MATERIAL GIRL, MYSTICAL WORLD: MELINDA LEE HOLM

With her custom jewelry prescriptions, Melinda Lee Holm combines her twin passions for crystals and the Tarot—with the wider mission of awakening her clients to a life of personal evolution…

Melinda Lee Holm Tarot jewelry The Numinous

The Numinous: What card and stone best represent your current life #goals? 
Melinda Lee Holm: The Empress and Pyrite. The Empress rules over a richly abundant world that she has created for herself by caring for everything around her with love and encouragement. She is the giver and the protector of life and she revels in her gifts by beaming love out all around her. I dressed as The Empress for Halloween this year, and am focused on actively working to embody her to create a world where we are all loved and treasured for our gifts and we are all safe and cared for.

This election threw me into despair and leaning harder into The Empress is helping to guide me as I step up to act to protect the rights and safety of women, people of color, immigrants, LGBTQ people, Muslims and the poor. And Pyrite is the gas to fuel this action. It supplies confidence, willpower, and motivation and it enhances our innate powers of manifestation. I invite everyone to print out a picture of The Empress and place her in your home as an inspiration and carry a piece of Pyrite!

TN: What came first, jewelry or Tarot, and when did you first combine the two? 
MLH: Tarot came first. I grew up in suburban MN and I was 13 when I got my first deck (the Thoth deck), the accompanying book, and a book on witchcraft. It changed my life. When I started doing readings for myself alone in my bedroom, I remember having this immediate access to a meditative, connected state. I would close my eyes and focus on visualizing white light shooting from my third eye and would be physically rocked by the sensation of being flooded with this magical connection. Looking back, I see baby me doing these vibration-raising rituals and I am so proud of that kid. I had a pretty rough childhood and finding this solace helped me survive with my soul intact.

20 years later I had a friend suffer a sudden and tragic loss. I went to my cards seeking guidance on how to help and as I turned over the cards, a strong aesthetic theme emerged. I felt called to make a necklace with natural stones in colors and numbers corresponding to the cards, and with energies for emotional healing and spiritual connection. As it turned out the colors and numbers were favorites of the loved one who had passed. It was incredibly moving. I knew it was the beginning of something great.

TN: Why does every modern woman need a talisman? 
MLH: Because self-adornment is an ancient sacred act. By wearing a talisman, we connect to our lineage of ancestors who adorned and anointed themselves with oils, scents, clothing, and jewelry imbued with magical power and purpose. In our contemporary culture, we are removed from this process and instead offered mass-produced items we have little to no energetic connection with. Wearing a personal talisman is a silent yet radical act of self-assertion and reconnection with the earth and with our ancestors.

Melinda lee Holm Tarot jewelry The Numinous

TN: What themes are most common among your clients, and what stones do you use to address them? 
MLH: The culture we live in means there are a lot of blockages around communication and balancing work and play, especially for women. So I often use Aquamarine to open clear communication with oneself and others and to soothe anxiety, Green Tourmaline to re-connect with the heart, and Garnet to ignite a passion for building dreams in a realistic, grounded manner.

I also work a lot on balancing the elements, which isn’t something I set out to do. For example, if someone has a ton of Fire and Water going on, but little Earth or Air, they are likely to feel exhausted from a lack of grounding, and frustrated and possibly even despairing that their message is being misunderstood. In this case, I would pay close attention to the elemental attributes of stones. There are so many levels to a reading. It’s what makes my work incredibly interesting and fulfilling.

TN: What’s your favorite way to cleanse and charge your crystals? 
MLH: I’m a huge fan of Selenite, a purifier and spiritual activator that I find to be extremely effective. I have big slabs of it in my studio and every jewelry piece I make gets a nap on the Selenite before it goes home. I also keep a piece with my personal jewelry. My pieces are also blessed with Palo Santo as I ask them to work with the client’s guides, angels, and ancestors to carry their energy to where it is most needed.

For my personal collection of crystals, I do a water rinse once a month on the Full Moon and then roll the cart (it’s a big collection!) over to the window to soak in the moonlight overnight. I also give them a really good smudge when I do my weekly house cleansing.

:: MATERIAL GIRL ::

My label
I’m living for everything Michele Alessandro makes for Gucci. If I could buy it all I would, but instead I admire it from afar and buy vintage. I’m crazy about vintage clothing for stylistic and environmental reasons.

