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Feelings as paths to artistry – New Moon in Cancer tarot reading

June 26, 2017

“Emotion like water must be free to move and flow”

Pat Liles, from The Power Path

The New Moon in Cancer invites us to flow with emotions. This tarot reading for the New Moon reflects on ways that feelings can be paths to artistry.

Here are some thoughts on this New Moon in Cancer from Mystic Mamma to set the scene for the energies available to us:

*NEW MOON* SuperMoon in Cancer on the heels of the Solstice, brings us an opportunity to begin again. She brings acknowledgement of our feelings and helps us uncover a deep seated remembrance that renews our connection with Source. Her gentle Life Wisdom returns us back home to our hearts.

Being focused on water and emotion, this New Moon feels like it’s all about learning to flow with our intuition and letting our feelings wash over and through us. From this, we can learn what feels right and what doesn’t. We can identify what no longer serves us and move through to new beginnings and moving more fully into our creativity.

This Cancer New Moon provides an opportunity to set intentions around working with feelings: feeling any loss, disappointment, the ebb and flow, the rainbows of opportunity and the freedom of letting go of what no longer serves us. This way we can step openheartedly into a new beginning or continue on a more optimistic path to artistry.

New moon in Cancer tarot reading tools:

For my reading for the Cancer New Moon, I worked with:

This New Moon tarot spread by Sam Roberts aka @escapingstars on IG:

And I worked with the Sakki Sakki Tarot deck by Monicka Clio Sakki which is my favourite tarot deck especially for questions around creativity.

Tarot reading: The Star, The Fool, The Artist

So here’s the reading:

First up – I had to laugh in recognition at the Ten of Swords coming straight out the blocks around “Where am I right now in my life?” Yes, it is feeling a bit Ten of Swords right now, it’s true and I own my part in contributing to that feeling and getting stuck there. It’s great I can laugh about it now. Once upon a time, the Ten of Swords would freak me out with its direct imagery. But now I see it as a positive thing, a reminder to move on and through anything negative I’m focusing on that is holding me back.

It was so fabulous to see the The Star, The Fool and The Artist appearing in this spread with their individual and collective magic around artistry and creativity. I was especially happy to see The Artist arrive, a card unique to the Sakki Sakki deck and linked to the planet Chiron which focuses on artistry, doing our art and the process of creating our lives. And the Five of Cups, being a watery card, seems to be the key for setting intentions for this New Moon.

Tarot reading – card by card:

So here are some deeper thoughts, card by card, in relation to the questions. I worked intuitively with some key supporting words from the Mystic Mamma post above, the Sakki Sakki tarot guidebook, the The Nomad Guide to the Tarot, Colette Baron-Reid’s The Good Tarot guidebook and Jessa Crispin’s awesome book The Creative Tarot.

1 Where am I right now in my life? TEN of SWORDS

Yes, I’m feeling somewhat back-stabbed, a bit low and yes, it feels somewhat overdone at this time through my own thought patterns. And yes, some things are over and best left behind. It’s time to take what I need from those experiences and move on.

The Nomad Guide to the Tarot reminds us around this card that it’s how we replay any betrayal in our own minds that creates the biggest impact. Remaining a victim does not serve us.

So, this card reminds me that the only way is up. I need to look at how I am complicit in my own negativity. Working through feelings and being optimistic, taking what I need and moving on seems to be the message from this card at this time.

2 What is blocking me for growing? What do I need to leave behind? The STAR

Worrying about others, comparisons and worrying about where I need to be.
I need to leave this behind and follow my own orientation and constellation, my own bright star and know that that is exactly where I need to be.

As Jessa Crispin’s ‘The Creative Tarot’ reminds us:

..at the end of that process is the Star. Orientation. You figure out where you are, you figure out how to navigate your way to getting there. It’s card of healing, of feeling perfectly placed.

It’s time to let go of that comparison focus, that measurement against others, that tracking against others’ constellations. It’s truly time to navigate by the compass points of my passions and feelings. The healing is in trusting your own inspiration and influences and bringing them together in your own unique, incomparable way.

