Blog

  • Blog, Featured Blog, Learn Tarot, Tarot

    What Does It Mean When You Have A Stalker Card?

    If you’re anything like me, you consult with your cards frequently. I work with tarot and oracle cards daily, often pulling random cards for my own questions, and of course, using tarot and oracle cards to advise clients. There are times when I start noticing stalker cards in my readings. What is a stalker card and what does it mean when you notice you have a stalker card?

    What is a stalker card?

    A stalker card is a card that keeps coming up over and over in your readings, in card picks, or even as the bottom card in the deck (The Shadow Card). You start to see the card so often, it starts to feel like the card is actually following you around or stalking you.

    There are times when I pick up a deck, shuffle it, and choose a card. I note what the card is, return it to the deck, and shuffle again. Then I pull another card from the deck and… it’s the same card I got the first time!

    And it’s often not just one day that the card comes up; stalker cards can follow a person around for weeks. A stalker card will keep on coming up again and again, though, for what feels like an extended amount of time.

    If I’m working out some sort of issue in my mind and end up examining it from a variety of different angles with different spreads on different days (#dontjudge), the same card might appear over and over again in a prominent position in my readings.

    Why do stalker cards stalk you?

    Stalker cards are often ideas or concepts that you need to deal with in order to move forward in your life or get to the next level. They serve as reminders of the point you might be purposefully missing or honestly overlooking.

    Sometimes, the cards are reaffirming a message they gave you the last time you asked. Sometimes, they are reminding you that you have to do that one thing before you can succeed.

    There are also stalker cards you might associate with the “season” of life you are in or a personality trait that is holding you back.

    If you are co-dependent, for example, or need to hold on to your sobriety or work on your addictions, the Devil card might become your stalker. Or, if you need to step up and claim more power in your life, either Strength or the Nine of Pentacles might start stalking you.

    If you start to get the same deity or idea coming up while using a deck (or a few of them), that is an indication that that entity has a special message for you. For example, if Athena comes up when you use the Goddess Guidance deck and then you get out your Goddess Power deck she comes up again, I think it’s safe to say that Athena has a message for you.

    Read about my experience with a stalker card here: Pele, My Goddess Stalker

    What you should do if you get a stalker card

    If you start to notice a specific tarot or oracle card stalking you, or coming up more frequently in your readings, you should explore what it means to you and your current situation.

    • Get out your tarot journal and either go to the page devoted to that card or find a blank page to note your ideas on.
    • Take the card out and really look at it. Are there any symbols on the card that trigger your intuition? Do the colors evoke any feelings for you?
    • Brainstorm a list of ideas related to what it might mean for you.
    • Free-write in your journal. Let yourself connect with the energy of the card or of the deity shown on the card.
    • Get the Little White Book from the deck and see if the deck’s creator lists any new or different information about the card.
    • Spend some time studying what other people say about the card, what it means, and how that ties in with your current life situation.
    • Make note of any direct hits in your life or your tendencies that the card might be addressing.
    • Note WHERE in the deck it is or how it comes up. Is it a card you pull or one that is always on the bottom of the deck?
    • If the card is a deity, place the card on your altar with some libations to thank it for helping you in your life.
    • After you’re done working with the energy of the card, thank the card for the advice and guidance and return the card to your deck.

    In Summary

    Stalker cards are cards you notice coming up over and over again in your readings. When you feel like a card is following you around or stalking you, it’s a good idea to examine its message more closely and really think about what it means in your life. You can write about your stalker card in your tarot journal or make a special note of it. Oftentimes, stalker cards have a special message for you—that’s why they show up often enough for you to get either creeped out or intrigued by seeing them over and over again!

    Have you ever had a card stalk you? If so, please share your experience in the comments below!

     

    CONTINUE READING

  • Blog, Featured Blog

    Is The Message You Are Getting From Your Ego or Your Higher Self?

