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Tarotcast for Week of September 30, 2018

Hi all, I just want to thank you for your support as I finish my third year of this tarotcast.  A few shouts outs: to D for cheering me on instead of me cooking or hanging with him on some nights when the writing muse has a hard time meeting with me.  For my Mom, coven of ladies and dude who are my life support system. To all of my subscribers thank you for reading, especially those that write back to me saying that one or another tarotcast has had some meaning in your life and those of you that have shared my blog with others.  You all have validated that this is an avenue that is part of my service to the soul.

The artist for this week is Taylor White.  She works in the streets as well as the studio.  Many of her pieces are inspired by dance, which she tries to capture, quite well in my opinion, the emotive essence of the human spirit.   When asked if her art had a specific meaning she answered:  I hope my work invites the viewer to connect with themselves in some deeper way, creating questions and answers in the way they respond to the piece – whether they’re drawn to it or turned off by it. My work is as much a celebration of you as it is of me; it’s a celebration of the spirit. I speak to an experience which is universal; we all occupy this coalescence of matter, roughly the same shape and configuration, and move through space by the same physical laws.

That is also the essences of why I write this blog.  The first half is to convey cool things I find interesting and their interconnectedness in art, history, and science.  A place for us to reflect, learn and see the commonalities of our existence.  The second part, the forecast, I hope helps you move through your life with a bit of reflection and guidance to ease your journey.  Thanks again for all of your support, and now on to another year.  Light and Love XO.

P.S. Please share.

Aries – Ace of Swords

Last week you were scavenging data from your dreams.  This week the Ace of Swords wants you to figure out how to use what you have gathered into your daily life. This week will inspire you to new thoughts and expand your mind.

 

Taurus – Queen of Cups

The Queen of Cups has asked you to have fun yet again.  Last week it was with a joy and sense of innocence of a child.  This week the Queen of Cups knows that emotions, good or bad can be triggered, but it is through the lens of the positive that you will ease not only your journey but also those you support.

 

*Gemini – Devil

The Devil comes when you are tested about your resolves.  This can look as simple as being tempted by pastry in your break room or can be as complicated as being beguiled by that person who has harmed you from the past.  Now is the time to harden your resolve.

 

 

Cancer – Ace of Swords

The Ace of Swords asks you to examine your logic and look for new ways of thought. This is a time were open-mindedness and new information will create more ease during your decision-making this week.

 

*Leo – World

Taylor WhiteThe World is the card of opportunities. This week many doors open for you.  Your only challenge is walking out your door so you can walk through new ones.  Enjoy the variety of life.

 

Virgo – Eight of Pentacles

Taylor WhiteThe Eight of Pentacles is the card of mastery.  The challenge this week is not to start anything new but to become better at what you are in the midst of doing right now.

 

Libra – Three of Wands

Taylor WhiteThis is your second three in a row so let’s look at 3s more closely.  Threes investigate the areas we need to stabilize.  Last week you were advice to hanging with good friends to stabilize your emotions.  This week the Three of Wands would like you to examine your foundation in how you interact with your life purpose. Are you hiding from your true purpose?  Or feel that your true purpose is out of your reach, or you are inadequate?  Even if you are feeling great with were you are at.  The answers to your success or failure lies in what are you calling in and who or what is influencing you.

 

Scorpio – Five of Cups

Taylor WhiteThis week has the potential of you feeling overwhelmed.  Your emotional waters are meant to be dealt with not to lie in.  There are at least two pretty fantastic joys for you this week.  You will see them if you let go of negative emotion that are drag you under the water.

 

*Sagittarius – High Priestess

Taylor WhiteInteresting the mate to the Moon is your card this week.  Last week, the Moon wanted you to understand that emotions feel as if they rule your life, but in actuality they are just signposts of where your life is at.  The High Priestess, the Queen of patterns, cycles and knowledge arrives to help you navigate not only your emotions of the past and your subconscious but to help you connect the dots so you can change karmic patterns. This in its simplest form can be lowering your carbon foot print or in its more complex form mean changing generational karmic patterns (think big patterns in your family or your generation) so not to pass it on to the next.

