Tarot and Art Forecast for Week of August 16, 2020

August 16, 2020 Nina

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.

Tarotcast

Tarot and Art Forecast for Week of August 9, 2020

August 9, 2020 Nina

The artist this week is Njideka Akunyili Crosby. Her work is about occupying two worlds both her native Nigeria and America. Njideka does this though a weaving of her photographs, family photos and pages from popular Nigerian magazines creating a fabric like pattern throughout her work. Her process is a layering of collage, photo transfer, fabric, acrylic paint, charcoal, and colored pencil. This give her pieces a duality of “busy” with the patterns and serene with her choice of compositions of models and motifs.

This complexity and layering of culture are mimicked in her native land of Nigeria and the place she now lives, America. Both are multicultural nations trying to find a cohesion to create a country. Nigeria is a multinational state that is inhabited by 250 ethnic groups with over 500 distinct languages all identifying with a wide variety of cultures. The composition of American population is also is represented by almost every country in the world. So, in her work she takes the viewer into layered landscape exploring her personal journey in inhabiting and defining what is it to be a Nigerian who lives in America.

Are we a melting pot or a tossed salad? This has been a debate since the 1960’s. The melting pot metaphor used by Emerson was the concept of the fusing process of the European immigrant to melt down their heritage and reforming into a new American. The con to this outlook is the lose of the immigrant’s individuality. Then in the 1960’s the idea of multiculturism took hold. This is the concept that we are a tossed salad holding on to our individual cultures with the law and the market being the dressing that binds us. The con for this approach is that America as a whole loses its culture of what defines us as an American citizen and what we as a country represent. This debate rings even truer today. Maybe we need to re-examine our metaphor like Crosby does with her art. Maybe we are a collage of cultures layered to form a single motif. So as with Crosby’s work, when we step into look at America closely, we can see each detail and as we step back, we see us a cohesive and magnificent work of art.

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

Nina

Aries

Njideka Akunyili Crosby Four of Wands – Home is where the flow is this week. Time to give your house some loving, and you will get it back four-fold. Things like deep clean that bathroom, lawn maintenance, adding plants, feng shui your house, decluttering your drawers or any activity to your home that creates more comfort and ease. This homey attention will make the rest of your life flow better.

Taurus

Ten of Swords – This week is about hurt from outside sources and learning how to deal with them. First lesson is you learning to stop listening to your ego over your intuition and internal integrity. A possible reason for outside sources sharp vibes is that you have played either martyr or savior instead of seeing yourself as one of them. Second lesson, these outside people are having problems of their own. And yes, their ugliness may squirt on you, but the challenge is not let muscle memory set in with this illusion of rejection or hurt. Take this time to close the laceration(s) and either prepare to start anew with these outside people or forces, or if need be walk away as long as you do not do it from the place of the wounded.

Gemini

Nine of Cups – Last week the forces where calling you to make choices. You get more time do so with this energy’s help. This muse reminds you that you do not need to be totally “there” to know that you are worthy of this change. So, it asks you are you dreaming big enough? Would the theme of these choices illuminate you if the journey got dark? Do these choices create a sense of ease in your life? And the first choice should be that you accept contentment over ecstasy because your gifts are on their way.

Cancer

*Emperor – The vibe this week is about building your material plane, protecting and feeding your goals. This is a great week to implement ideas into your workflow, to bring your business or work to the next level. The challenge is to not only promote and uplift yourself but also to uplift others in the process. Look to benefiting the whole not just the individual. Be a steward of good.

Leo

Four of Swords – The energy this week mid-birthday month is exploring your realms of relaxation. The duality of Leo is you have lots of energy, but also like a lion enjoy laying around soaking in the “act” of inertia. Your challenge is exploring all the ways you relax, either active or sloth like, and then how are you going to consistently incorporate this in your life. Your goal is to find time to unwind at the very least four times a month at the best four times a week in the coming year.

Virgo

Njideka Akunyili Crosby *Strength – Ok, time for some beast training this week. What are your monsters? This energy advises to tame these demons you must work with them. There is a mediation that embodies this practice : Feeding your Demons. Another way is to personify your monster into someone or thing you would not normally listen to but can be entertaining at times. (I see my anxiety as Harlequin from Batman.) The challenge is not fighting with your monster or killing it but accepting it and seeing when it is trying to be an ally.

Libra

Ten of Cups – The energy this week is about finding activities that bring you bliss. Connection and love are the keys to finding ways to open your heart. So, this can be simple extended hugs, deep conversations with friends, or having a socially distance beverage with your close ones. However, these are hard times to connect with others. If you are solo, this energy can be tapped into by hugging yourself, holding your own hand or dancing with your favorite YouTube/TikTok video. It sounds strange but since we do not often do it, it tricks the mind that we are connecting with another and turns on our endorphins. So, let the loving commence.