Gucci fall 2016 Melinda lee Holm The Numinous
Gucci AW16

My shoes
Oxfords and sneakers. I’m tall, I have foot issues, and I’m a HUGE fan of a butch shoe look.

Saint Laurent sneakers The Numinous
Saint Laurent sneakers, $595, Net-a-porter.

My fragrance
Tea rose oil – opens the heart and smells amazing.

Tea Rose Oil Melinda Lee Holm The Numinous
Tea Rose Oil, from $14, Body Time.

My jewels
I’m constantly making myself things depending on what I’m feeling, but I always wear the gold Sigil necklace from my collection, piles of rings, and a piece of Black Tourmaline somewhere to keep my energetic field clear.

Sigal necklace, from $175, Melinda Lee Holm The Numinous
Sigal necklace, from $175, Melinda Lee Holm.

My pampering
A soak, a scrub, and a hot stone bibimbap at the Korean spa.

My home
A purple house filled with crystals, art, music, and animals in beautiful Los Angeles.

My food
All of it. Everything. I love food. That hot stone bibimbap at the spa may be my favorite, but it would be really hard to choose.

dolsot bibimbap vegan Melinda Lee Holm The Numinous

 

:: MYSTICAL WORLD ::

My awakening 
It’s ongoing. I think we all need to focus on being in a state of constant spiritual awakening until we’re dead. Not doing so assumes we’ve gotten as close as we can or as we care to the Divine. I’m greedy. I want as much expansion and evolution as I can get in this lifetime.

My sign
Cancer Sun, Virgo Ascendant, Taurus Moon, year of the Fire Snake.

My mantra
“This time will pass”—it works to soothe during the lows, and as a reminder to really be present and soak in the highs. It relates very closely to the Wheel of Fortune card, which offers an additional comfort of being looked after by the Universe.

Wild Unknown The Wheel of Fortune Melinda Lee Holm The Numinous

My healer
As with all of us, ultimately myself—with and assistance from guides here on Earth and in the Spirit realm.

My reading
I always go back to Angela Davis, Joseph Campbell, and many, many metaphysical texts.

My mission
To empower and inspire as many people as I can to commit to a life of constant personal evolution.

Discover more about Melinda Lee Holm and her work, and schedule a Prescription Adornments consultation at Melindaleeholm.com

A SENSORY EXPLORATION OF SAGITTARIUS SEASON

Sagittarius season is an invitation to explore our innate wildness, and expand our personal Universe, say Cara George & Bess Matassa of Mojave Rising

sagittarius season mojave rising The Numinous

Sagittarius season hoists us up from the underworld and sends us racing out onto the open plains of our own exuberant BECOMING. The zodiac’s expansive equestrian spills her blossoming vines over walls and across the borders of previous limitations, as she urges us to extend our adventuring to off-road spaces we couldn’t have imagined even in our wildest moments.

So pack your carry-ons, saddle your ponies, and let the wind throw back your hair. Your wildness cannot be broken or tamed or lost or found, but is constantly being born through the very air that you breathe. Fall in love with the blood coursing through your own veins and then let this love run faster and faster out across rich golden fields under carpets of pink stars.

Because baby you were born to run. And where we’re going, there are no roads.

The keyword: Locomotion.

The song lyrics: “Oh girl, dancing down those dirty and dusty trails/Take it hip to hip, rocket through the wilderness/Around the world the trip begins with a kiss”—The B-52s, “Roam”

Check out our Sagittarius season playlist, complete with wide-open anthems, road-trip rockers, and exploratory psychedelia.

Sagittarius season Mojave Rising The Numinous

The color palette: Nomadic hues fit for a full-on bacchanalian feast. Saffron, mustard, glitter-dusted taupe, and gypsy jewel-toned amethysts and rubies.

The style: Traveling circus performer meets Rio carnival queen on Route 66. Feathers, sequined unitards, untameable patterns, rich tapestried fabrics, and body-con mobility complete with cowboy boots and Canadian tuxedos.

Sagittarius season Mojave Rising The Numinous

The scents and flavors: Spiced, smoked, and hedonistically heated—warm curries, smoked trail mix, campfire, beef jerky, ancho, cinnamon, and cedarwood.

Sagittarius season Mojave Rising The Numinous

The healing: Exuberantly excessive and exploratorily expansive. All-night dance parties, adventure traveling, lost weekends, multi-course meals, and urban scavenger hunts.

