Welcome to April’s Pick A Card Reading. I’m so glad you’ve joined me. We posed the question to the tarot “What do I need to know this month?” with the intention of tapping into the spirit guides and guardians of Mother Earth–and Mother Earth herself. There is a lot going on out there and I thought perhaps some earth wisdom would be just what we need to help process events and energies. This month I’m using the Grimalkin’s Curious Cats Tarot by MJ Cullinane. I love her art work–all her decks are so gorgeous. This deck is a little bit different from your traditional tarot because it contains extra cards not found in the Rider Waite versions of the  Major Arcana. This matters because for the collective energy for the month, I’ve drawn one of those extra cards: Grimalkin. It’s a picture of this beautiful gray and white long haired cat gazing up with the woods in the background and a red fox, a white owl and a bat present, a full moon shining down on all of them.

The quote: “Have patience with the world around you, listen for the whispers of the crone as she will help you find your peace, your power, your unique magic.” Let’s take a moment to let that sink it. The idea of having patience right now certainly resonates with me. There is so much happening out there and I think we want to know “Why?” and also “How can we help?” but also, “What the actual hell?!?” And those are great questions, but also loaded ones. And I certainly don’t have the answers, but what Mother Earth and her guardians are reminding us of is that we need to have patience. Patience with ourselves and our emotions. Patience with others–to not just leap in and respond immediately in the moment, but to give ourselves space to really sit and process what we need to in order to respond in a more conscious and well thought out manner. In that space, is where the wisdom from the crone comes in. Let’s chat for just a second about crone energy. For me, crone energy is that ancient wisdom passed down from generation to generation. It’s about tapping into the ancestors before us–specifically the wise elders based in femine energy rather than masculine. In the guidebook, the author talks about the idea of these wise elders who walked before us, who and I quote, “created that trail that we walk down so effortlessly today”. I think we all carry crone energy within us, and being intentional about tapping into it right now can bring us the insight and the peace we are so desperately needing. I think when chaos is happening around us we look around to point a finger at someone or something to help make sense of it. The crone energy asks us to slow down and rather than look for who is at fault, tap into your inner wisdom and ask, “How can I help?” and also, “What am I/we learning about this right now?” And to realize that we all aren’t learning at the same pace. So your three keys for navigating the collective this month are: Patience. Inner Wisdom. Grace.

If you haven’t selected a card 1-3 yet, hit pause and head on over to look at the cards or hit pause and tune in to feel or know which card message is for you.

Ok Card #1 folks! Let’s talk about the Five of Swords. We had a Five last month with the Pentacles. I’ll be honest–Fives aren’t my favorite cards to pull, but they do bring really deep insights when they show up–usually uncomfortable ones. Here we’ve got a gray short hair cat sitting on a pet bed with a sword and ball in it. A table with a rose is nearby with four additional swords in the background and a very sad looking brown dog off in the corner. I suspect that pet bed belonged to the dog. And it creates a really accurate illustration of this card’s energy: You’ve won, but at what cost? It’s a fine line–standing up for yourself vs wielding power with no thought to those around you. And the idea that throwing that power around without conscious thought can leave you feeling alone and isolated. Yes, you got what you wanted, but was it worth it? So why this card for #1 folks–first, I’m going to say this: Choosing this card doesn’t mean that you’re a mean and horrible person throwing power every which way. So just let all that go right now. Often the tarot shows up in quieter ways than the full expression of the card. Let’s take a step back then and look at it again. When was the last time you thought about your values? I mean your own personal values–not the one’s from your family or group or culture. If asked, could you tell me what your top 4-5 values are that guide you in life? I’ll be honest, until a few years ago I probably couldn’t have, so it’s ok if you haven’t. But this card is asking you to look at your values this month. To write them down. Values can act as a compass for everything we do–from making business decisions, to getting up healthy boundaries in relationships, to helping guide us on when we need to let go. They seriously make life much easier, but they can also help us hold ourselves accountable–especially in times when we have the power in any dynamic. Knowing your values can keep you out of the essence of this card. It can keep can keep you from being this lonely cat with only a pet bed and tennis ball to show for it. So your work this month is to sit down and make a list of your values. Find a list of values online and pick 4-5 that really resonate with you. No more than that or it becomes too much to make it work. I say this because you’ll be using ALL five values to make decisions and if they don’t line up with ALL five then something will need to shift before you say yes. 

