In 1964 the term action figure was coined by Hasbro because American boys refused to play with toys called “dolls.” However, dolls, toys made to mimic human form, have been played with for at least 5000 years by all genders. Though, most dolls from early history are found with the dead and it is theorized that they may not be toys at all but guides or helpers in the afterlife. They can also be used to guide and help us now.
Dolls are powerful tools helping children navigate and work on their social and emotional skills, and they have shaped all of us in some fashion. And we need to be aware that dolls push social ethics, morality and norms just by their appearance. That is why Calvin Ma’s art (above and below) is inspiring. He uses his action figures to “explore personal issues and struggles with social anxiety.” His figures covered in feathers, houses and black and white imagery represent our flight, fight or freeze instinct. Though it is designed to protect us from threat or danger, it can get hijacked into anxiety. His pieces give us a more positive and empowering version of our built-in defense system. They help guide us to use our fears to become our own personal superhero or at least a badass action figure.
Ma’s art work is at Sherrie Gallerie in Columbus, Ohio from July 28 to September 3, 2019, and at Antler Gallery in Portland, Oregon opening on November 28. Alongside these shows, Ma will also be sharing pieces in at SOFA Expo in Chicago and at Haven Gallery in Long Island, in late October and mid-December, respectively.
P.S. Remember 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.
Aries
King of Pentacles – This week the King of Pentacles gives energy to all projects that have to do with the material plane and reputation. This is a great week to put your business hat on, build capital, create physical items or hands on projects, or your pump up your social status. It is time to become your self-made master of your fortune and destiny. Motto- Just do it.
Taurus
Two of Wands – The Two of Wands declares this week’s energy is best used in planning for the future. This card is about the near future but where do you want to be or what do you want to accomplish in 2025. The challenge with this card is keeping your feet on the ground while your head is in the clouds.
Gemini
Nine of Cups – The last two weeks the Hierophant challenged you to hone your teaching skills. And then the Lovers card continued focusing on working with people, but had you switch from teacher to co-creator. This week the Nine of Cups’ energy is about sitting back and integrating those last two weeks’ lessons. The stipulation is that you only assimilate what or who makes you comfortable.
Cancer
*Sun – Okay the Universe snuck in another Big card for your coming year the Sun. The first card was the High Priestess (which is associated with your ruling planet, the Moon). The High Priestess has you focusing on intuition, serenity, cycles, introspection and the big picture for the coming year. Then the Sun closes out your birth month with its energy of growth and increasing your person shine. So, starting this week Cancer it is balancing both your inner needs with your outer goals. This coming year is pushing you to shine a bit stronger than your typical moonlight.
Leo
*Hierophant – Here is your first card of your birth year. The Hierophant’s theme for 2019-2020, is organization and structure. This is the year to put into place boundaries, set up schedules, start diets or exercise regimes, rituals anything that helps you structure and direct your energies and days. This is a year where saying No or Let me think about it is advised. The challenge with this coming year is that these ethics/morals/structures must come from you not society. It is easy to place societies’ expectations on ourselves – it releases our responsibility of choice. So, start this week with something simple – organize your closet or your junk drawer. Just make sure you do it in a way that satisfies you, not the wills or ideas of others.
Virgo
Five of Pentacles – The Five of Pentacles is the card of physical loss. This can be your keys or cash. So be careful this week on what you spend your money and time on and where you physically lay down your possessions. The challenge is asking for help when you find yourself at a loss.
Libra
*Death – The Death card rules the energy of organic change. This week is a great time to start the ball rolling to create change in places that have bottom out, dead-ended or ran out of oomph. The goal is to weed out the dead growth so new things can grow in its stead. The challenge comes when you try to rush or control the growth. This card’s lesson is kin to tending to a garden you can’t control the weather but you can pick the seeds that will grow well in it.
Scorpio
Ace of Cups – Love is in the air. All Aces are new beginnings, and this card focuses on new stages or diving to new depths of the heart. This week is advantageous to new relationships and deepening old ones. Your goal is to find out something new about the people that surround you, new and old. The challenge is sharing something new about yourself too. It takes two to tango.
Sagittarius
Queen of Wands – The Queen of Wands advises you to go play with Mother Nature this week. You soul is craving some me-time, and for your half-horse personality- nature or the open road does that best. So, get out of the house this week – road trip, hike, swim in a river, bike. This week is about movement and experiencing what Gaia has to offer.