 

*Capricorn – Strength

Taylor WhiteThe Strength card would like you to strengthen your inner core.  This can look as simple as doing core stomach exercises to help your back, or as complex as creating mantras that keep the negative thought patterns at bay.  The challenge is seeing that inner strength is not as complicated as you think.

 

Aquarius – Ace of Pentacles

Taylor WhiteIt is time to take on a new project this week.  The Ace of Pentacles foretells this is an auspicious week to start something new, and if do it this week, it is more likely to come to fruition.  Also this will help you not feel as if you are in a rut or dull.

 

*Pisces – Chariot

Taylor WhiteThe Chariot continues the theme of the last two weeks – keep moving to create change.  This card is the karmic card of momentum and its challenge, it is all in your hands.  In its simple form it can look like you wanting to take a vacation – ask your boss for time off and then book it.  This card in a more complex form would be something like changing your location or job; you will have to go physically check out places whether that is a new house, a new city or a new place of employment to hand in your resume.  The challenge with this card is the Universe is not going to drop something in your lap. You will need to jump in your chariot and go look for or at it yourself.  You get this card when the Universe sees you are now ready and able to make this change happen for the positive.  It is saying:  I’m taking of the training wheels; you got this.

 

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

Nina

Tarotcast for the Week of September 16, 2018

Fruit Dennis Wojtkiewicz

Categorizing fruits or vegetables can be a contentious debate among chefs, botanists and gardeners.  Botanically a fruit “is a seed-bearing structure that develops from the ovary of a flowering plant, whereas vegetables are all other plant parts, such as roots, leaves and stems.”  With this definition, squash and tomatoes hang with peaches in the fruit realm and beets, kale, and cauliflower grow with the vegetables.

However, this debate was taken to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1893, Nix. v. Hedden.   The court ruled unanimously that an imported tomato should be taxed as a vegetable, rather than as a (less taxed) fruit. The court recognized that a tomato is a botanical fruit, but sided with the “ordinary” definitions of fruit and vegetable which was defined by when we eat them.  So the savory tomato is considered a vegetable by are palate and by the court.

This week’s artist, Dennis Wojtkiewicz, takes painting fruit/vegetables (depending on who you side with above) to a new level. His distinctive large-scale fruit, vegetables and flowers are painted with a combination of realism and being heavenly lit to create a sense of religious ardor for yummy plant parts.

P.S. Please share.

Aries – Four of Cups

Dennis WojtkiewiczThe Four of Cups asks you not to spend too much time gazing at your belly button.   You do need to check in with your emotions all this week, but in doing so, don’t stay too long in your internal emotional landscape.  Look up and out or you will miss some good loving from the outside.

 

*Taurus – Emperor

The Emperor is the card of manifestation, so this is a pivotal week in your material plane.  This week work on projects that are already in play.  By working with what is instead of what could be will carry you farther in the following weeks.

 

Continue reading Tarotcast for the Week of September 16, 2018

Tarotcast Week of September 9, 2018

Franco FontanaWorkers are fixing a pothole outside my house and they had to stop multiple times because it began to rain.  A paradox of mine is I hate the smell of an asphalt roads being laid, but I am also fond of the smell of rain hitting asphalt. During my urban sojourns, it was a sign of a respite from the summer heat.  Both these experiences are unique to the modern world and drew me to the photography of Franco Fontana’s asfalti.   He is famously known for his abstract landscapes, and is considered the inventor the photographic line referred to as the concept of line.

His motto is the purpose of art is to make visible the invisible. I find that his body of work really exemplifies this. He is not condoning the natural world being slowly paved over, but that the lesson is to look for the hidden geometry that pulls our eyes and possible defines what we consider beautiful or not.

P.S. Please share.

Aries – Three of Swords

Franco FontanaThe Three of Swords continues the theme from the Moon card last week.  This week this card advises to continue working with only three of the hidden thoughts you have discovered.  This card also advises that these beliefs be not only removed but destroyed.  They are based in negative triggers placed in your thought patterns by others.

