Tag Archives: painting

Tarot and Art Forecast for Week of Oct. 4, 2020

pipe dream Stella Snead
pipe dream Stella Snead

First, I want to thank all of you for reading my musings on art, tarot, and a bit of science.  I am going into my 6th year with this blog, and I so appreciate your support and feedback throughout the years. At times I feel as if I am writing into the void, so your echoes back help me see that this is fulfilling its purpose of entertainment and hopefully some enlightenment and ease.  You all are few but mighty in spirit, love and appreciated!

And now to start off the month of spook, this week’s artist is Stella Snead.  She is a surrealist painter, photographer, and collage artist. She and her father struggled with depression.  Though she has few memories of her father the viewer can see her exploration of her own psychology through her artwork.  Surrealism has a natural affinity towards the study of the subconscious.

Her early paintings all seemed set in a nocturnal landscape of the dreaming mind.  Her depression stopped her from painting in her mid-life, but travel and photography became the mode and medium during her darker times.  She began collaging her mental ponderings.  By her 70’s she returned to painting and revisited images she had done in her earlier years. Themes you often see in her musings are nature’s powerful forces: volcanos, tornados geysers, containment, and using perspective to draw the eye out of the picture.  These techniques and images are keys to propelling the viewer into unknown waters.  But also, the opportunity that once we have traversed the unknown it becomes know, less scary and possibly a brighter freer place than what we have known.

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

Nina

P.S. Signs with an * it is a big week for you.  Libra this is a perfect time to get an Astrological Tarot Reading for your coming year.  And Aries it is your halfway mark for your birth year, so if you need a Planetary Reading for a check in now is the time.

 

 

Aries
Stella Snead
Stella Snead

Ace of Cups – This week is testing your emotional intelligence.  This energy wants to unblock your heart and get your emotional energy moving.  This is a great week to watch a movie that brings a tear to your eye.  While balancing it with activities that make you laugh.  The more you are in tune with your feelings, the more you can be there for your love ones and understand the emotional intention behind those around you.

 

Taurus
Tornado Stella Snead

Six of Cups – The keys to navigating this week is linked to the past.  This is a great week to share stories of your childhood, go through old photos, and read old journals.  There is inspiration and answers in reminiscing this week.

 

Gemini
Stella Snead
ladies from afar Stella Snead

Queen of Wands – Your passion needs a focus this week.  Inspiration and creativity are craving your attention, but it is up to you to take the time to let them in for a drink.  Creativity takes time, pondering, mulling to find its nuance and ignite passion.   Time to have a must needed conversation with your muses.

 

Cancer
Flood Dance Stella Snead

*Star and Nine of Swords – This week highlights that the future is uncertain; however, this does not mean to worry or fret. The key to navigating the night is seeing that you are surrounded by a blanket of love and care, and the Star Muse of Hope and Faith leads the way even though the path is dark with uncertainty.

 

Leo
Deadlock Stella Snead

*Hanged Man – This week’s energy surrounds the concept of insightful exposure.  What is driving you crazy or blocking you needs to be reexamined.  However, this investigation must be done from a new perspective.  You are stuck because your life stories are being played out through a lens of an old perception.  To become more malleable with your thinking let go of awareness and allow your truth to float to the surface.  A gestalt is forming to break you out of your stagnation, but you will need to flip and flow your mind in the quiet of reflection without judgement or logical thought.

 

Virgo
Stella Snead
Ecstatic cows Stella Snead

*Magician – Last week was about ending and cleaning out the debris from last birth year.  You still have until mid-November to tie things up.  But this week is about creating what you hold as divine.  This is your purpose wanting some hang-time with you, so you can start plotting out how this concept will unfold.  This muse reminds you that you already have the skills and tools to accomplish what you want to do.  The challenge is realizing that those tools can come from other people taking over some of the everyday of your plans.  Your energy needs to focus  on creating the form and space for your creation to begin to grow, however, there is no need for you to do it all alone.

 

Libra
Stella Snead
smothered city Stella Snead

Six of Swords – This is your winding down month until your birthday and the energy this week helps in this transition.  The challenge is that the future is clouded over.  You may feel as if the mists have settled in front of you.  However, the muse this week gives you the keys to traverse the unknown.  The first key is simplification.  She asks what is it that you most want to change or shift. The second key is faith for there will be clues along the way to guide you through these coming months as your perspective and horizons become clearer.