Capricorn
Three and Four of Wands – Last week, the World card had you aligning your energy with the lunar eclipse to create amazing transformative and healing mojo. Now, the Three and Four of Wands has you focusing on short term goals and create a comfy home environment, while you are waiting for your longer-term goals to mature and their timing to line up. This week is about comfort and patience.
Aquarius
Ten of Cups – Your second Ten, so let’s dive a bit into what Ten means. Tens are perfect for completing cycles and that you enjoy and bask in that completion before moving on. Last week the Ten of Pentacles advised you to finish up a physical project and then relax your body. This Week the Ten of Cups adds the emotional relaxation to the physical. This week your challenge is to indulge in things that make you happy. Your song for this week : My Favorite Things or Happy
Pisces
Two of Cups – Two of Cups is the card of relationships. This is a great week to deepen the relationships that you have chosen and want to grow in your life. The only challenge with this card is that the give and take of these relationships need to feel balanced to you. If they are not, then you need to reevaluate how much energy you put into them.
May light be on you, around you, and within you,
Nina
My partner and I often create outlandish stories and conversations that we believe our cats are having with us, each other, the two squirrels that chatter on our screen porch, and one woodpecker that taps on the window every morning to converse with our younger cat. Artist 
*Hermit – Second big card in a row. Last week, the Sun card brought with it a sense of accomplishment and energized the week for getting things done, growing healthier, and succeeding in new ways. So last week it begged you to stay out in the Sun. This week is the opposite with the Hermit card. Where last week was getting out and meeting new people, this week you will need to pull away from society to get things done. The Hermit advises in all things gain perspective before acting on anything. This can look as simple as closing your office door or as complex as going on a retreat. Quiet is of the essence so you can hear yourself think.
Eight of Cups – Last week the World card close out your birthday month. With the Tower advising that to use this coming year to shake down the things that aren’t working in your life, so the world can bring you great opportunities. So, the first thing on your to-do list this week is clean your closets/drawers/shed/garage. It is a great week to unload some of the physical things that no longer work in your life. Lighten your load.
Four of Wands – No better way to start your first week of your new birth year then to make your home more comfortable. The Four of Wands is the card of a happy home. And Cancers home, as you know, is important to you. So, do what you must this week to make your abode feel more homey.
King of Wands – The King of Wands heralds this is a perfect week to be creative. He is the king of DIY, art in all its forms and inventions. And if you can’t do it then go and experience it. Go out in nature, museums, places that create awe and inspire you. 
Four of Cups – You are on a bit of an emotional roller coaster the past few weeks. This week continues the theme of ups and downs but with less altitude. This card advises that now is a good time to play in your inner world. But you must experience your outer world at least twice this week. Coming up for air is vital to your emotional health.
*Chariot – This is an auspicious week to create change. The Chariot is one of the big three cards of change. The challenge with this card is the change is all in your hands. Your work is to make sure you have a plan on your route and you are prepared for the long haul. Spend today plotting out where and what you are going to do, and you will get far. However, remember to remain flexible as you traverse through this week, for if your way is blocked it is all up to you to find an alternate route.
Five of Pentacles – The Five of Pentacles foretells a physical (material objects, projects, money) loss or break down can happen this week. To ward against this: Put your keys and phone in the same place, don’t invest in anything, nor decide to sell. The best way to work with this energy is stay the course, be frugal and ask for help.
Page of Cups – Last week, the Fool wanted you to take new journeys and indulged your 5 senses in new experiences, enjoying the varieties in life. The Page of Cups continues this theme whole-heartedly. This card challenges you to see the world through the eyes of a child. Find your wonder and curiosity with the world again.
*Judgement – Big week for you all with the Judgement card. This card’s energy is evolution. It is challenging you to awaken. Enlighten yourself. Make the big move to totally change your life. This can look as simple as starting a meditation practice to change your mind, health regime to change your body, committing to you’re a relationship to change your heart. Or as complex as change all three.
*Star – Last week the Judgment card had you pick something you want to evolve in your life. The Star continues that theme but also challenges you to heal. Think of your evolutionary phase like a crab changing its shell, a butterfly coming out of a cocoon, or a snake shedding their skin. All of them take their time to adjust to their new body and harden the softer parts. Take this week to heal. It can look as simple as taking a mental health day or as complex as taking the whole week.
