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
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.
Last week you had the theme ‘beauty adorns virtue” This week continues that theme with the Knight of Swords This card suggest that you slow down and take time to smell the roses. Be in each moment.
The artist last week asked you to pay attention to the details. The Four of Wands wants you to focus on the details in your home. Focus on the how to create more harmony in your home. Whether that is adding a calming color or adding some pop, remember harmony does not equate to uniformity.
The painting last week was about standing up for you rights, even if it is seems hopeless. And that beauty arises outside the realm of judgment. The Three of Swords extends this theme by having you deal with three self-defeating thoughts. Your challenge is look at the reason of why you carry around these thoughts through a lens of self-compassion.
The artist’s theme last week was about being aware that you do not have control over reality, but you can nudge it towards your favor. And so the Emperor extends this thought for another week by having you add to and build upon the reality you are in. This can look as simple you have to go to work but can you manipulate the time or space that you do it in.
Last week’s art theme was to see parody(humor) in your life. The Eight of Wands continues that theme of bring in and accepting the positive even joyful energy in your life. Arms and minds open.
Dulle Griet’s hinted about being a bit devilish or against the social norm last week. The Hermit would like you to continue the exploration of the outer edges of societies’ norms, but in theory with meditation and reflection. This is a favorite card of Virgo, for this is a lifelong challenge of balancing your social and solo sides. The challenge with this card is not to seek solitude out of a reaction of being over social but to be proactive about scheduling your need of space and time to decompress. And the bigger challenge is do it without guilt.
Last week your challenge was to met people outside of your normal wanderings. This week the Four of Pentacles takes an about-face from the emotional realm to the physical one. Your goal is to save time, money and space anywhere you can. Your challenge is not to feel selfish about it.
Last week your challenge was two-fold, taking on a challenge and proving the “haters” wrong. This week, the Six of Pentacles’ lesson is around the “give and take” in your life. The goal is lowering your input to people or work that you are not getting something positive in return. The challenge is to do it without them noticing.
Last week your painting was about finding and bonding with your inner horse. The Judgment card challenges you to create a ritual or rite of passage that moves you on to the next act of your life. This can be as simple as lighting a candle and blowing it out to release the old, or as complex as burning all your old journals.
The art last week challenged you to see the boundaries you may be holding on to around your passions or your way of life. The Tower comes this week to break down those walls if you haven’t already. The Tower comes to shake things up because something you have not been dealing with and that doesn’t work, needs to change. The best way to deal with this card is to stand back and enjoy the destruction.
The painting last week advised you to see that your history or past experiences are useful in the present whether you see it or not. The Five of Swords this week continues this theme by challenging you that you can learn more from your mistakes and failures then you can from your successes.
Last week’s painting suggested to come at your life with softer edges. This theme continues with the Four of Cups this week. This card is the card of self-compassion and empathy. To see the world, its people and yourself without sharp edges.
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