 

 

Scorpio
Stella Snead
Capture Stella Snead

Seven of Wands – This week people can get on your nerves.  The challenge with this energy is standing your ground and keeping your inner light lite.    Planet-wise there are some hard aspects this week, and water signs are feeling the brunt of it.  This muse reminds you even in standing your ground you can reach out with love to keep the blue meanies away.

 

Sagittarius
Eye to horizon Stella Snead

Two of Cups – The energy this week is all about positive reinforcement of relationships that you have picked in your life.  Whether that is a partner, a pet, or your plants.  Caring for others fills your cup as much as them caring for you.

 

Capricorn
Stella Snead
Advancing Monuments Stella Snead

Knight of Swords – This week’s energy tends to make you feel as if you need to rush to decisions and actions; however, the exact opposite is true.  To deal with this hectic energy slowing down is the best solution.  Be gentle with your responses for they can become defensive.  Be slow in your actions for you can hurt yourself, especially your extremities.  Logic and caution are key this week.  Motto:   look both ways before crossing the street.

 

Aquarius
Stella Snead
From the Grotto Stella Snead

Knight of Wands – You are in the right place doing the right thing.  This week’s energy helps you accomplish anything you put your focus towards.  The key is finding inspiration to keep the energy going.  Whether that is seeing that this project will lead to more projects or the beginning of something new.  It is vital that you see the why behind what you are doing so you can take your life to the next level.

 

Pisces
Family Portrait Stella Snead

*Empress – The energy of creation for comfort is what generates ease this week. You are needing some positive mothering energy to sustain yourself.  This can look as simple as making a scrumptious meal or get that new piece of furniture that will make your living area finally comfortable.  The challenge with this energy is creating comfort not prestige.  Creating things that feed your senses, that make you go ahhh, have you smiling, and that make you feel nurtured are the items you should incorporate into this week’s schedule.

Tarot and Art Forecast for Week of Sept. 20, 2020

Ute Milotich
Ute Milotich

The artist this week is Ute Milotich.  Milotich’s paintings are the collision of the real and the existential.  There is a boldness to her color choices and subjects that invigorates and yet firmly grounds the viewer.  There lies a duality of solidity and motion in almost all her paintings.  As she says I paint to explore what it means to be human now. Everything is in motion, everything changes over time, sometimes quietly, sometimes dramatically. In my paintings, I strive to capture a glimpse of a person or a fleeting moment in the richness of human experience.

It makes sense Milotich nods to Anne Dillard as inspiration.  Dillard also uses the technique of deeply seeing through the real finding the spiritual. Dillard does this to an exception in her book Pilgrim at Tinker Creek.  Deep seeing or deep listening is about staying in the moment passing through the uncomfortable to a place of new understanding.  Often when doing this we find a connection or new meaning.   It is interesting that Milotich pulls this quote from the Dillard’s book I cannot cause light; the most I can do is try to put myself in the path of its beam. This is what painters do they see the light bouncing off the object and then try to replicate it on the canvas, like an artistic prism.  So, we as the viewer/reader ponder what to I take in and how does it beam back into the world?

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

*World – The muses keep pushing energy at you to finish projects.   This week is a great time to end cycles.  Success and completion are at hand.  But just as vital as checking off your to-do lists is celebrating that you have.  You are on the verge of new things, but old baggage needs to be dealt with to move on.  Do it and raise a glass to your accomplishments and the future.

 

Taurus
Ute Milotich
Ute Milotich

Queen of Cups – The energy this week ask you to find places of joy.  This can be dancing to music in your living room, have a stich and bitch session with friends, get rowdy and watch sports with your crew or having a pillow fight with your kids. (of course safely distancing or virtually)  This energy is about in-joying your life.  That place of fun that rises you above self-thought with a hint of blissful abandon at the same time connecting you to your core.

 

Gemini
Ute Milotich

*Priestess – Ancient ancestor wisdom is waiting on the other side of the door. This week is about working in the realm of the subtle.  Use your intuition as your compass to navigate its mists.  Look for cycles and synchronicities to leading you to find gems of wisdom laying behind the curtain, under your sofa, out your window or out of the mouth of strangers as you pass by.

