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Tarot and Art Forecast for Week of Sept. 6, 2020

The artist this week is Marina Vargas.   Vargas often uses the motif of guns and the color red.  Her work can be very jarring which it is supposed to be, but it is also, as art is, very enlightening for the viewer.  With all art we as viewers bring our perspective. Of late we have been dealing with a lot of  violence and unrest.  How do we deal with it is the inquiry in highlighting her art this week.

When asked what her favorite color was, Vargas said it was difficult to pick one, but she uses red often.  As she said in a South Mag article: Although there is no doubt that in my work the most predominant (color) of them all is red. I suppose that in some way it is the color that mediates me with the rest of the colors. Red is a wake-up call, it is alertness and it is also the color that represents blood, wound, vulnerability and violence.  I suppose that to be in relation with this color is to enter fully into the control that there must be to manage between the instinctive and the rational.

These images of Vargas’ correlate with Mars going into retrograde September 9th through November 13th.  Mars is the planet of activity, sex, energy, confrontations, and war.  During this time, you should be wary of starting new businesses, projects, or litigation.  They may be exceedingly difficult to gain momentum and in the areas of law those that start “the war” may fail.  Also, be aware this time can lower sex drive and increase a feeling of malaise.  However, this period  is great to work on projects already started, organization, and planning.  It is made for crossing off old to-do lists, cleaning up your inbox, creating relaxing activities with loved ones, etc…

So, the big lessons with Mars are being aware of what irritates, frustrates and angers you.  Take note but not action.  And when you feel low energy, it is a wake up call for self-care.  This time will be filled with more uncertainty and feelings of vulnerability.  Use this alertness to enlighten and enhance your skills at how you are managing between instinctive actions based on fear and rational actions based on love and hope.

Let love and hope win.

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

Nina

P.S. Signs with an * it is a big week for you.  Virgo this is a perfect time to get an Astrological Tarot Reading for your coming year.  And Pisces it is your halfway mark for your birth year, so if you need a Planetary Reading for a check in now is the time.

Aries
Marina Vargas
Marina Vargas

*Hermit – Time to gain some perspective on your life and environment.    Something is off and you need to step back from your everyday life to do some contemplation on what it is and how to fix it.  The challenge will be finding time for yourself while also equally find time for others.  This week is about finding the balance of quiet contemplation and socialization.

Taurus
Marina Vargas
Marina Vargas

*High Priestess – The energy is asking you to tap into your intuition this week.  Look for cycles that need to be readjusted, and synchronicities to help move you forward and enlighten situations of inertia or chaos.  Your instincts are powerful guides this week.  The challenge is keeping your ears and logical mind open to your inner voice.  And have a broad enough perspective to see that fear is an emotion not reality.

Gemini
Marina Vargas

*Star – This energy comes when you need to do some healing.   You need to reignite optimism and hope in your being.  This week find time to relax in moonbeams, feel the wind on your face, watch the sunlight flicker from your windows, and acknowledge the kindness of a smile.  Finding these moments will give you the curative perspective that after each period of chaos comes a time for healing.  That everything has its season and overall, the arc is towards wholeness, healing, and love.

Cancer
Marina Vargas
Marina Vargas

Four of Cups –Well either extroverted or introverted crustaceans this week is meant for quiet contemplation.  Which for you introverted crabs is celebratory; however, this pulling in must be productive for both types of crabs.  If you find yourself getting lethargic, melancholy, or bored you will be required to step out and reconnect with society until that feeling subsides.  Then you can crawl back into your shell until the end of the week.

Leo
Marina Vargas

*World – This energy comes pushing you to complete something.  To energize your leonic procrastination that has lulled you to laze on your sunny rock this summer.  That was fine for the summer, but summer is moving into fall.  This can be as simple as crossing off the oldest thing on your to-do list.  You might even find it does not need to be done anymore. This energy wants you to do that final push, so your muse can open new doors for you.

Virgo
Marina Vargas

King of Swords – This week’s energy lends itself to long term planning. Time to pull out a blank page and write all your wishes and intentions of what you would like to accomplish in your coming birth year.  A great week to make an inspiration board, a bucket list, a brain dump page of all that you can imagine.  Then take the rest of your birth month planning on how to reach these goals.  The challenge this week is not to do but to think.

Libra
Marina Vargas
Marina Vargas

Ten of Wands – The energy this week warns that you are taking on too much responsibility.  Time to lighten your load by one or two duties, jobs, chores etc.… The challenge is not to worry or pick them back up.  The goal is to see, by next week, if someone else picks it up or you find it really did not need to be done.

Scorpio
Marina Vargas

*Moon – More internalizing with this week’s energy.   This muse asks you to dive into your subconscious, listen to your intuition, emotions, and dreams.   The challenge is that your emotions can run high this week.  Many times, this might be due to your emotional pores being open and susceptible to absorbing others’ emotions.   Therefore, your task is clarifying what are your emotions and what are others.

Sagittarius
Marina Vargas

*Devil – Last week your emotional waters were tested by aspects being hidden from you.   And you were given the option to dive deep into your shadow side to find your vulnerabilities and strengths or skip it.  This week brings with it all sorts of diversions and tests of your character and drive.  If you did last week’s work, then this week will go by with ease.  You are brushing off the devil’s diversions and strengthening your resolve.  If you did not do the work, this week might be tough.  Either way think of this week as a test of your character and will.

Capricorn
Marina Vargas

*Emperor – The energy this week is about building upon your empire.  This is a great week to do construction around how you make your money, your physical environment, and/or any hands-on work.  The challenge with this energy is to be bolder, build bigger however, be careful of hubris.   If you build for the good of many, then your work will prosper in the long run.

