Maybe because I was born by a beach or that I was born under the sign of Cancer, I have a fondness for sea creatures and the ocean.  I have previously shared about nudibranches, jellyfish, whales, and ship cats, and now I would like to introduce you to my new favorite octopus genus Opisthoteuthis, the FlapJack Octopus, above.  This particular species is found off the coast of Monterey CA, is the size of a baseball, and cute as all get out.

Here are some random and amazing facts about Octopuses or Octopodes

• Two or more are called Octopuses or Octopodes because the word is derived from Greek not Latin (which would have made it Octopi).
• They are smart. More brain cells reside in their arms than in their brain.  Researchers believe this complexity is due to them managing eight appendages.  They have been observed playing, navigate mazes, recognize human faces,  will take apart anything in their tanks, and are notorious for escaping their tanks.
• They taste everything they touch.  Partially so they can tell if they are touch something new or their own arms.
• They predate dinosaurs but since they do not have bones no one is sure how far back.
• They are boneless.  The only hard part is their beak, so they can squeeze through anything if their beak can.
• They are good Moms. They guard their eggs and do not eat until their eggs are hatched. The longest brooding period observed is 53 months, 4 and 1/2 years, by Graneledone boreopacificia.
• They are great at camouflage. They have sacs of pigments in their skin controlled by their muscles, as well as skin cells that reflect and scatter light. The mimic octopus has gone farther by copying the motions of sea snakes and flounders.

P.S. Please share.  Below are a variety of species of octopodes for you to be amazed with.  Happy Birthday month Cancers.

Aries – Five of Cups

The Five of Cups ponders the idiom of perceiving your life or situations as a cup half full or empty. This card challenges you this week at the end of each day to quantify where your glass-line lies.

 

Taurus – Three of Pentacles

You continue in your pentacles (material plane) mode for another week.  The Three of Pentacles is the card of learning new skills or implementing what you have learned into action.  The challenge is being careful of judging either yourself or your source. Allow what you have learned to settle in before you judge it.

 

Gemini – King of Swords

The King of Swords is the decision man.  This week is a great week to make decisions, write, create proposals or bath in the literary world.  The challenge is to maintain your focus while you doing it.

 

Cancer – Ace of Pentacles

The “building” energy of the past three weeks continues with the Ace of Pentacles.  This is a great way to start off your birth year.  All aces are about beginnings.  This week is a great time to start new projects, experiment with old projects in new ways and explore new places.  The challenge is seeing everything with fresh eyes.

 

Leo – Ten of Cups

This week is the beginning of your month-long wind down to your birth day.  This card asks you to wrap up emotions that you have been dealing with the past year.  The challenge is how to see these emotions with rose-colored glasses.  I know that the blinding truth is your recent M.O. but just for this week look through the rosy-tinted optics as a fashion/lifestyle statement.

 

Virgo – Seven of Wands

The Seven of Wands is about your boundaries versus your walls.  The challenge this week is defining and then acting on those definitions.

 

 

Libra – Five of Wands

This is your second five in a row, so let’s look at fives for a second.  Five challenges or forewarns us about the chaos in our life.  Last week the chaos resided in your material plane, and this week it is with your interactions with your community.  The Five of Wands asks you to examine your line between play and competition.  The challenge is seeing to that line not getting stepped on by others or you.

 

*Scorpio – Hanged Man

The Hanged Man card foretells a week of delays and side roads.  The challenge is seeing that this detour is just that.  You will eventually end up where you were heading, so sit back and enjoy the slow lane.

 

*Sagittarius – Empress

The Empress is the card of growth and fertility.  Like last week this week  create new things on the material plane.  However, the Empress wants you to take the long view with what you are planting.  She is the supreme gardener.  The challenge is what to sow, where to sow it and then know that you will need to tend to it for the longer haul.

 

Capricorn – Page of Cups

The Page of Cups is the card of innocence and joy.  So here is your challenge:  Enjoy life like a child.  Laugh. Play. Sounds easy but really hard for you all to do for a whole week.

 

Aquarius – Knight of Swords

The Knight of Swords challenges you to slow down.  The main reason to be almost sloth-like is that you will need to notice something along that way that you would have missed at the pace you have been setting lately.  This is also an omen card and comes up when we are more accident prone.  You can avoid these missteps by keeping your feet on the ground, keep your eyes on whatever you are doing and slow your roll.

 

Pisces – Five of Swords

Five of Swords is the chaos card.  The way to deal with this is to realize that this chaos has really nothing to do with you unless you engage with it.  The challenge is imagine the chaos blowing over you like the wind.  It might leave some dirt or dust on your skin but you can wash it off.

 

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

Nina