Lifestyle
Yoga And The Tarot Archetypes
When I’m not doing psychic readings, I enjoy engaging in activities that support a healthy lifestyle, such as Yoga and Herbalism. Although I spent many years training with Yoga masters from around the world and I am a certified Yoga instructor, I continue to learn more each time I get onto the mat.
While practicing the other day, I found myself thinking about the Tarot cards while in a particular yoga posture. It was the asana known as the Hero’s pose, or Virasana. The pose involves kneeling or sitting in between your bent legs.
As I was sitting in this stretch, I was wondering how the posture got its name, which comes from the Sanskrit word vira meaning ‘hero.’ It occurred to me that a hero was someone who had to think of someone else or others in that moment more than themselves. When we are pushed to our edge, in that moment of vulnerability, it makes us stronger. The same humility can be found in certain Yoga postures.
Then the Emperor card from the Tarot deck came to mind. The Emperor in a reading can show a ruler or leader who is strong, confident, and who guides others. Might there be an ancient connection with Yoga and the Tarot?
I then began to think of other Yoga postures and how they might correlate with the other Major Arcana cards in the Tarot.
The first that came up for me was The Hanged Man. This iconic card features a figure hanging upside down from a tree. Hanging from a tree in this way would certainly make one see the world from a different perspective. Interestingly, the headstand pose in Yoga, Sirsanasa, aims to create mental balance and physical poise. Continue reading
Astrological Forecast February 8 – 14, 2021
Happy Chinese New Year! The year 2021 is the Year of the Ox that now heralds in a more stable energy, as we leave behind the Year of the Rat and all the troubles it brought our way. Staying grounded, being proactive, and recreating our lives from the ground up will be the theme this year.
In 2020, many of us discovered we had built our ‘homes’ out of straw, which upended our lives during last year’s pandemic. So, we’re now ready to buckle down and create a more solid foundation. As we start laying the bricks for our future, we’ll discover new ways to improve our health, our finances, and our environment.
The Chinese New Year is officially celebrated on Thursday, so in combination with the New Moon, this week should have us ready to recommit to our resolutions and start anew into 2021
If there’s anything you simply have to get done this week, move on it Monday and Tuesday, when the Moon is in no-nonsense Capricorn. Once Wednesday hits we’ll be under the influence of the unpredictable Aquarius Moon, and when it culminates in an Aquarius new Moon on Wednesday, we’ll be off and running in all directions!
We can take a breather Friday and Saturday as the Moon drifts through spiritual Pisces, regrouping and relaxing after a fairly demanding week. Sunday’s Aries Moon will put us in the mood to play, so grab your favorite person and get out and have some fun!
The Whispers Of Sentient Animals
Domesticated animals have been a source of comfort and joy for us humans for thousands of years. Their companionship has brought us balance, healing and unconditional love. Our pets become family and even take the place of people missing in our life.
What humans too often forget is that animals are also sentient beings. They experience feelings and emotions, just like we do. I know this as an animal communicator and pet psychic. But you don’t have to take my word for it, because evidence for it has also repeatedly been found in scientific studies.
For example, Helen Proctor and her colleagues at the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) did a systematic review of more than 2,500 articles on animal sentience and concluded that evidence of animal sentience is everywhere.
Animals feel pain, frustration, sadness, neglect, abandonment and fear. They also feel joy, happiness and contentment, just like humans. Their unconditional love is natural and without judgment. They don’t care how successful, attractive or fashionable we are. They simply care about us for who we are, and all they ask in return is to be treated with some kindness and consideration.
I have the blessed gift of being able to communicate with the animals, and through the years of working with many animals, especially dogs, cats, and horses, they have taught me so much. They have shared with me many wisdoms, truths, fears, concerns, and also their confusion about some humans. At times it breaks my heart.
Now Is A Hopeful Time For Your Future Happiness
When 2021 finally rolled around a month ago, many of us expressed a great feeling of relief and welcomed the New Year with open arms. The year 2020 was extremely challenging, to say the least. But now we are already one month into a hopeful new year. At last, with some light appearing at the end of the tunnel, we can begin to feel a renewed sense of hope and optimism.
However, we will have to muster some more patience and courage. We can still not let down our guard for the foreseeable future. For the sake of our loved ones and our communities, we must continue to follow the latest health and safety protocols for just a while longer.
In addition, we should continue to give what we can from where we are and with what we have, whether this is in the form of financial donations, personal support for those who are still struggling, or healing thoughts for our family, friends, neighbours, colleagues and, indeed, the entire planet. We must also empathize with those who have climbed steep mountains over the past year and see how we might help them with their journeys.
For the wise and sensible the coming months can be a time of great personal growth and inner reflection. We can pat ourselves on the back for what we have accomplished thus far and have overcome under great duress. We can now look forward with more confidence. We have, after all, come this far!
