Sometime last year I made the decision not to use my rider-waite tarot deck anymore because it didn't feel resonant with what I was wanting to create and support. Since then I've been looking for a tarot deck to replace it with something that feels more relevant and positive. Eventually I found the Modern Witch tarot deck. It has a look and feel of the traditional ride-waite deck but has been updated to reflect our values now. It's a feminist deck and is more inclusive. There's not a lot of men in it, rather the male archetypes are represented by those aspects within women, and so this may feel odd to some people. But I really like it because we can see how both masculine and feminine energies play out in all. And in a deck so dominated by male archetypes its nice to see how the archetypes work in the female form.
I am really liking working with this deck. There's a depth to the cards despite their simplicity and they feel very intuitive. I love the strength and power in the images as well.
The new moon in Taurus is all about connecting to nature, to stability, security and to manifesting in the material/physical realm. The first earth sign of the zodiac, we've had the spark of fire from Aries and now we're being asked to turn that spark into something tangible. This is a really lovely sensual, playful, nurturing moon, asking us to connect with our desires, and the flow of Shakti - energies - source energy - from the Great Mother Goddess - Earth - and through ourselves and our creativity. To use that energy to bring our desires into the physical realm.
In that context, this isn't necessarily an easy reading. It's pretty practical, and it's saying, do the work, show up for yourself, take care of yourself, face your shadow side. It might be hard right now, there might be tough choices, but in the end, you'll come to a place of emotional balance, joy and satisfaction. So the road isn't necesarily easy but where you're going will be worth it. Taurus is the bulls plowing the field. It takes strength, energy, grit and determination to keep the bulls going in the same direction and to keep plowing the field the way you want. You may sweat, bleed and cry tears, but the result will be something beautiful that you have desired being tangibly manifested.
The questions are:
What is the quality of my current situation?
How can I co-create to manifest for my highest good?
What do I need to do to ignite the magic of my intentions?
What action do I need to take to co-create my intentions?
What is the likely outcome?
How, if at all, could I course correct to be best in alignment with my highest self?
The cards are:
Six of Swords
Eight of Pentacles
Four of Wands
Seven of Swords
Nine of Cups
Strength
Right now isn't an easy time. You have been working hard, you've been reflecting and thinking things through and you need to make some choices. These choices might not be easy. You may need to move away from a situation, a decision, a person, or something that you thought you wanted. But deep down you know its what you want now, what you need now. It's for the best, even if the choice isn't easy. You are being asked to make a brave step towards your future, towards what you really want, now; towards what is in alignment with you, your values now. You know what you need to do, so take that step and make the choice that will support you best as you move forward.
You're working hard, you're seeing some rewards, but there is still much to do to create what you want in your life now. To manifest it in the physical realm, whatever it may be - a job, a relationship, a work situation, a home. It's the big things. You're making steps, you're doing the work. You might feel like giving up at times as it may not seem like it's all coming together, but have faith, keep going, keep working, it is. In time you'll see the bigger picture. Trust that the universe has your back and all is being manifested, if you keep at it. Get your head down and put in the time, the energy, the devotion, the commitment and you'll reap great rewards.
All these tough decisions and choices, this hard work towards your goals is making you feel tired and worn down. You've been doing a lot and now is not the time to let up. However, in order to ignite the magic, to regain your sense of gratitude, of love, take a little time in nature, with a loved one. Connect to the earth, connect to the great mother, to her ever flowing bounty, energy, and love. Know she holds, nourishes and supports you. See how you are connected to her and how you care for yourself is a reflection of how you care for her. Honour, respect, and show mother earth some love. Nurture her, and yourself, in whatever way feels good for you. Garden, walk in nature, dance in the trees, gather flowers, consider what you're feeding yourself an extension of what you feed her. What that mother earth provides are you nurturing yourself with?
What you can do to support yourself and your intention is to remember to take care of yourself. Self-care isn't a luxury, it's not something that middle class skinny women in sweaty betty drinking skinny lattes do. It's what we all need to be doing, all of the time. Dropping into ourselves, our bodies, into the heart, and asking ourselves, how am I feeling? What do I need right now? Dropping into the pelvis and grounding and centreing ourselves. Feeling connected to our bodies, to mother earth. So often with the busyness of life we get very caught up in our heads and our to do lists. Check back in with your body, as often as you like, but at least a couple of times a day, and not just in meditation, to see how you are, give yourself what you need (might be some water, to go to the loo, a little nap, to speak to someone, a few minutes of focusing on your breath, to go outside and look at the sky...or a miriad of things), and to remember to centre and ground within yourself. When we're so busy running around taking care of things, taking care of everyone else - its so important to remember to take care of ourselves. We will never manifest our goals, never move forward in our lives if we forget ourselves.
If we do this, we walk this path, make the choices to help us move forward, put in the work, the devotion, the time, the effort, connect to nature and her magic, take care of ourselves and our needs then we will come to place of emotional maturity, of balance, of peace, and joy. We will find we are in a place where we are contented to sit a while, reflect on all, take a little time out and discover we've created a sense of presence and peace within ourselves and in our lives. This is not the end, but an important point in understanding and managing our emotions, and all that is going on in our lives. We can only truly move forward once we reach this place of peace, power, love and joy. When we recognise we can cultivate these emotions at any time, they are always available inside of us and they aren't dependent upon outside circumstances or other people.
We can bring ourselves more into alignment with this path, with moving forward, if we can honestly face ourselves. We find strength when we acknowledge all aspects of ourselves - the light and the shadow. When we face the shadows that lurk in the darkness of the new moon and welcome them as parts of ourselves. If we can accept and love these parts, so often the forgotten, ignored, unloved, frightened parts, then we can more honestly be ourselves, and we can see those things we've ignored, feared, and rejected are often not as scary as we thought, and often just need to be witnessed in order to be integrated and processed. Trauma occurs when what we experienced is unwitnessed and unheard. Help yourself process your trauma by witnessing and hearing it without judgement or criticism, allowing all that is here to simply be. Feel whatever arises and allow it to move out of you when it is ready to. Hold it at the heart for as long as you need to. This is a process of deep healing and will support you on your journey back home to yourself.
With great love and honour as we allow this new moon to support us moving forward in our journeys. Classes this week are working with the new moon energies, supporting us to ground and draw the energies up within us; connecting us to the earth, to stability and security; and supporting us as we draw in physical manifestations and make choices.