Card Spread and Authenticity Ritual for Leo Season

Leo, our fixed fire sign, is here to invite you to step into your courage, be seen in your truest essence, and stand in your power. Leo evokes the radiant heart and invites us to stand in our passion.

In this blog post, I’ll be sharing a card spread and a ritual for Leo season. To learn more about Leo energy and your personal birth chart’s connection to Leo, check out our Understanding the Energy of Leo Season blog post. 

Card Spread for Leo Season

We’ll use this card spread to explore the invitations and lessons Leo has to teach you this season. Feel free to use a tarot deck or an oracle deck for this spread - whichever resonates with you. 

I invite you to create a ritual space for you and your deck to communicate by taking a moment to ground and center yourself however feels good to you. In the spirit of Leo season and fire energy, it could feel good to light a candle or take a moment to breathe outside under the sun with your deck. 

When you feel grounded and ready, shuffle your deck and draw a card for each of the following questions:

• What is Leo season here to teach me? 

• How can I step into more of my authenticity? 

• What do I need to embody my bravery? 

• A message from my radiant heart.

• What possibilities are Leo season opening up for me?

After you pull your cards, sit with them. Try to take some time to journal or meditate with them to really connect with the full meaning they have to offer you. At the end of Leo season, you might like to revisit your cards and reflect on how they unfolded throughout the season. How did they show up? What did you learn about yourself and the cards through the way they manifested this season?

Leo Season Ritual for Embodying Your Most Authentic Self

This Leo season ritual is intended to support you in embodying your most authentic self.

You'll need:

• 1 candle (any color, but yellow, red, or orange corresponds well with this ritual)

• 10-30 minutes of uninterrupted time

1. To start, light a candle on your altar or in a quiet space. Get clear on who your most authentic self is in this moment (knowing that who you are and what is authentic to you can and will change over time, and that’s beautiful!). You can start this by asking aloud or in your mind, "Who is my most authentic self?"

2. Sit in meditation and welcome your most authentic self forward.

3. Spend some time in the presence of your most authentic self. Who are they? How do they feel? What parts of themself are they expressing? Just take them in and spend some time with them. Organically as it feels good, start to sense what feels active around this authentic self in your body. What feels especially alive in your body?

4. Ask your inner self, "How can I embody this authentic self?" Don’t overthink it, just flow with it. How does this self move, sound, breathe, feel? Let your body move through whatever movements, sounds, expressions that feel good to you. Know that you are calling your truest self home with each moment and each expression. Take your time here and really let your body develop some somatic awareness of your truest self.

5. When you feel complete, let your eyes open and spend a moment gazing at your candle flame. Let this flame harness the power of you being your authentic self and send it into the universe as a spell for you being who you are. If there are any affirmations, you want to offer to yourself, feel free to speak them to the candle flame and let the smoke carry them.

6. Then, decide on one concrete action you can take in the physical world to embody this authentic self. Maybe it’s having a conversation with someone, starting a new project, saying yes or no to something, or trying something new. Whatever it is, commit to it and make a plan for when and how you’ll do it.

7. Let your candle burn all the way down and close your ritual with a few deep, grounding breaths.

Happy Leo season! I hope you find support in this card spread and ritual for the rest of Leo season. 

Herbal Magick 101 // How to Get Started with Herbal Magick

Herbal magick is the practice of working with plants in magic. This could mean working with plants for healing, eating, ritual, spellwork, and more.

Why work with herbal magick? To me, plants connect us to ancestry and the land we’re on. They root us into relationship with nature, with mother Earth. They have energy and magic of their own that can amplify a spell, help us heal, and support our intentions. 

Part of living a magical life is engaging with the world around us, and working with plants feels like a powerful way to do that. 

In this blog post, I’ll be sharing about how to get started with herbal magick. Please note that this is coming from my perspective as someone who works with plants personally and is not an herbalist or trained professional!

GETTING STARTED WITH HERBAL MAGICK

Getting started with herbal magick can feel overwhelming. There are so many plants! What do they all mean? What do you use them for?

I recommend starting your herbal magick journey by asking this question: 

What plants do I have relationships with already/love/feel curious about/find myself attracted to? 

You can jot down a list or just one plant that comes to mind. Maybe it’s a plant you’ve heard about being connected to your ancestors, like rosemary. Maybe it’s a plant that grows in your yard or your local park, or one you love to drink in your tea. 

Choose a plant from your list and commit to getting to know it. There are so many ways to cultivate a relationship with plants, but here are a few:

• Meditate with the plant daily 

• Take the plant as a flower essence 

• Eat the plant or drink the plant in a tea (check with an herbalist first as needed) 

• Take a bath with the plant (check with an herbalist first as needed)

• Journal with the plant

• Work with the plant in ritual

• Invite the plant into your dreams 

• Spend time with the plant 

• Grow the plant and tend to it 

Featured cards are from The Ritual Deck. 

Take your time with this process - perhaps sitting with one plant for at least a month or two. Write about your insights as you cultivate this relationship. How do you feel? What is this plant teaching you? How does it feel best to work with this plant? 

Another important question to ask yourself is: how am I in a reciprocal relationship with this plant? That could look like giving the plant or the land offerings, planting this plant’s seeds, or something else that feels right to you. 

Many herbalists are talking about being in a reciprocal relationship with plants, so I recommend checking out their work (Sarah Corbett over at Rowan and Sage is a great place to start) to learn more about being in right relationship rather than just extracting from plants. 

Over time, as you cultivate relationships with plants one at a time, you can start to make note of your own magical herbal correspondences. What plants support you in different ways? From sitting with them deeply, what plants help you soothe anxiety, sleep, open your heart, tend to grief, cultivate joy, access pleasure, focus, and more? What plants aid your love spells, money spells, self-trust spells? 

This is how herbal magick can become intuitive and not prescriptive, how it becomes more personal and more powerful than a Google search could ever be.

Sending you lots of love on your herbal magick journey! Click here to learn more about crafting herbal smoke wands, or here for herbal tea recipes.

The Moon as Shadow Work // How Aligning with the Moon Invites Shadow Work and Tips to Make Lunar Work a Daily Practice

The moon comes after walking through the tower and the renewed spark of inspiration from the star in the tarot. The moon serves as a portal between worlds, sitting in between the star and the sun. The star is the inspiring rebirth and the sun is the ego-self, shining bright. But in between them, the moon shows up to call you inward. It's an invitation to explore everything that's come to pass at the subconscious level.

It's within this portal that shadow work comes in, which could go by so many other names: soul work, subconscious work, "dark night of the soul," or emotional exploration, etc. Shadow work calls you in to peel away the surface and explore the parts of yourself that you often ignore, hide, or push away. 

Listen to this post on my podcast, Rooting into Wholeness, below.

The moon's light is not her own. Its light is reflected by the sun. The moon is the mirror. What shadowy areas within your soul need to have a mirror held up to them? 

Shadow work, like the moon, is a portal to wholeness. One cannot exist without the other. Your shadow work is still there even if you are not addressing it. It does not just go away. It remains untouched and undiscovered. A powerful healing tool waiting to be utilized and waiting to bring you to wholeness. 

So many want to skip over this important portal. Here's the thing, though. You can't. The opportunity will keep repeating itself until you decide to walk through the shadowing realms of your subconscious. In my experience, I've learned that if you ignore your shadow long enough, it will come crashing down and force you to examine what needs to be learned and seen. No amount of love and light can keep you from knowing all facets of life. We're human. It's why we're here.

How to work with the moon to honor your shadow

How can you embody the energy of the moon, her wisdom, to approach this inner shadow work? It starts as noticing the moon in her phases and turns into allowing these phases to influence your rituals. The shifts will be subtle, but eventually, shadow work will become a regular part of your life. Here are three ways to start weaving more lunar energy into your daily practice.

Much of this work is observational and feeling work that needs to happen within the mind and body. All other tools (crystals, herbs, cards, etc.) and are ancillary allies. Use them if you feel called, but do not let them be prohibitive to your growth if you do not have them handy. 