Scorpio

Two of Swords – This is your second two so quick check in with the numerology. Two means balance. Last week was about finding balance from the reality of your present with the plans of where you want to be in the future. This week the challenge is making balanced choices with your head and your heart.

Sagittarius

Ace of Swords – The energy this week is all about learning something new to help you expand your understanding or perspective. The best way to use this energy is in deep conversation, your head in a book, or ears tuned into a new podcast. Your mind needs to be fed new ideas expanding its data and bringing enlightenment for the coming weeks.

Capricorn

*Tower – Every sign is having its turn with the Tower, change that occurs outside of your control. Now is your time to make sure you are contemplating how you are going to rebuild your structure after 2020. Take this week to look at the “cracks” that 2020 has brought on in your life. The important aspect with this inspection is that you do not rebuild with the same fault lines in your foundation. So even though the structures you imagine and are creating look different, make sure you are not building on the same defective footing. This can look as simple as you have become vegetarian but not getting enough protein or you are creating a slower lifestyle but then fill in your schedule.

Aquarius

Ace of Wands – Inspiration continues this week, but this energy has potential for new beginnings to sprout. This is a great week to start any project or go exploring. Your soul is craving passion and newness. Feed the fire.

Pisces

*Wheel – The energy this week is about taking chances to move forward. This year has had its ups and downs, but you must continue to spin the wheel to create fortitudinous change. For the kernels of synchronicity wait undeveloped until they are sought after. Now is the time to move ahead for each step this week leads you to a new era of luck and destiny.

Tarotcast

Tarot and Art Forecast for Week of August 2, 2020

August 2, 2020 Nina

Baby Animals

Many of my clients are asking for a heads up of what is going on in with the planets for the rest of the year. So I am taking break from art for my intro this week and doing a generalized and abbreviated dive into astrology. If you want a more detailed and personalized version get an appointment with astrologer. (I use Michelle Gould.) And while we go down that path, I thought I would share with you all my personal baker’s dozen of pictures of cuteness above and in the tarotcast. Enjoy.

And now for astrology summary (if you just want the quickie version go to the last paragraph).

This summer has felt weird around the concept of time. Partial this is due to Covid and our staying in, but also that theme is reflected in the sky. Normally the inner planets, Mercury and Venus or what is called our personal planets, move within a month. Venus has been in Gemini since beginning of April, and Mercury has been traversing back and forth through Cancer the home of home and emotions since May 28th. And both have been in retrograde motion.

Not to mention most of the outer planets are in retrograde too. In June and July, the only movement besides the Sun going through Gemini and Cancer and the Moon doing its rounds, was Mars who left Pisces and returned to Aries on June 27 (where it stays the rest of the year). So, both June and July could have felt either unusually sluggish or like you were on a continuous repeat and rinse cycle.

In August we will still have 5 planets in retrograde, Pluto, Neptune, Jupiter, and Saturn and Uranus will join mid-August. Retrogrades are great times to use the 3 Rs: Review, Reflect and Reassess. Pluto, Neptune, and Uranus are outer planets and have to do with trends with society at large. For example, Pluto likes to dredge up all the stuff that isn’t working and Capricorn is the sign of society and personal structure and our purpose, so we, as a world, are going through those shifts and will continue in some form until 2024.

However, in August personally things start to move again. Mercury goes through three signs Cancer, Leo and Virgo. Our thinking and communication stats flowing again from emotional to flamboyant to orderly and detail oriented. Venus moves out of Gemini where we are reassessing our values and how we communicate and moves into Cancer August 2^nd, so now we can act on creating or strengthening emotional bonds and connections through Sept 7^th.

Also, we can look at Saturn and Jupiter personally, and they are both in Capricorn until December. Jupiter is the planet of growth and Capricorn is how we live on the material plane make money, our health, and our purpose. Jupiter being retrograde just means things will run positively in those areas, but it will take time. And Saturn for us personally is about boundaries and how we do our scheduling and managing our life. That means we have the rest of the year to work on our personal structures and how we want to live to get us ready to start innovating when they both move into Aquarius at the end of 2020.

Starting in September Mars goes retrograde on Sept 9^th until October 13^th, so it can get a bit sluggish again. But by the end of September both Jupiter planet of growth and Saturn planet of structure institutions, and Karma go direct. This means that we can create more traction and action from this massive refection period to start rebuilding and restructuring.

So, what does this all mean.

If you felt like you have not gotten anywhere over the past couple of months you are just in line with the energy of this strange bit of planetary retrograde where the three Rs, review, reflect and reassess are the actions most supported. Starting in August things will start to shift on a personal level. And by the end of the year most of our lives will be in the place to rebuild into a lighter more enlightened future.

