I'm introducing Crone Magic. This card was inspired by the Power of the Crone by Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés. For the past few months, I gathered with two of my favorite people to talk about the stories, poems, and blessings that Dr. Estés shared in her wonderful and compelling audio work: The Dangerous Old Woman, Myths & Stories of the Wise Woman Archetype.
 I made this tiny model of the new 2nd edition Divine Muses Oracle box design to see what it will look like.
The size of the magnetic box will end up being much larger (about 3" x 5") to fit the standard cards. I’m not making a mini DMO, though that would be so adorable! I drew one of the cards from the deck today and got Mystic Rapture, which speaks to ecstatic bliss and deep inspiration found in spiritual practice, or any practice or ritual one is passionate about. Finishing the last touches of two new cards in the deck and some fixes on 11 of the original cards. ETA for 2nd edition is roughly Summer 2021? I’m not taking pre-orders just yet. I’ve put a deposit in with the printer, so production is not far off. Btw, the guidebook will be similar as the first edition, seen here behind the High Priestess candle. |
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