1. Become more aware of the moon. Let's first start by connecting with lunar energy regularly. Track her, notice her, and notice how you feel in her different phases. If working with the moon is new to you, start by solely noticing when the moon is in her waxing phase vs. waning phase (I find this more helpful than tracking the new/full moon.) Learn more about waxing vs. waning lunar energy in a past post here.

When you begin to adopt the moon's cycles into your daily life, you will begin to understand the necessity of living more cyclically. Rather than shaming yourself for needing to go within, you will appreciate it as a natural phase. Here's a non-exhaustive list of some ways that I connect with lunar energy regularly. 

• Look for the moon anytime you are outside at night or consciously decide to go outside and seek her out regularly. You will soon learn where the moon lives in the sky during different parts of her cycle. 

• Track her with an app. I like to keep a pulse on when the moon shifts from waxing to waning phase and vice versa. Using an app is an easy way to know when these shifts happen. I also like to know what astrological sign the moon is living in as this also affects her energy. My favorite app is The Moon App. The free version is great, but I prefer the paid version. 

• Wear a specific piece of jewelry is a reminder of whether the moon is waxing or waning. I have a moon-shaped ring that I flip, so the moon is facing inwards or outwards according to whether the moon is waxing or waning. However, there are many ways to do this. You could wear a specific necklace, ring, or bracelet for waxing vs. waning energy. Doing this brings the energy of the moon into the physical and offers you a daily reminder. 

2. Bring the moon into your rituals. If your ritual practices only include rituals to make you feel good or to manifest, you're missing out on some big growth opportunities and magick-making. When you invite lunar energy into your rituals, you open the door to more profound transformations through shadow work. The moon does not stay stuck in her growth, waxing, manifesting phase, and neither should you.

Everyone's ritual practice varies, but there are ways to bring lunar energy into just about any ritual. Bringing lunar energy into your rituals will require you to be more mindful about your ritual practices. Here are a few ways to work lunar energy into common ritual practices.

• Burn candles and herbs in line with lunar energy. If candle magick, incense, or herbs are a part of your ritual practice, this is an easy place to honor the moon. How can you be more mindful about what candle colors or herbs you're working with? For example, I would avoid more energizing plants and colors like peppermint, citrus, and candle colors like red, orange, and yellow during a waning moon phase. I will often burn a simple white candle during a new moon, and during a dark moon, phase black. 

• Invite lunar energy into your meditation practice. Honoring the moon in your meditation practice can be done for each phase or just waxing and waning energy. If you already have a meditation practice, this will be a simple way to begin engaging with the moon's energy on a deeper level. In my meditation practice, this looks like doing more energy clearing at the end of the waning moon phase, being more open to guidance from Spirit at the start of the waxing phase and around the new moon, and focusing on gratitude during the full moon. I wrote a full post about it here.

• Place specific items on your altar or sacred space for certain moon phases, or consider an altar refresh for specific moons. If an altar is a part of your ritual practice, be open to how you can weave lunar energy into your sacred space. I usually update my altar based on the seasons. However, some lunar events warrant a full altar refresh. I invite you to trust when you feel called to do this. Even if you don't want to refresh your altar completely, placing specific herbs, candles, or tarot/oracle cards on your altar for specific phases can also be a powerful way to connect with the moon. 

Simple changes like these begin to make working with the moon a part of life and a way of living. You can find many blog posts here about working with the specific energy of each moon phase. However, I do find some of these basic things just as impactful as they make honoring and connecting with the moon more of a daily practice rather than something you only do on new and full moons. 

3. Study the moon card in the tarot (any deck.) While studying the moon card, notice what comes up for you? Each deck will bring a different kind of flavor, but the energy of the moon card will remain consistent from deck to deck, as will the placement of the card amongst the Major Arcana. This may not be true if working with moon card in an oracle card deck (learn more about the difference between tarot and oracle cards here.)

Notice the cards around the moon in the tarot and the story they tell. Where does the moon sit in the Major Arcana? What cards are nearest to it? I discussed this a bit in the introduction. But one way to view its placement is as a portal between the star and the sun. Like all wisdom from the tarot, allow yourself to be open to different teachings and ideas. This is just one viewpoint. The wisdom in this step will come from finding your own meaning from the moon card in the tarot. Here are some ways to work with this card.

• Place the card on your altar or somewhere else where you'll see it regularly. 

• Journal or meditate on the moon card. What comes up for you when you look at it? What stands out? What does it mean to you at this moment? 

• Read about the meaning of the card from different perspectives. Some of my favorites are Rachel Pollock's book 78 Degrees of Wisdom and teachings from Lindsay Mack on her podcast Tarot for the Wild Soul. 

• Draw your own version of the card. What comes to your mind when you think about creating your own version of the moon card? Allow yourself to be a channel for its wisdom. 

If you find these offerings overwhelming, begin implementing what feels the most aligned and appealing to you. Or, if you feel up for a fun shift in perspective, select the one that feels the scariest to you! 

Working with the moon as a spiritual practice is an invitation to honor all phases of life, including death, shadow, and transformation. These are necessary phases of all life, even yours. When you open yourself up to being in alignment with all of these phases, you open yourself up to being whole, flawed, and simultaneously perfect. The shifts and changes to living alongside the moon will happen slowly over time. Until one day, you realize you allow and honor all of your phases. 

This shift is the magick of embodying shadow work, living cyclically, and aligning with the moon. For more on shadow work, check out these past posts. 

Card Spread and Water Ritual for Cancer Season

Cancer, our cardinal water sign, is here to help us tap into our inner world of emotions, heal our ancestry, and connect with the themes of home, family, and mother. Ruled by the moon in western astrology, this archetype connects us to the nonlinear inner world.

In this blog post, I’ll be sharing a card spread and a ritual for Cancer season. To learn more about Cancer energy and your personal birth chart’s connection to Cancer, check out our Understanding the Energy of Cancer Season blog post.

Card Spread for Cancer Season

We’ll use this card spread to explore the invitations and lessons Cancer has to teach you this season. Feel free to use a tarot deck or an oracle deck for this spread - whichever you prefer! I invite you to create a ritual space for you and your deck to communicate by taking a moment to ground and center yourself however feels good to you. In the spirit of Cancer season and water energy, you might like to drink a glass of water and/or sprinkle yourself with a little water. When you feel grounded and centered, shuffle your deck and draw a card for each of the following questions:

• What is Cancer season here to teach me? 

• What is needed in my relationship to family this season?

• What support do I need to connect with my emotional world?

• What possibilities is Cancer season is opening up for me?

After you pull your cards, take some time to journal and/or meditate with them to really connect with the full meaning they have to offer you. At the end of Cancer season, revisit your cards and reflect on how they unfolded throughout the season. How did they show up? What did you learn? 

Cancer Season Ritual for Creating a Home Within Yourself 

Home is a big theme of Cancer season — the homes we come from, the homes we live in, the people who feel like home, the homes we create for ourselves. In this ritual, we’ll work on creating a safe and loving home within yourself. All you’ll need is water to submerge in, whether it’s a bathtub or an outdoor body of water (highly recommended if you’re in the Northern Hemisphere and Cancer season takes place in summer!). 

Open your ritual by grounding and centering yourself however feels good to you. There is no one ideal way to ground — what works for you is what’s ideal! When you feel grounded, soft, and centered, journal and meditate on the following questions:

• What did home feel like for me growing up? (Try to connect with the tactile sensations: what are the smells, sounds, sensations, sights, and tastes of home?)

• What does home feel like for me now? 

• What do I want home to feel like? 

• How can I create a safe and loving home within myself? What does that feel like, look like, sound like? 

Spend some time meditating on that last question and visualizing creating a safe and loving home inside of yourself. What are the textures? How do you speak to yourself? What energies, feelings, and voices are welcome here? Let yourself sink into the soft coziness of this home you’re creating in your body. 

When it feels alive, safely submerge yourself in water for a moment to symbolize your commitment to building this home. When you emerge from the water, affirm that you are creating this home within yourself. Affirm that this home will always be there. Affirm that no one can take it away from you. Affirm that it is yours, that it is holy, that it is healing.