Ace of Pentacles – New material beginnings this week. It is a great week to increase your resources, start a job, project, invest money. The only challenge with this card is you must do the work to get things started.
*Sun – The Sun card rises with in you a sense of accomplishment. You are getting things done, growing in healthier ways and succeeding in new ways. The light is shining on you this week, soak up its warmth. Put all the good things that happen to you this week in your pocket and save them for a rainy day. This week should be smooth sailing. So, if for some reason you aren’t feeling it – cross the street – you are just choosing to walk on the shady side.
Five of Swords – Chaos around communication is this week’s vibe. Misunderstandings can happen a lot this week. The best advice on how to manage it – is to get your ego out of the conversation. And watch out that you are not asked to do something you do not feel comfortable with. Don’t compromise your integrity to please.
*World – So here is your last power card for your new birth year – the World. Remember you got the Tower at the start of this month telling you to shake down the things that aren’t working in your life. And this is the reason why – the world is bringing you great opportunities this coming year to expand your horizons. This is a year to say yes to things. Keep your eyes and ears open, for each experience holds a gem in it just for you. Take heed, even those this card tells you to step through as many doors as possible; it also reminds you that you can walk right out. This birth year is time to change your paradigm.
Seven of Pentacles – The Seven of Pentacles is the card of work. Simply put, this week should be pretty easy to get things done, so it is a great time to get things off your to do list. The two cautions with this card is that all things take time and pace yourself. Use your time wisely.
Three of Swords – The Three of Swords tells you it is a good time to tend to old wounds. Time to get real with something, idea or person that has been bugging you. Put some thought into how to deal with this “thorn in your side”. Pulling it out slow or fast is up to you, but now is the time to let it heal. 
Ten of Cups – Last week, the Moon card came asking you to shine a light into the darkness of your subconscious. Your subconscious either had some healing, growing or disposing that needed to happen. So, the Moon had you watching areas you were triggered – where fear has been embedded. And told you to coax this fear out with food or love, so you could tame and befriend the fear. This week the Ten of Cups continues this theme of soothing, and suggests doing at least ten things that bring you joy this week. The only hard part of this card is thinking you don’t deserve it so you don’t do them.
Eight of Wands – Important information is coming to you this week. Ears, eyes and mind open. Also, this card is great if you need to aim for a goal. It can be more easily accomplished or moved forward when this card appears.
Knight of Swords – The Knight of Swords tells you not to rush into anything this week. This is a week to think before you act. Be a bit more careful than you usually are. On a very practical side watch injuries to your extremities.
*Fool – The Fool card is the card of the traveler and new journeys. Therefore, this is a great week to travel. If you must stay around home then take new roads to your destinations, travel with your mind by reading something new you would never read or eat something you have never eaten. This card wants you to get your 5 senses experiencing new horizons. Enjoy the varieties in life.
Six of Pentacles – Last week, the Chariot had you practicing not only your balance but also your fortitude. Challenging you to know thyself. To figure out what is the best way, time, space to harness the change and figuring out what pace to set so your stamina increases. The Six of Pentacles continues this theme of balance. However, it has you focusing on increasing and spreading positive change. The more you give the more you get. Of course, this also card says this can happen with the negative. So watch your P’s and Q’s.
*Judgement – Time to evolve something Aquarius. The Judgement card energies evolution. This week pick one thing that you want to change. This can be as simple as finally getting the layout of your kitchen working with more ease. so you aren’t running from one drawer to the next looking for the measuring cups. Or this can be as complex as evolving your relationship to a higher intimacy level. By having a heart to heart with the understanding that each of you will do it with love and compassion for the other.
Seven of Wands – The Seven of Wands is the card of feeling backed into a corner, or that there is no resolution to a problem. However, this card also reminds you that you are a fighter that wins. Because you have had the fortitude from going through much worse. This week is just a skirmish not a war. Resist giving in and you will be victorious.