3 What intentions should I set in order to grow? FIVE of CUPS

I should look at the full cups and not just the empty or fallen cups at this time.
I need to accept the loss of some things and find the hope and excitement in moving on.

Key words from Sakki Sakki Tarot: “loss of one’s dreams, disappointment, incomplete relationships, accepting loss, regret, finding hope.”

There’s definitely some releasing of grief to be done here. It’s more the grief of seeing how you thought life was going and then finding it’s not going that way. It’s not bad; in fact, it’s possibly fabulous. But it doesn’t mean that there’s not some grief around identity, the person you thought you were or that part of you that you saw shining in that way.

‘The Creative Tarot’ reminds us for the Five of Cups:

The only way is through. Feel the loss, but then eventually get over it so you can get back to work. (Page 157)

The Good Tarot Guidebook, in its affirmative and optimistic style, offers positive ways of reframing for the future and these ones speak to me:

I feel the fullness of my emotions as they wash through me.

The ebb and flow are part of life, and I am present in my feelings today.

I deserve the freedom that comes when I release what is no longer working for me.

Pat Liles from The Power Path suggests that this fullness of emotions connects right through to our deepest levels:

Under the influence of this water sign, our emotional, feeling bodies are opened up, we nourish ourselves at the deepest root levels, and we connect in new powerful ways to our ancestral roots and to our clans, tribes and families.

The image of a waterfall seems so apt now – that sense of being washed through with the freshest water of our emotions, feeling it at the deepest levels. I swam in a cool waterfall pool this week at the winter solstice and it felt so refreshing, like being washed clear but connecting deeply with what matters. This is what is called for now.

4 What knowledge do I need to gain to aid in the cultivation of my intentions? THE FOOL

have a beginner’s mind, be open, see afresh, feel anew
let it all wash through so I can start again
embrace the unknown

Key words from Sakki Sakki Tarot: “blank slate, no mind, new beginnings, embracing the unknown, inner trust, naivete, leap of faith.”

As the Sakki Sakki Guidebook reminds us, it’s time to “follow unconventional paths into the unknown”.

So The Fool together with the Star and Five of Cups is suggesting that the knowledge needed is openness, a willingness to experiment and tread new paths. As with the reminder not to be focused on comparison, it’s about making new ground, new connections and not being afraid to be different.

Our own uniqueness can be a form of healing as Mark Nepo reminds us for the wisdom for the day I am writing (25 June) in The Book of Awakening:

We become so preoccupied with what we are not able to address, what we are not able to mend, what we are not able to leave behind, that we forget that whatever we are in the light of day is slowly, but surely, healing the rest of us.

It’s time to focus on what is rather than what is not.

5 What positive energy will emerge during this phase? The ARTIST

The Artist is a 79th card in the Sakki Sakki Tarot deck. It’s about the energy of creation. And it’s about process and the artistry of creating one’s own life.

Key words from the Sakki Sakki Tarot: “everyone is an artist, crafting one’s own life, living one’s truth, artist as a process, not a state. believing without knowing.”

It’s the card I chose to symbolise Quiet Writing when I launched my brand and business into the world in September last year with my new website. This post focused on The Artist and its message:

Quiet Writing is about the strength that comes from working steadily and without fanfare in writing and other spheres to create, coalesce, influence and connect. It’s an opportunity to muse and reflect on my core values and the interplay between them. In this, I draw on and connect my various experiences and interests as well as connecting with others who share them.

Many of us have been on what Elizabeth Gilbert calls, in one of her wonderful Magic Lessons, ‘the long runway’ and it’s valuable preparation we need to acknowledge. I want to honour the process as much as the product here; the being, becoming and journey as much as the arrival; the artistry behind the closed curtains and doors.

The Artist card in the Sakki Sakki Tarot deck beautifully symbolises this potential and opportunity:

This is not to say that publication, product and stage are not important and a desirable outcome; but we can focus too much on that external validation and not value our work and its process as it evolves in the present. The act of quiet writing and the solitude to capture ideas and craft them, especially for introverts who so need this, is the space from which so much can flow, connect and be created. The conditions, environment, relationships and influences which enable our creative endeavours to flourish are also crucial shaping factors.