Aquarius
Marina Vargas

*Temperance – Balance is key this week.  An alchemy of your material and spirit goals are the subjects to adjust.  This is a good week to blend the need to survive with the need to enjoy life.  So, this muse asks are you enjoying your life?  Does the way you make money give you time and resources to enjoy your life?  Or does your work bring you joy but does not provide for you?  Your challenge is making fine-tuned adjustments to equal out your material plan with your spiritual one.

Pisces
Marina Vargas
Marina Vargas

Ace of Swords – Last week the energy was about deconstructing your environment or systems and then creating new paradigms.  The strategy being pulling everything apart to see its working and non-working components, fix, and then reassemble.  Luck for you all, you have another week to do this with this week’s energy of new beginnings and ways of thinking.  This muse hones your intellect to a sharp blade.  Allowing you to see, decipher, and reorganize with clarity.  However, your challenge is allowing your intellect to do the work and keep your heart in the passenger’s seat.

Tarot and Art Forecast for Week of August 30, 2020

Aida Muluneh
Aida Muluneh The more loving one – part one

The artist this week is Aida Muluneh.  I usually pull art from the artist’s entire work but today I am homing in on one series, The World is 9.  It centers around a phrase her grandmother would say, “The world is 9, it is never complete and it’s never perfect.”  The concept in Muluneh’s words:  In this world, we are idealists seeking perfection but living in a reality which does not afford us that balance. Life is unpredictable and imperfect – we must conquer these challenges with strength and endurance because the world within us and the world knocking on our door, bears the unknown future.

So far, this year has felt like that – unpredictable and showing all its imperfections.  And dang we have been challenged personally and socially.  But that is the beauty of grokking the world is 9.  By seeing the world’s and our imperfection, we can continue to strive – creating a better world, and at the same time let our growth be infinite.  Thus, not binding us or our world to and ending, a completion nor perfection.

P.S. Signs with an * it is a big week for you.  Virgo this is a perfect time to get an Astrological Tarot Reading for your coming year.  And Pisces it is your halfway mark for your birth year, so if you need a Planetary Reading for a check in now is the time.

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

Nina

 

Aries
Aida Muluneh
Aida Muluneh

Page of Swords – The key to this week’s energy is to use your mind like a sharp tool.    Information is available for you, but it is either hidden or lock away by sphinx-like energy.  Pieces of information will be given if you ask the right questions to decipher the riddles in front of you this week.

 

Taurus
Aida Muleneh
Aida Muluneh

Eight of Swords – Last week the devil was in the details and details had the potential to be your biggest foe.  This energy seeps into this week as well with a “bonus” feeling of an overwhelming or a closing in.   Thus, you feel choices/decisions are demanded of you.  The key to this is again is either committing to a choice and see how it goes or saying f#$% it and go with the flow.  The goal is to stop thinking you have no choice in the matter, or there is only one right path.  This leads to circular thinking and a sense of inescapable inertia.

 

Gemini
Aida Muluneh
Aida Muluneh

King of Cups – The intensity of the energies finally recedes for you this week.  Though the themes stay the same.  The last two weeks were challenging you to follow the breadcrumbs of synchronicities and reimagining yourself as the beautiful spark of inspiration with flaws exposed making you shine more brightly.  This week’s energy helps guide you in an alchemization of your all your feelings happy, sad, anger, lonely etc… You need to see that all your emotions make you who you are.  Your motto the Rumi poem The Guest House.

 

Cancer
Aida Muluneh

Six of Swords – The energy surrounding you might feel a bit muddy and unclear but also has a sense of lightness.   This week is full of small transitions helped by small miracles.  Following the willow wisps will not lead you to danger but safely to a new shore.  Your motto: Follow hope.

 

Leo
Aida Muluneh
Aida Muluneh

Knight of Wands – The energy this week is wanting you to answer what truly inspires you in nature?  The sand between your toes, staring at fire, smelling a storm on the way, or watching the power of a lion/cat on the hunt…  Now replicate these feelings/inspirations by doing something artistic, experiencing an art form that resonates it, or mediate on it.  Embed that inspiration into your life.

 

Virgo
Aida Muluneh
Aida Muluneh

Nine of Pentacles – The energy this week wants you to sift your successes and see their worth as a collection.  Find contentment in the positive things you have done.  You have just one more chapter to complete this cycle.  You are on the verge of a transition.  Spend this week in moments of solitude and contemplation of your past and the last steps for this birth years conclusion.  By doing this exercise you will be prepared to move forward with solider foundation.

 

Libra
Aida Muluneh

King of Wands – Last week’s energy wanted you to pull away from society as much as possible, grounding and gaining some perspective.  Hopefully, you got to do this, can put this insight into action.  If not, luckily this energy still allows time for gaining perspective.   For this week is full of visionary thoughts and advises to look at the bigger picture for solutions.

 

Scorpio
Aida Muluneh

Two of Wands – Last week’s energy was highly active and best used in building what is already started. However, this week wants you to turn your gaze to the future.  This is a great week to let your imagination ponder where and what you will be wanting to do in 2021.  Imagining now will set the universe working behind the scenes to prep some of the roads ahead.

 

Sagittarius
Aida Muluneh
Aida Muluneh

*Moon – This is a perfect time to dive into your fears and emotions.  Yep the energy this week would like to test your emotional waters.   In practical matters aspects are hidden from you.  You can wait until this phase passes by the weekend (Tuesday is a Full Moon in Pisces so things will start to clear up after that).  Or you can dive into your shadow side.  The latter is harder but more productive.

 

Capricorn
Aida Muluneh
Aida Muluneh

Queen of Wands – This energy is best used in the act of creation and self-expression.  This muse comes to embolden you to see your courage and power.  You are the creator of your life.  Are you creating your desires or societies?  If so, this is a great week to set intentions.    If not, then time to do some heavy mirror gazing and reconnecting to your power source and intuition.

