Today is Mother’s Day. By taking the gender out of the day, this is about recognizing the nurturers in our lives. Nurturing is the process of caring for and encouraging the growth or development of someone or something. They can be your mother, a nurse, a partner, teacher, Mother Earth, a friend, a gardener, or your child… to name a few.
This week’s artist is Uemura Shoen (Uemura Tsune). She is considered a major innovator in the bijin-ga style. Shoen grew up in a time when women were admired for painting but only behind closed doors. Her mother, a widow, nurtured Shoen’s desire to become a painter by defying cultural norms. She let her paint in the corner of her tea shop, were Uemura soon became recognized for her painting skills. At age 12, Shoen’s mother sent her to study under Suzuki Shonen a famous Chinese landscape artist. By 15, Uemura became famous for the purchasing of her painting The Beauty of Four Seasons by the son of Queen Victoria.
Shoen was drawn to the bijin-ga style of painting. Bijin-ga, beautiful woman pictures, were produced from the 17th century to the 19th century and were exceedingly popular with the middle class. They traditionally depicted courtesans or “women” Noh performer (all the woman roles were played by men). However, Shoen chose celebrating ordinary woman and often portraying them doing domestic chores or dressing up in their finery. This elevated the women cultural, from lower-class citizens to beautiful and unique. Shoen paid forward the nurturing of her mother to all women.
Thank you, nurturers for giving us space to grow!
P.S. Signs with an * it a big week for you. Taurus this is a perfect time to get an Astrological Tarot Reading for your coming year. And Scorpio 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
Four of Cups – This is your second four, so let us dive just a bit into fours. Four is the number of stability. Last week you needed to relax to increase your stability. This week is you need to withdraw. A retreat is needed. A time for reworking what is necessary to maintain your strength in the coming months. With that idea in hand you will feel less apathetic and more apt to action.
Taurus
Five of Coins – Some weeks are harder than others, so do not be shock if this week comes at you relentlessly. The best way to work with this energy is to ask for help. Assistance is there though you will need to exchange coinage in some form. This can be as easy as baking cookies for your helper or picking up milk for them when you run to the store.
Gemini
Two of Swords – This week’s energy is full of crossroads decisions, which you cannot avoid. If you come to an impasse, remember make the decision based on how you would feel once you have started on this path. Or another way to see this, the decision is more about the journey than the destination.
Cancer
*Magician – This week’s energy is about bring the divine down into practical applications. Use your resourcefulness and skills to create action. Now is a great time to conjure up next steps. The challenge is that the product needs to not only benefit you but has components that benefit others.
Leo
King of Cups – Careful this is a moody week for you. The energy around you can set you off easily and you may come across as uncaring. So, the challenge is finding balance by being compassionate with yourself. This is not time apologizing for your behavior, but it is a perfect time being vulnerable and tell people how you are feeling. And if they can’t take f@$% them. Figuratively or literally.
Virgo
Two of Coins – It is a balancing act this week. It is essential that you figure out your priorities and then cut that list in half. The key to this week’s energy is flexibility and avoiding overwhelming yourself. This is not a week to multitask or jump from one project to the next.
Libra
*Fool – This week has the energy creating new beginnings if you are not reckless or naïve in its undertaking. If you feel you do not have all that you need to begin a project, now is not the time to rely on seat of the pants logic or free-spirited spontaneity. This week needs planning and preparation before embarking on a new project or direction.
Scorpio
Page of Cups – The energy this week is full of possibilities if you can only be vulnerable and follow your heart. Pull out your rose-colored glass and look for the good. The more positive and open hearted you are the easier solutions will be found. Open heart – Open mind.
Sagittarius
Nine of Swords – Last week you were dealing with the card of change and awakenings. It wanted you to find your fissures, fix what is fixable, and if too broken then it is time for a significant change. Luckily, you have another week to work on this. The energy this week of letting go helps you cope with the strains and fractures of your structures. Worry only about the things you have control to change.
