A Card Spread for Eclipse Season

Eclipses can seem scary, and they are certainly a powerful energy! Generally, eclipses are thought to be wild cards, magnifying the energy of a new moon (for a solar eclipse) or a full moon (for a lunar eclipse). I like to think of eclipses as portals for endings and beginnings —things may be “eclipsed out” or “eclipsed in.” It’s common for births, moves, engagements, new jobs, break-ups, new relationships, and more to happen around eclipses and during eclipse season.

Eclipses can also be powerful illuminators, bringing hidden truths and feelings to the light for us to work with and heal through. They’re an important time to carve out space for listening, noticing, and receiving information. You can learn more about eclipses and how they interact with your specific birth chart in this blog post. 

With these current (Summer of 2020) eclipses taking place during Gemini and Cancer season, themes you might expect to come up in your life are around communication, being seen, home and family, and ancestral healing. Litha, or the summer solstice, also takes place during this eclipse season, highlighting themes of joy, vitality, abundance, and growth. 

Tip: If you’re reading this post later than the Summer of 2020, the card spreads are valid for any eclipse season!

Working with tarot or oracle cards can be powerful anytime, but especially during eclipse season. You can use the card spread below to more clearly understand the invitations, challenges, and opportunities of eclipse season for yourself. 

A CARD SPREAD FOR ECLIPSE SEASON

Before drawing your cards, take a moment to ground and center yourself. This might look like just taking a few deep breaths, or laying on the ground and feeling all the points of contact your body is making with the Earth. 

When you feel ready, set an intention for your spread. You might ask your higher self, your spirit guides, your intuition, or another helpful energy you’re familiar with to communicate with you through the cards. Shuffle your deck, and pull a card for each of the questions below:

• What (pattern, limiting belief, structure, relationship, etc.) is eclipsing out?

• Who am I right now?

• Challenge of this eclipse season

• What am I not seeing clearly?

• What healing do I need through this season?

• What (pattern, limiting belief, structure, relationship, etc.) is eclipsing in?

• How am I ready to evolve?

• Who will I be emerging from this eclipse season?

Take some time after pulling your cards to meditate and/or journal with them. This can really help you process and integrate their meanings!If you use this spread, feel free to share your cards over on Instagram and tag us at @cassieuhl! We would love to hear your interpretations of your cards.

Three Dark Moon Rituals

The dark moon is one of my personal favorite times of the cycle. It’s the last few days of the waning time of the cycle, when the moon continues to shrink and eventually disappears from the sky.

Different traditions honor the dark moon at different times. Personally, I honor the dark moon when you can’t see the moon at all in the sky--which is technically the new moon. Others honor the dark moon the last few days before the new moon. I recommend using your intuition and noticing how you feel during these days to understand when to honor the dark moon versus new moon.

So what is the dark moon all about?

The dark moon is our time for radical rest, for deep clearing and releasing, and turning within. This is the time to cancel plans, to do shadow work, to go to sleep early and wake up late, and to pull tarot or oracle cards to tune in to your inner voice.

Keep scrolling for a few rituals to consider working with at this time.

WATER SPELL FOR CLEARING

One of my favorite spells to work during the dark moon is this simple water spell. Water is a helpful element for cleansing and purification, and this spell works especially well when the dark moon is in a water sign--Pisces, Cancer, or Scorpio. You’ll need:

• A large glass of water

• A piece of paper and pen

To start, choose what you’re focusing on releasing. Maybe there are blocks to self-expression, fear of being rejected, shame around your path, or blocks to abundance. Once you’ve decided what you’re ready to release (you’re welcome to spend some time journaling on this to get clear), start making a list of all the limiting beliefs and stories that you hold associated with this block.For example, let’s say you’re working with clearing blocks to abundance. Your list might hold beliefs like:

• I can’t make money doing what I love

• People with money are jerks

• It’s wrong to have money when other people have so little, etc.

Keep letting the beliefs flow! I tend to fill up a whole page when I do this spell.

