Weather has been on my mind as we are in the dog days of summer. Where I live huge thunderstorms can rage in the afternoons and are a brief respite to the heat of the day. You can feel them coming as the air cools, breeze picks up and you can smell the rain on the wind.
The phrase dog days comes from the Latin term Dies Caniculares referring to the time that Sirius, the Dog Star, rises before the Sun, and it referred to the time period of late July to late August, the hottest part of summer in ancient Greece. So the phrase through time has become associated with the hot and muggy days of August. Even though now, since the constellations have shifted, we see it before sunrise starting July 12th to August 12th.
Jane Wilson was an artist in tuned with the weather. She painted a wide variety of subjects but landscapes became her focus. Jane moved to New York at 25; however, growing up on an Iowa farm highly influenced how she saw our relationship with weather. She said that living on the farm you learn to feel the weather coming. So when she painted she would aim for moments of strong sensation ⎯ moments of total physical experience of the landscape, when weather just reaches out and sucks you in. When you look at her landscapes you can really feel the dew of dawn, the heat of the afternoon, the spray of a stormy ocean or the coolness of the air as the sun sets.
P.S. Please share. Also, I have put up another quote to download for your vision board. Enjoy.
Aries – Ten of Wands
The Ten of Wands tells you that this week might feel like an uphill battle. It will be full of responsibilities. Your challenge is to figure out which ones are yours and which are others, and then make the conscious choice as to which you will do first.
Taurus – Page of Pentacles
The Page of Pentacles is the card of the student. Take time to learn something new. The area where you need to do your studies is in the material plane: your work or environment.
Gemini – Queen of Pentacles
The Queen of Pentacles is the gardener of the deck. You need to tend to your personal environment. These activities for example are deep cleaning part of your home, putting up shelves, stock your pantry, or gardening. The challenge is enjoying the space you are creating.
Cancer – Four of Swords
The Four of Swords would like you to take a respite. For some, you will need to take time out to reconsider something and for others you will just need the rest.
Leo – Page of Swords and Nine of Swords
This week is a two card week and that means that there is a couple of messages for Leos. For all Leos, it is a week to do some investigative work. There are messages that are hidden out there. They just need you to do a little digging to find them. And for some of you this info will help you with what has been worrying you. The challenge is realizing what to actual worry about and what is just in your head.
Virgo – Ten of Pentacles
Last week, the High Priestess challenged you to see the bigger picture while seeing the synchronicities in the details. This week the Ten of Pentacles shifts you from watching to doing. This is a great week to finish projects, which is appropriate for Virgos, because you are in your wind down month before your birthday. The challenge is finishing things you don’t want to carry into another year.
Libra – Seven of Pentacles
The Seven of Pentacles is the card of hard work. This week is a nose to the grind-stone week. The challenge is that the work you do is more of a long-term investment than an immediate return. But it will be worth the wait.
*Scorpio – Queen of Swords and Justice
Okay, two cards for you again this week. Last week Hierophant came to the rescue advising you the more organized and prepared you are the easier it will be to navigate in and around the chaos. The Queen of Swords continues this theme that prep and strategy will be needed this week. And Justice comes in to warn you that things are more black and white then what they seem. Your challenge with both cards is not to be too harsh or cold to those around you or yourself.
Sagittarius – Six of Cups
The Six of Cups has two parts. One is that the past holds some important information for you to use this week, so no need to create new tricks. And the second is you need to take a child-like view to freshen your perspective. This card advises, if you have forgotten how to freshen up your point of view, get on the floor, color outside the lines, spin in circles or go swinging.
Capricorn – Eight of Pentacles
The Eight of Pentacles wants you to feel and practice your mastery this week. This is not a week to learn new tricks but hone the ones you already have.
Aquarius – Two of Rods
The Two of Rods foretells success though it also involves a lot of waiting. The challenge is keeping busy during the waiting periods. This is a great time to catch up on your to do lists, read or start little projects.
Pisces – Page of Wands
The Page of Wands comes around when your Awe meter is low. Your challenge this week is get yourself into nature, go to a museum, a music show or anything that has to do with nature or art. Your passion for life needs to be re-lit. Life is good Pisces you just need to be reminded.