    Woman thinking

    Learning to work with your intuition is a skill I think we all should learn. If you know how to understand messages that are coming through in the moment, you don’t need a tarot card reader or psychic to help you make decisions. You will be able to tap into Divine Guidance for yourself. But how do you know if the message you are getting is from your ego or your Higher Self? Let’s talk a little bit about it now.

    When you are learning to work with your intuition, you might struggle to be able to discern if a message is coming from your ego or your Higher Self.

    Unfortunately, we, as a society, have been taught to ignore the most basic—and often the most easily understandable—signs from our souls, like hunger, pain, exhaustion, and sadness. Instead of resting when we are overwhelmed, we are pushed to keep going til the job is done. Or we eat according to the clock, not when we are truly hungry.

    If you ignore those cues, you might also ignore the whispers your Higher Self.

    And sadly, our society has also tried to banish symbolism and connecting with the Universe around us. It’s been deemed evil, and those who practice divination or even work with symbols, numerology, astrology, etc. have been systematically outcast, dubbed as wicked, and even tortured or murdered for their practices and beliefs.

    No wonder people have a hard time connecting with their intuition!

    So, how can you tell if a sign or message you get is from your Higher Self, or if it is just your ego trying to keep you small or even fear or FOMO preventing you from doing what you truly know you need to do?

    Tune in to your gut

    One of the most common ways your Higher Self will send a message is through your gut. If you are faced with something your soul is screaming NO to, it will often make your stomach area feel tense, clenched, and just plain out of whack.

    My mom always told me to do a “gut check” when I was trying to make a decision. How do you do a gut check?

    Doing a Gut Check

    Sit quietly without distractions. Take a few breaths to calm yourself and get focused on tuning into your body. Think about Option A. Notice how it makes your stomach feel. What sensations arise. Do you get anxious, grumpy, or sad? Does your tummy start to clinch or feel uncomfortable? Or do you feel free, light, and excited? Note your true feelings.

    Repeat this process with all of the options you have. Be honest with yourself about how you truly feel and what comes up when you think about each option.

    Tone of the Message

    If you get messages through thoughts, like, “This is a great opportunity! Don’t miss out!” or “Watch out for that one…”, you want to think about the tone of the message to understand if the message is from your ego or your Higher Self.

    Messages that are neutral or loving tend to come from Spirit. Messages that are biting, demanding, or insulting, like, “Who do you think you are to think that,” or “OMG. He doesn’t even like you!” or “You’re too (short, tall, fat, old, dumb, etc.) to get this,” are from your ego or even trauma-related messages.

    Note the tone of a message to tell if it is from your Higher Self or from your ego.

    Is the Message Win-Win or Fear Driven?

    Even though this might be a subtle distinction, sorting out if a message is fair and from a higher perspective or if it is driven by fear will also help you decide where it comes from.

    Messages from your Higher Self might encourage you to take a different path and that shift might let others down, but it isn’t fear driven.

    Consider the difference between these messages:

    “You should leave now before you get hurt.”

    and

    “You should leave now because you have tried everything and you are still not happy.”

    There is a big difference between the two.

    When trying to decide if a message is from your ego or Higher Self, note if a message is laced with fear or doubt or if it is loving guidance. You will learn to know the difference.

    Do you feel calm and connected or anxious and forced?

    Oh! This is a great one. When your Higher Self is sending a message, it will feel calm and just right, like Pappa Bear’s porridge.

    If a message is from your ego, however, you might feel forced to make a decision or even like you are dragging yourself to your goal, one leaden footstep after the other.

    Or you might feel like you HAVE to choose between Choice A and Choice B RIGHT NOW! But really, the Universe might have Choices X, Y, and Z lined up for you, if you would just let go of feeling like you need to choose A or B.

    When your Higher Self is guiding you, you will start to feel the simple power of its presence. It doesn’t need to force you to anything. It will let you know. All you have to do is follow it. 🙂

    You get goosebumps or see flashes of light, auras, or other signs

    Another way Spirit will send messages to you is through goosebumps, flashes of light, auras, or other signs.

