Happy Valentine’s Day. The history behind this day is interesting and is still being debated. But here are some “facts” around the date and its evolution. Before the word Valentine was associated with this day, there was a Pre-Roman pastoral festival called Februa which is associated with spring cleansing rituals. Then the Romans took it over to celebrate Lupa (the wolf who suckled Romulus and Remus founders of Rome). Men dressed in goat skins would sacrifice two goats and a dog. There was feasting of course and then some run around the streets( possibly nude) whipping each other with strips of animal skins (called thongs) and some women’s hands (as always to help with pregnancy and child birth). Then of course Christianity took it over and it became a day to honor dead saints named Valentine. So the feasting, nudity, and whipping were taken away and replaced with very clothed somber praying. Then add a few more centuries, we get a legend just around one saint. Story goes, he healed a blind girl he loved and wrote the first Valentines. Finally in Chaucer’s time (1380’s), it became the more modern traditional Valentines equated with love and the giving of love letters and sweets. Boiled down it is kinda like the arc of love: starts out naked, fun, a little bit naughty and sometime ends up in pregnancy…evolves into something you work at- dutiful and sacred…then ends as something simple and sweet.

P.S. For fun added some love quotes which may correspond to your reading. Remember signs that have * it’s a big week for you.

Aries- Five of Rods – Glad to see you on the other side of that busy last week. Of course the Five of Rods is telling us that the busyness is continuing but this week you can bump heads with people. Your honest and no nonsense ways will be read as competitive and bossy. So your challenge before you start to give your honest opinion is to step back and assess the energy around the situation and person. You all are amazingly aware of situations when you put your mind to it. And if you can’t read it- best to step away. Quote: Hidden love is better than open hate- Matshona Dhilwayo

Taurus – Knight of Pentacles – I hope you all voiced what you needed last week. This week it is all about movement on the material plane. This Knight loves to help us move along our projects, find ways for us to make money, and even find us new homes. Again it a small lesson in patience like last week. The knight doesn’t exactly deliver you the money or new job in your lap this week, but he does help show you the easier roads to acquire your material needs. Quote: Love doesn’t make the world go ’round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile. -Franklin P, Jones

Gemini – Eight of Rods – This week the air is literally buzzing with news for you. There are all sorts of messages out there for you. If you want questions answered, ask them and you will get answers that will help you. The challenge is that there is so much information for you to pay attention to you may not have the time to process it all. So write down as many things you can and don’t worry about sorting all the information or making any decision on it. Be the sponge. Quote: To love and be loved is to feel the sun on both sides. -David Viscott

Cancer – Six of Swords – So last week with the beginnings of new things with the Ace, the Six of Swords literally moves you to the next step. Your assignment this week is to get six things moved off of your to do list. The challenge is not to get lost in the prioritizing of things but just doing six small things off your list. I promise if you do that you will move farther along than the list actually seems like. Quote: The course of true love never did run smooth. -William Shakespeare

Leo – King of Pentacles – Ok, so you are continuing your trend of being the rulers of your domain with another court card, the King of Pentacles.   This week is great for acting on the information you learned last week. The King of Pentacles is here to help you with your ambitions and success. Remember court cards (kings, queens, knights and pages) can represent people in our lives. But they also remind us that we have the qualities of the people we pull towards us. Here’s the paradox: Are you surrounding yourself with successful people and therefore you learn how to be successful, or are you successful and then successful people are attracted to you? Quote: Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage. -Lao Tzu

Virgo – Ace of Rods – Ok, this is the week that for some of you will be the beginning of new opportunities. Last week you had the Three of Rods which said bide your time. Well this week one of your wands has landed. Be on the lookout for things that get you excited and give you energy. Then pursue them. Whether it’s a new job or a new relationship, this is a time to be courageous and follow your dreams. Don’t worry if it doesn’t totally work out or you feel like you missed the opportunity. You have two more rods waiting to come to shore. The lesson with Ace of Rods is the practice of using your magic wand. Quote: Love is space and time measured by the heart. -Marcel Proust

Libra – Two of Swords – This week you might find making decisions hard. The challenge with the Two of Swords is: It is not whether you choose left or right. It is about making a decision and then following it. Quote: Jealousy is just love and hate at the same time. -Drake

*Scorpio – Judgment – Hello Scorpio, remember that mental mantra you worked so hard on? Well, this is a week that is going to put it to the test. The Judgment card challenges you to make that decision and for some of you it might be harsh, but you have our mantra to lead you and help you through this difficult time. Don’t be scared. Have faith in yourself. You are hearing the call of destiny. Quote: Thus you may understand that love alone is the true seed of every merit in you, and all the acts for which you must atone. -Dante Alighieri

*Sagittarius – High Priestess- Last week with butterfly effect week, you have now landed with the High Priestess. The High Priestess continues on with the motif of change and decision making. Last week The Ace of Swords told you to think logically around change and the High Priestess is now challenging you to pay attention to your intuition and inner voice around those same decisions and questions of change. This is a week to pull back and look for synchronicities in your days. You will find answers and your next move in these, your intuition and possible your dreams. Quote: The best and most beautiful things in this world cannot be seen or even heard, but must be felt with the heart. -Helen Keller

Capricorn – Ace of Swords- Last week I hope you had time to just live life and smile like the Fool. This week is a butterfly effect week for you. Be aware that every decision you make will send you down another path. Now Sags got this last week but their arc is slightly different from yours because you had that lovely Fool last week. So for you Capies your challenge is more about getting focused on one idea and not follow the pretty butterflies. (Butterflies being a metaphor for, my thought-loving intellectual Caps, all those lovely thought provoking thoughts in your mind). Yeah, I used “thought” three times in a sentence, stop thinking about it and get a move on. Quote: You can’t blame gravity for falling in love -Albert Einstein

*Aquarius – Strength- Last week was such emotional clusterf#$k, you got the Strength card this week. This card is here to remind you that there are different kinds of strength. The challenge is to see the kind of strength that got you through last week. Was it the strength of a oak tree standing solid and firmly rooted, the strength of lion all tooth and claw, the strength of a parent protecting her young, or the strength of bamboo bending with the wind but never breaking? Once you have recognized and admired your strength, realize it came from you and put it back into your heart. Ready for next time. Quote: Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead. -Oscar Wilde

*Pisces – The Hierophant- This week it is all how do you gain and impart knowledge. CS Lewis said it best – “It is the task of the educator to not cut down the jungles but to irrigate the desert.” So it is important that you get your point across and impart some of your wisdom, just don’t do it in a rigid or dogmatic way. Quote: Don’t threaten me with love, baby. Let’s just go walking in the rain. -Billie Holiday

May light be on you, around you, and within you,

Nina