We must now gather our thoughts and feelings and focus on what we can do to generate genuine happiness, well-being and fulfillment for ourselves and others in the future. It is okay if others do not yet share the same optimism and positive outlook for the future. They must walk their own path. Their negativity must not stop us from learning, growing, expanding and loving life.
Astrological Forecast February 1 – 7, 2021
The fixed air sign energy of Aquarius will be intensely felt this month with Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury, the Sun, the Moon, Mercury, as well as asteroid Pallas, all gathering to create a great stellium in the sign of Aquarius. A stellium occurs when three or more planets cluster together in a single zodiac sign to create an unusual energy blend. To further fan the flames, Mercury if currently also in retrograde.
It remains to be seen exactly how this major stellium will affect both global events and our personal lives, but whatever the impact…it will be profound, progressive, even groundbreaking. Wherever this stellium lands in your chart this month, it will invite deep thought, inspired new ideas and the urge to innovate and be experimental in those aspects of your life. However, be careful not to let the stubborn, obsessive side of Aquarius rule your mental state. If you were born under one of the fixed signs of Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius, you can expect to be especially impacted by this seven planet cluster. So, fasten your seatbelt, it’s going to be an interesting month!
To make things even more demanding, this week starts off with the planets taking sides, as the free-wheeling Aquarius Sun squares off with staid and steady Mars in Taurus. Avoiding the urge to stand your ground, and deciding who’s right and who’s wrong, will be essential this week, as the lines get blurred and realities shift. There’s an old saying that if you can’t beat them, join them, but before you take sides one way or the other, ask yourself this: would you rather be right, or happy?
Venus will arrive on the doorstep of Aquarius today, another no-holds-bar placement that will require us to stay patient, alert, and open to the possibilities of finding a middle ground. With all this in mind, at least lean into the calm and harmonious Libra Moon that sails through the heavens Monday and Tuesday.
With a Scorpio Moon overhead on Wednesday and Thursday, the answer to any conflicts we encounter may be to go within, turn toward spiritual guidance and allow the Universe to take the reins. Things will settle down over the weekend for a moment of respite, as the Moon skips through light-hearted Sagittarius on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
The Spirits Of The Mountains Are My Soulmates
There are times in our lives when we know that our inspirations are coming from something beyond the personality. These visions come from a land beyond the physical, even beyond words. They are concepts we have no words for, we have only our inner knowing. The personality moves over and we find ourselves relying upon something beyond the five senses, or sheer logic.
Perhaps that sixth sense is the emerging force, which is the next step in the evolution of the human race. A developing being knows it is no longer appropriate to depend only upon the physical world. This being will develop the skills it needs to see and feel and work within the unseen territory of the soul.
Once we acknowledge the soul’s existence and approach it with respect and sacredness, the personality becomes aligned with the soul. With this alignment comes respect for all life, and many difficulties usually experienced with the unconscious personality can be avoided.
When our soul becomes mindful and directly involved with the physical world, we greet each day with the deepest part of ourselves, and all activities become gratifying and purposeful. It is the gratitude that we give each day that gets us off the karmic wheel of debt, because we now see the sacredness of all life. W
I have much to be grateful for. The desert’s barrenness, along with the mountains’ majesty, stripped me of my ego long enough to allow the healing forces of the sagebrush to greet my soul. Sage has healed my physical body during illness, my emotional and mental bodies during depressions and confusion, and it has healed my soul of desolation.
There Are Silver Linings In These Difficult Times
I remember my mom used to say that nothing good can ever come from something bad. While I fully understand her rationale, today I respectfully beg to differ. Even the darkest clouds can have the brightest silver linings!
Like most people, you are probably also sick and tired by now of reading, hearing and talking about Covid-19. However, this pandemic is a perfect example of how we can derive something good from something that has proven to be so incredibly challenging.
Of course, these benefits do come at an extremely high cost and we would all have preferred not to have this calamity happen in the first place. Even so, there are also blessings in every curse. The coronavirus pandemic appears to have at least had the following beneficial effects on making our world a better place.
Environment
During lockdown, nitrogen levels is said to have dropped significantly and experts say this may have resulted in a healthier planet, although the long-term effect remains to be seen. Nitrogen pollution is believed to be detrimental to our water quality, the quality of the air we breathe, the health of ecosystems, and biodiversity.
Apparently, for the first time in years, clean water ran through the Venetian canals, Delhi enjoyed blue skies, and the air quality in China improved considerably. Not only that, reports suggest that the quality of air around the globe has also improved and in some places wild animals were roaming wildly and freely in their natural habitat.
Industry
Covid-19 has also revolutionized how many of us work and will continue to work in the future. Many working people have experienced the benefits of working from home. For one, there is less commuter stress, less money spent on fuel and other expenses, and more time for family and home life. Estimates suggest that people working from home will be financially better off by doing so. In addition, many of us can now enjoy an enhanced work-life balance by being more in control of our working hours.