 

Cancer
Ute Milotich

Nine of Wands – The muse this week advises to shore up your boundaries.  You have work to do and the outside world may try to intrude.  Follow through, finish up loose ends, these are the activities that are supported by the universe.  Your job is to stand firm and make yourself your first priority.

 

Leo
Ute Milotich
Ute Milotich

*Judgement – Your muse this week is here to help your awakening.  To help move you to your next step.  To do so you must accept your flaws are rooted in your humanness.  Find ways to incorporate them as positive influences instead of distractions.  This Muse reminds you that only being honest about your blunders of the past can you use them to burst out of the cocoon of inertia and self-doubt.

 

Virgo
Ute Milotich
Ute Milotich

Nine of Swords – Virgo now finishing your birth month you discover this coming year a field of passionate beginnings, clearer paths, and strategies, and muses that will frolic and co-create with you a space of safety.  This coming year energy is about rebirth, regeneration, and metamorphosis.  But before you start your journey you need to befriend the muse of fear and doubts.  This energy is not a tiger in wait but a scared kitten needing your consolation.

 

Libra
Ute Milotich

Eight of Swords – The energy this week can feel claustrophobic from within and without.  Many of these swarming thoughts and duties when looked at closely are not yours.  You have accepted them, but they are not yours to hold.  It is time to let negative thought patterns go.   However, part of the problem is also your need to control situations and outcomes, but you are creating codependent behavior with those around you.  Let go of the control so others can learn their own power.

Scorpio
Ute Milotich
Ute Milotich

Two of Wands – The energy this week highlights being in the present.  The energy feels on the onset like torpor but when looking closely  and deeply you can study the subtle moments of the small.  Exercises like eating a rasin, watching rain fall on a window pane for 30 minutes, watch ants going in and out of a hill or feel the subtle aspects of wash your hands for two minutes. Finding the moments between the breath in and out is to find a place of peace within the actions of life.

 

Sagittarius
Ute Milotich

Queen of Coins – The energy this week is still vibrating on the material plane.  This muse wants you to work hard and play harder.  She reminds you that the reason you work is to create.  She asks are you indulging in the finer aspects of your creation.  All work and no play makes Jill/Jack a dull human.

 

Capricorn
Ute Milotich
Ute Milotich

*Magician – The Muse of Manifestation walks with you this week.  She facilitates calling down your energy and to create on the material plane.  The challenge is realizing you have all you need to conjure up the divine.  You have collected the material and tools you need.  Use your imagination to work with what you have.  It is enough and so are you.

 

Aquarius
Ute Milotich
Ute Milotich

*Emperor and Five of Wands – So you have two energies to work with this week.  The first is about work and building upon your empire.  This is a great week for projects, getting things off your to do list, working with your hands.  However, the other energy is chaos and competition, which can distract you.  So, you can put on your blinders and get to your work, or you can practice your skills of charm and cajoling to get what you want done.  The latter route will find you more allies in the coming weeks, and the former, you will get more done.  Your choice.

 

Pisces
Ute Milotich

Six of Wands – Last week’s energy hopefully implanted the clarity of self-compassion and self-forgiveness for a past transgression.  Opening yourself to a lighter and enlighten future that is more in tune with your divine nature.  This week shines a light on you.  The challenge is can you except the limelight.  This is not a week to hide in the shadows but step out into the light.

Tarot and Art Forecast for Week of Sept. 6, 2020

The artist this week is Marina Vargas.   Vargas often uses the motif of guns and the color red.  Her work can be very jarring which it is supposed to be, but it is also, as art is, very enlightening for the viewer.  With all art we as viewers bring our perspective. Of late we have been dealing with a lot of  violence and unrest.  How do we deal with it is the inquiry in highlighting her art this week.

When asked what her favorite color was, Vargas said it was difficult to pick one, but she uses red often.  As she said in a South Mag article: Although there is no doubt that in my work the most predominant (color) of them all is red. I suppose that in some way it is the color that mediates me with the rest of the colors. Red is a wake-up call, it is alertness and it is also the color that represents blood, wound, vulnerability and violence.  I suppose that to be in relation with this color is to enter fully into the control that there must be to manage between the instinctive and the rational.