I’m interested especially in the gift of writing and finding our unique voice to articulate our place in the world and express the artistry of everyday life.

So it seems this positive energy is about getting back to my original vision for Quiet Writing and honouring it in everything I do. Especially it’s about honing our unique voice to articulate our place and our personal artistry in the world.

As the Sakki Sakki Tarot Guidebook reminds us:

When you don’t know which way to go, focus on working your art, because this will show you the way.

Ways to honour artistry

So are your thoughts also around how we craft our own life, the process rather than the product and moving through the emotions that honour that?

If so, here are some questions around this prompted by the Cancer New Moon, the tarot spread by Sam Roberts and reflections on my reading.

They are around practically embracing artistry and moving through silencing the inner critic and being playful.

Journal, reflect or brainstorm around them to help your own artistry begin to unfold further at this time of opportunity:

How is your art or your creativity showing you the way?
How can you work further with your creativity to help you shift into the unknown in a positive way?
Where are you still remaining a victim or focusing on negative thoughts?
How can you move through this – waterfall and Five of Cups style – letting it wash through you and moving on eg journalling, unsent letter to whatever/whoever caused the pain, dialoguing with the pain, writing it all on a piece of paper and burning it or throwing it away?
How can you be present in your feelings today?
What are the full cups in your life – the ones you need to celebrate and nurture?
Where do you need to practise having a beginner’s mind?
How can you practically do this: vision board work, brainstorming, writing what’s in your heart, following your passions even thought you don’t know where they might lead?
What does “the artistry of everyday life” meant to you and how can you practise it?
What’s your intention, following your own journey, for this New Moon in Cancer?

Wisdom from The Star

And here is some final wisdom from The Star via the Art of Life Tarot:

May you follow the bright star of the constellation of you this New Moon. And may it lead you into prosperous and happier times. As Dante Alighieri reminds us, it can’t fail us.

Waterfall feature image from pexels.com and used with permission and thanks.

Keep in touch

Quiet Writing is on Facebook – Please visit here and ‘Like’ to keep in touch and interact with the growing Quiet Writing community. There are regular posts on tarot, intuition, influence, passion, creativity, productivity, writing, voice, introversion and Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI).

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Intuition, new moon and a new year

January 5, 2017

Intuition and the narrative of tarot

Happy New Year! It’s a time of newness all round including learning to use my intuition when working with tarot and oracle cards. I’ve been moving from the narrative of ‘I’m still learning tarot’ to ‘I’m writing the narrative of tarot and what it means in my life.’

I’ve been working on New Moon and Full Moon tarot readings for a while now in an intuitive way. After posting one such spread on Instagram recently, someone asked, “What does it mean?” So I thought I would take some time at this new year to focus on intuition, tarot and new starts here at Quiet Writing.

In particular, I’ll focus on a New Moon in Capricorn reading from the end of 2016 and preparing for 2017.

Tarot and oracle cards are like reading an ongoing narrative of your life. As with any narrative, there is a protagonist, an immediate setting and a broader context. The protagonist is the subject of the reading, in this case, me but could also relate to you as the reader here. The setting is the individual circumstances so what is going on around me. The broader context is the lunar and astrological conditions in which the reading takes place and the energy around it.

New moon preparations

The first things I do are identify the time of the new moon (or full moon) where I am in the world. I like to understand the moon energy context in which I am reading the cards. I find the following two astrological reports to be fabulous for this context:

Mystic Mamma – there’s always an excellent curated summary of key trends for each lunar event at Mystic Mamma. Here’s the one for the Capricorn New Moon with the overall message of stepping back to reflect and release in preparation for 2017.

KV at Aquarius Nation – there’s an abundance of rich material available at Aquarius Nation too with a focus on customised intuitive guidance including by sign. You can subscribe for regular and very detailed lunar updates which are valuable.

