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.