Once you have your list, it’s time to work the spell. Ground yourself, cast your circle, and pick up your list. You’re going to say the first belief out loud, starting with “I clear the belief that ________ from my body” and then taking a big sip of water. Pause and notice, feeling and visualizing the water moving through your body, cleansing this belief from your system on every level.

Repeat this for each belief on your list, taking your time and really feeling the beliefs move out of your body.

Card featured from The Ritual Deck

When you’re done, use the energy of your palms to charge your last sip of water with what you do want - abundance, healthy self-expression, creativity, etc. - and feel your whole body being charged with this intention by the power of the element of water.

Give thanks to water and the Universe for their help, ground yourself again and open your circle.

CANDLE MAGICK FOR RELEASING

For this spell, you’ll need:

• Black taper candle

• Carving tool like a sharp point crystal, toothpick, or athame

• Black tourmaline, smoky quartz, or petrified wood

• A simple oil like grapeseed or bergamot essential oil

• Rosemary

Start by cleansing all of your items for the spell. This can be done by wafting rosemary smoke over them or visualizing light cleansing them.

For this spell, you’ll be carving what you’re releasing into your candle as well as the glyph for Pluto, the planet that helps things die and be transformed. For your words, keep them simple and powerful by carving the basics of what you’re releasing like “fear” or “self-doubt.”

Anoint your candle with your oil and roll it in your dried rosemary. As you carve and anoint your candle, visualize your all of whatever you’re releasing - your fear or your self-doubt as in the example above - pouring into the candle.

Place your crystal(s) and candle on your altar, light your candle, and start meditating on the flame. Continue to visualize all that you’re releasing pouring into the candle, and watch as it burns and turns to smoke. Stay with this meditation until you feel a shift in your energy - until you really feel a release.

Let the candle burn out if you can or snuff out the candle and continue the same spell each night until the candle has burned completely.

SHADOW WORK TAROT OR ORACLE SPREAD

The dark moon is a deep invitation into shadow work.

What is shadow work?

Simply put, it’s an intentional exploration of our shadow side - the parts of ourselves that we reject, that we’re ashamed of, that we stuff down and hide. Click here to learn more about shadow work if you’re new to it!

For this ritual, you’ll want to create a ritual space - whatever that means to you. For me, it usually means cleansing my space with smoke beforehand, lighting incense, and lighting candles. Maybe you also like to take an essential oil bath beforehand, or sprinkle herbs in a circle around you.

All you’ll need for this ritual is:

• A journal and pen

• Your tarot or oracle cards

Spend a few moments grounding yourself, then shuffle your cards and pull a card for each of these questions:

• What part of my shadow is rising to the surface to be worked with?

• How has rejecting this part of myself manifested in my life?

• How can I show this part of myself more love and integrate it into my whole self?

Give yourself the gift of sitting with your cards after you pull them. Spend time meditating on your cards, journaling about them, or even painting with them to process and understand what their messages are for you.

NEW MOON CARD SPREAD

Every new moon, we get a beautiful opportunity for a fresh start. The new moon is the time of the lunar cycle where we get to dream, vision, and set intentions for what we would like to heal, manifest, and create for the new cycle.

Cards, whether oracle or tarot (learn all about the difference between oracle & tarot cards and how to choose here), can be a powerful way to help us gain clarity and understand how to work with the whole cycle holistically. 

Keep scrolling for your new moon card spread and to learn how to work with the cards throughout the whole moon cycle!

Cards featured from The Ritual Deck.

CARD SPREAD FOR THE NEW MOON

This is a card spread designed to help you work with the moon cycle holistically- through all of the major moon phases of the cycle including the new moon, first quarter moon, full moon, last quarter moon, and dark moon.

To ritualize drawing cards, you might like to take some time before getting started to light incense or burn other herbs, ground yourself (click here for suggestions on how to get grounded), and/or do a practice that helps you open your channels such as breathwork, a movement practice, or a visualization meditation.

