Happy Birthday Pisces!

Continuing with the theme of collaborators for February this week artists are Gilbert and George.  They meet while studying sculpture in art school in London in 1967 and have collaborated ever since.  Or as they say “It is not a collaboration….  We are two people, but one artist.”  They use a variety of mediums in their work, but they come from a viewpoint that it all lies within the discipline of sculpture, much like last week’s collaborators Hilla and Bernd Becher.  As you look at their expansive, often whimsical, and sometimes obscene, work, Gilbert and George take us on a Mister Toad’s Wild Ride through themes of sexuality, morality, and mortality.

In many of their pieces one sees portraitures of themselves in identical tweed suits in various poses and settings juxtaposed against an idea or landscape, the traditionalist and banal versus progressiveness and uniqueness.  As they say, “We want our art to: bring out the Bigot from inside the Liberal and conversely to bring out the Liberal inside the Bigot.”  Gilbert and George have us questioning our boundaries of sensibilities and by doing so it provide areas in which to learn and grow.  Your pondering for the week: how do you challenge your concept of morality?

Solar System highlights:  The Moon is in Scorpio – dip into your passions.  Then it moves later that day into Sagittarius  – go explore with your feet or your mind.  Onto Capricorn for the weekend – remember to balance or combine play and work.  Mercury is in Aquarius for some of us it is a time to pull back for perspective, for others working with communication styles that are more outside the box.  We have two planets left in Capricorn until March 6th.  Venus – where beauty and harmony are achieved through practicality.  And Mars – where it provides momentum in our workplaces.  Jupiter is in Pisces until May; this aspect is dreamy and holds opportunity and luck.  And lastly, Saturn remains in Aquarius for all of 2022 – so innovating and upping your game is the focus again for another year.

P.S. Signs with an * it is a big week for you.  Aquarius this is a perfect time to get an Astrological Tarot Reading for your coming year.  And Leo 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

*Death – Change is in the air and the Muse of Composting is here to help.  This energy comes around when your need to release something to let another grow.  This can be as simple as clearing off your desk or as complex as letting go of a job or person that no longer is helping you to develop to the next level.

Taurus

Ace of Swords – The Muse of Goal Setting is here to help you set an objective and break it down into doable steps.  This is a week to have one focus and do it to completion.  This hyperfocus is a good avenue to funnel your natural tenacity.

Gemini

Four of Coins – You may feel this week that you have limited resources.  Well, you are right, so spend them wisely and efficiently.  This is not a week to over-extend yourself, money, or time.

Cancerian

Four of Swords – The Muse of Rest and Restoration has come to draw you a bath.  This week take it easy any time you can.  This muse also reminds you to take technology breaks, which means Netflix too.  It is a wonderful week to stare out the window. Not only does it reset your brain but restores your depleted batteries.

Leo

*Magician – Last week you had Kali-like energy bringing to light areas that need fixing in your life.  This week the Muse of Magic reminds you that to manifest you must incorporate the divine.  This Muse asks you to specify – why do you do what you do?  And how does it better the world around you?  By reconnecting to the divine/magic, it will reignite your passion and refine your skills.  Remember experimentation and improvisation also help tone your force of will.

Virgo

Eight of Coins – Last week the Muse of Vitality came to warm you up and make you thrive.  So, you could utilize your brilliance and shine it towards what you want to flourish.  And now the Muse of Craft contributes by reminding, you are no longer the pupil.  You are highly skilled.  Making it a wonderful week for connecting with flow.

Libra

*Temperance – The Muse of Kismet walks with you this week; therefore, most things go your way.  You find parking spots; you connect with people – the world and you are harmonious.  However, if they do not go your way or an aspect feels cacophonic, this is a sign to turn around and walk or drive the other way.   Listen to the music of your life it helps you dance as well as navigate.

Scorpio

*Strength – The Muse of Backbone is with you this week helping you stand up for yourself.  You are an amazing emotional conduit, and this muse reminds you not to hide these emotions or hide behind them.  Therefore, you must first tame them before sharing, and share them you must.

