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
*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
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
*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
*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
*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
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
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
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
*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
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
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
*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.
Queen of Wands – This week the energy can invigorate anything you put your focus to. It also supplies you with the courage and fierceness to take charge of all that you survey. The challenge is doing it alone. It is not necessary, but you can if you must.
Eight of Swords – Self acceptance is key this week. You might be feeling entrapped, but this time is meant for healing. Sometimes the inertia of life has nothing to do with you as long as you don’t take it on as your story. Let go of the collective thought patterns. They are not part of your narrative.
Queen of Cups – Last week your brain was taxed. The energy takes a 180 degree turn to your heart this week. Compassion, calm and comfort are the keys to ease. Find time daily to invite in the 3 Cs. This is no time for martyrdom – take time off and have some fun.
en of Wands – Another week spending energy in completing old projects and cleaning your desk/mind/spirit. The challenge is being responsible for your obligations to those close to you but also to yourself. This week is setting you up for new beginnings once your plate is cleared from the old.
Four of Swords – This energy shows up when you need to recuperate and relax. You are being drained and are not aware of the source or how much it is taking out of you. The best way of finding the leaks is by walking away from all your responsibilities for a small amount of time. Then once you return the seepage will be more obvious and easier to fix.
*Temperance – The energy that surrounds you this week is excessive. This overload unbalances you, so emotional outburst may be necessary to vent and re-calibrate. However, be careful, impatience can trigger more negative and unworthy outpourings. The key is purposely vent before the pressure makes you burst.
*Sun – The sun will come out tomorrow and shine on you all week. So that is great if you are ready to play in the sunlight. However, there is a distinct possibility you may also want to hide in the shadows of pessimism. The challenge is that more you try to be happy the less you accomplish it. In other words, you are thinking to much. Sag your free spirit is needing airing, a drive in the car with windows down, a picnic in the woods, or anything outdoorsy without any goal setting is required. Try spotlighting your focus on things you want to do – not things you have to do.
*Justice – Last week organic change was asking you to not resist or fear transformation. Letting things end so others can begin. You are hopefully now moving with a more natural pace and to a more comfortable place. Luckily, you get another week to work on this shift by focusing on cause and effect. For each decision you are making imagine the possible or impossible outcomes. Why focus on the impossible? Because your mind wants to think of the what ifs and this is the week to let it. Those out-there worst-case scenarios need airing. Not to bring them in to being but to see the truth of their outlandishness.
*Chariot – Wow four weeks in a row with big energy. It started with summoning you to take a bit of control over your destiny by showing up. Then Temperance energy suggested creating your life like a refined meal that has many notes to balance in the creation of a delectable dining experience. Then Justice had you looking for the grey areas to find a true sense of fairness and harmony. Now self-determining change has arrived. This energy is giving you control. The good side is that you have more sway then you think. The bad side is it is all in your hands. This week if you want movement to happen you will need to take the reins. If you look at all of May/June’s forecast now is the time to be flexible and delicate when applying energy but continue moving forward.
Two of Wands – Discovery is the name of the game this week. The challenge is that you are still in a place that is neither the past nor the future; however, you are not inert. You are just taking a moment finding needed items and planning for the move forward. The only challenge is while you are doing this be mindful of the precious moments this pause has given you.
King of Swords – See the broader picture of situations and champion those that are being bullied. Watch for people taking advantage of or manipulating those that are more misfortunate around you. You can solve these predicaments as simply as sharing your toilet paper or getting the elder down the street groceries, so they don’t have to go out.
*Death – Another energy packed week. The past couple of weeks have triggered your self-doubt and insecurities. Then the energy shifted trying to guide you towards self and universal compassion, so you could believe in you and the world at large. This week the energy embodies change and transitions. Things need to end so there is room for new projects/ideas/people. Take this time to, figuratively and/or literally, weed and plant anew.
Queen of Pentacles – Last week, the energy surrounding you was materializing the divine. Advising that conjuring for the greater good brings more ease to finding solutions. This energy continues through this week; however, you will have to let go of trying of controlling the entire materialization process. Watch the line between nurturing and smothering people and projects this week. Whatever you create needs to work without your constant guidance and support to succeed and not suck all the energy out of you.
Ace of Pentacles – Opportunities, abundance and prosperity are the energies to work with. This week has the potential of creation in it. Think of this energy like a seed – this is a beginning. What seed will you pick to plant and water as you go into this spring season. What one thing can you hone your focus and energy into?