These images of Vargas’ correlate with Mars going into retrograde September 9th through November 13th.  Mars is the planet of activity, sex, energy, confrontations, and war.  During this time, you should be wary of starting new businesses, projects, or litigation.  They may be exceedingly difficult to gain momentum and in the areas of law those that start “the war” may fail.  Also, be aware this time can lower sex drive and increase a feeling of malaise.  However, this period  is great to work on projects already started, organization, and planning.  It is made for crossing off old to-do lists, cleaning up your inbox, creating relaxing activities with loved ones, etc…

So, the big lessons with Mars are being aware of what irritates, frustrates and angers you.  Take note but not action.  And when you feel low energy, it is a wake up call for self-care.  This time will be filled with more uncertainty and feelings of vulnerability.  Use this alertness to enlighten and enhance your skills at how you are managing between instinctive actions based on fear and rational actions based on love and hope.

Let love and hope win.

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

Nina

P.S. Signs with an * it is a big week for you.  Virgo this is a perfect time to get an Astrological Tarot Reading for your coming year.  And Pisces it is your halfway mark for your birth year, so if you need a Planetary Reading for a check in now is the time.

Aries
Marina Vargas
Marina Vargas

*Hermit – Time to gain some perspective on your life and environment.    Something is off and you need to step back from your everyday life to do some contemplation on what it is and how to fix it.  The challenge will be finding time for yourself while also equally find time for others.  This week is about finding the balance of quiet contemplation and socialization.

Taurus
Marina Vargas
Marina Vargas

*High Priestess – The energy is asking you to tap into your intuition this week.  Look for cycles that need to be readjusted, and synchronicities to help move you forward and enlighten situations of inertia or chaos.  Your instincts are powerful guides this week.  The challenge is keeping your ears and logical mind open to your inner voice.  And have a broad enough perspective to see that fear is an emotion not reality.

Gemini
Marina Vargas

*Star – This energy comes when you need to do some healing.   You need to reignite optimism and hope in your being.  This week find time to relax in moonbeams, feel the wind on your face, watch the sunlight flicker from your windows, and acknowledge the kindness of a smile.  Finding these moments will give you the curative perspective that after each period of chaos comes a time for healing.  That everything has its season and overall, the arc is towards wholeness, healing, and love.

Cancer
Marina Vargas
Marina Vargas

Four of Cups –Well either extroverted or introverted crustaceans this week is meant for quiet contemplation.  Which for you introverted crabs is celebratory; however, this pulling in must be productive for both types of crabs.  If you find yourself getting lethargic, melancholy, or bored you will be required to step out and reconnect with society until that feeling subsides.  Then you can crawl back into your shell until the end of the week.

Leo
Marina Vargas

*World – This energy comes pushing you to complete something.  To energize your leonic procrastination that has lulled you to laze on your sunny rock this summer.  That was fine for the summer, but summer is moving into fall.  This can be as simple as crossing off the oldest thing on your to-do list.  You might even find it does not need to be done anymore. This energy wants you to do that final push, so your muse can open new doors for you.

Virgo
Marina Vargas

King of Swords – This week’s energy lends itself to long term planning. Time to pull out a blank page and write all your wishes and intentions of what you would like to accomplish in your coming birth year.  A great week to make an inspiration board, a bucket list, a brain dump page of all that you can imagine.  Then take the rest of your birth month planning on how to reach these goals.  The challenge this week is not to do but to think.

Libra
Marina Vargas
Marina Vargas

Ten of Wands – The energy this week warns that you are taking on too much responsibility.  Time to lighten your load by one or two duties, jobs, chores etc.… The challenge is not to worry or pick them back up.  The goal is to see, by next week, if someone else picks it up or you find it really did not need to be done.

Scorpio
Marina Vargas

*Moon – More internalizing with this week’s energy.   This muse asks you to dive into your subconscious, listen to your intuition, emotions, and dreams.   The challenge is that your emotions can run high this week.  Many times, this might be due to your emotional pores being open and susceptible to absorbing others’ emotions.   Therefore, your task is clarifying what are your emotions and what are others.