Sagittarius

Eight of Wands – You will receive a download of messages/inspirations this week.  So, ears, eyes, and heart open.  However, do not feel as if you need to deal, process, or answer all of them.  Write them down, deal with only the urgent ones and save the rest to peruse at your leisure.

Capricorn

Eight of Swords – You may feel a bit exposed or vulnerable this week.  However, the Muse of Bindings has come to point out that some of your sense of helplessness is based on untruths that others have placed on you. So let old thought patterns that no longer serve you go. This is a week to grasp onto your freedom.

Aquarius

*Hierophant – This muse arrives when some structure you have placed into your life is not working or needs to be innovated.  This can be as simple as rearranging a room in your house, re-committing to a cleaner diet, or as complex as re-examining the ethical integrity of your lifestyle.  Are you practicing what you preach?

Pisces

Ten of Wands – The Muse of Responsibility comes for two reasons.  One is for you to lighten your load so two you can whole-heartly commit to the responsibilities that are truly yours.  So, whose responsibility have you taken on?  Time to let them go, letting others learn responsibility as you reestablish boundaries.  Allowing you to clearly answer: where do you need to re-commit to your goals?

Happy Birthday Aquarians!

Thich Nhat Hanh passed yesterday, January 22, 2022.  This week I would like to honor him and his teachings.  He promoted nonviolent solutions, mindfulness and was active in the peace and deep ecology movements.  Through his books, teachings, and poetry he made mindfulness more accessible to the West.

I was initially drawn to him because of his mindfulness meditation called Flower Fresh. This exercise is still in my mediation rotation especially when I am feeling hopeless.  His philosophy of Buddhism has an active element of not only loving self but spreading positivity and peace into the world.  That a smile can be like a flower a gift of beauty, tenderness, and love. Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy. – Thich Nhat Hahn

For a good overview of his life goto this link

Solar System highlights:  The Moon starts this week in Scorpio – time to do some shadow work.  Then moves into Sagittarius on the 27^th – explore your world and mind.  Onto Capricorn for the weekend- it maybe a work weekend but remember to find some time to relax.  We have 3 planets in Capricorn until February 14^th, for Mercury is retrograding back into Capricorn.  Venus is in Capricorn – where beauty and harmony are achieved through practicality.  Mars moves into Capricorn- where we can easily focus our momentum.  But reign in your work horse until Feb 4^th when Mercury goes direct again.  So, for now this time for preparation: Review, Reflect, and Reassess.  Jupiter is in Pisces; this aspect is dreamy and holds opportunity and luck.  And Saturn is still in Aquarius – so innovating and upping your game is its focus for another year.

P.S. Signs with an * it is a big week for you.  Aquarius this is a perfect time to get an Astrological Tarot Reading for your coming year.  And Leo it is your halfway mark for your birth year, so if you need a Planetary Reading for a check-in, now is the time.   All photos are personal or found various artist from pexels photos

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

Nina

Aries

*Death – The Muse of Organic Change has come to work with you.  An aspect of your life needs to grow and to do so you must let something go.  This release fertilizes an outcropping of “new” for you.  Time to, metaphorically, till your soil.

Taurus

Two of Cups – The Muse of Harmonious Partnership is here to prompt you to put energy into your relationships.  You have someone who brings out the best in you and you do the same for them.  Celebrate your mutual energy exchanges with them this week.

Gemini

King of Wands – Last week the muses recommended to strengthen your core.  This week the Muse of Leadership will lean on that strength.  You have mastered skills and are now being called to teach or model them to others.  This week inspire others.

Cancerian

Eight of Cups – The Muse of Cleaning has come with dust clothes and a mop bucket.  This week is best spent cleaning your desks, closets, junk drawers, house, inboxes, etc.… Take this time to purge and release the excess or what you longer need.

Leo

Ten of Swords – The Muse of Epiphany has come to gracefully end an old way of thinking or responding.  Be grateful for the lessons you have recently learned, for now you are prepared to respond differently to challenging situations.