 

Aquarius
Aida Muluneh

Eight of Wands – Last week was about balancing multiple elements into a cohesive path of ease.  Hopefully, you worked on your balancing act, for this week the energy level is still busy.  So, going in with a balanced mind-set will help you navigate all the information coming at you.   This energy also recommends a game plan, while keeping your eyes and mind open as better paths come quickly into your foreground.  If you are good at racing video games, then this week you will do great.  If not, peripheral vision is vital.

 

Pisces
Aida Muluneh

*Hierophant – The energy this week is about deconstructing your environment or systems and then creating new paradigms.  This can look as simple as pulling everything out of your closet and reorganizing.  Or as complicated as doing this with a work project or relationships.  The strategy is pulling everything apart to see its working and non-working parts, fix and then reassemble.

 

Tarot and Art Forecast for Week of August 23, 2020

 

Ed Fairburn
Ed Fairburn

Happy birthday month Virgos!

The artist this week is Ed Fairburn.  He creates portraits using traditional ink, pen and pencil but with a unique canvas, old maps.  Fairburn calls this process “topopointillism, a combination of topography and pointillism.”  His pieces examined closely still contain the information of the map, but the viewer also paradoxically loses the person.  This resonates with the science inquiry of what percentage of our genetics or our environment effect who we are.  Or the philosophical inquiry that one event can define us.  We are influenced by where we inhabit and what we do in each moment.  But our life is not just as simple as the sum of its part or the how, what, when and the who.  What makes us magical and unique is the alchemy of the whole, the whys.

P.S. Signs with an * it a big week for you.  Virgo this is a perfect time to get an Astrological Tarot Reading for your coming year.  And Pisces it is your halfway mark for your birth year, so if you need a Planetary Reading for a check in now is the time.

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

Nina

 

Aries
Ed Fairburn

Eight of Wands – Last week’s energy was prodding you to produce a plethora of beauty and ingenuity.  Challenging you to allow for experimentation and mistakes while letting your imagination play.   This energy of discovery continues this week.  The task to truly playing is you must accept there is no simple yes or no.  This week is about moving forward with the unknown – without all the answers.

 

Taurus
Ed Fairburn
Ed Fairburn

*Devil – As they say the devil is in the details and details have the potential to be your biggest foe in the coming week.  So you have two ways to choose how to deal with this.  Either to purposely dig deep into the rabbit holes and allow distraction to take you off course.  You will get to your destination at some point.  Or let go of all the details and go with the flow.  Being more flexible and permitting imperfection in.  The challenges with either choice is seeing that you have a choice and make either one more fun.

 

Gemini
Ed Fairburn

*Judgement – Last week’s energy was about changing your fortune.  And your challenge was to follow the breadcrumbs of synchronicities and serendipities.  This week is another high energy week with a reckoning at its core.  You need to see yourself as the beautiful spark of inspiration that you are.  That because of your flaws you shine more brightly.  Your motto:  There is a crack, a crack in everything.  That’s how the light gets in.  Leonard Cohen

 

Cancer
Ed Fairburn
Ed Fairburn

Eight of Coins – The last two weeks were high energy about building and planning your future that ethically balance mind, heart, and soul.  This week is taking all that and doing the feet on the ground work.  It is a great week to get things off your to do list.

 

Leo
Ed Fairburn
Ed Fairburn

Six of Cups – So last week the energy was to trust that the blank canvas of your coming year would have to be a paint as you go scenario, while challenging you to not repeat old patterns or keep that canvas blank.  This week you get to use the five planets in retro energy to do the 3 R’s reflect, reassess and revise.  The challenge is not getting too sentimental with the past. Use it as a resource, not your only foundation of reality.   An exercise in this is going through photo albums and just pick a couple of photos per trip that really have the feeling of the memory.  Then use the rest in art projects or creating wallpaper for your bathroom or living space.

 

Virgo
Ed Fairburn
Ed Fairburn

Ace of Wands – This week is a great week to start anything.  The challenge is to pick something that inspires you for at least a six-month period or longer.  This energy is about planting and growing a seed now that you can harvest in 2021.

 

Libra
Ed Fairburn
Ed Fairburn

*Hermit – This week’s energy compels you to find seclusion.  You need to pull away from society as much as possible, reground and gain some perspective.  As much as you can, turn off technology, the news and try not to answer the phone.  You need to realign your wants and needs without hearing all the hubbub around you.  Silent contemplation is your friend.

 

Scorpio
Ed Fairburn

*Emperor – The energy this week is highly active and used best in building what is already started. This project needs your guidance and you might have to call in some favors to get it moving towards completion.  Your challenge is though this endeavor needs a leader it does not need a tyrant.  Watch your bossiness. Don’t be a sheep dog wrangling its flock by nipping at their heels.  Think more like a helpful guide dog, nudging people to the right path.

 

Sagittarius
Ed Fairburn
Ed Fairburn

Three of Wands – Last week was all about not getting distracted but realizing that part of your antsyness is that you need to schedule some fun.  Sadly, this week’s energy does not allow you as much funtastic time as your soul needs.  So, the key to another week of work is setting up plans for an everyday ritual/period of letting off steam.

 

Capricorn
Ed Fairburn

Queen of Swords – The energy this week is a no-nonsense, no-BS, and all about clear visioning.  This is a great week to do solid planning, strategically thinking, diving down to the details, and making sure your communications are clear.

 

Aquarius
Ed Fairburn
Ed Fairburn

*Temperance – The energy this week is about balancing multiple elements into a cohesive path.  This can look like having a lot of disconnected projects or tasks, but you perfectly plan the right route to get it all done and still eat, exercise, and relax.  The key is divvying up the tasks in a way that creates ease throughout the whole week.