 

Taurus – Eight of Wands

Franco FontanaMessages are the theme for this week.   Keep your eyes and mind open.  There is a lot of important information coming at you that you will need in the near future.  Be the sponge.
Continue reading Tarotcast Week of September 9, 2018

Tarotcast for the Week of August 26, 2018

Jeffrey Michael Samudsky

I have a thing for octopuses as you know if you have been reading this blog for awhile.  So, of course I was drawn to this woodcarving above by Jeffrey Michael Samudsky.  This piece is a replica of an Enteroctopus dofleini, Giant Pacific Octopus.  JMS carved it from a single fallen Redwood.  On his site you can see the process and how he work with and left many parts of the natural curve of the tree.  He does most of his work with a chain saw, but his artwork goes farther than what you typically see on roadsides traveling through tiny towns of the Northeast.  His pieces seem to personify the majesticness of not only the tree but also the animals he is carving.  Many of his of his pieces riff off of the traditional art form of totem poles.

Totem poles are an indigenous art form of the Pacific Northwest Americas.   They were carved out of the Giant Cedar tree, though due to the North Pacific weather few examples still exist before the 1900’s. Before the 1700’s and the introduction of iron and steel tools, they were carved with tools made from stone, shells or beaver teeth. The carvings symbolized the ancestors, clan lineages, notable events, cultural beliefs, myth and legends of that group.  They were also used as architectural supports, welcoming signs to guests, or held the remains of ancestors. Though some of them were used for a way to ridicule a person or group who had done that clan wrong.  So in essence, Totem poles were the highway billboards of today.

P.S. Please share.  Also, I have put up another quote to download for your vision board.  Enjoy.

Aries – Ace of Swords

Pulling an Ace of Swords foretells that the decisions you make ripple out into the next year.  So take time to think through any decisions this week, even little ones. Think Butterfly Effect.

 

 

 

Taurus – Two of Pentacles

Jeffrey Michael Samudsky

The Two of Pentacles is the card of balance.  This card advice you to pick and then balance out juggling two of the main needs/projects in your life before you add in any more.

 

 

Gemini – Three of Cups

Jeffrey Michael Samudsky

Last week, the Star card asked you to bring a little self-compassion and care into your life or challenged you to dive into your soul and heal karmic wounds so you can carry on with life a lot lighter. The Three of Cups continues this theme but asks you to search out close friends for support while doing this.

 

 

Cancer – Seven of Wands

Jeffrey Michael Samudsky

The Seven of Wands is about expanding and contracting one’s passion.  This week be aware of how your environment tries to get you to react. Your challenge is to be proactive and not reactive.

 

 

 

 

*Leo – Chariot

Jeffrey Michael Samudsky

The Chariot says now is the time to start moving into your new year in a balanced, conscious and determined way.  You all have until November 8, 2018.  While the nodes, in Leo and Aquarius, are pushing you to make the changes you want to care on for the next 18.5 years.

 

 

 

*Virgo – Magician

The Magician is your first karmic card for the coming year.  He represents the experimenter, the divine creator. The Magician asks: what do you want to pull down from the divine into the real world?  Your challenge is to make sure what you manifest in the coming year aligns not only your passions but also with your morals.

 

 

Libra – Six of Wands

Jeffrey Michael Samudsky

The Six of Wands wants you to enjoy the bounty that surrounds you.  Your challenge is to make sure more than you benefits from it. Sharing is caring.

 

 

 

 

Scorpio – Knight of Swords

Jeffrey Michael SamudskyThe Knight of Swords advice to you is to slow down and notice what is going on around you.  There is information, that due to your chaotic life, you are missing. Your challenges – slow your roll and look left and right before crossing the road.  Side note this can also mean to be careful not hurting your extremities.

 

 

Sagittarius – King of Cups

The King of Cups wants us to open your arms and give everyone a bear hug.  Your challenge this week is making as many people in your life smile and feel comfortable in your presence.  The goal of this card is to make you better gauge how your emotions affect others.

 

*Capricorn – Empress

The Empress is not the easiest card for Capricorns.  This card challenges you to turn on your sensuous mojo.  And this is hard because you all want to be practical or have an outcome while doing it.  Asking how will this effort give me physical results?  Well sensuality is about feelings and your senses.  So the simple way to “turn on” is eat your favorite meal or drink and really savor it- take at least an hour to take in your nutrients.  Or a more complex and challenging way is spend all day in bed with the one you love and involve all your senses.