    For example, when you talk about an idea that really lights you up or is driven by true inspiration, you might break out in goosebumps. This is totally common, especially if you are doing spiritual work.

    I’ve also seen flashes of different colored light and different signs, like feathers, stars, rainbows, and clover when thinking about different outcomes or even looking at different options.

    Or you might see shadows around things that are either MEH or will be bad for you. Other signs that you might want to pass on a project or person are seeing snakes around them, feeling drained when in their presence or when working with them, or even seeing coffins or piles of poo. These are all warnings from Spirit that you should take into consideration.

    Critical, Biting Feedback

    While your Higher Self is loving, supportive, and kind, your ego might be biting and insulting.

    Higher Self will remind you that you did your best while your ego will let you know how weak, dumb, and inept you are.

    You might also have to battle voices from other influences in your life, people whose voices got stuck in your head when you were down.

    Check the voice of a message. If it’s the voice of your overly critical father or the teacher who always made you feel stupid, you know the message is coming from ego or an echo of their negativity that got stuck in your psyche, not Spirit.

    Your Higher Self won’t give up or sway

    Last but not least, your Higher Self will continue to send you the same message over and over again, while your ego might shift, become unclear, or just leave you feeling confused.

    If you choose an option that isn’t good for you, your Higher Self will gently remind you that you are on the wrong path, gently steering you back to the better choice.

    Your ego might lead you in circles, running back and forth, sending confused messages and leaving you feeling frazzled and unsure.

    So, if you find yourself in decision paralysis or feeling overwhelmed, you can rest assured that your Higher Self will be like a lighthouse. Its message won’t shift. It will remain calm and clear, no matter what storms rage around you or in your head.

    Your Higher Self will repeat the same message over and over again.

    Conclusion

    As you can see, it’s often really easy to tell if a message is coming from your ego or your Higher Self. Your ego can be negative, cruel, and stuck in confusion while your Higher Self is calm, gentle, and patient. I know hearing the guidance from your Higher Self and following it can be a bit of a challenge, but learning to trust the messages you get will definitely help you out.

    Do you feel like you can tell the difference between a message from your Higher Self and your ego? Please let me know in the comments below!

    CONTINUE READING

  • Blog

    4 Simple Tarot Card Tips For The Absolute Beginner

    4 Tips for Tarot Beginners
    Learning to read tarot? Here are some tips for you!


    Have you ever wanted to get the lowdown on a particular situation? Are you looking for an insight into the future or maybe even the past? Is the path you’re currently on the right one, or should you expect a sudden change in its course? The answer to all these questions and more are said to be in your tarot cards.

    Tarot cards have been used for centuries—check out Medium Chat for a reading from the experts—and although the decks and the interpretations of the cards may have changed over the years, the idea remains the same.

    Whether you’re reading for yourself or for someone else, tarot cards can give you a deeper insight into your life, relationships and even future.
    But how difficult is it to read tarot cards? How do you begin?

    And what do you do if a card jumps out of the deck while you are shuffling?

    Well, first you’ll need your own deck of tarot cards and then, read on for 4 simple tarot card tips for the absolute beginner.

    Keep the entire process simple


    There are a huge number of esoteric beliefs and approaches out there, which means that there are potentially hundreds of ways you could interpret the cards. For a beginner, it’s easy to become overwhelmed by all the possibilities and interpretations out there, so keep the entire process simple.

    Get to grip with the most basic of techniques, how to lay the cards and stick to the most basic of interpretations and meanings. As you start to build your confidence, move onto a more complex and detailed approach.


    Make it personal


    It makes sense to try and memorise all the card meanings. However, that’s an incredible amount of information you’d need to learn and process… it’s just not practical. The most sensible approach? Make your tarot cards personal to you. What card represents your job? Or your best friend? Which card reminds you of your happiest memory? The more personal these connections are, the more insightful your instinct will be.