When you feel ready, you can start pulling cards:

1. What cycle is opening up for me?

2. What wants to emerge, grow, be tended this cycle?

3. What blocks are coming up around this? (Draw one to three cards - let your intuition guide you!)

4. Why this block is here/the shadow underneath the block (draw one card for each blockage card)

5. Advice for healing these blocks (draw one card for each blockage card)

6. Advice for working with these energies to come back to myself

This card spread can offer some beautiful guidance for working with the phases of the moon holistically. I’m going to cover the 5 major phases of the moon below - the new moon, waxing moon, full moon, waning moon, and dark moon.

THE NEW MOON

The new moon is a time of dreaming and feeling into what you want to grow during the cycle. So during the new moon time, you’ll want to focus on cards one and two. I recommend creating an altar based around the themes of these cards.

For example, if the cards showed that in this cycle, spirit is inviting you to work with your creativity, then you could create an altar representing your creative energy blossoming. This might include lush flowers, the tarot cards you drew, anything that represents your creativity to you, and sacral chakra crystals like carnelian, peach selenite, or tiger’s eye.  

Seeds are always a great addition to a new moon altar as well, a symbol of what you’re planting this cycle.

WAXING MOON

The waxing moon is the time for action. It’s an opportune time for taking the steps needed to bring your dream, your desire, into reality. During the waxing moon, you’ll want to focus on the steps that need to be taken to help card number 2 emerge and grow.

This could be internal or external! Often, I find, it’s a combination of both. 

For example, say that your cards showed that this cycle is all about growing your business. During the waxing moon phase, this could be a time where you take more external steps to grow your business (like sending your newsletter, making a content calendar for Instagram and sticking to it, etc.) as well as doing an abundance ritual. 

[Looking for abundance rituals to work with? Find four abundance rituals on the blog here.]

Remember to work with the sixth card, advice for working with the energies this cycle to come back to yourself, to support you through every phase.

FULL MOON

The full moon can feel like “everything all at once,” as one of my teachers says. The water in our bodies is heightened- emotions, intuition, fertility, psychic abilities. This is the last big push in the growth phase of the cycle so it’s the perfect time to do a manifestation ritual around your first and second cards, what it is you’re cultivating this cycle.

Notice any feelings or downloads you receive at this time and take note - you’ll weave them into your work through the waning part of the cycle.

WANING MOON

The waning moon is a time for shadow work, for releasing, for turning inward. It’s our invitation to work with cards three through five of the spread above: the blocks around your dream or desire, the shadow underneath the block, and the advice for healing these blocks.

This is a great time to explore the roots of these blocks and do practices like tapping (EFT) or breathwork to deprogram the stories and patterns that make up those blocks. If any of those blocks feel ready to be released, this is also the time to release them!

DARK MOON

The dark moon is the time of the cycle when the moon disappears from the sky. It’s a deeply internal time for rest, shadow work, banishing work, and cord-cutting.

If you feel ready at this time to release the blocks and work with the fifth card, the advice for healing those blocks, this is the time. A cord-cutting ceremony or banishing ritual would be ideal to help you wrap up the cycle and release these blocks once and for all.

You can return to this new moon card spread with every new moon to help guide your cycle. Want more rituals for the new moon? Click here!

Rituals to Help You Thrive During Mercury Retrograde

Every Mercury retrograde, it feels like the whole internet goes crazy (including Instagram crashing, the technology breakdowns with Mercury retrograde are real!) for a while with memes blaming a whole slew of problems on Mercury retrograde.

But the fact is, Mercury goes retrograde a few times a year every year, and it can be an incredibly potent time for your growth and transformation if you treat it as such. I really believe that all cosmic events happen for us, not to us, and we can let them have power over us or we can view them as empowering invitations to help us on our journeys in specific ways.

In this blog, I’ll be sharing some rituals for Mercury retrograde to help you tap into the magic of this time. But first, what is Mercury retrograde?

WHAT IS MERCURY RETROGRADE

Mercury retrograde occurs when it appears from planet Earth that Mercury has slowed down, stopped, and moved backwards.

Mercury doesn’t actually move backwards--this is just a function of the orbits of Mercury and Earth.