Sensuous Invitation of the Month: Dance party! (by sign, below).

Sagittarius season Mojave Rising The Numinous

With Chiron stationing direct, and Venus joining Mars in Aquarius, Sagittarius season 2016 is infused with a call to face our pain head on and shake it out onto the dancefloor to be transformed under strobe lights. This month marks a radical opportunity for moving energy through our bodies, re-envisioning “the way things are,” and rediscovering deep meaning in places of seeming hopelessness.

Each sign can sample its own brand of kinetic expression as we let our bodies collide and celebrate the sheer exhilaration of movement and ever-unfolding change. Let’s werk!

***

ARIES
Sagittarius season invites you to relinquish some of your single-pointed focus as you journey towards the joyous buoyancy of infinite possibilities. Dance Party: Parkour. Solitary, assertive explorations that also rely on feedback from the built environment.

TAURUS
Sagittarius season invites you to infuse your deeply sensual pragmatism with some grand futuristic schemes and dreams, however eccentric. Dance Party: Belly-dancing. Getting low and getting down with a fully-embodied practice that’s both rooted and nomadic.

GEMINI
Sagittarius season invites you to go even further in your curious search for information, as you sample far-flung philosophies and belief systems, and begin to take a stand. Dance Party: Break-dancing. Responding to street culture and pledging yourself to the pavement.

CANCER
Sagittarius season invites you to take your looniness out of its shell as you experiment with sharing your creative process with the wider world. Dance Party: Pole-dancing. Sensual self-pleasure that’s unabashedly unafraid.

LEO
Sagittarius season invites you to share your generous, pulsing heart with people outside of your usual circle and to let yourself be changed through these collisions. Dance Party: Roller-disco. Hot-blooded, glittery glamour on wheels complete with rainbow lights and necessary negotiations between sequined skaters.

VIRGO
Sagittarius season invites you to let it all come undone as you leap headfirst into the experience without painstaking preparation. Dance Party: Irish step dancing. Intricacy and rapidity that springs into action from the ground up.

LIBRA
Sagittarius season invites you to rock the boat as you push towards complete honesty, even when it’s far from diplomatic. Dance Party: Synchronized swimming. Idealized aesthetics meet rugged physicality and strong-willed teamwork.

SCORPIO
Sagittarius season invites you to mix your darkness with light as you trust into both the gravity and levity of this luscious adventure. Dance Party: Flamenco. Raw intensity that harnesses the glorious sensation of passionate living.

SAGITTARIUS
Sagittarius season invites you to both revel in your wildness and seek committed conduits for your restlessness. Dance Party: Wedding dances. From the electric slide to the macarena, sampling the full-range of party moves while celebrating romantic loyalty.

CAPRICORN
Sagittarius season invites you to experiment with some healthy excess as you relax some of your ascetic measures and feast on the world around you. Dance Party: Ballroom dancing. Structure, tradition, and classical cool take to the floor with opulently majestic gowns and footwear.

AQUARIUS
Sagittarius season invites you to release from what’s “right” or what “should” be, and dive into the experience of unfolding meaning without creating calcified rules. Dance party: Modern dance. Interpretive, fluid maneuvers that push the edge of what’s possible in an embodied form.

PISCES
Sagittarius season invites you to fully release into the sensation of boundarylessness as you break down the walls between yourself and the world. Dance Party: Crowd surfing. Giving your body over to the intangible faith that you will always be supported.

Discover more about Mojave Rising and their work at Mojaverising.com

HOW I FOUND A WAY TO BE OF SERVICE

Looking for a way to be of service? Look to your natural —and keep it simple, says Kerri Aab

Kerri Aab group distance reiki be of service The Numinous

In spiritual communities, it’s often believed that at your lowest point, to be of service to someone else can turn your entire situation around. That looking past our own suffering for ways to alleviate the suffering of someone else is a key to happiness and fulfillment.

No time like the present to test the theory, right?

And if the phrases “alleviate suffering” and “being of service” bring to mind images of volunteering for the Peace Corps or doing mission work in Africa, it’s worth keeping in mind that an act of service can include anything from smiling at a stranger, to complimenting a struggling mama at the grocery store, to baking some cookies for your neighbor.

Being of service doesn’t have to mean some grand act of self-sacrifice. It simply means reaching out. And sometimes the actions that have most impact are the simplest.