    Practice by drawing a card a day


    Don’t practice until you get it right – practice until you can’t get it wrong! By drawing a card a day, you can practice your interpretations and your memory as well as your personal connection to your cards. Ask the tarot: What kind of day can I expect today? Or, what energies will I need the most
    today? Then match the cards you’ve drawn with your experiences.


    Read what’s in the picture


    Look. At. The. Picture. When you’re trying to interpret words, feelings, energies and other beliefs, it’s easy to overlook the biggest piece intuition that’s right in front of you! Look at the pictures on the cards and try to figure out what you think is happening. What’s the story behind what’s going on?


    Then you simply relate what’s happening in the image to what’s happening in your life right now, the interpretation you’ve taken from the image may be able to teach you something, give you confidence, or even serve as a warning.


    Mastering the tarot card meanings is personal and fun! So try not to put too much pressure on yourself.

    In accordance with transparency laws, I do accept collaborative posts and content on my site.

    CONTINUE READING

  • Angels, Blog

    Disappointed In Doreen Virtue

    I have to admit that I’m really disappointed about Doreen Virtue’s recent blog post (A-Z List of New Age Practices To Avoid), calling everything—up to and including rainbow sparkly unicorns and statues—demonic work of the devil, and anyone who was working with angels, Reiki, drums, shamanism, yoga, MINDFULNESS… you name it, all evil according to Doreen.

    Oh. My. Gods.

    The weird thing is that her words in that blog post go against almost everything she taught in her classes, at least what I got from them. Parts of her list don’t even make sense, really. I mean, has Doreen ever stepped foot in a church? She says statues are evil and false idols, but every Catholic church I’ve been in in my whole life is filled with statues of Jesus, Mary, and other figures in the Christian tradition. Are we to think that churches are evil now, too?

    Her teachings before she was baptized and born again in 2017 were all about acceptance, non-judgment, learning to trust your own intuition, being kind but assertive, connecting with nature. Doreen Virtue didn’t stop at teaching people how to work with her cards or respect deities from other religions, she also delved into her version of keeping yourself and your environment healthier and creating a life that was more in line with your own happiness.

    I talked a bit about my thoughts about Doreen Virtue’s Conversion to Christianity here
    and how the Angels Are Bigger Than Just One Person: Angel Work Post Doreen Virtue here

    Personally, I enjoyed reading her books and learning about different ways of connecting with my intuition and angels with the practices she taught. What I learned by following some of what she taught and combining it with other rituals and details I learned from other sources took my spirituality to the next level. My own craft and connection with Spirit grew from my work, and I was also led to other teachers, topics, and rituals through learning about angels, ascended masters, goddesses, etc.

    I won’t say that I bought everything she sold hook, line, and sinker, though. I never went vegan or believed in chem-trails. She was one of many teachers whose work I used to carve out my own spiritual path. I found Doreen’s teachings to be broad enough to allow many people to recognize and build their spiritual gifts and practices. Her work helped me take my own to the next level.

    And the people I met through her community are some of the absolute best people I’ve ever had the pleasure to know! The Light Workers, Earth Angels, Tarot Readers, etc that I met were, as a whole, empathic, understanding, generous (sometimes to a fault), sensitive, forgiving, fascinating people. They’re fun and, because they’re high-vibe people, they are often kinder than most of the people I’ve met through other spaces.

    So I don’t get how the people whom I met and formed bonds through Doreen Virtue’s work are demonic. Empathy, kindness, tolerance, curiosity, DIVERSITY are evil and we must change our ways immediately or face eternal damnation? Sorry. I’m not buying that.

    Call me a sinner then. This girl ain’t giving up her Reiki, tarot, crystals, drum circles, magical friends, yoga, nature, and so many other things I consider sacred and fascinating because Doreen Virtue says they are from the devil. And I certainly don’t see my friends, colleagues, and peers who work with energy, self-help, and those who believe in something other than Christianity as being possessed by demons or in contact with evil entities. The people who I’ve gotten to know through the Angel Community aren’t, in my opinion, possessed by demons like Doreen Virtue asserts. They seem quite the opposite to me.