New moon spread

Next step is to work out the reading you wish to do and an appropriate spread for the lunar happenings. I really love the moon spreads prepared by Sam Robertson aka @escapingstars on Instagram. Each New Moon and Full Moon, Sam prepares a specially tailored spread and posts it on IG. Below is the spread for the recent Capricorn New Moon that came to us in Sydney at 5:53pm on 29 December 2016:

Personal preparations

In terms of getting ready, key things are:

making space and time around the energy of the moon – it’s so easy to get side-tracked and miss the important times!
preparing personally and spiritually with whatever helps your energy – crystals, candles, intentions, words that help to call in guidance from spirits, guides and ancestors
making sure you have practical things like water, a notebook and something to write with, your camera if you wish to records the cards and any key tarot reference books on hand to support your intuitive work.

Using your intuition

I’ve been trying to use my intuition more for a while now and not go straight to tarot books. So many of the teachers and leaders in this space encourage this. But as an INTJ Myers Briggs type, my intuition and intellect are always jostling a little to step in first.

It’s so tempting to go straight to the book and not allow your intuition to have the first go. I’m just beginning to get comfortable with relying on my intuition first and foremost. In fact, this reading was the first I managed that felt right without referring to tarot books first. I was very pleased and excited by that!

I did check in afterwards with a few reference books for any further perspectives to add to my intuitive read. I find that this is a great way to develop my burgeoning tarot knowledge.

I’ve just started Susannah Conway’s 78 Mirrors e-course too which has been on my list for a while now and am loving an intuitive deep dive and more learning about tarot for the next six weeks.

My New Moon in Capricorn reading:

Below is my New Moon in Capricorn reading for December 29 2016 in line with the @escapingstars spread and using the Sakki Sakki Tarot deck:

Here’s my reading and intuitive interpretation, plus any key perspectives from tarot reference books.

1 What thoughts or behaviours do I need to purge before the New Year?

Card: DEATH

I know the Death card can bring on an intake of breath but it’s really all about approaches to change.

My first intuitive thoughts were that I need to purge the thoughts or behaviours that stop me from getting to where I want to go. That’s really anything leading to atrophy and dullness. This means any self-defeating and excessive behaviours like: eating too much, drinking too much, protecting others too much, taking on things for others and comparing myself to others. A key message coming through is to go on my journey and allow others their journey. I need to move into change without fear.

Seventy Eight Degrees of Wisdom adds this insight which resonates:

Contrary to what many people believe the card of Death does not actually refer to transformation. Rather, it shows us the precise moment at which we give up the old masks and allow the transformation to take place.

2 Where do I need to draw healing energies into myself in order to dig into my power?

Card: TWO of RODS (WANDS)

The Two of Rods is saying that I need to open co-operative energies around working with others. Rather than getting stuck in ‘comparisonitis’, I need to be creatively open to others, their gifts and their work and in this way, open myself to my own gifts.

Playing with Symbols, which is a companion to the Sakki Sakki deck, reinforces:

This is a time to set goals, define a course of action and see what else or whom else to include in your plans. The need for collaboration does not take away your independence – it only opens new possibilities.

3 What intentions would bring me in harmony with my most genuine Self?

Card: EIGHT of CUPS

This card has been appearing consistently over the past year with a strong message. This message is about making peace with the past and moving on. It’s about turning my back on my previous success in one sphere and shifting to a new body of work and journey. It’s also about realising that the heart of my work continues over time – that is, the cups are full and it’s my choice. All of this contributes to self, spirit and skill and a richness that I can share with others from my experiences.

The booklet accompanying the Robin Wood tarot deck succinctly sums up:

Enough of this!

Meaning: Abandonment of this phase of life, rejection of material things and a turning towards spiritual things…A search for new paths.

4 How can I stay grounded with all the plans and intentions flying around me?

Card: KNIGHT of CUPS

The Knight of Cups is reminding me to stay grounded by balancing dreams with action. It’s also suggesting that I need to focus on my gifts and strengths and what I have to give to others. I’m also being encouraged to be open to the gifts of others, as suggested by the Two of Rods in this reading.

