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
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
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
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
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
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
The 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
The 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
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.
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.
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.
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.
The 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.
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.
This 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.
Last 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.
The 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.
Okay, 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.
The 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.
The 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.
The 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.
The 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.
A couple of years ago I told you all about the Library of Congress 
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.
This week’s artist is 
Last week the Magician challenged you to experiment and see that the key to success are learning and building on your mistakes. This week continues that theme with the focus shifting to relationships. The solution is not so much learning from past mistakes but finding new ways to connect. Remember unconditional love is to truly seeing and saying I like you just the way you are – Mister Rodgers. 
The Queen of Wands embodies spiritual creativity. Your challenge is being mindful of what you create. She asks- What are you communicating with your creation? Will it improve the world? That challenge is daunting unless you remember the quote from Mother Theresa- I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.
Take this week to experiment and bring your amazing imagination into the real world. The challenge is to let yourself experiment and know that the key to success is learning and building on your mistakes.
The Page of Swords is the most inquisitive of the cards. When it comes into a reading it means that you need to listen and ferret out information before putting anything into action. So your challenge this week is to ask question and really listen to the answers you get. You will need this information in the coming weeks.
The Two of Cups is about exploring relationships. Sometimes you do so well by yourself you forget to invite other people into your life. The challenge this week to get to know someone better or create some romance in your life.
These two cards tell you that you will feel more informed if you keep to yourself or only hang with a chosen few. Do not listen to the general public their information is not helpful to you this week. Heed your own counsel.
Oh you needed this card after the past couple of weeks. The Star is the card of healing and hope. Take this week to pull away a bit and heal. Your challenge is allowing the time to heal. If you do, you will gain the hope and insight you will need to carry on with a lighter load.
Last week, The Empress challenged you to grow by knowing what to sow, where to sow it and how to tend to it for the longer haul. This week continues that theme, but with the caveat that the end result should include creating joy. So your challenge is to be more of the wild horse this week then the human part of yourself. Run or drive with the wind blowing through your mane/hair.
The Queen of Cups focuses again on your emotions this week. Where last week the Page wanted you to play, the Queen wants you to pull from all your emotions to create. This week you might find that you can be pushed emotionally by outside sources. The challenge is to see that each of these encounters is a way to interact with and use your deeper emotions – think emotional alchemy. Overall, this card wants you to make friends with your heart.
The Justice card tells you that in the long view all things will balance out fairly in the end. The challenge this week is keeping your emotions off the scale during the process. Rely on the facts and your logic this week.
The Knight of Cups asks you to create some movement in your emotional life. However, the challenge with this knight is not to wear your heart on your sleeve while doing so. You can kick around in your emotional waters but don’t swim to the deep end.
The King of Pentacles is the mini version of the Emperor. This week is about building your empire whether that is your business, your home, or your home-life. The question is: are you happy with what you are building? If not take this week to reassess what you need to do to feel “self”-made.
Last week the Devil arrived for your birth month. This card came to show you the coming year will bring in your last act to the old, and begin a new life or evolution. This year will challenge to stay focus on your path and stand firm on who you are or want to be. So for this week the Five of Cups arrived to have you go through the emotions of letting go of the old way of life. This card reminds you that you need to go through a mourning period for the past before you move on to a brighter future.
The “building” energy of the past two weeks continues this week with the Ten of Pentacles. But this card reminds you that it is as important to enjoy what you build as much as building it.
The King of Wands challenges you this week with a question to answer or maybe a demand: How can you increase the creativity and passion to your work this week?
This week the Four of Wands recommends spending time at home or under the shade of an oak tree. This is the card of comfort, coziness, and a sense of well-being. The only challenge with this card is seeing the little details of life are as important as the big things.
The Five of Pentacles challenges us to ask for help when we are low in energy, funds, or resources. This card shows up to remind us when we are exhausted the first thing you need to do is stop and realize that you are, and then look to a peaceful space or friends for help.
It is another week of strategizing and preparing with the Queen of Swords. This queen is the personification of strategy and communication. The better prepared you are at what to say this week the easier the week will flow. Watch your words.
The Ace of Pentacles foretells new beginnings on the material plane. This is a great week to plant something, to start a project, or invest in your future. Things grow from each thing you do this week.
The Six of Swords challenges you to do some conscious exploration this week. Whether that is in your world or in your mind, pay attention to what surrounds you. The challenge is to take note or pocket those things or thoughts that grab and then keep your attention. You will find them useful trinkets for future wanderings.
Last week the Magician challenged you to experiment with new things. This week is the opposite with the Eight of Pentacles. This card advises you to spend this week honing your craft. The challenge is to only spend time on things you already are good at. Keep your magpie quality of collect and trying new bright and shine things at bay.
Last week, the Judgment card challenged you to be a more evolved and thoughtful you. This week takes on a lighter tone with the Seven of Cups. Sevens are the cards of explanation and contraction. This card has you explore how your dreams can expand or contract your future. We have a tendency to unrealistically dream or dream to small. The best advice with this card is to dream just out of reach, so with a bit of effort you will obtain your goals this week.
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