Capricorn
Six of Coins – The energy this week is about investing and receiving. Share and you receive in return, but be warned that goes for good and bad energy. The challenge with this exchange is that it takes a serpentine and circuitous route coming back. So, receiving the gold or the coal can be from surprise sources.
Aquarius
*Wheel of Fortune – It is time to take a bit of control over your destiny by just showing up. Yes karma, fate and luck all come into play this week and nothing is a guarantee. But just indicating your wants will give you that bit of control you need and even the odds more in your favor.
Pisces
Page of Swords – A piece to the puzzle is hidden that you will need to solve a conundrum(s). Using your charm will get you the needed information. Be aware this hiding is not to undermine you. It is done out of ignorance. Also be warned, your intuition is likely to miss some of the facts. This week intellect is your ally.
Mother’s Day… I’m thinking about all the people who Mother’s Day maybe hard to celebrate. I’m thinking of all the mothers who have lost children. I’m thinking of my friends and others that have lost their mothers. I’m thinking of those people who have a hard relationship with their mom, or mothers that have tense relationships with their children. I’m thinking about all of those that have chosen not to be a mother, like myself. You should be celebrated too because you choose an alternative way to give that energy. And I’m also sending energy for all those who want to be mothers. May you find mothering with ease.
I see why you needed your rest last week, you got the Tower card for this week. The Tower’s challenge is about change in which we have no control over. The best way to deal with this card is to react as if you are either surfing or kayaking white waters. Know you cannot stop the force of the water but you can navigate it without danger by subtly shifting your stance or dipping in your oars.
The Four of Pentacles challenges you to save your resources this week. Whether that is your time, space, or money, you can identify what is precious with how it feels when you are limited by it. It is a great time to start saving but be aware not to be miserly to those close to you.
The High Priestess challenges you to work on your intuition skills. You will gain more insight when you step back and look at the big picture then to focus on details.
The Ten of Cups is the party card of the deck and it doesn’t come up too often. This card challenges you to have a good time.
The Hanged Man is the card of stagnation, side projects and spiritual quests. Take the down-time this cards brings to you to go off the beaten path and tend to your spirit to find peace and stillness. This can look like mediating at a Zen garden, or taken a left turn when you want to go right.
Be careful of melancholy this week. When the Five of Cups shows up it challenges you to find two things good in every “bad” thing that happens. There are lessons for you in losses this week.
Last week, the Wheel gave you the choice of changing your fortune by saying yes to opportunities. The Emperor continues this by having you build on things you said yes to and found that you like it. This can look as simple as building a friendship that started last week, or as complex as building on that new business idea.
This week is all about your choices. Last week you had two big karma cards of Judgment-evolution and the Star – healing and hope. The theme of choosing to heal the past to pave the way to the portals of evolution continues this week. For those of you that choose or are chosen for the Tower, you still will have to deal with healing but you will have released the pace or outcome of that change/evolution. For those who choose to take the slower more controlled path the Nine of Pentacles challenges you to pull back from the world and contemplate what to do next.
The Six of Pentacles continues the theme of last week’s World card looking for opportunities that lead to the next phase sometime after mid-July. Remember last week challenging you to make your micro-cosmos represent your macro-cosmos. The Six of Pentacles challenges this at a karmic level. For all the good little deeds you put out in the world, they will come back to you three-fold in your macro-karma however so does the negative. So this week open doors for people, say thank you, or make someone cookies just because it is a nice thing to do. Be careful not to purposely offend someone, flip someone a bird on the road, or in general be aware of your material, spiritual and emotional footprint.
The King of Cups wants you to master your emotions. This King has you look at how you emotional deal with the outside world. Your challenge – to open up and reveal a bit of yourself to acquaintances.
The theme of last week’s Magician card bringing in the divine to the material world continues this week. Refine your focus to your home and home life, so this week your challenge is to focus on projects at and about your home. You will feel more at ease and accomplished in the outside world if your home is in order.
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