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

Nina

Aries

Ace of Wands – This week inspires passionate new beginnings, electrical ideas, and vibrant musings. This is a great week to explore your creativity and imagination. Experiment and playing with ideas is best.

Taurus

baby animals Six of Pentacles – The key this week is about the energy exchange in giving and receiving. And the two are not so different except in your perception and feelings in either position. The challenge is trying to find more joy in receiving and gratitude with giving.

Gemini

baby animals *Lovers – This energy is one of your life lessons. The Lovers card embodies the aspect of duality and choice. Now is the time to commit to a choice or two. The key to choosing is to let go of old panics and unhealthy decision of the past. They are lesson learned and you will not make those mistakes again. But to make these choices you must open your heart and trust in yourself that if needed you will see the red flags and pay heed to their warnings. This is a time to trust your gut and make some choices.

Cancer

baby animals King of Cups – Last week was about letting go of the old and sloughing off the things that no longer work for you. This releasing is generating the fodder for new beginnings, and this week you have more time to process this primordial ooze lapping at your shores. Accepting all your emotions are key to this process of evolution. As Rumi suggests in Guest House, you are a guest house to your emotions, treat each one honorably and be grateful, for your emotions have been sent as guides from beyond.

Leo

Queen of Cups and Seven of Cups – So this week can go into the land of disillusionment or into self-acceptance and choice. You have one energy inviting you to self-discovery, compassion, and passion. Where your empathy gains strength without taking on other people’s baggage, and your actions align with your heart’s choice. The other vibe has the mind tricking the heart that there are more choices to think about. Now is the time to make a compassionate heart choice and see it through to action.

Virgo

King of Wands – Visionary thinking will be needed to navigate this week’s energy. Though it has positive tones this energy can burn your edges or possible crisp you to your core. BUT you are supposed to emulate the phoenix and rise again inspired and enlightened. The key to this is you cannot do this alone. You need your people to guard your back and bring you sustenance during your rebirth. Your task is only to fall madly in love with your new goals and aspirations.

Libra

baby animals Six of Swords – The energy this week lends a helping hand with difficult transitions. The challenge is seeing and following the breadcrumbs of serendipity through the mist of uncertainty. You will find help from unexpected sources. Eyes, ears and mind open.

Scorpio

Two of Wands – This is a great week to make plans for the distant future. Where do you want to be a year from now? What new experiences do you want to manifest? By casting your line farther out in the future you will catch bigger and better fish.

Sagittarius

Knight of Coins – The energy this week is slow and steady wins the race. This is a great week to create action and movement on any project you pick. Relax into the tasks you have there is no rush. The only challenge is being consistent and doing a bit every day. While balancing it with equal time and energy just kicking back and living life.

Capricorn

Seven of Wands – You deserve this success. This week do not let anyone dim your accomplishments. Defend this spark and push away any darkness inflicted by others or your doubting self. Fill your heart with joy of accomplishment.

Aquarius

Page of Wands – This week is full of inspirations, solutions, and potentials. The challenge is rooting them into your core truths then taking action to bring them into reality. The key is not getting over-whelmed so pick one or two to start with.

Pisces

Five of Coins – Last week your task was to ground and deepen your connection to how strong you really are. Hopefully, you took the time to do that because this week’s energy wants you to tackle your relationship with money. That can look like putting money into savings, asking for help, seeing that you have been through worse or raising your prices. You can take positive actions this week to accept your worthiness and heal the rift between your wealth, self-worth and feeling financially secure.

Tarotcast

Tarot and Art Forecast for Week of July 26, 2020

July 26, 2020 Nina

Agnes_Goodsir_The-Parisienne_ — Agnes Goodsir The Parisienne

The artist this week is Agnus Noyes Goodsir. After World War I an art and cultural explosion was happening in Paris and London and many Australian artists flocked there. Agnus was among this migration. There she met “Cherry” who became her model and lover. Though her sexuality and painting style at the time were not publicized in Australia, she was held in high esteem by the French. She was invited and became a member of Salon Nationale des Beaux-Arts. An annual exhibition of French artists (and now foreign artists) since 1909. Sadly, she was largely forgotten until in the 1990’s. Goodsir was reintroduced to Australia and the world by the director of Victoria’s Bendigo Art Gallery.

Above, The Parisienne, is a perfect example of the start of the movement of the “modern women”. The model clothed in masculine attire, short hair, and a cigarette in her hand accentuated the lifestyle that Goodsir had fled to Paris to find. The face is shadowed adding to the ambiguity of gender but also intrigues and pulls the viewer into the character and life of this kind of person.