 

Pisces
Ed Fairburn
Ed Fairburn

Six of Coins – The last couple of weeks’ energies felt a little like you were on a roller coaster or yo-yo.   This week’s energy calms down to a nicely balanced week.  There is still give and take, positive and negative forces, but it does not feel like you are dealing with extreme g-forces anymore.  Leaving you exhausted and feeling squished.  The only challenge this week is that energy exchange does happen.  So, the more positive energy you put out the more you get in return; however, this works for negative too.

 

Tarot and Art Forecast for Week of August 16, 2020

Nina Leen
Nina Leen

The artist this week is photographer Nina Leen.  She was the first woman photographer hired by Life magazine.  However, Life only hired her for freelance, even though she contributed to the magazine for 30 years with over 50 covers and countless reports and photo essays.  Her photo style was unique for she took pictures of everyday events, but always with an added twist, a place of tension or surrealness.  

This made her photograph not only stand out but had the viewer subtly expanding their perspective.  For instance, she took the picture above the group of artists that led the 1950 fight against the exclusion of abstract expression from the Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibitions .   Leen had the one woman Hedda Stern, at the shoot only 15 of the 28 signers showed up,  stand above all the other men, making the subtle statement of the bias on women in the art scene and an ironic statement of exclusion.

Her subjects were often actress, fashion models, everyday women, teens and animals.   She also co-wrote and did photography for 12 books on animals.   Some say she liked animals more than people.  The viewer can see this wry sense of humor.  With her washed kitten (see Leo) titled wet by wiser or (see Libra) where actress Joan Roberts is walking her dog at intermission.  Leen’s choice of showing the owner not in totally control of the scene lowers the glamour star status of Ms. Rivers but also makes her more relatable, more real.  Leen’s photos are even today avant garde, female positive, intriguing, and wanting us to turn the page to see more.

P.S. Signs with an * it a big week for you.  Leo this is a perfect time to get an Astrological Tarot Reading for your coming year.  And Aquarius it is your halfway mark for your birth year, so if you need a Planetary Reading for a check in now is the time.

 

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

Nina

 

Aries
Nina Leen
Nina Leen

*Magician – The energy this week helps with manifesting anything creative.  You are prompted to produce a plethora of beauty and ingenuity.  You have all the tools you need to do this work.  The challenge and key to creating with ease is allowing for experimentation.  Make mistakes, color outside the lines, and let your imagination play.

 

Taurus
Nina Leen
Nina Leen

Page of Coins– This is a great week to plan, practice, learn, and discover.  Think of yourself as a student of life.  You do not have to master anything this week.  The challenge is allowing yourself to play and explore without grading your work.

 

 
Gemini
Nina Leen

*Wheel – The energy this week is about changing your fortune.  No matter where the Wheel’s cycle lands, win or loss, it is the step of trying and accepting the ups and downs of life that are key this week.  You are in the midst of an energy shift.  The way to work with this energy is follow the breadcrumbs of synchronicities and serendipities.  You cannot grab the brass ring without getting on the ride, but also the ride by itself can give you a new perspective.

 

Cancer
Nina Leen
Nina Leen

*Justice – Last week was about building your material plane and feeding your goals while lifting others; to be a steward of good.  This good stewardship continues this week, but the energy is less active.  Now is a time to reflect and revise where necessary. Look with long vision as well as with your everyday choices.  The challenge is making plans and choices that are balanced in the mind and heart and actions ethical with your soul.

 

Leo
Nina Leen
Nina Leen

*Fool – So you started your birth month with some high personal karmic energy setting you up for big growth in the coming year.  This had you tapping into your superpowers and your personal kryptonite preparing you for the future.  At the same time reminding you that relaxation and  expressing your emotions are vital in this coming journey.  Now at the end your month you receive a call from the Fool, the blank rune.  This energy asks you to jump into the unknown.  This year is a place of new beginnings, to lean into trust, things are changing, and you are one of the signs heading into it first.  The landscape is forming with each step.  You get to paint on this new blank canvas as you go.  The challenge is not singing the same song, repeating old patterns, and staying stagnate.  Time to allow this metamorphosis to begin.

 

Virgo
Nina Leen
Nina Leen

Queen of Cups – Last week’s energy was around working with your monsters.  You get to continue this work but funneling your focus to only the emotional realm.  Specifically, to being more compassionate around your own emotions.  Not to see them as monsters but as signposts or bridges to a deeper understanding of your wants and needs.

 

Libra
Nina Leen
Nina Leen

Seven of Cups –The energy this week is pushing you to dream bigger.  Yes, you still need to be cautious about the parameters of reality or at least the parameters of 2020 where nothing is predictable.  So, if nothing is predictable why not dream beyond your typical boundaries.  The challenge is not hanging your heart on each wish coming true exactly how you planned.

 

Scorpio
Nina Leen
Nina Leen

Page of Wands – Inspiration is the energy to create ease this week.  You are stuck in some rut and need to think outside the box.  This energy advises you to find inspiration in things that make you go Ah or Oh or Oooooo.  This can be nature, music, art, and/or spiritual.  The challenge is submerging yourself enough in it that you lose your self to find yourself.

 

Sagittarius
Nina Leen
Nina Leen

*Devil – The energy this week is abundant with distractions and opportunities to tempt you away from path.  The reason this energy shows up is because you have not given yourself the permission or time to have some fun for fun’s sake.  The challenge however is this is not the week to let your “restraints” loose.  So, schedule that fun-time in soon but just not this week.

 

Capricorn
Nina Leen

Ace of Cups – Last week you all got the Tower, change that occurs outside of your control.  Asking you to look at the “cracks” that 2020 has brought on in your life.   To make sure that even though the structures you imagining and creating look different,  you are not building on the same defective footing.  The energy this week gives you more time in that creation of the new.  This energy challenges you practical Capricorns not to forget that it is the feeling of your life that is more important then the structures.  Or another way to look at this, do your new structures support the feeling you are going for?