Sagittarius
Marina Vargas

*Devil – Last week your emotional waters were tested by aspects being hidden from you.   And you were given the option to dive deep into your shadow side to find your vulnerabilities and strengths or skip it.  This week brings with it all sorts of diversions and tests of your character and drive.  If you did last week’s work, then this week will go by with ease.  You are brushing off the devil’s diversions and strengthening your resolve.  If you did not do the work, this week might be tough.  Either way think of this week as a test of your character and will.

Capricorn
Marina Vargas

*Emperor – The energy this week is about building upon your empire.  This is a great week to do construction around how you make your money, your physical environment, and/or any hands-on work.  The challenge with this energy is to be bolder, build bigger however, be careful of hubris.   If you build for the good of many, then your work will prosper in the long run.

Aquarius
Marina Vargas

*Temperance – Balance is key this week.  An alchemy of your material and spirit goals are the subjects to adjust.  This is a good week to blend the need to survive with the need to enjoy life.  So, this muse asks are you enjoying your life?  Does the way you make money give you time and resources to enjoy your life?  Or does your work bring you joy but does not provide for you?  Your challenge is making fine-tuned adjustments to equal out your material plan with your spiritual one.

Pisces
Marina Vargas
Marina Vargas

Ace of Swords – Last week the energy was about deconstructing your environment or systems and then creating new paradigms.  The strategy being pulling everything apart to see its working and non-working components, fix, and then reassemble.  Luck for you all, you have another week to do this with this week’s energy of new beginnings and ways of thinking.  This muse hones your intellect to a sharp blade.  Allowing you to see, decipher, and reorganize with clarity.  However, your challenge is allowing your intellect to do the work and keep your heart in the passenger’s seat.

Tarot and Art Forecast for Week of August 9, 2020

Njideka Akunyili Crosby
Njideka Akunyili Crosby

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. 

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

Njideka Akunyili CrosbyNjideka Akunyili CrosbyFour 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
Njideka Akunyili Crosby

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
Njideka Akunyili Crosby

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
Njideka Akunyili Crosby
Njideka Akunyili Crosby

*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
Njideka Akunyili Crosby

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 CrosbyNjideka 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
Njideka Akunyili Crosby
Njideka Akunyili Crosby

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
Njideka Akunyili Crosby

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
Njideka Akunyili Crosby

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
Njideka Akunyili Crosby
Njideka Akunyili Crosby

*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
Njideka Akunyili Crosby

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
Njideka Akunyili Crosby
Njideka Akunyili Crosby

*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.

 

 

 

Tarot and Art Forecast for Week of July 12, 2020

Arghavan Khosravi
Arghavan Khosravi

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.

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

Arghavan Khosravi
Arghavan Khosravi

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

Arghavan Khosravi
Arghavan Khosravi

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

Arghavan Khosravi

Three of Swords – Interesting this is your 3rd 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

Arghavan Khosravi
Arghavan Khosravi

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

Arghavan Khosravi
Arghavan Khosravi

*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

Arghavan Khosravi

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

Arghavan Khosravi
Arghavan Khosravi

*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

Arghavan Khosravi

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

Arghavan Khosravi
Arghavan Khosravi

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

Arghavan Khosravi
Arghavan Khosravi

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

Arghavan Khosravi

*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.

Tarot and Art Forecast for Week of June 21, 2020

large_Portrait-Self_Portrait_of David Wojnarowicz

David Wojnarowicz came up in the New York art scene in the late 70’s doing graffiti of burning houses and falling people.  Throughout the 80’s he began crisscrossing the genres of performance art, film, music, photography, and painting.  He did not adhere to any one technique but keep experimenting throughout his life.  Queer and later diagnosed HIV-positive he became an advocate for people with AIDS when thousands were dying due to the government’s inaction.  Even with the positive Supreme Court decision, LGBTQ+ folks are still fighting today.

Art and activism can be exceptional companions.  What made his art so active was in each piece you can see into his spirit.  He laid it out, vulnerable, quivering and sometimes with anger, in each format he chose.  And because of that it is jarring possible hard to look at but necessary to understand the pain, the questioning, and the joy.  In David’s words: “To make the private into something public is an action that has terrific ramifications.”

This eclipse season, rumbling until two weeks after the July 5th’s Lunar Eclipse in Capricorn, is our midway point in 2020, and with this week’s five planets in retrograde, it is a great time to take pause.  Reflect on your past, see what is no longer important.  (Take a gander back at my 2019 in review see how 2019 set us up for this year.)  Review now what is.  And reassess how you will continue you forward.  Life has been rough for many of you.  Take care of yourself, be active, make change where and how you can.  And know you are loved.