At the same time does it hint that Goodsir’s true self and work was still in the shadows? Was the choice of the flat tonal background in contrast to the bold contours of the clothing emphasizing stepping out of the banal norm into a stronger cheekier life of a modern woman? Does it suggest that what a woman wears on the outside still defines her? Or is this Agnus just being a realistic painter. This is an amazing thing about art, we as a viewer can find as much insight to ourselves as the artist does in making the piece.

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

Nina

Aries

Three of Wands – Your to-do list is long to get from here to there, and this week you are advised to be very conscious of the concept of contingences. There is a domino effect where you do not have totally control of all the pieces. The challenge is having faith that the Universe is working with you behind the scenes while you plan.

Taurus

Eight of Pentacles – This is a great week to get your hands dirty. You have the energy to persist and preserve through the most challenging projects. The challenge with this energy is that it can only be directed at things and ventures already in motion, that you love the work, or it needs your unique talents. This is not a week to start new projects or do something outside of your skillset. Unless you want to invite in strain and resistance.

Gemini

Ace of Wands – Last week’s energy was about the creative act of bring an idea down and materialize it. Asking you about your intentions and the steps to manifest them. This week’s energy flow has less intensity but with the same focus of creation. So, continue to manifest whether big or small acts, and do so with the highest intention and integrity. However, if you feel blocked the key is to immerse yourself in what inspires you. This will re-lit your fires.

Cancer

*Death – The energy this week is about letting go of the old and sloughing of the things that no longer work for you. This releasing generates the fodder for new beginnings. The challenge is seeing the past is in the past and the present and future is in you. Remember a burial ground and a planting ground look the same and the processes are intertwined.

Leo

Nine of Wands – The last two weeks beamed the energies assigned to Leos. Let us review. They wanted you to allow three paradoxes into your personal constructs. 1) Your strength comes from dealing with your weakness. 2) Your self-doubt comes from trying to control things that cannot be tamed. 3) Your insecurity is also the root of your compassion. And once these constructs are in place, work on harnessing your power and applying outward to the correct degree where you sustain growth – not burn it all down. This week the energy has you setting up some borders so you can finish up loose ends of the past two weeks, so you can begin focusing on the future. Be aware, this might be the last week to finish off the past year before next year’s energies start pushing you forward.

Virgo

Two of Cups – Last week’s energy was hard, but this week has a lower intensity and is filled with love. Last week asked what needs to shift externally and internally to make a major outer-life change happen? Remember this is a process of a modernization of self, but you must do it a brick at a time. This week’s energy prompts you that first brick is love. What are the qualities that you want in a partner, and what do you need to adjust to become a partner to that kind of person? If you are in a relationship, reconnect with your chosen loved ones. Making sure you are open to the love they give you, as well as, showing the love you have for them. True partnership is long termed balanced acts of giving and receiving.

Libra

Five of Cups – Chaos of emotions float around you this week. The challenge with this energy is keeping positive while processing the negative with compassion. This energy reminds you not to run away from joy or sorrow; both are part of life. And it also reminds that only by truly feeling and processing your emotions can you use them for good in the future.

Scorpio

Ten of Cups – Yeah, this week should feel a lot lighter than last week. The clouds have parted. This energy is pushing you to seek your community, bathe in love and connection. You are the water signs most social and need contact. Even if you cannot do it physically. Time to spread and receive some love in any way you can.

Sagittarius

King of Coins – Last week’s energy endorsed you enacting the usefulness of inertia. Using or creating moments of pause for reflection, letting go of old patterns, and making way for the new ideas that only arises from silence. This week the energy is about grounding yourself. Where last week action happened in the ether and the mind and was great for inspiration. This week you need to burrow down into the earth hashing out those inspirations into actual labor-intensive work.

Capricorn

Ace of Swords – This week’s energy bolsters logic and reasoning. Divine inspiration comes if you focus on looking at the details in a variety of configurations. It is not that this shuffling of pieces finds the answer, but the process helps you find solutions even in to hardest of puzzles. Like fitting a square peg into a circular hole.

Aquarius

Four of Pentacles – Last week your goal was setting aside time to process what this past month or six have been about. Processing your experiences helps you gather your experiential knowledge. Hopefully, you had time to do this, for this process of standing back helps you see your authentic path and how to walk it. The energy this week focuses on your first step – looking at your relationship with money. The challenge is seeing your feeling of safety and having a financial back-up are interconnected. Do you have the resources set aside to feel secure? If not save this week, and if so, you can let go of your purse strings and give yourself a gift for taking care of you.