If it feels supportive, you might like to process your experience in your journal afterward. If you have a complicated relationship with home like many of us do, this ritual could feel especially emotional or tender. It could bring up memories or big feelings. Be extra gentle with yourself and make an aftercare plan to support yourself after the ritual. 

Happy Cancer season! I hope this card spread and ritual support you - share your spreads and rituals on Instagram and tag us @cassieuhl so we can see them! 

Card Spread and Ritual for Gemini Season

Gemini, our mutable air sign, is here to help us open our minds, connect to each other, and communicate our truth. At its most soul-centered level, Gemini energy helps us bring together people and ideas, share our message and our voice, create love through connection and communication, and find the magic right here at home in our neighborhoods.

In this blog post, I’ll be sharing a card spread and a ritual for Gemini season. To learn more about Gemini energy and your personal birth chart’s connection to Gemini, check out our Understanding the Energy of Gemini Season blog post here.

Card featured from The Starchild Tarot by Danielle Noel.

Card Spread for Gemini Season

We’ll use this card spread to explore the invitations and lessons Gemini has to teach you this season. Feel free to use a tarot deck or an oracle deck for this spread - whichever you prefer! 

I invite you to create a ritual space for you and your deck to communicate by taking a moment to ground and center yourself however feels good to you. In the spirit of Gemini season and air energy, you might like to take a few deep breaths while holding your cards.

When you feel grounded and centered, shuffle your deck and draw a card for each of the following questions:

• What is Gemini season here to teach me? 

• What truth do I need to speak this season?

• What supportive energies can I draw on as I speak that truth?

• How can I facilitate a deeper connection with myself, and my community?

• What possibilities are Gemini season opening up for me?

After you pull your cards, take some time to journal and/or meditate with them to really connect with the full meaning they have to offer you.

Gemini Season Ritual for Connection to Your Community

This ritual focuses on the aspect of Gemini that speaks to your local surroundings and neighborhood. Gemini drives us to connect, to create love, right where we are (as opposed to its polar sign Sagittarius, which is associated with world travel). 

1. To start, take some time to reflect on the questions below (feel free to meditate on them and/or journal about them).What are your wishes and dreams for the folks in your community (including yourself)? What blessings do you wish for your neighbors and for the land? What dreams do you have for your community as a whole? 

2. When you feel rooted in your intentions for your community, create offerings infused with these intentions and blessings. This could be little pieces of art or writing, plants, food, a sprinkling of oil, flower petals, or anything that feels good to you. Let your creativity and intuition lead you! As you create and gather, focus on your intentions and let them energetically weave with your offerings.

3. Then, take a walk through your neighborhood and intuitively leave your offerings around! You might like to whisper a blessing over them, take a silent, reflective moment, or do something else to honor this process as you leave them out. 

4. After you place all your offerings, close with a moment of gratitude and a deep breath, you might like to place your hands on your heart and feel how your heart is opening and expanding. 

Happy Gemini season! I hope this card spread and ritual support you - share your spreads and rituals on Instagram and tag us @cassieuhl so we can see them!

Fae, Faeries, and Fair folk! Who are They & 3 Ways to Connect with Them

The fae go by a variety of names, including but not limited to fae, fair folk, faeries, and fairies. The size and appearance of faeries will vary depending on your location and personal beliefs. Some see faeries as human-sized, while others see them as smaller beings.

Faeries are a magical species of human-like beings. They live in a spirit realm alongside, but separate, from our physical world. This realm is referred to as otherworld or underworld. In my practice, I refer to this space as otherworld and will refer to it as such throughout the rest of this post.

Similar to humans, the fae are not a monolith! There are benevolent and malevolent faeries. Many report them as being quite mischievous, and some even say they're dangerous. It’s important to remember that just like forming a relationship with a new human, you need to determine a faerie's intentions before engaging. Always approach anyone from the spirit realm both respectfully and carefully. 

Folklore about faeries is most common in Ireland, Wales, England, and Scotland but certainly pops up in other parts of the world as well. The idea of a “spirit of place” or genius loci, which faeries are, is common for many practices. Even if you don’t work with faeries in your practice, you may have a similar entity in your spiritual lineage or a similar kind of being where you currently live. 

Rather than assuming the fae will appear to you like Tinkerbell, I invite you to be open to how the spirits of your locality and lineage may present themselves. Elves, gnomes, tree spirits, animals, and more can all be present as local spirits. 

Why Would You Want to Connect With The Fae?

At this point, you might be wondering why you’d even want to bother connecting with the fae. In fact, some highly advise not to interact with the fae at all! This is a personal choice you’ll need to make. All I can share with you is my personal experience.

I have spirit guides in otherworld who are faeries, and my experiences have been overwhelmingly positive. Beyond my personal experience, the fae do live in a spirit world less dense than ours, so they also have a very different perspective. I think most of us could learn a great deal from a different perspective!   

The second reason I think it’s important to connect with fae, or your local spirits, is to form a better relationship with the natural world and the spirit world. It takes conscious practice to form a relationship with any being in the spirit world. Doing so can be a powerful and enlightening experience.

Here are three simple ways to start building a better relationship with the fae or any local spirits in your area. 

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3 Ways to Connect with Faeries

The seasons of Beltane and Samhain are two of the best times to interact with the fae. If you’re catching this post during another season, don’t fret, you can still try these techniques. It might just take a bit longer to see any results. During Beltane and Samhain, sabbats opposite each other on the Wheel of the Year (find more about the Wheel of the Year and a free printable here), the veil between the spirit and physical world is at its thinnest. The thin veil makes it easier to reach the home of the fae, also known as otherworld. 

1. Prepare a faerie offering on a home altar or out in nature

The easiest way to start working with the fae will be to physically and energetically take action to open yourself up to the potential of learning from them. You can do this by leaving faerie offerings out in nature or on your altar. Because otherworld is all around you, this is less about attracting the fae and more about creating a safe space for you to experience beings, like faeries, from otherworld.

That said, there are items you can use that correspond with and attract faeries. The items listed below will serve two purposes, first as a reminder of your desire to connect with the fae and as a way to attract them. Faeries are said to love sweet treats like fruit and cakes. Milk is another common food item that the fae are said to enjoy. There are also a host of herbs that the fae enjoy, like thyme, yarrow, heather, and rosemary. 

All things cute and tiny will also serve as potent reminders to you to be open to experiences from otherworld. Building a faerie garden outside or creating a special altar space in your home dedicated to the fae can both be powerful ways to set an intention to work with the fae. 

2. Form a strong relationship with your natural surroundings. 

Our busy lives often distract us from the innate magic all around, but it’s always there, especially in nature. Many practices have what is called a “spirit of place” or genius loci. These are the spirits of the land, which include faeries, elves, gnomes, and more.

Connecting with nature regularly will help open doorways to your local spirits of place. This can be as simple as going for daily walks, becoming more in tune with the seasons, or gardening.

To use this method to become more in tune with faeries, try setting that intention as you walk around to notice signs of spirit in nature. Perhaps you’ll start to notice things in nature that look like portals or doorways, signifying entry points to otherworld. Maybe you’ll start to see flashes or shadows of the fae out of the corner of your eye as you explore nature. Be open to experiencing scents, sounds, sensations, and visuals from the fae and other spirits of place as you explore your natural environment. 

3. Meditation and Journey Work

Meditation and journey work are my favorite way to work with faeries. It’s unlikely that you’ll come across a solid, living, breathing faery in your garden, but journeying to otherworld is another story! If meditation is new to you, this technique will likely take some practice, or you might not feel quite ready for it, be patient with yourself. 

Remember, “Your body is one of the best vessels of magical energy.” - Sirona Knight, from Celtic Traditions: Druids, Faeries, and Wiccan Rituals.

Click here to access a free guided meditation for journey work that can help you get started with journeying during meditation. 

If meditation or journeying is more familiar to you, you can set an intention to connect with the fae at the beginning of your meditation. Here are basic steps I take when connecting with beings in otherworld. This may vary for you, and that’s okay! Take what feels right and leave the rest. 