 

Aquarius – Eight of Pentacles

The Eight of Pentacles is the card of mastery.  Take this week to hone your skills and get better at what you already know.

 

 

 

 

Pisces – Eight of Cups

Jeffrey Michael SamudskyThe Eight of Cups ask you to let go of emotions that no longer serve you and strength the ones you that do.  An easy exercise to do this process is throw eight things away you no longer need.

 

 

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

Nina

Tarotcast for the Week Of August 19, 2018

Unknown Unknown, by Zhang Chenxi

I haven’t featured a lot of computer generated art, but this collection of digital illustrations caught my eye.  If you know me well, you know I love nudibranchs, small slug like sea creatures. This series, Unknown Unknown, by Zhang Chenxi is a tiny alien world comprised of hybridized animal/plant creatures, and where the very real and Earth-bound nudibranchs would fit right in.  I don’t know much about this artist other than he is on Instagram and Behance.  But I do know I love his imagination.

P.S. Please share.  Also, I have put up another quote to download for your vision board.  Enjoy.

Aries – Page of Cups

Unknown Unknown, by Zhang Chenxi Take this last week of summer and enjoy yourself with the Page of Cups.  This card wants you to get a fresh outlook on what is going on in your life right now.  Try to have the perspective of a child who is discovering something for the first time, where everything is new and amazing.

 

Taurus – Knight of Swords

Unknown Unknown, by Zhang Chenxi The Knight of Swords warns you not to rush into anything this week.  Take things slow; consider all aspects before moving ahead.  Usually when this card shows up you are moving too fast and are missing some important pieces to the puzzle. Or you are literally just not watching where you are going and can bruise your extremities or mess up projects.
Continue reading Tarotcast for the Week Of August 19, 2018

Tarot-cast for week of August 12, 2018

Jane Wilson

Weather has been on my mind as we are in the dog days of summer.  Where I live huge thunderstorms can rage in the afternoons and are a brief respite to the heat of the day.  You can feel them coming as the air cools, breeze picks up and you can smell the rain on the wind.

The phrase dog days comes from the Latin term Dies Caniculares referring to the time that Sirius, the Dog Star, rises before the Sun, and it referred to the time period of late July to late August, the hottest part of summer in ancient Greece.  So the phrase through time has become associated with the hot and muggy days of August.  Even though now, since the constellations have shifted, we see it before sunrise starting July 12th to August 12th.

Jane Wilson was an artist in tuned with the weather.  She painted a wide variety of subjects but landscapes became her focus. Jane moved to New York at 25; however, growing up on an Iowa farm highly influenced how she saw our relationship with weather.  She said that living on the farm you learn to feel the weather coming. So when she painted she would aim for moments of strong sensation moments of total physical experience of the landscape, when weather just reaches out and sucks you in. When you look at her landscapes you can really feel the dew of dawn, the heat of the afternoon, the spray of a stormy ocean or the coolness of the air as the sun sets.

P.S. Please share.  Also, I have put up another quote to download for your vision board.  Enjoy.

Aries – Ten of Wands

The Ten of Wands tells you that this week might feel like an uphill battle.  It will be full of responsibilities.  Your challenge is to figure out which ones are yours and which are others, and then make the conscious choice as to which you will do first.

 

Taurus – Page of Pentacles

The Page of Pentacles is the card of the student.  Take time to learn something new.   The area where you need to do your studies is in the material plane:  your work or environment.

 

Gemini – Queen of Pentacles

Jane WilsonThe Queen of Pentacles is the gardener of the deck.  You need to tend to your personal environment.  These activities for example are deep cleaning part of your home, putting up shelves, stock your pantry, or gardening.  The challenge is enjoying the space you are creating.

 

Cancer – Four of Swords

The Four of Swords would like you to take a respite.  For some, you will need to take time out to reconsider something and for others you will just need the rest.

 

Leo – Page of Swords and Nine of Swords

Jane WilsonThis week is a two card week and that means that there is a couple of messages for Leos.  For all Leos, it is a week to do some investigative work.  There are messages that are hidden out there.  They just need you to do a little digging to find them.  And for some of you this info will help you with what has been worrying you.  The challenge is realizing what to actual worry about and what is just in your head.