 

Aquarius

Nina Leen
Nina Leen

Ace of Pentacles – Hmm another Ace, let us take a closer look at Ace energy.  All Aces are new beginnings.  Last week was to get inspired looking for something that has potential for new beginnings to sprout.  Hopefully, you have found this new inspiration.  Now, this Ace is about doing the steps to make that happen.  This week pull together your materials and take that first step.

 

Pisces

Nina Leen

*High Priestess – Last week’s energy was about taking a chance to move forward.  This week is a 180 degree turn from extroverted jumping into the outside world to introverted knowledge gathering.  This information comes from quiet contemplation and dreams.  Whether you do this by howling with the full moon on Monday, going to the desert to commune with the Milky Way, putting on headphones and listening to your music collection of shuffle, or meditating, this Muse wants you to work closer with your intuition and the Universe.  Your challenge is finding the time and keeping your mind open to see the connections and cycles.

 

 

Tarot and Art Forecast for Week of August 9, 2020

Njideka Akunyili Crosby
Njideka Akunyili Crosby

The artist this week is Njideka Akunyili Crosby.  Her work is about occupying two worlds both her native Nigeria and America.  Njideka does this though a weaving of her photographs, family photos and pages from popular Nigerian magazines creating a fabric like pattern throughout her work.  Her process is a layering of collage, photo transfer, fabric, acrylic paint, charcoal, and colored pencil.  This give her pieces a duality of “busy” with the patterns and serene with her choice of compositions of models and motifs.   

This complexity and layering of culture are mimicked in her native land of Nigeria and the place she now lives, America.  Both are multicultural nations trying to find a cohesion to create a country.   Nigeria is a multinational state that is inhabited by 250 ethnic groups with over 500 distinct languages all identifying with a wide variety of cultures.  The composition of American population is also is represented by almost every country in the world.  So, in her work she takes the viewer into layered landscape exploring her personal journey in inhabiting and defining what is it to be a Nigerian who lives in America.    

Are we a melting pot or a tossed salad?  This has been a debate since the 1960’s.  The melting pot metaphor used by Emerson was the concept of the fusing process of the European immigrant to melt down their heritage and reforming into a new American.  The con to this outlook is the lose of the immigrant’s individuality.  Then in the 1960’s the idea of multiculturism took hold.  This is the concept that we are a tossed salad holding on to our individual cultures with the law and the market being the dressing that binds us.  The con for this approach is that America as a whole loses its culture of what defines us as an American citizen and what we as a country represent.  This debate rings even truer today.  Maybe we need to re-examine our metaphor like Crosby does with her art.  Maybe we are a collage of cultures layered to form a single motif.  So as with Crosby’s work, when we step into look at America closely, we can see each detail and as we step back, we see us a cohesive and magnificent work of art. 

P.S. Signs with an * it a big week for you.  Leo this is a perfect time to get an Astrological Tarot Reading for your coming year.  And Aquarius it is your halfway mark for your birth year, so if you need a Planetary Reading for a check in now is the time.   

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

Nina

 

Aries

Njideka Akunyili CrosbyNjideka Akunyili CrosbyFour of Wands – Home is where the flow is this week.  Time to give your house some loving, and you will get it back four-fold.  Things like deep clean that bathroom, lawn maintenance, adding plants, feng shui your house, decluttering your drawers or any activity to your home that creates more comfort and ease.  This homey attention will make the rest of your life flow better. 

 

Taurus
Njideka Akunyili Crosby

Ten of Swords – This week is about hurt from outside sources and learning how to deal with them.  First lesson is you learning to stop listening to your ego over your intuition and internal integrity.  A possible reason for outside sources sharp vibes is that you have played either martyr or savior instead of seeing yourself as one of them.  Second lesson, these outside people are having problems of their own.  And yes, their ugliness may squirt on you, but the challenge is not let muscle memory set in with this illusion of rejection or hurt.  Take this time to close the laceration(s) and either prepare to start anew with these outside people or forces, or if need be walk away as long as you do not do it from the place of the wounded.   

 

Gemini
Njideka Akunyili Crosby

Nine of Cups – Last week the forces where calling you to make choices.  You get more time do so with this energy’s help.  This muse reminds you that you do not need to be totally “there” to know that you are worthy of this change.  So, it asks you are you dreaming big enough?  Would the theme of these choices illuminate you if the journey got dark?  Do these choices create a sense of ease in your life?  And the first choice should be that you accept contentment over ecstasy because your gifts are on their way.    

 

Cancer
Njideka Akunyili Crosby
Njideka Akunyili Crosby

*Emperor – The vibe this week is about building your material plane, protecting and feeding your goals.  This is a great week to implement ideas into your workflow, to bring your business or work to the next level.  The challenge is to not only promote and uplift yourself but also to uplift others in the process.  Look to benefiting the whole not just the individual.  Be a steward of good.   

 

Leo
Njideka Akunyili Crosby

Four of Swords – The energy this week mid-birthday month is exploring your realms of relaxation.  The duality of Leo is you have lots of energy, but also like a lion enjoy laying around soaking in the “act” of inertia.  Your challenge is exploring all the ways you relax, either active or sloth like, and then how are you going to consistently incorporate this in your life.  Your goal is to find time to unwind at the very least four times a month at the best four times a week in the coming year.   

 

Virgo

Njideka Akunyili CrosbyNjideka Akunyili Crosby*Strength – Ok, time for some beast training this week.  What are your monsters?  This energy advises to tame these demons you must work with them.  There is a mediation that embodies this practice :  Feeding your Demons.  Another way is to personify your monster into someone or thing you would not normally listen to but can be entertaining at times.  (I see my anxiety as Harlequin from Batman.)  The challenge is not fighting with your monster or killing it but accepting it and seeing when it is trying to be an ally. 