Ten of Swords – Normally this energy is harsh, but you seem to rise above the morass by getting out of your head and being there for others. This week’s energy of regeneration and recovery lifts you above the banal and the suffering to a place that feels lighter and more hopeful.
Knight of Swords – To be truly courageous and unstoppable it is best to slow down. You can easily be triggered into impulsiveness. So, take a breath and survey your surroundings before you step into any situation this week.
Nine of Pentacles – Last week’s energy was about walking into your destiny. And, the lessons were about when your luck is favorable grab it and when it is unfavorable let it go. While realizing neither outcomes had anything to do with you. This destiny energy continues this week and adds that while things may look advantageous or not, that you need to watch overextending and/or overcompensating. So, take only what you need and let go of what doesn’t work.
Two of Swords – The mist that surrounds you is making decisions hard and/or is adding undue confusion to situations. So come to terms you are at a stalemate this week and it is best just to sit and wait out the bad weather. The fog will lift, and the road will be clear soon. Just not this week.
Two of Pentacles – Take this week’s energy to slow down the spinning plates. This is a time to look at what overwhelms you and where you are over committed. You have the time to contemplate what are your true priorities and where can you be flexible in your commitments. Life is a balancing act, and this is a good week to regain some of your balance and dexterity.
Four of Cups – Meditation and retreat are key elements to your week. And the atomic structure of this energy lies within the concepts of apathy and acceptance. How do you allow acceptance into your life without feeling apathetic? Contemplating on that goatfish will lead to avenues of ease.
*High Priestess – Listening to your intuition is vital this week. However, figure out what your subconscious is trying to convey is hard to hear through all the static of everyday life. So, find moments of silence, synchronicities and moon beams to guide you to opportunities and solutions that are hidden in the light of day. For example: There is a new Moon in Aries March 24; it’s a great day to start things.
Three of Cups – The energy this week is about independence. Your close ones and friends are important, but it must be balanced with some alone time. And this energy whether with friends or alone is best utilized doing the activities you love to do. This week is about filling your emotional cup.
Ace of Cups – During this intermediary time and space this energy nudges you to contemplate emotional beginnings. This is a great week to start new relationships or take a relationship to the next level. Share the love you have with the lens for relationships to grow they must have a solid foundation to grow in and the freshness of air and water to sustain them.
Eight of Coins – As the years switch your contemplation is around mastering your skills. You have achieved much this past year. Going forward is less about learning something new and more about fine tuning skills or projects you already have mastered. What do you want to work on in the coming year? What do you want to take to the next level.
*Devil – As you transition from one year to the next, the cards have you look at how you successfully passed tests of 2019, and contemplating if you had to be tested on something for 2020 what would it be. You see once you pass a test you do not have to do it again. Contemplate the freedom of that.
Ten of Wands – Your transitional contemplation is the area of burden. What do you carry that you do not have to? Does the sense of obligation, expectation or ego make you do more than you need to? You do not need to do it all in 2020.
Ace of Swords – As the world turns for another year the cards have you pondering. Pondering is great if you are learning, communicating and making decision. The time for pondering for pondering sake is done. In 2020 new thought moving to new action is required.
Eight of Wands – Your transitional mediation is around information. When you look back what information do you load your quiver with for the coming year. And then with that information what positive outcomes would you launch into 2020. What would be the prize at the end of those arrows arc? Shoot for the stars.
Nine of Coins – This transitional week’s contemplation is about prosperity and isolation. For the sign that is all about relationships, this is a come to Jesus moment that you do better work with fewer people around. And if this is impossible your mediation is on creating a sacred space where you can prosper and have control on who gets in for 2020.
Two of Swords – This transitional energy for your musing is about making decisions. What decisions would you have changed last year or didn’t make because you felt you didn’t know which was the right one? With that information, in 2020 make decisions that go more for how you want to feel and less about the outcome or goal.
Four of Swords – Did you get enough sleep? Are you eating well? Have you taken care of yourself? These are the questions that you need to contemplate in this transitional period. In 2020 you will need to be in tip top shape, but it is up to you to take the time to take care of your body, mind and spirit.
Six of Swords – The energy during this transition of time is about simplification. 2020 will hold a lot of motion and for you to sail smoothly, you need to carry less cargo and have a narrower focus. Your contemplation is around what do you need that is vital to you going forward and put your energy into that.
Two of Cups – Your interim contemplation is around harmony and cooperation in your close relationships and with yourself. Do you feel like your relationships were emotional balanced in 2019? Was there enough romance? If yes or no feeding those bonds of love are vital. You all tend to pull back or stay in the air to cope and concentrate. Love is what grounds you. Invest in it in 2020.