Virgo

*Empress – The Muse of Fertility has come to help you give birth to ideas and experiences. You are a powerful co-creator with the universe this week.  What are you willing to grow for yourself and to nourish those around you?

Libra

Five of Wands – The Muse of Brainstorming has come with paper crayons and fire.  You have the freedom to explore far fetched ideas.  But you will be asked to invite in the novel and unfamiliar to do so.  Yes, this can feel chaotic, but out of the chaos and fire comes brilliance and innovation.

Scorpio

Ace of Wands – The past three weeks the muses have been setting you up for this week’s Muse.   The Muse of Spiritual Beginnings has arrived pushing you to unlock your potential.  This energy fully supports you to planet a seed that is daring, big and bold.  What will you plant that will turn your spirit’s dream into reality?

Sagittarius

Page of Swords – The Muse of Clues has come to help you uncover this week’s information.  There is obscured information that can only be uncovered by deep listening and gentle inquiry.  People or your unconscious are not deliberately hiding information from your conscious queries.  There are layers of social niceties and sub-conscious program that you must wade through to get to positive outcomes and hidden thought treasures.  Patience and an open mind are also key to finding answers and solutions this week.

Capricorn

*Queen of Coins and Moon – These two Muses tend to make muck or water your roots.  Let’s look to the later first.  The Muse of Practicality helps you ground yourself acting as a tether for the Muse of Subconscious gently illuminates the deeper recess of one’s mind.  When they work together your subconscious’ release can water your roots of who you are and what you create in the waking world with information from mediation, dreams and spirt quests.  Now you must be cautious with these two for they can also make mud.  The conscious minded Muse of Practicality can be stubborn and closed minded making the Muse of Subconscious unleashing the waters of emotion to break through Practicalities’ dam.   So, flexibility, compassion and patience are key to partake in deep nourishment.

Aquarius

Three of Cups – The Muse of Friendship has come to pull you back into the communal world.  Find time this week to hang with friends and those you love.  This energy shows up when your emotional cups need a refill.

Pisces

Four of Swords – The Muse of Recuperation has come with soup, tea, and a cozy blanket.  Whether you realize it or not you are tired.   You may have found yourself sick and/or mental worn down.  Take time this week to quietly sit and think.  No technology just you, the sofa, and a window to look out of.  Perfect way to spend part of this retrograde.

This week’s artist is Dextra Quotskuyva.  She was a great-granddaughter of Hopi-Tewa potter Nampeyo of Hano.  Nampeyo is famous for reviving protohistoric pottery from the 15^th through 17^th centuries by studying pottery shards from historical tribal site of Sikyatki.  Quotskuyva learned her process from her mother who learned it from her mother.  This tradition starts with gathering different clays from their environment.  These clays vary when fired from yellow, orange, pink, red or maroon depending on their iron, manganese, and titanium oxide content.

She then uses tools made from gourds for scraping, sandstone for smoothing, river pebbles for polishing.  Then onto the painting process, where Ouotskuyva gathers native plants and process them into a cake like substance which can take over a year to dry.   She rehydrates this plant brick and adds hematite for dark brown or dilutes varies clays to create her free-hand intricate designs.  Then the pots are fired, at most two at a time. outside using sheep’s dung or coal.   This is art and technique handed down and improved upon for generations.

Last week I talked about connecting with the processes of our lives instead of solely goals.  Dextra’s art highlights this theme that process can be so important and instructive in a world where at times we expect things to come easily and fast.  With her work we, the viewer, can see the layers of labor and time, generations, gone into a piece of work.  Convenience when not noted causes many of us in modern “first world” countries a form of suffering.  If we could change our paradigm of faster is better and see waiting a year for one part of a goal hones our skills of resilience, persistence and a more realistic notion of what time is.  Your musing for the week: Ponder your relationship with time.