HOW TO USE MERCURY RETROGRADE

Mercury is the planet of communication, of the voice, of how we receive, process, and share information and wisdom.

So Mercury retrograde always highlights these themes for us, asking us to look at our challenges, blocks, and wounds around communication, the voice, and how we exchange with other people.

It’s a beautiful time for turning inward, slowing down, connecting with our intuition, and reflecting on our own process. Use the rituals below to help you make the most of this time!

TAROT OR ORACLE SPREAD FOR MERCURY RETROGRADE

Mercury Retrograde can be a time of incredibly deep listening--listening that we’re able to drop into because we’re slowing down, turning inward, and turning off the external “noise.” Cards, whether you prefer tarot or oracle cards, are a great tool to assist you with this. Use this simple tarot spread to help you understand how to use Mercury retrograde to deepen your understanding of yourself and your journey.

To ritualize drawing cards, you might like to take some time before getting started to light incense or burn other herbs, ground yourself (click here for suggestions on how to get grounded), and/or do a practice that helps you open your channels such as breathwork, a movement practice, or a visualization meditation.

When you feel ready, you can start pulling cards:

1. What inner work am I being invited into this Mercury Retrograde?

2. What in my life needs re-evaluating during this Mercury Retrograde?

3. How can I care for and give to myself during this phase?

4. Where is this Mercury Retrograde leading me?

SPELL BAG FOR CLEAR COMMUNICATION

Spell bags are one of my favorite ways to work with spells. They’re simple, effective, and you can work with the same bag for a while. My favorite kind of spell! Here’s what you’ll need to create a spell bag for clear communication:

• A small cloth bag

• Marshmallow, rosemary, or thyme herbs

• A drop or two of lavender, grapefruit, rosemary, or time essential oils (optional)

• The King of Swords tarot card (you can put the actual card in, or make a photocopy of it and put the photocopy in)

• Sodalite, lapis lazuli, blue topaz, and/or blue lace agate

• A relevant mantra, phrase, or sigil (learn how to create your own basic sigil here) on a piece of paper. Here are some suggestions, but feel free to use your own:

  • I express myself authentically and clearly

  • Sat nam, a Kundalini mantra meaning “truth is my identity”

  • Ham, the bija or seed mantra for the throat chakra

  • I always communicate clearly and my words are received as I intended them

As you place each item in your bag, visualize healing blue light flowing into your body, filling you up with this fresh energy of clear communication and truth-speaking.

Place your bag on your altar and leave it there for a full moon cycle!

RADICAL REST

In a culture that prioritizes the yang, the active, the solar--rest is radical. I recommend blocking off an evening, a weekend day, whatever time period you’re able to and creating an intentional, luxurious time of rest.

Here’s what that might look like:

• Take a bath with your favorite herbs, oils, crystals, and candles (click here for some herbal bath recipes to inspire you!)

• Wear your favorite clothes with soft, sensual fabrics and eat chocolate (or whatever other sweet treats you love--chocolate for me!)

• Bring a blanket to the park and nothing else (no phone, no book, no distractions) and just lay down and watch the clouds move, or the stars and moon if it’s nighttime.

• Turn off your phone, cancel your plans, and stay in to read inspiring books or watch a documentary.

• Turn radical rest into a ritual by bringing intentionality to it and creating a ritual space, whatever that means to you.

• That could mean lighting candles, having your crystals in a circle around you as you lay under the stars, meditating in the bath, or breathing deeply as you eat.

The options are endless! Give yourself full permission to rest in whatever way feels best to you.

Remember, Mercury Retrograde is here to help us. The things we associate with Mercury Retrograde, like communication breakdowns and technology glitches, can certainly happen. But the invitations we receive through that--turning inward, slowing down, acceptance, re-evaluation--can be beautiful if we choose to say yes and sit with our discomfort.

How to Create Oracle Card Spreads For Any Purpose

Wherever you’re seeking guidance, your oracle cards can help! Oracle cards are an intuitive tool that can help you gain daily wisdom or insights on significant life challenges. Though I’m partial to my oracle card deck, The Ritual Deck, you can apply this to any oracle card deck you’d like or, your favorite tarot cards.