 

Libra
Njideka Akunyili Crosby
Njideka Akunyili Crosby

Ten of Cups – The energy this week is about finding activities that bring you bliss.  Connection and love are the keys to finding ways to open your heart.  So, this can be simple extended hugs, deep conversations with friends, or having a socially distance beverage with your close ones.  However, these are hard times to connect with others.  If you are solo, this energy can be tapped into by hugging yourself, holding your own hand or dancing with your favorite YouTube/TikTok video.  It sounds strange but since we do not often do it, it tricks the mind that we are connecting with another and turns on our endorphins. So, let the loving commence.

 

Scorpio
Njideka Akunyili Crosby

Two of Swords – This is your second two so quick check in with the numerology.  Two means balance.  Last week was about finding balance from the reality of your present with the plans of where you want to be in the future.  This week the challenge is making balanced choices with your head and your heart. 

 

Sagittarius
Njideka Akunyili Crosby

Ace of Swords – The energy this week is all about learning something new to help you expand your understanding or perspective.    The best way to use this energy is in deep conversation, your head in a book, or ears tuned into a new podcast.  Your mind needs to be fed new ideas expanding its data and bringing enlightenment for the coming weeks.   

 

Capricorn
Njideka Akunyili Crosby
Njideka Akunyili Crosby

*Tower – Every sign is having its turn with the Tower, change that occurs outside of your control.  Now is your time to make sure you are contemplating how you are going to rebuild your structure after 2020.  Take this week to look at the “cracks” that 2020 has brought on in your life.  The important aspect with this inspection is that you do not rebuild with the same fault lines in your foundation.  So even though the structures you imagine and are creating look different, make sure you are not building on the same defective footing.  This can look as simple as you have become vegetarian but not getting enough protein or you are creating a slower lifestyle but then fill in your schedule.

 

Aquarius
Njideka Akunyili Crosby

Ace of Wands – Inspiration continues this week, but this energy has potential for new beginnings to sprout.  This is a great week to start any project or go exploring.  Your soul is craving passion and newness.  Feed the fire.

 

 
Pisces
Njideka Akunyili Crosby
Njideka Akunyili Crosby

*Wheel – The energy this week is about taking chances to move forward.  This year has had its ups and downs, but you must continue to spin the wheel to create fortitudinous change.  For the kernels of synchronicity wait undeveloped until they are sought after.  Now is the time to move ahead for each step this week leads you to a new era of luck and destiny.

 

 

 

Tarot and Art Forecast for Week of July 26, 2020

Agnes_Goodsir_The-Parisienne_
Agnes Goodsir The Parisienne

The artist this week is Agnus Noyes Goodsir.  After World War I an art and cultural explosion was happening in Paris and London and many Australian artists flocked there.  Agnus was among this migration.  There she met “Cherry” who became her model and lover.  Though her sexuality and painting style at the time were not publicized in Australia, she was held in high esteem by the French.  She was invited and became a member of Salon Nationale des Beaux-Arts.  An annual exhibition of French artists (and now foreign artists) since 1909.  Sadly, she was largely forgotten until in the 1990’s. Goodsir was reintroduced to Australia and the world by the director of Victoria’s Bendigo Art Gallery.

Above, The Parisienne, is a perfect example of the start of the movement of the “modern women”.  The model clothed in masculine attire, short hair, and a cigarette in her hand accentuated the lifestyle that Goodsir had fled to Paris to find.  The face is shadowed adding to the ambiguity of gender but also intrigues and pulls the viewer into the character and life of this kind of person.

At the same time does it hint that Goodsir’s true self and work was still in the shadows?  Was the choice of the flat tonal background in contrast to the bold contours of the clothing emphasizing stepping out of the banal norm into a stronger cheekier life of a modern woman?  Does it suggest that what a woman wears on the outside still defines her?  Or is this Agnus just being a realistic painter.  This is an amazing thing about art, we as a viewer can find as much insight to ourselves as the artist does in making the piece.

 

 

P.S. Signs with an * it a big week for you.  Leo this is a perfect time to get an Astrological Tarot Reading for your coming year.  And Aquarius it is your halfway mark for your birth year, so if you need a Planetary Reading for a check in now is the time.

 

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

Nina

 

Aries

Agnus Noyes Goodsir
Agnus Noyes Goodsir

Three of Wands – Your to-do list is long to get from here to there, and this week you are advised to be very conscious of the concept of contingences. There is a domino effect where you do not have totally control of all the pieces.  The challenge is having faith that the Universe is working with you behind the scenes while you plan.

 

Taurus

Agnus Noyes Goodsir
Agnus Noyes Goodsir

Eight of Pentacles – This is a great week to get your hands dirty.  You have the energy to persist and preserve through the most challenging projects.  The challenge with this energy is that it can only be directed at things and ventures already in motion, that you love the work, or it needs your unique talents.  This is not a week to start new projects or do something outside of your skillset.  Unless you want to invite in strain and resistance.

 

Gemini

Agnus Noyes Goodsir

Ace of Wands – Last week’s energy was about the creative act of bring an idea down and materialize it.  Asking you about your intentions and the steps to manifest them.  This week’s energy flow has less intensity but with the same focus of creation.   So, continue to manifest whether big or small acts, and do so with the highest intention and integrity.  However, if you feel blocked the key is to immerse yourself in what inspires you.  This will re-lit your fires.

 

Cancer

Agnus Noyes Goodsir
Agnus Noyes Goodsir

*Death – The energy this week is about letting go of the old and sloughing of the things that no longer work for you.  This releasing generates the fodder for new beginnings.  The challenge is seeing the past is in the past and the present and future is in you.  Remember a burial ground and a planting ground look the same and the processes are intertwined.