Card 2 folks, you’ve also got a five this month, but it’s the five of wands. It’s a cat surrounded by five cat wand toys that have feathers on the ends in various colors. This cat is in the middle of a field of flowers with cloudy skies. The energy here is less intense and I think the image relays that well. Here it feels like all the wands of vying for attention or getting in the way of what the cat wants to do. Traditional tarot shows images of people in competition, but here it’s the competition of which thing do you do first. Which idea do you move on first or which challenge do you tackle first? It can feel like things are closing in on you right now–it’s all too much. I understand this energy. My partner often says to me when I get overwhelmed, “Which alligator is closest to the boat right now?” Meaning which thing is the most critical to acknowledge–before it bites you. That's your work this month. Keeping an eye on the cat wands or the alligators or however that works for you. Which thing needs to be addressed first? Make a list. It may feel like all the things need addressing. I also get that, so then I urge you to draw an oval on a piece of paper. This is your boat. Make a list of alligators. Number each gator. Which thing needs completing first or which thing needs to happen first so that other things on that list can happen. Put that number closest to the boat. Look at your list and repeat. The visualization may help you trust yourself more and move out of overwhelm. Inevitably he will listen to this podcast and call me out the next time I roll my eyes about his alligator and boats. It is what it is.

Card 3 folks, you’ve got Seven of Wands. It’s a picture of a cat on a tree branch with wands under them surrounded by bees, a butterfly, and three crow and what I think is a dove. The sun is peeking out through the clouds.  It gives the feeling of having to defend yourself from things–like all these wands are coming up and you need to bat them down. Fortunately, the cat seems to be successful, but it’s still work. 3 folks are feeling challenged this month and like it’s coming from all different directions. This is different from the five of wands before where there was a sense of overwhelm and competing against others. Here it’s like you’ve found your ground, your space and now you are just trying to stay there–keep your head above water from the demands of life, but there’s this sense of accomplishment. I think to understand it better you need to see the flow from 5-7. Five of wands is about competing with others. 6 of wands is about winning or success–from that competition before. Seven of wands is now that you have “won” you feel like you have to defend yourself or  space to be able to keep what you’ve worked so hard for in the Five. Make sense? You have got what you wanted and now it’s about putting in the work to stay there. The funny thing is–the 8? It’s about moving forward. Yeah–moving on. How does this help us with the seven? It’s telling us that yes, you earned where you are in life right now, but there’s going to be some work in order to stay comfortable there–upkeep if you will, but also know that in order to continue to evolve you’re going to be leaving this space you worked so hard for, eventually. The point? Stand up for yourself and what you’ve worked on, but don’t become so defensive that you block any movement forward. Your work this month will be to look at that fine balance. Are people around you challenging you to take what you have or are they challenging you to grow and learn and move forward? And when you shift that perspective how does shift yoru reaction?

Ok all, there you have it. April in Soul Tarot terms. We all need to find a little extra patience this month and trust out inner voice–and extend grace to ourselves and to others.

Card #1 folks: You’re looking at naming your values and using them as a guide forward.

Card #2 folks: You’re removing overwhelm by figuring out what the first thing is that needs doing and just focusing on that until it’s done.

Card #3 folks: Shift your perspective. Are people challenging you because they want to take something away or are they challenging you to grow? PS It can be both because life is full of “and’s”, however getting clear on where that line is is going to help you keep your sanity.

I’ve got fun things happening on my end this month. I launched a FREE Soul Tarot offer called Soul Tarot in real life. Click on the link at the bottom of this reading to sign up. We did The Fool in March and The Magician is April. It includes a guidebook and a deep guided meditation called a Soul Journey and it’s free! Yay! 

Adventures with Spirit podcast is also wrapping up season 1 this month with two really helpful episodes about how to choose a reader that works for you and then what a reading actually looks like–and you get to tune into 2 live readings we gave to 2 of our listeners. So if you’ve been curious to see what a mediumship reading is about tune in there.

Also my 1:1 sessions are all booked up until July and I haven’t opened the calendar for that month yet. BUT. There’s always a but, yes? You have a couple of options that may get you a reading sooner. First, joining the newsletter gets you first access to readings. They go fast so if you want the biggest selection of times, the newsletter is where that magic lies. Second, I have a waitlist and sometimes when that waitlist gains critical mass, I open up an extra day for readings. So use the link below to sign up for both because my waitlist people will get first grabs at anything I open up. And my newsletter folks will get first grabs on any new calendar openings. Thank you for tuning in again this month! Head over to IG or FB and let me know in the comments how the reading resonated with you and what your takeaways were. Much love to you all.