1. Optional: Grab a piece of black tourmaline to have with you as you meditate for energetic protection. 

2. Sitting or lying down, close your eyes and begin your meditation. 

3. Set an intention, in your mind or aloud, to connect with a faerie that has your highest and best intentions. 

4. Tune into your body and focus on your breath to get grounded. 

5. Close your eyes and begin to focus your attention inward. 

6. Visualize a safe and happy place in your mind. For me, it is a lush forest. 

7. When you feel ready, visualize a doorway or portal to exit into otherworld. 

8. Ask to be taken to a faerie or any other kind of spirit being you’d like to connect with. 

9. Be open to the process and the journey. 

10. When you feel ready, find your way back to the portal to come back to your safe space.

11. Stay in your safe space for as long as you need before coming back to the physical world. 

12. When you’re ready, open your eyes and rest for some time to integrate your experience. 

Remember, the spirit realm is always available to you. It’s simply a matter of tuning into it.

6 Ways to Work With Your Tarot Cards Besides Divination

Divination is a fantastic way to work with the tarot, but you’re selling yourself short with your trusted tarot deck if you’re only using it to glean insights into the future. At its core, and in my opinion, the tarot is a powerful self-reflective tool. It’s here to share insights and guidance about what’s going on with you right now, at this moment. Telling the future is one of the most common draws to tarot, but the tarot truly brings a host of other benefits.

Read on for six ways to work with the tarot to grow and expand in new ways, aside from divination. 

Working with Common Archetypes

The tarot is full of common archetypes that you will encounter or embody at different times in your life. Archetypes are timeless and universal energies that people can understand across cultures. For example, the archetype of the mother is something we can all understand on some level. Even if you do not have a relationship with your biological mother or have children of your own, the overarching energy of the archetype of the mother is something you can understand. Furthermore, you do not have to be a mother or a woman to embody the mother's archetype. Anyone can access and learn from the energy of motherhood. 

The tarot is dripping with common archetypes, especially in the major arcana. The way the archetypes show up can be personal and vary from person to person. Most of the common archetypes appear in the major arcana, but they can also be found in the minor. Here are some of the archetypes I associate with the cards: the ego (the sun), soul (the moon), mother (empress), father (emperor), wizard (magician), child (the fool), lover (the lovers), martyr (hanged one), seer (hermit), and authoritarian (hierophant), etc. You may decide on different archetypal associations with different cards, and that’s fine. 

So, how can you work with the archetypes of the tarot? Lots of ways! You can explore how the archetypal energies associated with the cards make you feel, you can look at the symbology on each card and explore how it makes you feel about its archetype, you can journal about the cards and their archetypal connections, and you can layer it into how you interact with and understand the cards. 

Journaling

Journaling allows you to dive deep into the meaning and energy of each card. You’ll better understand the lessons each card wants to offer you through journaling about them. Truth be told, I’m not a big fan of journaling. Journaling with the tarot is different, though. I always write when I pull cards for myself. To begin journaling with the cards, you can work through them one at a time in order or intuitively select a card to journal about. Here are some suggestions for questions to ask yourself when you’re journaling about different cards: 

• How does this card make me feel? 

• What symbols or imagery jumps out to me? 

• Are there any archetypes or human themes that stand out to me in this card? 

• How does this card show up in my life right now? 

• What can I learn from this card? 

Energy Readings

If you’ve followed my work long, you already know that I love all things energy! We are energy beings, and the tarot is another magical and beautiful way to work with your energy. What do I mean by this? Tarot is an excellent tool for reading your energy and understanding how to balance your energy. 

Each card in the tarot corresponds with different energy. When you work with the cards specifically to assess your energy, the cards can act as a guide for what kind of energy you may need more or less of. Each card's energy can act as a signal that you either have too much or too little of that energy.

For example, if you pull some cards to determine what your energy needs to be more balanced and you pull loads of pentacles, that would be a sign that you need more grounding in your life to feel more balanced because the pentacles relate to the element of earth. 

You could also consider pulling a card for each energy center or chakra in your body to get an idea of what each energy center needs to be in better balance. I dive into this more in-depth in my book, The Zenned Out Guide to Understanding Tarot. 

Exploring and Understanding Common Correspondences

If you’re a visual learner, like I am, you’ll love working with the tarot to understand common correspondences better. I won’t spend too much time talking about this here because I already covered this in a previous post here. 

Basically, each of the cards has a handful of correspondences (correspondences are simply energies that match or “play well together.”) The most common correspondences are the elements, astrological energies, and numerology. I’ve found that using the tarot as a tool to understand different types of energies better is immensely helpful, especially for visual learners. The cards' symbology and meanings will add a depth of understanding to your astrology, numerology, or elemental practice. You’ll also learn the tarot card meanings faster as well. 

Shadow work

The cards of the tarot contain a complete range of human experiences. It does not gloss over the hard, scary, and sometimes earth-shattering parts of life. This is one reason why, I believe, so many are nervous about diving into tarot. It’s also why it can be such a powerful healing tool. 

Your cards will not shield you from your shadow. Instead, they call you to cozy up to your shadow to understand better what it has to teach you. If the idea of shadow work is new to you, check out this previous post to learn more about what shadow work is. Here are a few ways to dive into shadow work using your tarot card deck. 

• Journal about the cards that make you the most uncomfortable. Use the questions above from the journaling section. 

• Ask questions specifically to explore your shadow, like “What parts of my shadow need healing and exploring?”, “ What do I have to learn from my shadow?” or “What parts of my shadow have I been avoiding?”

Spellwork & Magick

If you’re a fan of spellwork, altars, or magick, this one’s for you (it’s also another one of my favorite ways to work with my deck.) Because each tarot card carries a unique energy, they are perfect for adding energy and intention to spellwork, magick, and your altar. Here are a couple of ways to start working your cards into your magickal practice.

• Place a card on your altar to invite in a specific kind of energy. For example, if you’re focusing on improving your intuition, you could place the moon, the high priestess, or the queen of cups on your altar as a reminder and energetic intention. 

• Add a card to your spell. For example, if you’re focusing on bringing more abundance into your life, you could include the nine of pentacles or the empress into your spell. 

Want to learn more about working with the tarot? Order my book, The Zenned Out Guide to Understanding Tarot. Or, check out some of these posts: Understanding Tarot Correspondences, The Difference Between Tarot and Oracle, 7 Tarot Myths Debunked or Understanding Tarot Birth Cards. 

Aries Season Ritual + Card Spread

Aries, our cardinal fire sign and first sign of the zodiac, is a fiery and dynamic sign here to bring us a fresh start. It invites us to tap into our bravery and courage, go after our dreams, tap into our inner fire, and move towards more freedom.

In this blog post, I’ll be sharing a card spread and a ritual for Aries season. To learn more about Aries energy and your personal birth chart’s connection to Aries, check out our Understanding the Energy of Aries Season blog post here.

Card Spread for Aries Season

This card spread can be done using an oracle deck or a tarot deck. In this spread, we’ll explore Aries’ invitation for you. I invite you to create a ritual space for you and your deck to communicate by taking a moment to ground and center yourself; lighting some incense, herbs, or candles that help you drop into your heart space; and opening to allow messages to come through.Truly, it doesn’t matter what you do, just that whatever you do helps you feel more grounded, centered, and open.When you feel centered and ready, shuffle your deck and draw a card for each of the following questions:

1. What is Aries energy here to teach me?

2. Supportive energies to draw on to encourage my growth.

3. How can I embody the warrior, and the pioneer this season?

4. What limitations am I ready to burst through?

5. How can I move through these limitations, towards more freedom?

After you pull your cards, take some time to journal and/or meditate with them to really connect with the full meaning they have to offer you.

Aries Season Ritual to Connect to Your Inner Warrior 

As I shared above, one archetype Aries can evoke from within us is the warrior. In this ritual, you’ll work with tapping into and embodying that part of yourself.

For this ritual, you’ll need:

• A candle in a color that connects you to Aries energy and your inner warrior. Orange, red, and yellow are great options, but any color you personally connect to being a warrior will work. 