Pisces

*Strength – The energy this week focuses on your inner strength. Take time to ground and deepen your connection to how strong you really are. You are courageous, strong, and fierce. In the face of these uncertainty times, see that you are resilient. This week’s events show you that whether life flows to you calm waters or gale force storms, you got this. The challenge is seeing the tiger’s eye in the mirror no matter the circumstance.

Tarotcast

Tarot and Art Forecast for Week of July 19, 2020

July 19, 2020 Nina

This week’s artist is Jason deCaries Taylor. Jason’s has created throughout the world Land Art installations. These pieces highlight social and environmental issues of the area. This week I am only highlighting his underwater installations. With each project he works with scientists and local people to create these underwater art shows. Even the statues themselves are model from the people of the area. Many of his ocean installations provide foundations for the begins of reefs.

Above is a newer sculpture the Ocean Siren part of the Museum of Underwater Art in the Great Barrier Reef. The statue itself is modeled after 12-year-old girl Takoda Johnson. She is a member of the local Wulgurukaba people one of the two traditional owners of the local land. The sculpture is solar powered and changes color according to the water temperature in the reef. Consistent dark red colors warn of potential coral bleaching. Coral bleaching is an effect of climate change and is endangering one of the most diverse reefs in the world, The Great Barrier Reef. The other part of this project Coral Greenhouse was finished in December of 2019 (see Aries). It is not only a piece of art but also functioning laboratory, measuring salinity, pH, and coral growth. Its opening was postponed due to Covid but will have guided underwater tours hopefully starting in 2021.

Land Art is a form of art which uses either the materials from a location or highlights a location. The emphasis on the art is usually around the concepts of social issues, poverty, ecology, conservation, etc… where the art becomes a form of activism. This movement started in the late 60’s but many believe locations like Stonehenge, Nazca Lines in Peru, the Chalk drawings in England could be older styles of this art form.

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

Jason deCaries Taylor Four of Wands – Family and home life are the key for ease and your focus for this week. Honor these moments of seclusion to create deeper bonds with those you hold close and the home that sustains and protects you. Give a gift to your abode and the life-forms that live with you. These acts of gratitude will ground you and help deepen your sense of security.

Taurus

Vicissitudes_Grenada_portrait_coral-feathers_Jason-deCaires-Taylor_Sculpture

Six of Swords – Your second 6, so let us dive into numerology for a second. Sixes are the cause and effect cards. Last week’s energy was around karma and your actions on the material plane. This week’s cause and effects energy is around your thoughts. When they are clear – you feel directed and focused; however, when they are muddy – you stagnate. The key this week is simplifying your thoughts by traveling their branches to the main source, and then work with just that.

Gemini

Reclamation_Mexico_Jason-deCaires-Taylor_Sculpture

*Magician – The energy this week is about the creative act of bring an idea down and materialize it. This energy asks what is your intention? How will you manifest this desire? The key with this energy is knowing you have the skills and tools already to create into the material plane. Big or small manifestations, your challenge is materializing them with the highest intention and aligned with your inner integrity.

Cancer

Five of Swords – Winning or losing is not the goal. Now is the time to stick to your integrity and humanity. Do not let society’s ambitioned rat race lure you in. If you are aligned with what truly matters, you will traverse this week’s chaotic waters with less strain on your mental state.

Leo

*Sun– Wow both of your sign’s cards back to back. One ending your birth year with the power and nemesis of Strength and the other starting the new year with your other power and nemesis the Sun. Let us review last week’s energy. It wanted you to allow these three paradoxes into your personal constructs. 1) Your strength comes from dealing with your weakness. 2) Your self-doubt comes from trying to control things that cannot be tamed. 3) Your insecurity is also the root of your compassion. The Sun’s energy is that it sustains life as does your power when projected out into the world. The Sun’s and your nemesis are that too much of this power can cause harm or kill. It is all in its application. This coming year is about you working on how to harness your power and then applying its powerful force outward to the correct degree that you sustain growth and not burn it all down.

Virgo

*Tower – Ok during 2020 every sign seems to be getting this paradigm shifting energy and now it is you. The Tower energy comes to shake up one’s life, by taking the control away from you, so you can see the cracks in your foundations and then change the blueprints. First take a holistic look at how these times have affected you outwardly. What needs to shift? This would be like the pace you live at, the place you live in, or your support group. Secondly look at what needs to shift internally to make a major outer-life change happen? What old patterns are not working for you anymore? This could look like you are a day person but work night shifts, perfectionism, addiction, etc… The best way to work with Tower energy is pick one thing to change and go through the whole healing and restructuring process. This is a modernization of self, but you must do it a brick at a time.