Solar System highlights

The Moon starts this week in Taurus –a time to grow things.  Then moves into Gemini on the 12^th  – communication is key.  Onto Cancer for the weekend- perfect timing for home and self-care.  No major planetary changes from last week.  Mercury is in Aquarius – find new ways to communicate.  Venus is in Capricorn – where beauty and harmony are achieved through practicality.  Mars is in Sagittarius a lovely time to expand and explore not only your environment but your mind.  Jupiter is in Pisces; this aspect is dreamy and holds opportunity and luck.  And Saturn is still in Aquarius – so innovating and upping your game is its focus for another year.

P.S. Signs with an * it is a big week for you. Capricorn this is a perfect time to get an Astrological Tarot Reading for your coming year.  And Cancer 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

Knight of Swords – This week do not rush.  Thought is needed at every step.  Yes, you feel a sense of urgency but it is not a one based in logic it is a push from a place of dis-ease.  Root out and cure what is bothering you before you run away or into a situation.

Taurus

King of Cups – I hope you found your foundational cracks and filled them in.  If you did then this week’s emotional challenge will be quiz like- a test but easy.  However, if you didn’t then emotions will run high.  The positive aspect is the cracks are easier to assess as their edges erode from the emotional strain.

Gemini

Page of Wands – The Muse of Inspiration is knocking at your window this week.  She wants to ignite your imagination and creativity. This is a great week to work with blank canvases and stream of consciousness.

Cancerian

Four of Swords – The Muse of Restoration has come to continue last week’s theme of working in the slow lane.  She comes when you need to restore your stability in mind, body and/or spirit. No need to jump into 2022 just yet.  Keep thinking about what you want to conjure in the coming year and give your body and spirt another week to heal from 2021.

Leo

Six of Wands – You will win a battle this week.  Now this Muse of Success comes around when we don’t notice nor celebrate that we have accomplished something of worth/note.  So, take a moment and celebrate your victories as they come this week.  Though these victories are small in action, they are important in the war at large.

Virgo

King of Wands – I hope you rested last week because this week is all about action.  The Muse of Capacity has come to get you to push the button, step into a new phase with enthusiasm, and/or jolt you into the life you want.  You could use this week’s energy like a shot of coffee.  Your challenge is focus, so before you start the week find a aspect you want to aim for and then you can put the pedal to the metal.     

Libra

Knight of Cups – The Muse of Love continues this week pushing you to be vulnerable.  Yes, this energy wants you to wear your heart on your sleeve.  This year is about emotional honesty.  How can someone give you your heart’s desires without anyone but you knowing what they are?

Scorpio

*Moon – More insight and clarity this week.  Last week the Muses asked you to update your prime directive, a past paradigm or thinking process. Now the Muse of Subconscious wants to add to the illuminations.  Jot down aspects of your dreamscapes and look for synchronicities in waking reality.  These confluent symbols will lead you to pertinent information.

Sagittarius

*Temperance– Last week you were asked to use your intuition or spiritual practice to tap into the flow of information masked in synchronicities, riddles, and Fae energy.  Now the Muse of Mixology has you honing the skill of spontaneity with knowledge.  This can look as simple as find a new spice to add to your cooking or mixed drink.  And it can be as complex as her having you experiment by combining the different aspects of your life.  So how do you mix work and play, rest and action, shadow and light?  By mixing components you will find out more information how to behave, move in the world with more ease, be more aligned with your personal truths and ultimately life “tastes” better because of it.

Capricorn

Queen of Coins – The Muse of Reassurance comes when you need to be retold that you know yourself.  She prompts you to pull your strength from the magic of nature.  This energy reminds you to believe in yourself for you are not only part of this world but find control in being in it.

Aquarius

Five of Swords – Your mind and words can clash against the outside world this week.  The best way to deal with this energy is not to get into a skirmish with anyone.  This is a week to watch your p’s and q’s and “take the high road”.

Pisces

Queen of Swords – The Muse of Details is here with a fine-tooth comb and magnifying glass to help you navigate this week’s challenges.  Before any decision or action step make sure you have dotted you i’s and crossed your t’s.   Yes, double, and triple check your work this week.