Still celebrating the Earth this month by highlighting artist who highlight nature. The eco-artist for this week is 
*Chariot – Last week, the Ace of Cups and the Sun foretold your coming year as auspicious. Their combined power helps you expand any area of your life you focus on. And this week another big card surfaced, the Chariot – change that is totally in your control. So, this year’s mission is off to a running start this week. In its simplest form this card wants you to jump in your car, bike or shoes and get outside, find new places and explore. In a more complex form this card wants you to start – that project, business, and/or relationship you shelfed so long ago. The challenge with both last week and this week’s cards is if you want expansion or change it’s all in your hands. This year you need to make things happen, so grab the reins and go.
Ace of Coins – Happy Birthday month. What a great start to your birthday month. Ace of Coins means new beginnings on the material plane – business, money making, projects or your environment. This week start something that keeps your hands busy. The energy for new beginnings is literally held in the palms of your hands this week.
Four of Cups – The Four of Cups is the card on contemplation. You can do some belly-button gazing and self-compassion this week. However, your challenge is that you will need to look outside yourself to complete the answer/puzzle/picture.
*Hanged Man – The Hanged Man is the card of stagnation, or so it seems. It is the Universe giving you a forced time out to do some thinking or re-thinking. The challenge with this card is not doing the internal work that is needed. This can be as simple as being stuck somewhere and instead of playing on your phone, you do some proactive day dreaming. Or as complex as turning your perspective upside down for a week – like making the negatives into a positive and the positives finding their negatives. This reversal of thinking helps you see hidden cycles and scenarios. Side note- Do not make big decisions, start projects or relationships this week.
Three of Pentacles – The Three of Pentacles advises collaboration and practicing your skills on work with others. The “work” you do is better if you have another set of eyes to look it over and give you some pointers. Listen to others advice this week; it will give you deeper insight into projects and problems/solutions.
*Wheel of Fortune – The Wheel of Fortune is the card of karmic change. This week look for karmic intervention in your life. These are signs post of places that need changing. This can look as simple as you lose your keys three times in a row, so you need to get a place to hang your keys on when you get to your house. Or as complex as figuring out what is not working in your life by playing the mind game – What would you do if you won 100 million dollars, and then get to work making some of that happen with the salary you have now.
Eight of Swords – The Eight of Swords is the card of binding yourself with your thought patterns. This week it is time to let go of your negative thoughts. This challenge can be tricky and disguised, for your thoughts are as smart as you are. An example of a negative thought could be wrapped up in judgement of others which in turn allows you to overly judge yourself.
*Empress – The Empress foretells this is a great week to begin something that will grow over the next 9 to 10 months. This card comes when it is advantageous to cultivate your life in a way that is more comforting and relaxed way of life. The Empress also advise that you indulge all your senses this week. By doing so, your five/six senses will help you find the places or projects you want to grow. This can be as simple as planting a garden or as complex as planting seeds for the next cycle of your life. The challenges simple or complex are enjoying your growing pains and process along the gestation period, and it will take time to grow to a place where you can enjoy its bounty.
Three of Swords – The last two weeks you had Judgment, the card of evolution shedding your skin, molting your feathers, or wrapping up in a cocoon to evolve into the next phase of your journey. And the Lovers having you choose who gets to ride with you into this next stage. The Three of Swords continues this theme but is siding more with the challenges of Judgement and the Lovers. You have 3 negative thought patterns that are keeping you from your heart’s desire. It is hard to let go of some of our thoughts, but this week now is the time to pull out the thorn and do some healing. So you can evolve into the newer you.
Page of Cups– Time to put on your rose-colored glasses and bring out that set of unicorns to play with. This week the Page of Cups is wanting you to drop some of your sarcasm and cynicism and spread some joy around the office, home and/or neighborhood. Love and hope literally starts with you this week.
Happy Birthday Pisces!
Happy Birthday Scorpio. The above is what I consider the cutest snake in the world; however it is venomous. It is the tree dwelling bush viper found only in ancient rain forest of sub-Saharan Africa.
Last week, the High Priestess challenged you to go within, find your center and then watch cycles. This week the Knight of Pentacles has you take what you learned last week and turn outward applying it to what you are doing in the world. This is a week were being practical is paramount.
The King of Pentacles is the doer and builder of the lower arcane. Take that energy he brings to you expanding on work, projects and anything that has to do with the material plane. Your only challenge is not to “bulldoze” anything into existence. So be careful how and what you are treading on to get to get things done.
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