• A small piece of paper you can burn and something to write with 

• A fire-safe dish 

1. At your altar or wherever you are, ground yourself in whatever way feels good (maybe taking a few deep breaths, touching something soft, or placing your hands somewhere on your body).

2. When you feel ready, light your candle and drop into meditation.

3. Meditate on the archetype of the warrior. Here are some questions to consider to help you tap into this energy:

   • Who is your inner warrior?

   • What does warrior energy feel like in your body?

   • What does being a sacred warrior mean?

   • What are you a warrior for?

   • What feels hard about embodying the warrior?

4. Take your time here and really let yourself sink into this energy. When you feel ready, let your meditation organically move into embodiment. Can you embody your inner warrior? How can you move, sound, breathe, speak to embody this part of yourself? Take some time here to just play, explore, and notice how this work feels in your body. 

5. When you feel ready to rest, take a moment to notice how your body feels. What has opened up and shifted? What is your intention for your inner warrior? 

6. Write your intention for your inner warrior on your piece of paper and read it out loud to let it really sink in. (For example, I might write I am a warrior for love or It’s safe to embody my inner warrior.) 

7. When you’re ready, burn your paper (using your candle and fire-safe dish). Let your intention waft in smoke out to the universe, and let your candle burn all the way down.

8. Commit to taking actions that allow you to access this part of yourself this season. 

Happy Aries season! I hope this card spread and ritual help you feel supported during this energetic and fiery season! Share your spreads and rituals on Instagram and tag us @cassieuhl so we can see them! 

Egg History & Rituals for Ostara + The Spring Equinox

Ostara, also known as the Spring or Vernal Equinox, is the dawn of the fertile season on the Wheel of the Year. Light and dark are in equal balance and moving forward, the light of the sun will outshine the dark of night, pushing nature into a flurry of growth and expansion. 

This season corresponds to growth, fertility, manifesting, and the maiden aspect of the Triple Goddess. The energy of this season calls you to begin taking concerted actions towards your desires. Eggs and hares are common symbols associated with this season, but their associations may not be as ancient as you thought.

I went down a bit of a rabbit hole, no pun intended, on this one! So, before we dive into egg rituals for you to practice, I want to share a bit about the history (we do know) of Ostara. If you don’t care, skip on through to the egg rituals, but personally, I find the history of our rituals not only interesting but important in crafting a meaningful practice.

Eggs and Ostara, Where’s the Connection?  

There are a couple of stories that link Ostara to eggs and hares. One being that a hare out foraging for food found an egg and gave it to Ostara an offering for Spring (read a more elaborate version of this story here.) The other story speaks of Ostara finding a bird with frozen wings that she turned into a hare to save. The hare retaining its ability to lay eggs, laid an egg for Ostara as a show of gratitude. You can find variations of stories passed down similar to these or possibly have some in your lineage. 

As with much of Pagan and spiritual practices from the Celts and Anglo-Saxons, these traditions were passed down orally. However, there’s actually no written pre-Christian evidence of the Goddess Ostara and her connection to hares and eggs. Ostara is first mentioned in a text by a Christian monk named Bede in 725 AD. 

This isn’t to say that it’s not possible that ancient Northern European folks honored hares, eggs, and maiden Goddesses like Ostara and Freya during this season. Still, there’s no written evidence supporting these stories. Here’s a great article that dives deeper into the history we know about Ostara and her connection to eggs and hares.

Card feature from the Goddess Oracle by Amy Sophia Marashinsky.

When Christianity dominated these areas, the oral traditions were slowly extinguished, as well as many of the ancient practices associated with them. So the truth is, we may never know if Ostara and her connection to hares and eggs were real. You can view this as a hardship or an opportunity. I choose the latter. Not having a script for our ancestors' ancient ways offers you an opportunity to go within and form personal meaning with each season. 

Give this post a listen here:

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Symbolism of Eggs

Regardless of how the connection of eggs came to be associated with Ostara and this season, their connection to fertility, life, and union is found worldwide. Vedic texts reference the cosmic egg, the Orphic egg in Greece, and the Serpent’s Egg in Druidic practices, just to name a few, all of which deal with the beginnings of life and fertility. 

Many of the ancient mythologies surrounding eggs tell stories of life, balance, and creation, which are all energies undoubtedly linked to the energy of the Spring Equinox. For these reasons, regardless of the history of eggs and Ostara, the egg is still a beautiful and potent symbol to work with during this season, or really anytime you’re focusing on fertility and growth. 

Egg Rituals for Ostara

Here are a few simple ways to weave eggs into your Spring Equinox rituals. Vegan? No worries, use fake eggs. As with most magical practices, your intention is the most important part. Working with fake egg-shaped decorations is an ideal substitute for the real deal. You can purchase egg shapes in paper, plastic, and wood at most craft stores. For the rituals shown below, biodegradable eggs made from paper or wood are best. Please, don’t bury plastic eggs!

1. Eat them!: Obviously, if you’re vegan, you can skip over this one. But if you’re not, enjoy eggs in your favorite way or bake with them to connect with their energy of creation. Consider holding the egg in your hand and infusing it with your desires that you’d like to manifest over the coming months. 

2. Decorate: Place plain or decorated eggs on your altar or in your home as a symbol of fertility, balance, and growth. If you’re using real eggs, you can blow out the contents of the egg with a needle and a straw; otherwise, fake eggs will work fine as well (raw eggs shouldn’t be used if left out for more than two hours.) 

3. Egg manifesting ritual: Write wishes, draw Runes or a Sigil on an egg (raw, hard-boiled, or a fake egg) in alignment with your desires. Bury your egg in the ground to let the fertile energy of the earth help it manifest. Amplify this ritual by burying your egg alongside some seeds. As your plants grow, they will serve as a reminder of your desires being manifested. 

4. Egg offering: Hard boil one or more eggs and leave them as an offering out in nature to give thanks for the season's fertility and growth. 

Now you can work with eggs this season and have a better idea of what we do know about their history in regards to Ostara. Remember, even though we don’t have written history, it doesn’t mean that Ostara wasn’t honored. In the end, this season is a time to work with the energy of fertility and growth, and if honoring Ostara, the hare, and eggs is a way that helps you do that, I encourage you to do so! Continue creating a practice that’s meaningful to you. 

Check out our past blog posts about Ostara here.

3 Daily Actions to Improve Your Intuition

You’ve probably heard the phrase that “intuition is a muscle.” If this phrase is new to you, guess what? Your intuition is a muscle that can be strengthened and honed! Some come into this world with extremely active intuitive gifts, just like some people come into this world with a knack for certain instruments or sports. But for most people, intuition is something that takes some practice.

So, if your intuition is a muscle, you might be wondering, “What should I be doing to take my intuition to the metaphorical gym?” As a naturally intuitive person, I’ve spent years working with and refining my intuition and psychic abilities (think of psychic abilities as a super fine-tuned intuition.) There are a few things that I’ve found are key in keeping my intuitive abilities strong and progressing my intuitive abilities into the psychic realm.  

Before we jump in, I’d like to point out that we all experience intuitive and psychic information differently. If you’re not familiar with all of the “clairs,” I’m going to break them down for you here quickly. If you’d like to dive deeper into learning about the clairs, check out this past post here. 

• Clairvoyant: Sees visions, spirits, auras, and energy in the mind's eye or physically. Even though being clairvoyant is the most commonly referenced clair, it is by no means the most common!

• Clairsentient: A common trait of empaths. Clairsentients can tap into people's energy fields, places, and things and sense information about them. 

• Clairaudient: May hear specific sounds for different kinds of energy or hear messages from spirit either aloud or within the mind. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

• Claircognizant: Intuition on hyperdrive! The claircognizant knows things without provocation. Claircognizant information may appear in dreams or as a sudden gut instinct. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

• Clairtangent: Another word used to explain this is psychometry, or the ability to know things by holding an object. However, clairtangency is not limited to holding inanimate objects and may receive information by placing their hands on people or animals.⠀⠀⠀⠀

Understanding the different ways intuitive information may come through will make understanding your intuition much easier. 