 

Virgo – Ten of Pentacles

Jane WilsonLast week, the High Priestess challenged you to see the bigger picture while seeing the synchronicities in the details. This week the Ten of Pentacles shifts you from watching to doing.  This is a great week to finish projects, which is appropriate for Virgos, because you are in your wind down month before your birthday.   The challenge is finishing things you don’t want to carry into another year.

 

Libra – Seven of Pentacles

Jane WilsonThe Seven of Pentacles is the card of hard work.  This week is a nose to the grind-stone week.  The challenge is that the work you do is more of a long-term investment than an immediate return. But it will be worth the wait.

 

*Scorpio – Queen of Swords and Justice

Jane WilsonOkay, two cards for you again this week.  Last week Hierophant came to the rescue advising you the more organized and prepared you are the easier it will be to navigate in and around the chaos.  The Queen of Swords continues this theme that prep and strategy will be needed this week.  And Justice comes in to warn you that things are more black and white then what they seem.  Your challenge with both cards is not to be too harsh or cold to those around you or yourself.

 

Sagittarius – Six of Cups

Jane WilsonThe Six of Cups has two parts.  One is that the past holds some important information for you to use this week, so no need to create new tricks.  And the second is you need to take a child-like view to freshen your perspective.  This card advises, if you have forgotten how to freshen up your point of view, get on the floor, color outside the lines, spin in circles or go swinging.

 

Capricorn – Eight of Pentacles

Jane WilsonThe Eight of Pentacles wants you to feel and practice your mastery this week. This is not a week to learn new tricks but hone the ones you already have.

 

Aquarius – Two of Rods

Jane WilsonThe Two of Rods foretells success though it also involves a lot of waiting.  The challenge is keeping busy during the waiting periods. This is a great time to catch up on your to do lists, read or start little projects.

 

Pisces – Page of Wands

Jane WilsonThe Page of Wands comes around when your Awe meter is low. Your challenge this week is get yourself into nature, go to a museum, a music show or anything that has to do with nature or art.  Your passion for life needs to be re-lit.  Life is good Pisces you just need to be reminded.

 

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

Nina

Tarot-cast for Week of July 15, 2018

Japanese woodblockA couple of years ago I told you all about the Library of Congress Jukebox, an amazing collection of old musical recordings.  Now I want to introduce you to its collection of Japanese woodblock prints and drawings.  Ukiyo-e, pictures of the floating world, arose in the city of Edo, now Tokyo, in the 1600s.  This art form showed mostly the leisure culture of Japan, though subjects from travel, myth, legend, literature, history, and daily life were also popular. This art form was little known for the 200 years because of national seclusion, a policy adopted by Tokugawa shongunate.

Though there are many genres and traditions in this collection, the art Yokohama-e is the most prolific.  This subset arose from two expeditions in 1852 and 1854 by American naval officer, Matthew Calbraith Perry.  He is considered instrumental in opening up Japan to the Western World.  Edo print publishers sent Ukiyo-e artist to the port city of Yokohama to sketch these foreigners. I love the intersection of cultures in this form.   Our paths so   frequently cross now that we, as global citizens, seem to forget that separate cultures still exist. We still need to be as fascinated and inquisitive with each other’s culture to realize diversity is the key to evolution as well as connection.

P.S. Please share.  The pictures below are from all time periods.  Also, I have put up another quote to download for your vision board.  Enjoy.

 

Aries – Queen of Cups

The Queen of Cups is the creator and nurturer of emotions.  The challenge with this card is knowing when your cup isn’t full enough to create or nurture emotions with a positive outcome.  This week self-care and compassion is due to you first before it is possible to give it to the world.

 

 

*Taurus – Star

The Star is the card of healing and hope.  With the Queen of Wands last week, this is another week of looking at your work and purpose and asking – is what I’m doing or saying inspiring hope and healing?  The challenge is realizing that we need to go to through the Tower (destruction) to get to the Star.  And in so doing, we should not hide the suffering and sorrow in the world but at the very least stand and say “you are not alone” or at the Star’s height to help find positive solutions.

Continue reading Tarot-cast for Week of July 15, 2018