    And that leads me to the reasons I am extremely disappointed about Doreen Virtue’s blog post:

    1) The people I mentioned above. Some are doubting their connection to Spirit now. If Doreen was sincere at first, or if she was just in it for the money or never believed in it at all, or if she thinks it’s all satanic and demonic, what does that make them? What does that make me? What does that make their work? What does it say about mine? (I’ve removed my association with her work from my site in most places. If you find mention of it on my site, please tell me which page so I can update it.)

    As I mentioned above, Light Workers—myself included—are a sensitive bunch, so having one of the most popular teachers in the community who taught us some of the methods we use to connect with Spirit or different entities call the work we do out as evil and negative causes a gut reaction. Either you think, “Wow, she’s lost her marbles,” like me and go on with life or you think, “Have I been imagining this all along? Are those entities I’ve been interacting with actually evil?”

    Some people who found such comfort in their spirituality that was sometimes expanded by Doreen Virtue’s work are once again insecure and questioning what’s going on in their worlds, what they are sensing, the messages they are getting.

    The loss of trust one might place in her own intuition is a great loss to me. We need MORE people honoring their own intuition and thoughts and being confident in themselves and a little focused on their own happiness, not less. We need to keep moving forward with this connection with the positive and good, not less. We don’t need to set ourselves back 50 years in the spiritual community.

    2) Another thing we have to discuss is religious diversity. Not everyone is a Christian. There are other religions, other gods and deities, other belief systems in the world that should be respected and it’s good to learn about other gods and goddesses from other cultures and religions, too. Her new stance is anti-magic, anti-witch/Earth-based religion/pagan, anti-indiginous population, and xenophobic.

    Did we learn nothing from the Inquisitions or from the Witch Hunts and trials? Are we going back to the time when religious freedom was banned and those who went against the teachings of the Church were shamed, outcast, tortured, and murdered?

    Going from tolerance, acceptance, bringing people together and broadening their minds and knowledge bases to saying that everything that YOU don’t believe in is demonic or satanic is just disturbing, especially in today’s global environment. The world is a smaller place nowadays, and it’s better to learn about and respect people with other religious beliefs and rituals instead of condemning them. Understanding one another and having open conversations about what we believe in is how we make the world a better place. We need more tolerance, not less.

    People need to be able to connect with a more earth-based religion if that’s what floats their boats. We need to be able to reconnect ties that were long ago cut for fear of being found out as a witch. We should be able to practice their own form of religion and worship our own gods.

    Magic can’t go underground again. We, as a community, can’t let it.

    3) Doreen Virtue is speaking from a place of fear, not love. Her whole post dripped guilt, shame, judgment, and fear. She’s looking to make people upset with her “bad, bad, bad” babble. She’s certainly not embodying the teachings of Jesus Christ as I know them. She needs to ask herself WWJD and let our own gods judge us when our time comes. Maybe she, herself, has something to be scared of. I don’t feel like I do.

    So, while I do wholeheartedly think that Doreen’s spiritual path is her own, I wish she’d follow the advice she might have given before she was born again, the advice I think that Jesus, whose name she brought up over and over, would give: Promote what you love instead of bashing what you don’t. Respect everyone in your space, even if they have different beliefs. Love thy neighbor.

    If Doreen doesn’t want to get a Reiki session or practice mindfulness or meditate, that’s her business, but she needs to quit calling anything SHE doesn’t believe in bad, especially people of other religions and backgrounds.

     

     

    CONTINUE READING

  • Blog, Magic, Musing, Neurohacking

    The Ping Pong Match – A Study In Neurohacking

    I’ve been reading a lot of consciousness bending related books lately. It’s a topic that I adore—seeing how malleable the fabric of reality is and seeing how far I might be able to bend my abilities (and improve my life) based on mind-tricks, magic, and believing that I can.