Seventy Eight Degrees of Wisdom says about this card:

The Knight has not learned that the true imagination feeds on action rather than fantasy. By this I mean that if we do nothing with our dreams they remain vague and unrelated to the rest of our lives.

Ouch. So definitely a resonating point here to focus on action in relation to gifts and strengths. I need to keep moving, connecting the pieces together.

5 How can I best tend to my inner needs?

Card: FOUR of COINS (PENTACLES)

My intuitive thoughts with this card are that I need to go deep, nurture, nourish and hold close what I value. I need to develop my own knowledge and frames of understanding for the areas I wish to explore further. They are my passions and the intersection of them is what I want to share and communicate with the world.

As above, connecting the pieces in my unique way is the best way to tend to my inner needs.

As Seventy Eight Degrees of Wisdom explains:

Finally, on a very deep level, the Four of Pentacles symbolizes the way in which the human mind gives structure and meaning to the chaos of the material universe.

6 How can I use the energies of the New Moon to plan and guide the upcoming year?

Card: EIGHT of SWORDS

This card speaks to me of reflecting on what’s holding me back, the limitations and the blindfolds. It’s important to realise that this is the end of a cycle with a universal 1 year in 2017. This card suggests the best use of the new moon energies is to acknowledge any restrictions, especially those I put on myself, and to basically let them go, step up and let it rip in 2017.

As Playing with Symbols states:

The Eight of Swords is calling you to break out of restricting habits and thoughts, and to initiate your own well-being and advancement by heightening your awareness of your abilities and options.

This echoes the messages of the Death card (purging what no longer serves), Eight of Cups (realising abilities) and the Four of Coins (creating meaning).

Using intuitive gifts

One of the areas I have been exploring and will be working further on in 2017 is Myer Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). It’s been so valuable to me to understand my personality type and orientation. I’m looking forward to working to help others understand their type and unique gifts to the world.

This is one of the key creative pieces I am connecting as I move forward in 2017.

As an INTJ, my dominant gift is Introverted Intuition. I’ve mainly exercised this in the work sphere until recently. Tarot and oracle cards are helping me to connect and exercise my natural intuitive gifts in other spheres of my life.

It’s a powerful experience to trust your intuition to read the cards and their symbols naturally without first consulting texts and books. But it does take a leap of faith and a stepping into the unknown in some ways. It’s scary at first but exciting and I look forward to richer intuitive work as I go deeper in 2017.

And I look forward to sharing this with you.

Would love to hear about your experiences:

Where have you been working more intuitively in your life? How has it helped you?

Please leave a comment below as I would love to hear more about how intuition is playing out for you in your life.

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2 Comments

new moon

Feelings as paths to artistry – New Moon in Cancer tarot reading

“Emotion like water must be free to move and flow”

Pat Liles, from The Power Path

New moon in Cancer tarot reading tools:

Tarot reading: The Star, The Fool, The Artist

Tarot reading – card by card:

Ways to honour artistry

Wisdom from The Star

Keep in touch

Like this:

Intuition, new moon and a new year

Intuition and the narrative of tarot

New moon preparations

New moon spread

Personal preparations

Using your intuition

My New Moon in Capricorn reading:

Using intuitive gifts

Would love to hear about your experiences:

Please share and keep in touch:

Like this:

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new moon

“Emotion like water must be free to move and flow”

Pat Liles, from The Power Path

New moon in Cancer tarot reading tools:

Tarot reading: The Star, The Fool, The Artist

Tarot reading – card by card:

Ways to honour artistry

Wisdom from The Star

Keep in touch

Share this:

Like this:

Intuition and the narrative of tarot

New moon preparations

New moon spread

Personal preparations

Using your intuition

My New Moon in Capricorn reading:

Using intuitive gifts

Would love to hear about your experiences:

Please share and keep in touch:

Share this:

Like this:

PRIVACY POLICY

COOKIE POLICY

Instagram