 

Leo

Agnus Noyes Goodsir
Agnus Noyes Goodsir

Nine of Wands – The last two weeks beamed the energies assigned to Leos.  Let us review.  They wanted you to allow three paradoxes into your personal constructs.  1) Your strength comes from dealing with your weakness.  2) Your self-doubt comes from trying to control things that cannot be tamed.  3) Your insecurity is also the root of your compassion.  And once these constructs are in place, work on harnessing your power and applying outward to the correct degree where you sustain growth – not burn it all down.  This week the energy has you setting up some borders so you can finish up loose ends of the past two weeks, so you can begin focusing on the future.  Be aware, this might be the last week to finish off the past year before next year’s energies start pushing you forward.

 

Virgo

Agnus Noyes Goodsir
Agnus Noyes Goodsir

Two of Cups – Last week’s energy was hard, but this week has a lower intensity and is filled with love.  Last week asked what needs to shift externally and internally to make a major outer-life change happen?  Remember this is a process of a modernization of self, but you must do it a brick at a time.  This week’s energy prompts you that first brick is love.  What are the qualities that you want in a partner, and what do you need to adjust to become a partner to that kind of person?  If you are in a relationship,  reconnect with your chosen loved ones. Making sure you are open to the love they give you, as well as, showing the love you have for them.  True partnership is long termed balanced acts of giving and receiving.

 

Libra

Agnus Noyes Goodsir

Five of Cups – Chaos of emotions float around you this week.  The challenge with this energy is keeping positive while processing the negative with compassion.  This energy reminds you not to run away from joy or sorrow; both are part of life.  And it also reminds that only by truly feeling and processing your emotions can you use them for good in the future.

 

Scorpio

Agnus Noyes Goodsir

Ten of Cups – Yeah, this week should feel a lot lighter than last week.  The clouds have parted.  This energy is pushing you to seek your community, bathe in love and connection.  You are the water signs most social and need contact.  Even if you cannot do it physically.  Time to spread and receive some love in any way you can.

 

Sagittarius

Agnus Noyes Goodsir
Agnus Noyes Goodsir

King of Coins – Last week’s energy endorsed you enacting the usefulness of inertia.  Using or creating moments of pause for reflection, letting go of old patterns, and making way for the new ideas that only arises from silence.  This week the energy is about grounding yourself.  Where last week action happened in the ether and the mind and was great for inspiration.  This week you need to burrow down into the earth hashing out those inspirations into actual labor-intensive work.

 

Capricorn

Agnus Noyes Goodsir
Agnus Noyes Goodsir

Ace of Swords – This week’s energy bolsters logic and reasoning.  Divine inspiration comes if you focus on looking at the details in a variety of configurations.  It is not that this shuffling of pieces finds the answer, but the process helps you find solutions even in to hardest of puzzles.  Like fitting a square peg into a circular hole.

 

Aquarius

Agnus Noyes Goodsir

Four of Pentacles – Last week your goal was setting aside time to process what this past month or six have been about.  Processing your experiences helps you gather your experiential knowledge.  Hopefully, you had time to do this, for this process of standing back helps you see your authentic path and how to walk it.  The energy this week focuses on your first step – looking at your relationship with money.  The challenge is seeing your feeling of safety and having a financial back-up are interconnected.  Do you have the resources set aside to feel secure?  If not save this week, and if so, you can let go of your purse strings and give yourself a gift for taking care of you.

 

Pisces

Agnus Noyes Goodsir
Agnus Noyes Goodsir

*Strength – The energy this week focuses on your inner strength.  Take time to ground and deepen your connection to how strong you really are.  You are courageous, strong, and fierce.   In the face of these uncertainty times, see that you are resilient.  This week’s events show you that whether life flows to you calm waters or gale force storms, you got this.  The challenge is seeing the tiger’s eye in the mirror no matter the circumstance.

 

 

 

Tarot and Art Forecast for Week of July 19, 2020

Jason deCaries Taylor This week’s artist is Jason deCaries Taylor.  Jason’s has created throughout the world Land Art installations.  These pieces highlight social and environmental issues of the area.   This week I am only highlighting his underwater installations.  With each project he works with scientists and local people to create these underwater art shows.  Even the statues themselves are model from the people of the area. Many of his ocean installations provide foundations for the begins of reefs.

Above is a newer sculpture the Ocean Siren part of the Museum of Underwater Art in the Great Barrier Reef.  The statue itself is modeled after 12-year-old girl Takoda Johnson.  She is a member of the local Wulgurukaba people one of the two traditional owners of the local land.  The sculpture is solar powered and changes color according to the water temperature in the reef.  Consistent dark red colors warn of potential coral bleaching.  Coral bleaching is an effect of climate change and is endangering one of the most diverse reefs in the world, The Great Barrier Reef.  The other part of this project Coral Greenhouse was finished in December of 2019 (see Aries).  It is not only a piece of art but also functioning laboratory, measuring salinity, pH, and coral growth.  Its opening was postponed due to Covid but will have guided underwater tours hopefully starting in 2021.

Land Art is a form of art which uses either the materials from a location or highlights a location.  The emphasis on the art is usually around the concepts of social issues, poverty, ecology, conservation, etc… where the art becomes a form of activism.  This movement started in the late 60’s but many believe locations like Stonehenge, Nazca Lines in Peru, the Chalk drawings in England could be older styles of this art form.

P.S. Signs with an * it a big week for you.  Cancer this is a perfect time to get an Astrological Tarot Reading for your coming year.  And Capricorn it is your halfway mark for your birth year, so if you need a Planetary Reading for a check in now is the time.

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

Nina

Aries

Jason deCaries TaylorFour of Wands – Family and home life are the key for ease and your focus for this week.  Honor these moments of seclusion to create deeper bonds with those you hold close and the home that sustains and protects you.   Give a gift to your abode and the life-forms that live with you.  These acts of gratitude will ground you and help deepen your sense of security.