Here are 3 Daily Activities to Strengthen Your Intuition. I suggest practicing these in this order, every day for at least a week, to see results. 

1. Meditate Every Day For 10-20 Minutes

Regular meditation will get you in the habit of quieting your mind and tuning in to your intuition. Before you run off and say you don’t have time or can’t meditate, I want you to know that this doesn’t have to be 30-60 minutes of quiet meditation. My daily meditation practice usually ranges from 10-20 minutes, with rare longer meditations for special occasions. 

Even if you need to start at five minutes a day, you will notice a difference in your ability to tune into your intuition. Our modern world comes with many distractions, so it’s important to get in the habit of quieting your mind regularly. Learn more about creating a daily meditation practice in another post I shared here. 

If sitting in meditation doesn’t work for you, I invite you to try different forms of mindfulness, like walking meditation, breathwork, or even becoming more aware of the present moment while doing daily chores and tasks.

Check out guided meditations and journeys here. 

2. Select One Intuitive Tool to Work With Daily

Select one intuitive tool to work with daily. Yes, the same one. Working with the same tool consistently will take out some of the variables for strengthening your intuition and better learning how it presents. Spending daily time with a single intuitive tool will also help you gain confidence with that specific tool. This step is ideal to do right after your daily meditation. Try to work with your intuitive tool for 10-20 minutes.

Once you select your tool, you’ll want to develop a system to use daily that doesn’t take very long (unless you have the time, in which case, take as much time as you’d like!) I’ve found that it’s easier to stick with new practices if I make them short and easy to work into my routine. For example, if you’re working with tarot or oracle cards, ask for daily guidance and pull 1-3 cards. Alternatively, if you want to try a daily scrying practice, I suggest setting a timer for an amount of time you can commit to the practice daily.

Here’s a list of common tools. I’ve also linked them to previous blog posts if you’d like to learn more about them.

• Oracle cards (get a free printable mini oracle card deck) 

• Tarot cards

• Pendulum

• Scrying

• Tea leaf reading

• Runes (get a set of free printable rune tiles)

If there’s a different intuitive tool within your practice that isn’t listed here, that’s great too. Pick something that works for you and that you’ll be able to commit to using daily. 

3. Connect with Intuition in Your Body

Last, and in my opinion, most important, tune into your physical body often while doing your intuitive practice. This is where the real muscle toning comes in to build your intuition. Learning how to connect your intuition into your body is important for a couple of reasons. First, you must have the ability to root into the physical body to expand into the spirit realm. Second, intuition will always show up in the physical body somehow, subtly as it may be. Learning how to sense how and where your intuition presents in your physical body is where the fine-tuning comes in.

Your intuition may show up as a sensation in the gut (there’s a reason for the term “gut feeling”), a sense of lightness in your heart, a flash of insight in your mind, a ringing in your ear, or something else. Your daily work will be to look for patterns in how your intuition speaks to you. How you recognize your intuition in your body will likely be unique and may vary for “yes” and “no” answers and the kind of intuitive work you’re doing. 

To work this into your daily intuitive practice, check-in with your body often as you meditate and work with your intuitive tool of choice. Ask your body to show you where and how your intuitive voice speaks to you. The more you practice this, the more confident and familiar you’ll become with recognizing your intuition. 

You can benefit from these intuition-building tools for as little as twenty minutes a day. I think you’ll see benefits in as little as a week, but of course, like all muscles, the longer you practice, the stronger it will get! Learn more about getting grounded and working with intuition through the third eye chakra in my book, Understanding Chakras.

Dreamwork Ritual for Pisces Season + Card Spread

Pisces, our mutable water sign and last sign of the zodiac, evokes the artist, the mystic, the dreamer, in all of us with its connection to music, poetry, spirituality, and the dream world.

In this blog post, I’ll be sharing a card spread and a ritual for Pisces season. To learn more about Pisces energy and your personal birth chart’s connection to Pisces, check out our Understanding the Energy of Pisces Season blog post here.

Card Spread for Pisces Season

This card spread can be done using an oracle deck or a tarot deck.

I invite you to create a ritual space for you and your deck to communicate by taking a moment to ground and center yourself; lighting some incense, herbs, or candles that help you drop into your heart space; and opening to allow messages to come through. 

Truly, it doesn’t matter what you do, just that whatever you do helps you feel more grounded, centered, and open. When you feel centered and ready, shuffle your deck and draw a card for each of the following questions:

• What is Pisces energy here to teach me?

• Supportive energies to draw on to support my learning and growth 

• How can I embody the artist, the mystic, the dreamer this season? 

• What dream(s) to tend to at this time.

• How to tend to those dreams 

After you pull your cards, take some time to journal and/or meditate with them to really connect with the full meaning they have to offer you.

Dreamwork Ritual for Pisces Season

As someone who loves dreamwork already, Pisces season is basically a dream come true! This ritual is intended to support you in receiving a message through your dreams, and so is best done right before sleep. You’ll need:

• A dream tea (many herbs support sleep and dreaming. Personally, I like a simple combination of mugwort, chamomile, and lavender tea before bed. But as always, with herbs, make sure you research or check with a professional about what’s right for your body. Mugwort should not be consumed by pregnant or lactating people.)

• A journal and something to write with 

• If you'd like to add some supportive crystals aquamarine and amethyst are great options.

1. To start, brew your dream tea and take it to your altar (or bed, if you don’t have an altar or that just feels better for you). As you sip your tea, start feeling into what you need clarity on (you could sense into this, meditate on this, journal about this, or do anything else that helps you clarify what you want to know). This is the question you’re going to take into your dream space.

2. When you have that question, you’d like to receive clarity through your dream tonight, spend some time meditating with your question and take deep breaths. Feel the question in your body. Feel your desire for clarity. Let your body soften and your crown open. When you finish your tea, set your journal beside your bed and go to sleep.

3. In the morning, record your dream in your journal (or a voice memo on your phone if you’re not into writing) right away. It’s okay if you don’t know what it means (in dreamwork, I often find there are no clear-cut yes/no answers, rather things to explore, energies to connect with, and more questions to ask).

4. Record the objective facts of your dream (what happened, who was there, what you saw, etc.) as well as how the dream made you feel, what stood out to you, and what feels particularly alive or significant in the dream. Do you have any gut feelings about what this dream means for you? Write them down.

5. After you record, spend some time meditating and journaling with whatever sparks curiosity, feels intriguing about the dream, or feels particularly alive or significant in the dream. Notice how it makes you feel, what it makes you think of, what it brings up for you.

It’s okay if you are left with more questions - this is about engaging with your dreams and coming into a relationship with them, not thinking of them like a vending machine for wisdom. The more you consciously dream, the more you’ll start to understand the language of your dreams! 

You can repeat this ritual as often as you’d like - I think three nights in a row is really helpful, with the same question - to get more clarity. 

(And if you want more rituals to support your sleep and sweet dreams this season, check out our blog post 7 Rituals to Help You Sleep Like a Goddess here.)

Happy Pisces season, dreamers! I hope this card spread and ritual support - share your spreads on Instagram and tag us @cassieuhl so we can see them! 

The Importance of Pleasure + 3 Pleasure Rituals

We are spiritual beings, but here as humans, we have bodies. Our bodies experience a wide range of sensations and emotions — fear, anxiety, shame, joy, love, pleasure, and many more.

Pleasure is one of the things that feels so specific to having a body - something that’s available to us through the tactile, through sensation, through what we can see and feel and touch.

One of my favorite quotes about pleasure comes from the classic The Ethical Slut: “pleasure is a worthwhile goal in and of itself.”

Many of us have learned in our society that prioritizing pleasure is selfish, unnecessary, and even wrong. But pleasure is our birthright, and as the quote above shares — it is worth pursuing. We all deserve to experience pleasure. 

In this blog, I’m sharing three rituals to help you tap into pleasure. Scroll down to read them!

Before we jump into the rituals, here's a list of ritual items that correspond to pleasure. Any of these items can be used to help you set the intention to invite in more pleasure. They are in no way necessary, but if you have them on hand, feel free to add them to any of the following rituals.