*Hanged Man – Your contemplation is the concept of suspension. Are you ever truly inert? Is there a mind-space where you can stop your thoughts? Can you just be? Why does the feeling of not “going” bother you? Can you find peace in a moment? Just think, if you allowed yourself the time, space and belief to brainstorm, ponder and think outside the box, what 2020 might feel like. Meditation is the key to 2020.
*Magician –Last week the Sun card lent its energy to make you and what you focus on grow and expand. Now the Magician takes the Wand supporting you on manifesting skills. This card foretells that the power is your hands to create the divine onto this earthly plane. This can look as simple as, your goal was to be a better cook last week you looked over cookbooks and found that baking was the thing. This week you practice baking pies until you make one that would make your great great grandmother proud. Or this can be as complex as you deciding to start your own business and this week you write up your mission statement.
Eight of Swords – The Eight of Swords has you looking at what is holding you back. This week the best use of your time is to find out why, what or who is part of your inertia, realizing why you have been holding on to these chains of the past, and then letting them go.
Four of Swords – The Four of Swords advises that you need to rest this week. This card shows up when your energy/immune system is being drained, but you are not aware of it. The best way to handle this card is eat well, take your vitamins, get 8 hours of sleep, and avoid energy vampires.
Eight of Wands – The Eight of Wands foretells a plethora of information is coming at you. The challenge is trying to process it all. There are two ways to work with this energy. Either funnel it with a focus in mind or take everything in and prioritize next week. The key is eyes, ears and mind open.
Queen of Cups – The last three weeks were full of energy. First, the Justice card came pointing out decisions that needed to be made but you needed more background information to make a justified decision. The Devil card challenged your morality, integrity and purpose. Then Judgement pronounces it is time to act and evolve to the next level. With the Eight of Coins advising you to up your game by honing your skills to mastery. Finally, this week you can relax with the Queen of Cups. She helps you find the fun in your life. Take this week to enjoy your friends, family and/or the solitude of a good book. Your motto: Live and Love
*Moon – The Moon, the card of emotions and subconscious, calls to you this week. This card comes to tell you something is hidden from you. The best use of this energy is taking a deep dive in to your subconscious. When you do this exercise, you can find pearls of wisdom. These gifts help you sync up with your intuition, purpose and the universe’s flow. The challenge this week is getting lost in contemplation without a guiding light. This light can be as simple as finding the positive within the dark or as complex as finding the dark within the light. Your motto: all things in the shadow are not bad but they are relevant.
Ace of Cups – The Ace of Cups is another perfect birthday month card. This is your second Ace for your birthday month so this coming year will be perfect for new beginnings. Also, though your cards were all minor (this means no big karma for you this year) they stayed in the realm of the material and emotional plane. The Ace of Cups this week added that this coming year is a place where new relationships and love will prosper and grow. The work with this card and the year is about how you feel in your skin and life. The key to success with these four cards is making decisions and plans by how you want to feel in the physical world. So, if something doesn’t feel right then it isn’t in the cards for your divine life. This is challenging for you as an air sign because you usually judge things with your mind, but 2020 is all about feeling how you walk on this Earth.
Ten of Coins – Last week the Hanged Man advised contemplating before moving forward and helped with this process by making your surroundings inert, or at least feel like moving through molasses. The Ten of Coins is a 180 degree turn of energy. Where the Hanged Man wanted you to contemplate the Ten of Coins wants you to complete. This is a perfect week to finish up projects already in process. The challenge is not starting anything new but taking time to enjoy the finished product.
*High Priestess – The High Priestess brings the energy of the sacred, knowledge of the ancients and a broad perspective for interpreting cycles. This week look to synchronicities for guidance, texts for knowledge, and your soul for cyclic behavior. By doing this you become more sync with your divine purpose and the Universe’s helping hands. This is a great week to ask your guides for messages. This can be as simple as seeing a black bird meaning stop, look and listen, for there are clues and messages for you. Or this can be as complex as looking to your ancestors for family cycles of behavior that need to be purified.
Knight of Wands – The Knight of Wands is telling you: you are in the right place at the right time. When this Knight shows up, look around and know that everything around you right now is here for your enlightenment. Your challenge is to grasp it.
Nine of Wands – The Nine of Wands portends that preparation is key this week. So, before you leave the house make sure you have everything you need. Before you go into a meeting look over your notes/agenda. The more prepared you are the easier your week will flow.
