I’ve just unwrapped one of the large canvasses I bought at the start of this year and put it up on the easel. A vast 28×28 inch sea of blank canvas faces me. And as always, staring that huge expanse down is a little bit scary.
Does that fear ever go away, I wonder?
I think not. Because painting is no longer just a hobby, something I do to fill the hours or just for fun. It’s much more than that. Much deeper.
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The July 2020 full moon falls in the sign of Capricorn. Symbolized by the mountain goat, which maintains perfect balance while it climbs over precarious rock ledges, the Capricorn archetype is one of disciplined and dogged determination towards the attainment of our worldly desires.
Spiritually, the Capricorn archetype teaches us about integrity and helps us to harness the ability to plan our work, and stick to it, no matter what. In these times of 24×7 consumption culture, it’s easy to be addicted with shiny object syndrome and forget about our goals and plans. Capricorn teaches us about the meaning of integrity: to align ourselves with our highest ideals and actualize our potential.
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Here’s your energy forecast and tarot reading for July 2020. I’m using the Wild Unknown Archetype cards to pull the theme or energy that we are being called to focus on as a collective this month, and two tarot cards from the Wild Unknown Tarot Deck to provide some additional guidance and clarity on how we can best use and understand the archetypal messages.
July presents us with the archetype of The Seed. The image on this card is almost hypnotic, the concentric circles drawing you in to the seed pearl at the centre of the card.
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It’s time for the first check-in for the 2020 Book Bingo reading challenge. Wondering what the challenge is? Check out this post where I lay out all the rules for the 2020 Book Bingo reading challenge, and then come back here and jump right in!
I had hoped that the lockdown would mean more reading time, but that didn’t happen. I spent a lot of time on art and deep diving on other areas of interest instead. I did read, though I didn’t manage to hit my goal of reading at least two books a month. Oh well!
As of this writing, I’ve read just 4 books this quarter, making it a total of 8 books read this year. So here’s a quick little review of the books I read this quarter, along with the bingo squares I checked off.
P.S.: These are also amazing summer reads – and as a pleasant surprise the books are set all over the world – Kabul, French wine country, India, and Paris!Continue reading
The June 2020 new moon falls in the sign of Cancer. It is also a solar eclipse and the summer solstice. The Cancer archetype is emotional, intuitive, nurturing and healing. It also symbolizes “home” and all the things that home represents – not just our physical home, but also our emotions, energy, body, and the spiritual hearth of our souls.
Spiritually, the Cancer archetype is one of compassion, of recognising that people act to the best of their abilities, limited by their education, upbringing and current awareness. The Cancer archetype knows that love and forgiveness are the best way to respond to destructive behavior.
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Time is an interesting construct. We divide it up into minutes, hours, days, and years. When an event of cataclysmic proportions takes place in our lives, we divide it into Before and After. Before the wedding; After the art show; Before the divorce; After the kids moved to college. Much like Dionysius, who devised a system of counting time to do away with the memory of a ruthless emperor.
“The first year in Dionysius’ Easter table, “Anno Domini 532,” followed the year “Anno Diocletiani 247.” Dionysius made the change specifically to do away with the memory of this emperor who had been a ruthless persecutor of Christians.” – via LiveScience
The June 2020 full moon falls in the sign of Sagittarius. The freedom loving Sagittarius archetype is in a constant search for inspiration, new avenues of exploration, and adventure. This is a sign that gets bored of the status quo easily, and needs the rush of a new quest to keep them on their toes.
Spiritually, the Sagittarius archetype teaches us to cultivate our own personal relationship with the divine. Contrary to what most religions and a lot of spiritual teachers say, you don’t need an intermediary between you and Source/God/the Universe. You have that connection available to you at all times. Learning to tune in and trust that connection is where a lot of us seem to stumble, though. The Sagittarius archetype teaches us to trust that things will work out and that there is always a higher purpose behind everything that happens in our lives.
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Here’s your tarot reading and energy forecast for June 2020. I’m using the Wild Unknown Archetype cards to pull the theme or energy that we are being called to focus on as a collective this month, and two tarot cards from the Wild Unknown Tarot Deck to provide some additional guidance and clarity on how we can best use and understand the archetypal messages.
This tarot reading is particularly potent for the times we are in, as it points to a way out of the fear and shame spiral that the the unprecedented global pandemic pushed a lot of us into. Let’s get right into it.
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The May 2020 new moon falls in the sign of Gemini. The Gemini archetype is very curious, an excellent communicator, and a disseminator of knowledge. It is the sign of the writer, of those who tend to think deeply, are highly perceptive, and prefer to learn from experience.
Spiritually, the Gemini archetype is about courageous conversation, be it with another person or with the Universe. Gemini adds its vibration to the advancement of culture and civilization through dialogue, be that via books or blogs or letters.
The May 2020 new moon also highlights our foundations and roots; our closest relationships and the things and people that feel like home. In “normal” {i.e. pre-pandemic} times, this moon would have highlighted communication, collaboration, and time spent in the company of family and friends. In our “new normal” though, we are going to have to come up with new and innovative ways of building these networks of community.
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While going through my YouTube video library, I realized I have a few art journaling technique videos that I had uploaded some time back but forgot to share – silly me! One of them was this cool experiment I did sometime last year, I think. I created two art journal pages at the same time, using the same color palette, supplies, and techniques, and ended up with two very different finished art journal pages.
I broke the video down into two, so you aren’t sitting here for ages watching me paint in my art journal! Bookmark this page so you can watch a video, take a break, and come back and watch the next. Or binge watch them one after the other!
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