Hint: Learn more about the difference between tarot and oracle cards here.

If you’re new to the world of oracle cards no need to be intimidated, you’re in the right place to learn how to perform oracle card readings for any issue.If you’re a seasoned oracle card reader, let’s breathe some new life into your card reading practice!

Bonus: Keep reading for links to download a free oracle card cheat sheet for love and a new moon.

Asking The Right Kinds of Questions

As is the case with most intuitive tools, oracle cards included, they will rarely give you a simple black and white answer. Your guides and higher self can help lead you but don’t expect definitive answers. Your life is your life, and you lead the way.

For example, if you’re trying to find a romantic partner. Instead of asking your cards, “When will I find love,” think about the different aspects involved with finding a partner and what you could focus on to manifest more love in your life.

Here are some possible questions to ask your oracle cards when looking for love:

Love 5-Card Spread

• How can I love myself more?

• What areas of my life should I focus on to find love?

• What should I look for in a partner?

• What is holding me back from receiving love?

• What is holding me back from finding a romantic partner?

Click here to receive a printable card layout for the 5-card love spread.

Sample Questions

Here are some open-ended sample questions that work well for oracle card readings.

• How can I invite more ____________ into my life?

• How can I overcome my fear of _____________ ?

• Am I going in the right direction with _____________ ?

• How can I let go of ____________ ?

• What should I focus on today?

• What should I focus on during this moon cycle?

• Where can I find more __________ in my life?

• What is blocking me from ____________ ?

• What is preventing me from manifesting ______________ ?

• In what ways am I holding myself back?

• How can I be in better alignment with my purpose?

How Many Cards Should I Pull?

You can pull one card or twenty cards. Your card readings can be as in-depth as you need them to be. It can be helpful to have an idea of what questions you’d like to ask before starting so you know about how many cards you’ll want to pull. That said, selecting multiple cards may lead to more questions! If more questions pop up, pull away, sister.

Designs & Cardinal Directions

Laying your cards out in a specific design isn’t necessary but can impart an added layer of meaning to your card reading. A simple design suggestion is to arrange your cards in an upward or downward-facing triangle. An upward- facing triangle will add masculine energy to your reading, and a downward-facing triangle will add feminine energy to your reading.

Click here to download the new moon card reading guide pictured above.

The four cardinal directions are another way to add meaning to your reading. Face yourself and your cards in a specific direction to add more meaning in this way. Here’s a quick description of how each direction can affect your reading.

• North: Issues related to the physical body

• East: Issues related to new beginnings

• South: Issues related to challenges or blocks

• West: Issues related to emotions

Let’s recap! Here are seven simple steps for creating oracle card spreads.

Steps to Perform an Oracle Card Reading

1. In what areas of your life are you seeking guidance? It’s always helpful to go into a reading with a plan. Without an idea of what you need guidance on your message may be unclear.

2. What question(s) could you ask that might shed light on this issue? Write them down beforehand to help stay on topic as you perform your reading.

3. Get quiet, breathe deep, and call on your guides and higher self to help you select cards.

4. Optional: Lay cards in a specific pattern that is meaningful to your topic.

5. Optional: Face a specific direction as you perform your card reading.

6. Pull your cards. Try not to judge the cards and what they might mean for you until you’re finished and can take in the entire reading.

7. Decipher your reading with an open mind using your intuition and any guidebooks for the deck(s) you’re using. Welcome nudges from your higher self and guides and be open to signs as you move about your day that may be related to your message.

What If My Message Didn’t Make Sense?

Didn’t receive the message you were hoping for or expecting? Before you doubt the cards, wait a few days, and look for signs. Often, you’ll find that the message you received was exactly what you needed and it will usually make itself apparent. If you wait a few days and the message is still unclear, try clearing your mind with a short meditation and asking your higher self or guides to make the message more clear and do another card pull.

I hope you feel empowered to perform meaningful card readings for yourself and others!