Case in point: late last year I was deeply depressed. Not un-common for me during the time of year we’re supposed to be making merry. I’m used to the holiday blues.

But last year was different. There was an ache and an emptiness that none of my go-to spiritual or healing practices seemed to be able to reach. I looked for guidance and sought all kinds of remedies to take the pain away—but the more I grasped, the worse things seemed.

I felt hopeless, helpless, and adrift.

Then, one morning during my daily self Reiki practice, I felt compelled to turn my Reiki hands not towards myself, but rather, to send the Reiki out. I did so and there I sat for the next hour with a vague intention of sending Reiki to “anyone in need.”

No, there were no unicorns swooping over the horizon, and no rainbows suddenly appeared— but I noticed how my sense of despair had lifted. Enough for me to send distance Reiki out again the next day. And the next.

Within a week, I’d decided to make a daily practice of sending out Reiki to others. Shortly after which, brief little messages of hope or inspiration would come through during my morning Reiki time, which I texted to a few friends. These messages began as subtle little thoughts that I attributed to my mind regurgitating information from years spent dedicated to learning about spirituality and energy medicine.

I quickly came to believe however, that these messages, which were growing in length and intensity, were the work of a much larger energy that I was somehow tapping into. God? The Universe (what I call “The Big U”)? Who knows. I’ve come to refer to the bearers of these messages as my “etheric pals” though, as I now palpably feel their energy in the room with me and they feel like friends.

Within a month I had a consistent daily practice that I was being guided to share further. So I sent out an email to friends and family, offering free distance daily Reiki, plus an optional inspirational email, to anyone who requested it.

To my surprise and delight, almost every single person replied with a resounding “COUNT ME IN!” and the list has continued to grow ever since. People come, people go. But, no matter what, I sit down every morning, send Reiki, and write an email about the message I heard during the session.

Has my depression lifted, and I been living in Reiki bliss since then? Here’s where I disappoint you. This isn’t one of those “and then my whole life changed and everything is love and light” type stories.

But here’s what did happen. 

This simple act of using a gift I have been given, to help others, has confirmed for me the importance of being of service in the world.

My daily act of service has given me an anchor to hold onto on days when depression hits so hard that I don’t want to open my eyes. It does this by providing the focus and energy I need to get through to the other side.

My act of service has given my life a foundation of consistency. Rain or shine, I know that people are counting on me and looking to me for the support I pledged to give them. This is the best motivator for sticking to any practice.

My act of service has gifted me with humility and perspective. That people trust me with their stories and with a small aspect of their personal growth is humbling and something I take very seriously. These stories continually remind me of how freakin’ blessed I am when there’s so much suffering in the world.

And, during this very trying post-election week, showing up for the Reiki crew has, at times, felt like the only thing giving me a flicker of hope. When I have felt useless and truly despairing, sitting down to energetically uplift others has reminded me of why I’m on this planet. Which is to anchor the human experience in goodness. To help others find their inner power.

I am also so grateful for the replies I receive each day from people all over the world, about how a particular message changed them or inspired them to go out and spread some joy of their own. The benefits of service are contagious!

So, are you in?

We’ve all been given different gifts—and they are not ours to hoard or hide away. But to give away, inspiring others to do the same.

If you’re feeling plunged into darkness at this time, my advice is to simply give of yourself in whatever way you can. There are endless ways to be of service in the world, so find your gift and share it. Take action. If you want to make the world a better place, then go out and do it. When in doubt, look out.

Do you sing? Bring your voice to the elderly.
Make a mean lasagna? Cook for the hungry.
Love spending time with children? Babysit for a mama who needs a break.
Have a green thumb? Help start a community garden.

And if you think you can’t do this, I would like to gently remind you that you can. After all, a man was just elected to the highest office in the land with zero experience. And if he can believe in himself and his abilities, so can you.

So can you.

I was reminded the other day of a great quote from Jonathan Larson’s musical Rent: “The opposite of war isn’t peace. It’s creation.” 

It’s time to create the world in which we wish to live. It’s time for us to use our gifts to create beauty, peace, unity, love, acceptance and hope for all. One simple act of service at a time.

Kerri Aab, BFRP is a Bach Foundation Registered Practitioner, a Reiki practitioner, quantum biofeedback practitioner, Kundalini yogi, dancer, singer and group fitness instructor. Click here to register for FREE DAILY DISTANCE REIKI with Kerri, and discover more about her healing work at Seedtoblossom.com.