Libra

Silent-Evolution_Mexico_Jason-deCaires-Taylor

Ten of Swords – The past two week’s have been about expanding your empire and finding your flow with your environment. This week energy has the possibility to stop you in your tracks. Be aware that outside sources are not working in your favor. To traverse this negative energy, either pull back and take a break, or if you must move forward follow your intuition in all things. Either way do not allow any of this negative vibe set into your muscle memory. This is a closing of a door. Let it close and walk on.

Scorpio

Nine of Swords – This week you will need to quiet your mind. Over-thinking can intrude into your family time or bedtime. Worry and overthinking will not create ease or help you figure anything out. A great exercise to do is create a ritual that ends your working day. Some examples: If you do go out for work, stop at a tree or bush outside your house and figuratively hang up your day before entering in. If working from home, set an alarm that rings to remind you your day has ended. Or two hours before bed, pour all the junk of the day into a journal.

Sagittarius

Alluvia_Canterbury_Jason-deCaires-Taylor_Sculpture

*Hanged Man – The energy to ponder and enact this week is the usefulness of inertia. This vibe comes around when you need to flip your perspective to find new pathways of thinking and doing. Use or create these moments of pause for reflection. Let go of old patterns, making way for the new ideas that only arises from silence. The challenge is that this may trigger boredom or antsyness. Sit through it, for you will find enlightenment and peace on the other side.

Capricorn

King of Cups – Ok this might be a challenging week for you, for your emotions are on the surface. However, this energy is wanting you to work with and through them. Your emotions are your guides, even the moody ones. If you are moody that is just your feelings expressing you need some alone time. If you are giddy, then find ways to feed and share that good vibe.

Aquarius

*Hermit – This week your goal is to set aside time to process what this past month or six has been about. Processing your experiences helps you gather your experiential knowledge. This will assist in learning how to deal with experiences going forward. And challenge you by pointing out what skills you still need to learn or tweak. We all need a stopping point to pull back and see our lives from a loftier place. Try to turn off you phone and technology for a couple hours at the very least and reminisce upon all that has happened. This will help lead you to the next steps, that are more authentic to who you want to be and where and how you want to walk on this journey.

Pisces

Man-on-Fire_Mexico_clean_Jason-deCaires-Taylor_Sculpture — Mexico Jason-deCaires-Taylor

King of Pentacles – Last week’s energy was a paradox wrapped up in enigma and challenged you to ride the wave of life without trying to control its currents. This week’s energy allows you to put in your rudder and steer a course. This is a great week for all things that build upon your material plane. Aspects to focus on are how you make your money and/or working with your hands. Or you might be called upon or see the need to take control. The challenge is to use your power to guide or nudge rather than fully pressing people or things to your will.

Tarotcast

Tarot and Art Forecast for Week of July 12, 2020

July 12, 2020 Nina

Arghavan Khosravi was raised in Tehran, Iran. In her art, she weaves historical and pop culture motifs into her personal and political experiences. Khosravi invites the viewer to traverse the threads that connect and possible bind culture to personal identity. She has us pondering how, who and what has helped construct the answer to who am I. Globally we are on seeing where aspects of institutions, historical constructs and political systems are dividing us, frightening us, and hindering our civilized evolution.

Our analysis can be painful in seeing where history and culture has bound our potential, but also productive in the fact that we can break and reweave our systems to become more humanitarian, united, and better humans individually. Khosarvi’s art is vital in this process for seeing cultural influence but also her art has the viewer seeing aspects of themselves in another. She gives us strands to weave a new global perspective where there is no other just us.

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

Nina

Aries

Eight of Coins – The last three weeks were high energy full of pondering, purpose, and cleansing. This week the energy drops down and becomes more practical. The time is ripe for doing things on the material plane. Focus on one project and take it to completion. The challenge is that you may have to fine tune your skills to complete the project, however that is easily within your reach.

Taurus

Six of Coins – Cause and effect are big aspects of this week. For all the positive you do, positive will return to you three-fold. This however is true for negative energy you send out. The peculiarity of this energy is that the payback comes for seemingly illogical sources. Your motto: The road to success is never a straight-line.

Gemini

Three of Swords – Interesting this is your 3^rd week of threes, so a quick check in with that numerology again. Threes are stability through expansion. First you were advised to reach out to friends to fill your cups. Then you were asked to visualize your future and faith became your stabilizing force. Now you need to heal your heart to stabilize your mind. Take time this week to honor your sorrow while not dwelling in suffering.

Cancer

Nine of Cups – This is your last birth card for the month, and it is a blessing. The past two years the eclipses have been moving and shaking in your sign causing havoc and change. The last energy for your birth month is contentment. So, your challenges for the coming year: build new structures that allow you to do you more authentically, let go of controlling everything by letting the Universe work behind the scenes in obtaining your dreams, and in your plans allowing this new life to bring you contentment.