May light be on you, around you, and within you,
Nina
The Nine of Wands is about perseverance. For some reason this week you believe you need to take on more than you actually need to do. You have nothing to prove about your strength or your can do ideas of how you run your life. This card challenges you to lay just one thing aside this week to lighten you load. And for some of you rams you literally need to be careful of straining your back.
The Nine of Swords is the card of worry. Worry is just an aspect of fear. Take this week to look at your fears and see if there is any truth in them in the here and now not the past and future. Then take action with the present worries, and let the past and future worries disperse in the mist of unchangeable and uncertain.
Where last week collaboration was the key, this week the Nine of Pentacles says you get more done alone or with just a chosen few. Your challenge is to see your successes and bask in them before you get back to work.
The Page of Cups is the card of innocence. The challenge with this card is seeing things with fresh eyes and if you do you will find the solution or answer you need. If you are having a hard time with this – hang out with children, watch Anne with an E, or anything out of Miyazaki’s animation studio.
The journey continues with the Knight of Pentacles. The Knight of Pentacles means you are on the right path and your challenge is to get into the grove of your personal pace. All the Knights (movement) are all easy cards for your sign, so enjoy the journey and the wind in your hair.
The Six of Rods advises you to take a moment this week to notice how far you come from the beginning of this year. This is your half way point from your birth year. The challenge is not to sit on your laurels, but to ask what am I going to do with the next 6 months.
Companionship is the key this week. You have been out of the loop. It is time to call old friends and lift the glass even if it’s on FaceTime.
The Six of Swords’ lesson is about lightening the load that you carry with you. Whether that is mental or physical, you need to prioritize and hone down what you are carrying into your future. One thing with this card is that being by water can help in this process.
This week’s artist is 
Last week the Magician challenged you to experiment and see that the key to success are learning and building on your mistakes. This week continues that theme with the focus shifting to relationships. The solution is not so much learning from past mistakes but finding new ways to connect. Remember unconditional love is to truly seeing and saying I like you just the way you are – Mister Rodgers. 
The Queen of Wands embodies spiritual creativity. Your challenge is being mindful of what you create. She asks- What are you communicating with your creation? Will it improve the world? That challenge is daunting unless you remember the quote from Mother Theresa- I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.
Take this week to experiment and bring your amazing imagination into the real world. The challenge is to let yourself experiment and know that the key to success is learning and building on your mistakes.
The Page of Swords is the most inquisitive of the cards. When it comes into a reading it means that you need to listen and ferret out information before putting anything into action. So your challenge this week is to ask question and really listen to the answers you get. You will need this information in the coming weeks.
The Two of Cups is about exploring relationships. Sometimes you do so well by yourself you forget to invite other people into your life. The challenge this week to get to know someone better or create some romance in your life.
These two cards tell you that you will feel more informed if you keep to yourself or only hang with a chosen few. Do not listen to the general public their information is not helpful to you this week. Heed your own counsel.
Oh you needed this card after the past couple of weeks. The Star is the card of healing and hope. Take this week to pull away a bit and heal. Your challenge is allowing the time to heal. If you do, you will gain the hope and insight you will need to carry on with a lighter load.
Last week, The Empress challenged you to grow by knowing what to sow, where to sow it and how to tend to it for the longer haul. This week continues that theme, but with the caveat that the end result should include creating joy. So your challenge is to be more of the wild horse this week then the human part of yourself. Run or drive with the wind blowing through your mane/hair.
The Queen of Cups focuses again on your emotions this week. Where last week the Page wanted you to play, the Queen wants you to pull from all your emotions to create. This week you might find that you can be pushed emotionally by outside sources. The challenge is to see that each of these encounters is a way to interact with and use your deeper emotions – think emotional alchemy. Overall, this card wants you to make friends with your heart.
The Justice card tells you that in the long view all things will balance out fairly in the end. The challenge this week is keeping your emotions off the scale during the process. Rely on the facts and your logic this week.
The Knight of Cups asks you to create some movement in your emotional life. However, the challenge with this knight is not to wear your heart on your sleeve while doing so. You can kick around in your emotional waters but don’t swim to the deep end.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The Seven of Wands is about your boundaries versus your walls. The challenge this week is defining and then acting on those definitions.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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