    I’m open to exploring, experimenting, and noting what is miraculous and what is cool and going on from there. I mean, I really don’t have anything better to do with my spare time, right? As long as I’m not hurting or manipulating anyone—perhaps changing what happens for and around the people in my life, in relation to my life—always for the best, or that’s my intention, anyway.

    I’ve been quite successful in the past with manifesting this and that, including a pure-bred beagle puppy (who taught me to watch out what I wished for), 12 hundred bucks, and some other more personal signs from the Universe.

    There are a LOT of good magic and law of attraction books out there that I’ve read. You can find a partial list here: The 5 Best Law Of Attraction Books

    Over the Christmas holiday, I was reading Breaking The Habit Of Being Yourself, written by Joe Dispenza and I was also listening to his audiobook, Becoming Supernatural, in tandem with reading the book. Basically, his books teach about shifting your reality and connecting yourself to Source energy in order to create miracles in your life by connecting with the subconscious and harnessing the power of intention, possibility, and now. It’s all good stuff.

    I had the perfect opportunity to test out some of the theories that I was learning because my in-laws bought a ping pong table and playing ping pong was a central part of what we were focused on during our Christmas holiday. If we weren’t eating, talking, or chilling during the week of Christmas, we were playing ping pong or watching a match.

    I’ve never played ping pong in my life that I can remember; I am a total novice. Recently, I started taking tennis lessons, but tennis is a different sport and, while ping pong and tennis are similar, they just aren’t the same. As I said, I was a noob.

    via GIPHY

    My hubby, my father-in-law, and my brother-in-law had practiced during our summer vacation because the hotels we stayed in had ping pong tables. I hiked and snorkeled. While their games were fiercely competitive and laced with male energy, mine was more exploring, experimenting, and just trying to do my best.

    So coming into these games with various family members, I was looking like a baby—just having fun and returning what balls I could. My volleys weren’t long for sure. For me, it was more about having a good time with my family while we celebrated Christmas together.

    I was all nonchalant about my game until I got paired up with my hubby for a match. Then it was time to up my game and give him a run for his money. I’m proud to say that after the game, you might have thought that I was something of a ping pong shark, feigning lack of skill until the money was down on the table and then pulling out my mad expert skills. (Maybe that’s the ego-inflated version.)

    My skills were temporary and completely mentally driven, though. My thinking brain convinced my body that it could play a mean game of ping pong, and so it did.

    Just like in the books I was reading, just like in others I’ve read before, I played out my game with my hubby in my head. I imagined I knew what I was doing. I let my understanding of hitting the ball soft or hard and holding the paddle at different angles to hit the ball in different directions on the table tell my body what to do. I ended up running my husband ragged on his side of the table while I handled the balls he hit to me more easily than I expected. He beat me, but not by much. Our games were exciting!

    It was fun for me to put what I was learning into practice—maybe more fun than seeing my husband work for his wins!

    So, why the increased ability to play ping pong, or the spike in my skill level? As I said, it was my thinking mind or intentions believing that I could and intellectualizing the game, then trusting my body to be able to do what my mind envisioned. Maybe I should have gone as far as imagining that I won, but I was happy with doing as well as I did.

    In Joe Dispenza’s book, he looks at the study that measured muscle strength increases in people who only imagine doing exercises, or comparisons in improvement and muscle function after a person merely practices a piano exercise in his or her mind. It’s scientifically sound research with a control group, a group that practices the exercises in real life, and then the experimental group. It shows circa 10-15% improvement in those who only think about flexing muscles. The piano playing group also has a high percentage of practice related muscle and skill changes—I forget the actual percentage.

    Ultimately, it made me even more aware of the fact that I could use my mind to surprisingly improve my life (skills, comprehension, ability to do things I normally couldn’t do). I’ll keep experimenting with neurohacking life and pushing the proverbial envelope further and further to see what I am capable of doing.

    I hope you do the same.

    CONTINUE READING