Pleasure Correspondences:

Crystals- rose quartz, garnet, carnelian, ruby

Element- Water

Colors- pink, red, orange

Tarot cards- The Empress, Queen of Cups, The Sun

Plants and scents- Rose, sandalwood, ylang ylang, patchouli, cinnamon

Shell- CowryEnergy points- Sacral

1. Presence Ritual

To me, one of the key ingredients to pleasure is presence. Many of us aren’t present throughout our days for many deeply valid reasons, from trauma to busyness, but when we aren’t present with our lives, I believe we miss out on a lot of the pleasure available to us in the moment.

For this presence ritual, all you’ll need to do is bring presence to something you’re doing in your day. Here are some examples of things you could try doing more mindfully to experience the pleasure within them:

• Taking a walk

• Eating a snack or a meal 

• Gardening

• Watching the sunset

• Having a conversation with someone you love 

• Listening to a song you love 

• Listening to a poem over audio 

• Moving your body in some way (yoga, dancing, running, etc.)

• Having sex (solo or with others) 

Whatever you choose, try to ground yourself beforehand with a few breaths, a hand on your body, petting your animal companion, or doing something else that feels grounding for you. 

Throughout the experience, try to keep your breath deep and truly notice your embodied experience. When you feel yourself drifting back into your mind (I can almost guarantee this will happen, and that’s okay!), try to just notice that, release the thoughts, and return to your breath. Just keep showing up with your breath and your presence, and see how it helps you attune to the pleasure that’s available to you at this moment. 

2. Exploring the Senses Pleasure Ritual

This ritual is inspired by a group experience I took part in at Spirit Weavers a few years ago called Pleasure Stacking.

For this ritual, you’ll want to gather items that can stimulate the senses (sight, sound, taste, smell, and touch). Get creative and use what you have around you! What items in your space open up possibilities for you, feel delicious, or spark curiosity? 

Here are some things that I have used for this ritual to inspire you: 

• Crystals with different textures 

• Silky fabrics 

• Eye mask 

• A delicious tincture that tastes like cacao  

• Fruit  

• A CBD pre-roll  

• Velvety fabrics 

• Scented massage oil  

• Incense  

• Candles 

• A chain from a necklace  

• Sensual music  

1. Once you select the items you'll be working with for this ritual, set yourself up somewhere you feel comfortable - I like to lay down on a yoga mat on the floor.

2. Light your candles and incense if you’re using them, and start to breathe deeply and tune into the senses.

3. The intention of this ritual is to connect with pleasure through the senses and through the body. The only guideline is to use your tools intuitively and keep breathing!

4. Try to really stay present with sensation. You might start by rubbing oil on your body and massaging yourself, experimenting with different pressures. You might trace the chain from your necklace over your belly, taste your tincture or fruit, let your music wash over you and find organic movement, breathe in the scent of your incense, or wrap yourself in different fabrics.

5. As you work with this ritual, notice what happens in your body. Notice what feels delicious in your body, what just feels weird, what your body wants more of. Can you give yourself what you need?

6. As you keep tuning into the senses, allow any organic pleasure mantras to arise like “I deserve pleasure,” “My pleasure is sacred,” or “My pleasure matters.”

7. Notice, too, if shame arises or thoughts telling you that you don’t deserve pleasure, it’s not okay to feel good, etc. Allow these thoughts and feelings to be here - it’s okay! They’re important information. See if you can breathe into them, honor them, and return to your journey through the senses.

8. Take as much time as you need. Remember that experiencing pleasure is your birthright.

9. When you’re ready, close this ritual by placing your hands somewhere on your body and speaking some loving words to yourself, to your body, to whichever parts of you need it.

Ritual to Open to More Pleasure

This ritual is intended to support you in feeling in your body where you hold blocks to pleasure - and moving them out in a fun way. 

In my opinion, it’s not only our tears and pain that move energy and blockages. We can open to more pleasure, and we can move blocks out of our bodies in a fun and playful way as well. In this way, we become open to experiencing more pleasure and create a new pattern in the body. 

For this ritual, feel free to put on some music and create a sacred space, whatever that means to you - (maybe lighting candles or incense, or not - you are a sacred space so you don't have to do anything but you can if you'd like!).

You’ll want to be somewhere you can be comfortable, like in your bed or on a yoga mat.

1. Once you're set up and comfortable, start to feel in your body where you hold blocks to pleasure. I recommend starting by sitting in meditation and breathing deep, feeling these places that are present today (and if you can’t feel anything, that’s okay too).

2. When you feel ready, start to move those blocks in a fun and intuitive way. Just play - see if you can let the moving of these blocks itself be fun and pleasurable.

3. You can use laughter, orgasm, shaking, yelling, roaring, moaning, hissing, vibrating, circling, dancing, moving, or anything else you can feel into or think of to move these blocks out of your body.

4. Can you let it be pleasurable? Can you let it be fun even to heal and explore and transmute? Let your creativity and intuition take over when it comes to moving these crunchy, sticky places out of your body.

5. When you feel complete, take a moment to breathe and notice your new state. Can you feel where there is more space, more openness, in your body? How does your connection to yourself feel now? Breathe, notice, and perhaps take a few moments to explore these questions and process your experience in your journal.

Looking for more pleasure-based rituals? Check out this blog post for more rituals for Beltane!

Your spell's over, now what? 3 Ways to release or repurpose your ritual items

You waited for the perfect moon phase, gathered your supplies, and sent your magic out into the world. Now, you’re left with the remnants of your magical workings. What can be done with your leftover jars and bowls of notes, rocks, herbs, and candle wax?

Whether your magical workings have come to fruition or not, you have quite a few options when it comes to releasing or reusing your past spells. In this blog post, I’m going to share three different ways to honor and release your sacred spells and objects. 

It is the very act of your spell and ritual work that releases your desires out into the universe. The remnants left behind can serve as helpful reminders, but repurposing or releasing your spell will not break or reverse anything. There are certainly some practices that may require you to keep the components of your spell intact, however, if that’s the case, you’ll undoubtedly know. Trust your inner guidance system. 

As you read through these options, know that you can use one or all of these methods to repurpose or release your spell objects. Some objects may not work for certain methods outlined below, in that case, it’s okay to combine. You can also check out this quick video I created for our Instagram page. 

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1. Burning Ceremony

Fire is a transformative tool, so this method goes beyond simply making space for new spells. If your spell has ended it may be time to let it transform in new ways. This method can also be helpful to aid you in detaching from the outcome of your spellwork. Fire is powerful!

A burning ceremony is a great option for spells that include paper, herbs, candle wax, and other burnable objects. Most candle wax is paraffin, which means it’s not ideal for burying in the ground, and reusing it can be time-consuming. If your spell has leftover wax, burning it is one of the easiest and safest ways to release it. 

For this method, you’ll need a large cauldron, fireproof dish, or outdoor fire. Depending on what the contents of your spell were, you’ll likely want to do this outside to prevent a huge plume of smoke from inhabiting your house. As you release your items into the fire, trust that the energy will continue to transform and benefit yourself and others. 

2. Release to the Earth

A gentler option is to release your items back into the Earth. For this method, it’s imperative that you only release items that are natural and biodegradable. For example, most candles are made from paraffin wax and are not suitable for this method. I also do not recommend burying glass jars or bottles. Herbs, plants, biodegradable papers, and crystals are ideal for this method. If your spell was contained in a jar or vessel of some kind, I recommend reusing it, see the next section for tips on this. 

Items that should not be given back to the Earth:

• Salt: salt can harm or even kill plants

• Candle wax: most candles are made with paraffin wax which is not biodegradable

• Anything that is not 100% biodegradable

You can bury your items in a meaningful location or in your backyard, the location itself doesn’t need to be special. If you live near a natural body of water, releasing them into the water is a great option as well. This method can be transformative like the fire but in a gentler way. I find this method is great for inspiring a sense of gratitude and giving thanks to Mother Earth.