Leo

*Strength – Strength is your power, your nemesis, and what to ponder as you finish your last week before moving into your birth month. There are paradoxes with your strength you need to be aware of. Your strength comes from dealing with your weakness. Your self-doubt comes from trying to control things that cannot be tamed. Your insecurity is also the root of your compassion. Once you allow these truths into your constructs of self – you will find and tap into your inner strength more easily.

Virgo

Ten of Swords – This week is prickly but is also an ending of a perfidy. You are caring a pain of betrayal and the energy surrounding you is here to help you cleanse it. The challenge with this energy is not to allow the cycle to start again but rising above it. Your motto: When they go low, we go high. Michelle Obama

Libra

*Death – Where last week’s energy was manifestation: a time to build and expand your empire, this week’s energy is very organic and only partial in your control. Continue to put energy in the things you want to move on the material plane, but be aware that somethings are out of your influence. This does not mean that the project you are working on is rotten or erroneous, it is just you cannot control every aspect of it. Do what you can to move things along, but the Universe has the pace in which it will happen. Your motto this week: Go with the flow.

Scorpio

Ten of Cups – Last week’s energy asked you is your life-path aligning with your integrity and your goals for the year 2021. That challenge is still on, but this week’s vibe wants you to add an extra ingredient: bliss. Somehow you have disconnected or become dysfunctional with pleasure. Pleasure is defined as a feeling of happy satisfaction and enjoyment. Your challenge is to adjust your plans, so they integrally aligned with you. The test is you find yourself enjoying the process, satiated by the outcome, and finding your bliss in the mix.

Sagittarius

Knight of Wands – The last couple of weeks your muse asked you to do the work by exploring your physical, mental, or spiritual plane, and enhancing attributes and circumstance that bring you that sense of Ah. This week is more of the same, but it is not all on you. Now your muse is leading you to be in the right place and right mind to do what needs to be done. The challenge is believing that. Your metaphorical motto: Green means go, red means stop, and yellow play it mellow.

Capricorn

Six of Swords – You are moving to the next level this week. It is a small but significant rite of passage. The challenge is simplifying your thoughts to get through this allegorical eye of a needle. Side note: this card also signifies messages when around water. Look for synchronicities when you come across the element or visage of water.

Aquarius

Eight of Swords – Last week, you were asked to look for the keys to enlightenment in the daily simple things – finding the extraordinary in the ordinary. Though you had to pull away from society to do it. This week that space is still needed but do not be entrapped by it. Too much aloneness and/or to far into your thoughts untethers you from reality. Your challenge is finding ways to get out of your thought and its patterns.

Pisces

*Universe – This week’s energy is a paradox wrapped up in enigma. This energy holds infinite growth with stagnation. It achieves evolution with regression. The challenge is not to try and figure it out or control it but ride the quantum wave. If any sign can do it is you my fish-friend.

Tarotcast

Tarot and Art Forecast for Week of July 5, 2020

July 5, 2020 Nina

Barbara Kruger uses contemporary mass media and its strategies to create sexual, social, and political messages. She challenges the viewer to examine stereotypes, classism, gender roles, social relationships, political issues, constructs of power, identity, consumerism, and sexuality. Most of her work consists of black and white photographs overlaid with bold captions. Kruger did the above piece 19 years ago in 1991. Her pieces are even more relevant now, even in the context of race, because she pulls her images from mass media where the lack of POC voice still challenges us as a society.

I normally let the pieces speak for themselves, but I would like to share why I particularly picked the above piece as my hero shot. Yesterday there was a lot of hate rhetoric around the celebration of July 4^th. Though I agree with the anger behind it, I fear we might be losing the hope and sentiment that those 13 colonies fought for, Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. I have lived in a place where at the time woman where not allowed to drive or vote. So, when I came back, I had a new respect for America’s quest as a nation.

So, are we still asking these questions Kruger poses? Yes! But we are also in a system where we can and should always ask them. For this questioning helps us in aligning our government and our citizenship with equality and humanity. Just look at what is happening now to freedom of speech in Hong Kong or Russia. Do not let our pride in our concept of America create contempt for our fellow compatriots, the nations within this nation, or the nations that we co-habituate with on Earth. Keep asking these questions of identity, society, who is holding the power, and strive for the truths that are said below. For in a true Democracy the power is with its people.

Below is the preamble to the Declaration of the Independence (with a few words tweaked- which is my unalienable right). Re-read it, for it is still a very powerful statement for a creed on how to live and govern.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men people are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men Humanity, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind humans are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

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

Nina

Aries

*Death – Another high energy week for you. The past couple of weeks’ focuses had you pondering your purpose and aligning your plans of action to that that purpose. However, before you take your steps into this new landscape, the energy this week is wanting you to slough off the old. Do a thorough cleansing of body, mind, and spirit of all that feels dusty and of no use. This can look as easy as cleaning your house and/or doing a full body scrub. Or this can be as challenging as letting go of old habits or mind sets that are no longer relevant or useful.