Taurus

Vicissitudes_Grenada_portrait_coral-feathers_Jason-deCaires-Taylor_Sculpture

Six of Swords – Your second 6, so let us dive into numerology for a second.  Sixes are the cause and effect cards.  Last week’s energy was around karma and your actions on the material plane.  This week’s cause and effects energy is around your thoughts.  When they are clear – you feel directed and focused; however, when they are muddy – you stagnate.  The key this week is simplifying your thoughts by traveling their branches to the main source, and then work with just that.

Gemini

Reclamation_Mexico_Jason-deCaires-Taylor_Sculpture

*Magician – The energy this week is about the creative act of bring an idea down and materialize it.  This energy asks what is your intention?  How will you manifest this desire?  The key with this energy is knowing you have the skills and tools already to create into the material plane.  Big or small manifestations, your challenge is materializing them with the highest intention and aligned with your inner integrity.

Cancer

Jason_deCaires_Taylor

Five of Swords – Winning or losing is not the goal.  Now is the time to stick to your integrity and humanity.  Do not let society’s ambitioned rat race lure you in.  If you are aligned with what truly matters, you will traverse this week’s chaotic waters with less strain on your mental state.

Leo

Jason deCaires Taylor
Jason-deCaires-Taylor

*Sun– Wow both of your sign’s cards back to back.  One ending your birth year with the power and nemesis of Strength and the other starting the new year with your other power and nemesis the Sun.  Let us review last week’s energy.  It wanted you to allow these three paradoxes into your personal constructs.  1) Your strength comes from dealing with your weakness.  2) Your self-doubt comes from trying to control things that cannot be tamed.  3) Your insecurity is also the root of your compassion.  The Sun’s energy is that it sustains life as does your power when projected out into the world.  The Sun’s and your nemesis are that too much of this power can cause harm or kill.  It is all in its application.  This coming year is about you working on how to harness your power and then applying its powerful force outward to the correct degree that you sustain growth and not burn it all down.

Virgo

Jason-deCaires-Taylor
Jason-deCaires-Taylor

*Tower – Ok during 2020 every sign seems to be getting this paradigm shifting energy and now it is you.  The Tower energy comes to shake up one’s life,  by taking the control away from you, so you can see the cracks in your foundations and then change the blueprints.  First take a holistic look at how these times have affected you outwardly.  What needs to shift?  This would be like the pace you live at, the place you live in, or your support group.   Secondly look at what needs to shift internally to make a major outer-life change happen?  What old patterns are not working for you anymore?  This could look like you are a day person but work night shifts, perfectionism, addiction, etc…  The best way to work with Tower energy is pick one thing to change and go through the whole healing and restructuring process.  This is a modernization of self, but you must do it a brick at a time.

Libra

Silent-Evolution_Mexico_Jason-deCaires-Taylor

Ten of Swords – The past two week’s have been about expanding your empire and finding your flow with your environment.  This week energy has the possibility to stop you in your tracks.  Be aware that outside sources are not working in your favor.  To traverse this negative energy, either pull back and take a break, or if you must move forward follow your intuition in all things.  Either way do not allow any of this negative vibe set into your muscle memory.  This is a closing of a door.  Let it close and walk on.

Scorpio

Jason-deCaires-Taylor
Museo-Atlantico_Lanzarote_Jason-deCaires-Taylor_Sculpture

Nine of Swords – This week you will need to quiet your mind.  Over-thinking can intrude into your family time or bedtime.  Worry and overthinking will not create ease or help you figure anything out.  A great exercise to do is create a ritual that ends your working day.  Some examples: If you do go out for work, stop at a tree or bush outside your house and figuratively hang up your day before entering in.  If working from home, set an alarm that rings to remind you your day has ended.  Or two hours before bed, pour all the junk of the day into a journal.

Sagittarius

Alluvia_Canterbury_Jason-deCaires-Taylor_Sculpture

*Hanged Man – The energy to ponder and enact this week is the usefulness of inertia.  This vibe comes around when you need to flip your perspective to find new pathways of thinking and doing.  Use or create these moments of pause for reflection.  Let go of old patterns, making way for the new ideas that only arises from silence.  The challenge is that this may trigger boredom or antsyness.  Sit through it, for you will find enlightenment and peace on the other side.

Capricorn

Jason-deCaires-Taylor
Vicissitudes_Grenada__Jason-deCaires-Taylor

King of Cups – Ok this might be a challenging week for you, for your emotions are on the surface.  However, this energy is wanting you to work with and through them.  Your emotions are your guides, even the moody ones.  If you are moody that is just your feelings expressing you need some alone time.  If you are giddy, then find ways to feed and share that good vibe.

Aquarius

Jason-deCaires-Taylor
Museo-Atlantico_Lanzarote_Tubular-Cactus_growth_00795_Jason-deCaires-Taylor_Sculpture

*Hermit – This week your goal is to set aside time to process what this past month or six has been about.  Processing your experiences helps you gather your experiential knowledge.  This will assist in learning how to deal with experiences going forward.  And challenge you by pointing out what skills you still need to learn or tweak.  We all need a stopping point to pull back and see our lives from a loftier place.  Try to turn off you phone and technology for a couple hours at the very least and reminisce upon all that has happened.  This will help lead you to the next steps, that are more authentic to who you want to be and where and how you want to walk on this journey.

Pisces

Man-on-Fire_Mexico_clean_Jason-deCaires-Taylor_Sculpture
Mexico Jason-deCaires-Taylor

King of Pentacles – Last week’s energy was a paradox wrapped up in enigma and challenged you to ride the wave of life without trying to control its currents.  This week’s energy allows you to put in your rudder and steer a course.  This is a great week for all things that build upon your material plane.  Aspects to focus on are how you make your money and/or working with your hands.  Or you might be called upon or see the need to take control.  The challenge is to use your power to guide or nudge rather than fully pressing people or things to your will.