*Emperor –The Emperor is the card of building on the material plane, and with the collaboration you hopeful built last week, construction will be easier. To take advantage of this energy, continue building on projects in the works or finishing up projects. The challenge is not to start new ventures. The emperor suggest work with the now and leave the future for another week.
*The Chariot – Last week the Hanged Man had you take a time out and work on piddling– the art of just sitting or puttering around for no other reason than just because. And now the Chariot pulls up for the third time for you in the past 2 months. Time to get back in the saddle, again. I cannot emphasize enough if you have not taken advantage of making something happen or go to the next level in your life, this set of Chariot cards in such a short time frame just doesn’t happen. To get the card of movement that solely lays in your hand this many times is destiny calling. You have no roadblocks but yourself. Maybe you are not feeling as if your project is as important as other things that are in your life. Don’t let your loyalty to others and your nurturing nature be in the way of making some ground on your own stuff. Time for using some of that hard headedness in protect and taking care of others redirected towards you and your work in the world. Take heed the world needs to hear your voice as much (or to be honest since you all got this card 3 times maybe more at this particular time) than the people you are supporting.
Seven of Swords –The choices you make this week demonstrate your moral make up. You will be tested. Which way are you going to choose? The path of indiscretion or apathy or the action of righteous action. The choice is yours.
Ten of Cups – The Ten of Cups is the card of bliss. This week seek out the things/people that bring bliss into your life. This card gives you permission to enjoy a bubble bath, have an extra scoop of ice cream, garden, cuddle with your family/pets on the couch, go take a walk on the beach, etc… Statistically, this card has a chance of showing up 5 times in a year. Your challenge is take advantage of it. Don’t miss a chance to indulge in the good in your life.
*Justice – The Justice card comes when decisions need to be made but you need more background information to make a justified decision. So, the challenge comes after you do your investigative work, by the end of the week the choice needs to be made. If you stay true to the information and your heart, things will end up fair in the end no matter how the journey plays out. This card reminds you to have faith and stay true to yourself. Never lose faith in yourself, and never lose hope; remember, even when this world throws its worst and then turns its back, there is still always hope. -Pittacus Lore
Two of Wands – The Two of Wands advises you to step out of your comfort zone this week. This card is a very positive card if you take the steps to expand your horizons. This can be as simple as trying zip lining for the first time, reading a self-help book, or going to an event you never would. The challenge with is expanding your horizons. They can be small or big steps, but they must develop your mind/soul.
Ace of Coins – The last two weeks have been about completion, so it is appropriate that you all would get the Ace of Coins, a card of new beginnings and planting seeds (literally and metaphorically). This is a great week to begin any projects, do anything with your hands, invest in something, increase your presence at work, and really anything on the material plan. You will harvest more later the more you ground yourself into the material plane now.
Six of Wands – Last week was all about Justice – balancing right from wrong by looking behind the scenes. With that information and perspective, you have an advantage to come out on the positive side of Justice this week. The challenge with the Six of Wands is though you won this battle and bathe in positivity this week, you haven’t won the war. So, don’t take anything new on and enjoy this week.
Two of Pentacles – Last week, the Strength card flung you into situations that you felt you couldn’t handle or befuddled you. However, that was not the case, this exercise helped you identify your strengths and weakness helping you navigate not only last week with more ease but the rest of the year. This week the Two of Pentacles advises you that even though you have found your superpowers don’t go multi-tasking just yet. You need to take one or two items and try your superpowers on them. This week is about balance, practice and restraint.
Eight of Swords – The Eight of Swords advises you that you need to look at how you are binding yourself. This can be as simple as checking how you talk to yourself when you make a mistake, or as complex as finding old thought patterns put there in the past by others that you still hold on to. Your motto: Let that sh*t go.
Ace of Pentacles and King of Wands – Last week, The Fool, card of new beginnings, challenged your thinking through new beginnings and being careful of naiveté when making decisions. Well the Ace of Pentacles continues the theme of new beginnings. All Aces are beginnings and Pentacles rule the material plane. So any beginnings that have to do with work, money or material plane projects are great to start this week. The King of Wands has also stepped in continuing the theme of the Fool’s advice. You have gained the wisdom to think things through before acting on them. This card says you rule your destiny. So this week is pretty much the same energy as last week without the intensity.
*Star – The Star Card is the card of hope and healing. This is a great week to make wishes and realize you are on the other side of a major hardship. This card advises you to relax and have faith in the Universe. This is a great time to take healing baths, massages, eat well, get the sleep you need. And it is a great time to ask the Universe for help for the next phase of your life. Your challenges – Relaxing, asking for want you want now to happen and looking for synchronicities to help you move to the next level.
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