Taurus

Nine of Wands – The energy this week is perseverance. Make your boundaries strong and follow through on what work needs to get done. This is a great week to complete projects and/or conversations. The challenges with this energy are feeling overwhelmed, hyper-vigilant and/or defensive. You can make a boundary without making it life or death. You can be prepared but you can not control the outcome.

Gemini

Barbara Kruger Your seeing is your believing

Three of Wands – This is your second week of threes, so a quick check in with that numerology. Threes are stability through expansion. Last week you were advised to reach out to friends to fill your cups. This week the focus is expanding your dreams and faith will be its stabilizing force. Things will get better; the universe is working behind the scenes. However, it is up to visualize what you want in the future. This imagining helps the universe include you in the plans.

Cancer

Queen of Wands – This week the energy is giving you a bit of a birth month reminder. You are here for the soul purpose of being you. The energy summons your creativity, self-expression, self-acceptance, and compassion. The challenge is asking: What edges do you want to explore? This is a great week to set those intentions and inspirations for your coming birth year.

Leo

Four of Wands – This week’s energy is designed to connect with home and family. Take this time to give a nod to those family groups that surround you. Also is a great time to find moments where you can nestle into your den and curl up with your favorite form of entertainment and cup of fluid. This is a nesting type of energy use it to acknowledge and hang with your pride.

Virgo

Four of Cups – Use the energy that surrounds you well this week by pondering, meditating, and seeing the bigger picture/purpose/cycles. The challenge is that this energy can also feel like quicksand if you do not tether yourself with hope. If you can see your place in the bigger picture, that the arc of evolution is long and heads towards the positive, then you can use this pause to hone your talent of visualization and creativity while being in the moment of stillness.

Libra

*Emperor – The energy that surrounds you this week is manifestation. This is a great time to build and expand your empire. One challenge is that you need to lead, and therefore you making decisions solo. Thus, making your go-tos of compromise and negotiation nearly impossible. And the other challenge, though for you all might be joy, is your creation must be for the greater good of those around you. Go get things done.

Scorpio

*Justice – This week’s energy has you utilizing the concepts of cause and effect and/or big karmic. Take this week to ponder and plan is your life-path aligning with your integrity and your goals. However, this week is not time for big action. But it is perfect for imagining your choices, what path they will lead you to in 2021, and taking small steps in the now to get closer to your soul path. Side note: For any of you about to do legal stuff or contracts get it ready this week make sure all is in order and works to your goals, so you can jump once Mercury is out of retro on July 12^th.

Sagittarius

*Temperance – Another big energy week for you. Last week your muse asked you to explore the physical, mental, or spiritual plane. This week the energy turns to harmony, balance, and patience. If you can accomplish this Zen like composure you will attract/see meaningful events and people. Enhance attributes and circumstance that bring you that sense of Ah.

Capricorn

Five of Cups – The energy this week can come at you a bit hard and you might just be a bit sensitive to it. The key to this week is to let your emotions out like the rain but look for the silver lining in every cloud. This is not being Polly-anna but a nod to the emotions you are feeling without them sweeping you away.

Aquarius

*Hermit – Deep thoughts are useful this week. Now is the time to process and learn from your experiences since your last birthday. You might have to pull away from the masses to do this kind of work. The keys to enlightenment are in the simple things you do daily. Find the extraordinary in the ordinary. Listen not only to your inner muses but also wise words can come from people passing by. Ears and heart open; mind sharp.

Pisces

Ten of Wands – This week take advantage of the energy of ending cycles. For those items that are no longer of use, let them go. For those items that are too burdensome, delegate them. Simplify so you can focus on what is a priority and move that to completion.

Aries

Taurus

Gemini

Cancer

Leo

Virgo

Libra

Scorpio

Sagittarius

Capricorn

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And now for astrology summary (if you just want the quickie version go to the last paragraph).

So, what does this all mean.

Aries

Taurus

Gemini

Cancer

Leo

Virgo

Libra

Scorpio

Sagittarius

Capricorn

Aquarius

Pisces

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Aries

Taurus

Gemini

Cancer

Leo

Virgo

Libra

Scorpio

Sagittarius

Capricorn

Aquarius

Pisces

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Aries

Taurus

Gemini

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Aries

Taurus

Gemini

Cancer

Leo

Virgo

Libra

Scorpio

Sagittarius

Capricorn

Aquarius

Pisces

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Aries

Taurus

Gemini

Cancer

Leo