3. Cleanse and reuse

For all the objects you want to reuse like meaningful crystals and items that don’t burn or biodegrade, you’ll want to energetically cleanse them. Because spell and ritual work evokes such strong emotions, it’s important to energetically cleanse items before reusing them for another purpose. Unless, of course, the energy you imbued your items with is something you want to keep around. However, if you performed a spell for letting go of a past relationship, and then want to use the same jar or tools for helping you gain a new career, it’ll be best to cleanse your items.

There are a variety of ways to cleanse physical objects. Here are a few simple techniques. 

• Place your items in salt overnight.

• Hold your items in cleansing smoke like rosemary, cedar, lavender, or some other herb in line with your spiritual heritage. 

• For rocks or other items that are waterproof, hold them in running water.

• Hold your items in your hands and call on any guides, spirits, or energies you work with to cleanse your items. 

No need to let your sacred space fill up with spellwork from the past! I hope you enjoyed these tips to keep your spell and ritual practice open and flowing.

Inspired Growth Candle Ritual for Imbolc

The Celtic Sabbat of Imbolc honors the midway point between the Winter Solstice and Spring. The Earth is starting to wake up, and even though it may be quite cold still, you can start to see glimmers of nature waking up. On a personal level, this is a season to allow inspiration to stir within you. Imbolc is a call to allow your inner transformations so you can grow into the highest and best version of yourself. Danu Forest says it best here.

"To call in inspiration is to begin to see our life infused with spirit, to discover a new or renewed vision for greater creativity on all levels. To call in healing is to resolve the things that hold us back or limit our potential. We all have parts of our lives and bodies that need healing, and to give this aspect of ourselves a boost at this time of the year sets us up for a more empowered and happier future." - Danu Forest from The Magical Year

The Goddess Brigid is closely associated with this sabbat. Brigid brings light, inspiration, and healing and aids in childbearing. It’s her whispers which begin to rouse both you and Mother Nature during this time of new beginnings. Brigid connects deeply with the fire element and is often referred to as the “Flame of Ireland.” For these reasons, candle work is especially fitting for Imbolc. Learn more about Brigid here and more about candle magick here.

For this Imbolc ritual, you’ll be calling on the Goddess Brigid to stir inspiration within you. The ideal time to practice this ritual is on the evening of February 1st or anytime on February 2nd. Brigid is associated with the color white, so a white candle will be best for this ritual. As with all ritual work, use what you have. Your intention is the most powerful part of any ritual or spell. If you don’t have one of these items, leave it out, it will still work. 

Inspired Growth Candle Ritual for Imbolc

For this ritual, you’ll need:

• A white candle 

• Rosemary for cleansing (optional)

• Bay leaf for success (optional)

• A sharp tool to inscribe your candle with

• Anointing oil for your candle (whatever you have on hand works, such as almond oil or even olive oil. For an extra layer of energy, try rosemary oil, chamomile oil, or basil oil.)

• Safe space to burn your candle

• Dedicated time to connect with your candle

1. Prepare all of your items and take a moment to center yourself. 

2. Using your carving tool, write “inspire me” on your white candle. As you carve your candle, visualize yourself opening up to receiving insight and wisdom. 

3. Rub your anointing oil over your candle and continue to visualize yourself opening up to receive inspiration from spirit. 

4. Roll your candle in any herbs you’re using, or sprinkle them on top.  

5. Place your candle in a fire-safe dish or holder and light your candle. 

6. When you light your candle, call on the Goddess Brigid to join you, inspire you, and heal you. You might say something like, “Goddess Brigid, I welcome your light into this space. I am open to your inspiration and healing. So it is.”

7. Stay with your candle as it burns. Take 2-5 minutes to sit with your candle and softly gaze at the flame. 

8. As the candle continues to burn, you can continue to meditate and connect with Brigid, you can write down any ideas that come to your mind, or you can simply rest and enjoy the healing light of Brigid. 

9. When the candle is done burning, take a moment to thank Brigid for joining you and thank yourself for taking the time to connect with the season. 

Just like nature grows without force, so will you. Trust that the stirrings of inspiration that you received are exactly what you need to grow into the highest and best version of yourself. Imbolc blessings, dear one!

Learn more about Imbolc and how to connect with this season here. 

Card Spread & Sigil Ritual for Aquarius Season

Welcome to Aquarius season! Our fixed air sign, Aquarius energy is about authentic expression, bringing forth the new age and the next world, and upgrading the collective to its highest expression.

To learn more about Aquarius energy, you can check out this blog post. In this post, I’ll be sharing a card spread and a sigil ritual to help you tap into the healing invitations of the Aquarius season. 

Practice these Aquarius offerings together or separately, whatever feels best for you. Scroll down to explore both of them!

Card Spread for Aquarius Season

For this card spread, you’re welcome to use a tarot deck or an oracle deck. In the spread, we’ll explore the Aquarius themes of authenticity and belonging. 

I invite you to create a ritual space for you and your deck to communicate by taking a moment to ground and center yourself; lighting some incense, herbs, or candles that help you drop into your heart space; and opening to allow messages to come through. 

When you feel centered and ready, shuffle your deck and draw a card for each of the following points:

• Where do I have a block from authentic expression?

• How can I support my authentic expression in this area?

• What's keeping me from feeling a sense of belonging? 

• How can I create deeper belonging within myself?

• Who will I be in my most authentic expression?

Take some time to journal and/or meditation on your cards to connect with the full meaning they have to offer you.

Sigil Ritual for Aquarius Season

For this ritual, we’ll be creating a sigil to help you embody your truth. As an air sign, Aquarius evokes truth. You can see this in the King of Swords, our Aquarius card in the court cards of the tarot. It invites us to speak and embody our truth, to take up space with our voice and our message, and to not shrink - even when we’re afraid. When we embody our truth and share our voices, we create more authentic belonging. Associated with group energy and friendships, this is something Aquarius energy is deeply connected to. If sigils are new to you, think of them as a powerful symbol that is completely personal to you. What you’ll need: 

• paper

• pencil

• optional: crystals, herbs, or candles that support the element of air like yellow or blue candles, mint or citrus, and amethyst or kyanite. 

Ritual Steps: 

1. As with the card spread, open your ritual by taking some time to ground and center yourself. You might like to visualize yourself sending roots down into the core of the earth, take some deep breaths, place your hands on your body, or do something else that feels grounding to you. 

2. After you ground, you might like to cast a circle to protect your ritual space and invite any well ancestors, spirit guides, or other loving beings you have relationships with to join you in ritual.

3. When you’re ready, it’s time to create your sigil. Write down some phrases and affirmations on your paper that support you in speaking your truth. Just let them flow! Some phrases to get you started: I EMBODY MY TRUTH. or I AM TRUTH.

4. After you write them down, sit with the phrase (or phrases) you wrote. If you wrote multiple phrases, speak them out loud and see which one lands in your body. Choose one that feels alive and supportive.

5. Re-write that phrase or phrases on a new page. In the next few steps, you’ll work towards simplifying and unifying this phrase into a single symbol. 

6. Re-write the phrase again, removing all of the repeating letters and vowels. 

7. Re-write this line, turning the remaining letters into simpler symbols or shapes, like this. 

8. Connect the lines together into a symbol in a way that feels intuitive and natural to you. This can be as simple or as elaborate as you’d like. As you create, breathe deeply and focus on your intention. 

Tip: If drawing isn’t natural for you, this might feel uncomfortable, and that’s okay! Focus on the intention of your statement rather than what the sigil looks like. Remember this is a symbol for you and you alone. 

Tip: Your sigil will look different than the one pictured.

9. When you’re ready, it’s time to activate your sigil. You can do this in many ways, but for this ritual, I recommend a brief meditation. 

10. Place your sigil to your heart, with your palms on top of it, and breathe deeply. Visualize light (any color that comes intuitively is great) flowing from your heart to the sigil, activating each piece of it. Spend some time here letting energy flow, and when you feel an energy shift you’ll know that your sigil has been activated. 

11. Close your ritual by placing your sigil on your altar, under your pillow, on your bedside, or somewhere else that you’ll see it regularly and be reminded of its power. 

Wishing you a nourishing Aquarius season, and please feel free to share your ritual experience with us on Instagram!