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

*Judgement – This week’s energy is about evolution and awakening to your divine nature.  Time to allow self-compassion and forgiveness to leave the past in the past. The question to ponder this week is am I fulfilling my purpose or calling?  If not, this is the time to start creating the parameters to allow your evolution.  If you are, take it to the next level.

 

Taurus

David Wojnarowicz*Empress – The energy around you is dripping with creation.  With the power of love anything can flourish: plants, children, creativity… You have the seeds in your hands.  What will you plant?  What will you nurture and grow?  Your only challenge is not to control all the expansion.  Just be in tune with your big bang heart and give to the energy of creation.

 

Gemini

4 of Coins – Savings is in the air around you.  What do you need to feel financial safe?  What on the material plane do you need, to feel you have your own back?  A new car?  6 months savings?  Now is the time to make sure you know what you require and start to save for it.  Your challenge is to remember though it is always nice to have and build more they are not the only essentials for joy.

 

Cancer

David Wojnarowicz*Hierophant – The outdated systems are crumbling around you.  Hollow out by a loss of integrity or alignment to who you are now. What will be the systems you put into their cavities? What new structures need to be built to access this next part of your journey?  New structures, boundaries and schedules need to be created.

 

Leo

David Wojnarowicz5 of Cups – Emotions like grief, sadness and hurt are lingering around you, and this energy wants you to feel into the feelings.  Dive deep with empathy and process them, and when you get to the bottom you will find a reservoir of love, laughter, and hopefulness.  Your challenge is processing is a process.

 

Virgo

Queen of Wands – This week’s energy invites you to engage with inspiration.   Follow your internal compass, exploring places in nature or things that create awe.  A Muse is waiting there to entice, support and sprout originality and creativity.  The challenge is pushing your boundaries around concepts of self-acceptance, courage, and leadership.  Color outside the lines.

 

Libra

Knight of Coins – The energy around you is about diligence and work.  The challenge is relaxing into the tasks you love and find meaning in the tasks you do not.  This is not a week to future trip or think of goals but to keep a steady pace forward.

 

Scorpio

Ace of Coins – The energy this week is expansion and growth on your material plane.  Look in your environment for seeds to plant and what roots to grow.  This is a time for new opportunities.

 

Sagittarius

David Wojnarowicz7 of Coins – This week’s energy could slow time for you.  This plateau of pause if perfect for the 3 R’s:  reflect, review, and reassess especially around work, projects, your physical environment, and anything on the material plane.   Your harvest is around the corner take this time to prepare and tweak what is not just right.

 

 

Capricorn

Four of Cups – The energy this week has a tendency to be self-indulgent by being self-deflecting.  The challenge is seeing your own self-worth.  You are here for a reason yes, but literally part of that reason is you being you.   Reflect on your unique qualities that you bring to the table and focus on strengthening them.

 

Aquarius

5 of Coins – The energies around you are working with you and your relationship to money and prestige.  Who you are has little to do with what you own or your work that makes you money. You know that, but you are losing your concept of self-worth with only what you do on the material plane.   Take this week to reflect on what people love you for.

 

Pisces

David Wojnarowicz6 of Wands – Last couple of weeks had you seeing the depth of your energy-well and how to manifest on the material, mental and people planes.  This week the energy level dials back just a little.  You are in the spotlight of success this week.  Can you see it?  Can you see how far you have come to creating the future you wanted?  Take this week to sit in that dusting of confetti celebration.  Be proud of all that you have done and take this week to prepare for the battles and victories yet to come.

 

 

 

Tarot and Art Forecast for Week of May 10, 2020

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
Dattatraya Thombare
Dattatraya Thombare

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
Sonya Boyce

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
Diego Rivera

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
Mother

*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
Nguyen-Thanh-Binh

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
Midnight mother
Kitagawa Utamaro

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
Beatien Yazz_mother_daughter_one
Beatien Yazz

*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
mother-and-child
Helene Schjerfbeck

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
Ravsaheb Gurav

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
Silva Manansala

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
B. K. Lusk

*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
Shijun Munns

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.