Four Abundance Rituals

Do you want to call in more abundance? You’re in the right place! Abundance can come in so many forms and means many different things to different people. Abundance could be time, money, freedom, or anything else that makes you personally feel abundant!

In this blog post, I’ll be sharing four rituals to help you connect with the abundance that’s always available to you. Keep scrolling to read them!

ABUNDANCE CRYSTAL GRID

Crystal grids are a beautiful tool for manifesting more abundance in your life! The ideal time to set up your abundance grid is at the new moon, and you can leave it up until the full moon.

Start by gathering your stones and cleansing them. Your abundance besties in the crystal kingdom are aventurine, citrine, quartz, moss agate, tiger eye, and kyanite! Try one of each stone, although if you have more than one, that’s great, too.

You’ll place your citrine stone in the center and arrange your other stones radiating out around the citrine in a way that feels good to use. Use the crystal grid in the Goddess Discovery Book or place your stones on a cloth or table.

As you place each stone, keep an image in your mind’s eye of what you’re trying to attract. Ask yourself how you’ll feel when you receive the abundance you’re requesting.

After all your stones are in place, trace your crystals with a pointed quartz. Imagine the quartz connecting your crystals and unifying their energy. Try to connect with your grid daily until the full moon!

ABUNDANCE SPELL BAG

Spell bags, known in Voodoo as “gris-gris,” or to Native Americans as “medicine bags,” are one of my favorite ways to make magick. The waxing moon is the best time to do any abundance spell work, so try to do each of these rituals then if you can!Here’s what you’ll need to make a spell bag for abundance:

• Basil or a sprinkle of cinnamon

• 10 of Pentacles tarot card (or a copy of this tarot card if you don’t want to put the actual card in the bag!)

• A knob of ginger

• Honey calcite, pyrite, citrine, or green aventurine

• Anything else that represents abundance to you. For example, if you work for yourself you might include a printout of an email where a client booked a session with you.

Spend some time with your spell bag to infuse your energy into it. Hold it in your hands as you meditate on abundance, and breathe into it before you pull it closed!

ABUNDANCE CANDLE MAGICK

You can work with the magic of fire to help you call more abundance into your life! If you’ve never done candle magick before, read this blog to learn how to get started.For this spell, you’ll need:

• Green candle

• Carving tool like a sharp point crystal, toothpick, or athame.

• Tiger eye, citrine, and green aventurine

• Patchouli or frankincense oil

• Coins or money

Start by cleansing all of your items for the spell. This can be done by wafting herbal smoke over them or visualizing white light cleansing them.

For this spell, you’ll be carving the Fehu Rune into your candle. Fehu is a powerful symbol of abundance. If you’d prefer to carve a specific dollar amount or item you’re hoping to attain you could carve this into the candle too.

Anoint your candle with the oil of your choice. As you carve and anoint your candle, visualize your abundance goal.

Arrange your crystals, money, and candle in a place where you can leave it up for a few nights. Light your candle and meditate on the flame. Visualize your abundance goal clearly, imagine yourself reaching your goal and what it would feel like to attain it.

You can continue this until the entire candle burns or snuff out the candle and continue the same ritual each night until the candle has burned completely.

Bonus! You can get this spell as a free printable spell card (along with spells for love, letting go, and connecting with your intuition) here.

ABUNDANCE TAROT or ORACLE CARD SPREAD

Turn to tarot or oracle to understand your blocks to abundance and what you can do to connect to more abundance. You can create a ritual space by grounding yourself first, lighting candles, burning herbs or incense, or doing anything else that feels right to you.

Cards from the Journey Tarot Kit

When you feel grounded and centered, shuffle your cards while holding the intention to connect with the wisdom of your highest self. Draw cards for each of the following questions:

• What belief system or patterns blocks me from the abundance I desire?

• How to release this belief system or pattern

• How to open myself up to greater abundance

• My mantra for calling in abundance

Spend some time journaling with your cards and meditating on your mantra card. If you’d like, you can place your mantra card on your altar!