EMBODY YOUR POWER: A MESSAGE FOR AMERICA

Welcome to a collective wake-up call for us to embody true power. As the dust begins to settle on the 2016 presidential election, Molly Burkett has a message for America…Portrait: Najva Sol 

Molly Burkett a message for america election healing The Numinous

 

Election night I’ll admit, I checked the coverage with feigned interest. As the daughter of a Marxist and a Neo-Pagan, I’ve grown up removed from any type of rousing faith in our political system. Beyond what Bernie represented. When he spoke in Washington Square Park in New York, I cried. (And I’ve never been moved to tears by a man in a suit, with the exception of Don Draper).

Nonetheless, of course I assumed Hilary would win, and that would be that. I went to sleep.

I was shocked, along with the rest of you, to wake up and see how things had unfolded. The following essay immediately began coming through. So I started typing, and I share it with you here to offer comfort in this time of grief, confusion, and fear, and to offer my perspective to the question we’re all asking: “Is this a joke?”

:: A MESSAGE FOR AMERICA ::

The process of spiritual awakening, often referred to as “healing,” is actually a great clearing—as all that is NOT love is released from the body. This is cathartic yet painful, like venom being drawn from a snake bite. All your fear and selfishness is often revealed to you in dramatic ways. Emotional trauma held in cellular memory begins to come up to be dissolved. Painful personal histories flash before your eyes like it happened yesterday. Anxiety, panic, anger, inflammation and PTSD-like symptoms are common as part of this process.

Sensitivity grows both psychically and physically. You are more attuned to the needs, feelings and wants of others, because you are coming to the realization that you are not separate, that serving them serves you. You also become less numb to the effects of toxins in food, drink, conversations, movies and TV, and are forced to update your lifestyle accordingly. The catalyst for awakening as individuals is often a great tragedy or sudden injury that humbles us and forces us to reevaluate our lives and commit to making changes. No wonder we call it a “wake-up call.” I believe Trump is a collective wake-up call for us to change our ways as a nation.

Deepak Chopra says Donald Trump is an example of someone who holds so much trauma within him it has kept him infantilized, forever remaining in the lower chakras: reactive, survival-based, and deeply, deeply afraid. He rests in narcissism, never evolving to the higher consciousness where compassion is awakened and our interdependence is felt, known, and acted upon. It is from this injured place of fear and illusion that all violence stems. All violence towards others is ultimately a form of self-hatred and self-destruction, an attempt to mend a hurt in a way that regrettably, only causes more pain for ourselves.

So where do we go from here? I see a pathway.

Trump is a wounded child with a loaded gun. He will mirror to us in America our own wounds: our fears, our hatreds, our prejudices. His presence will draw out the darkest elements of the American collective being, and force us to bear witness to the ways we too have justified violent behavior, violent speech or violent thoughts in our lives.

Micro-violence in the form of gossip, complaining, judging, assuming, insulting and demeaning each other are among the seeds of large-scale violence in the form of systemic racism, misogyny and sexual assault, and abuse of natural resources. There will be a proliferation of this violence and it will be painful. There will be more terrible, vitriolic hate speech. There will be lives sacrificed. But there will also be redemption. There will be resistance, and activism. For women, for minorities, for immigrants, for the LGBTQ community, for the rights of all people to live a healthy and happy life. For nature, to heal and to be honored and ultimately be recognized as the source of all life and healing.

I believe in the power and potential of the American people, starting with you. I suggest you use this as an opportunity to embody the character traits that you wish you were seeing in the American president. What is your image of power that is also power for the people, and power for Mother Nature? What is your image of a divine protector or a sacred warrior who will protect our food, our water, our children, and lead us all to greater cooperation and peace?

Practice all the qualities of a great leader today in your own life. Envision good triumphing over evil. Do not embrace defeat. Love does not necessarily prevail in the space and time and the form that you expect, want or understand, but it does indeed prevail. Love is the first and the last word. This is the trajectory we are on, our shared destiny, and it cannot be un-written.

Witness the horror and shock of this moment from a place of deep knowing within yourself. Keep yourself attuned to the fundamental truth that beyond the dramas of the past and projections of the future, all is well now. The sun rose today and it will set this evening. The air gives us oxygen, and with every exhale we encourage the flowers to bloom.

A SENSORY EXPLORATION OF SCORPIO SEASON

Scorpio season invites us to embrace the power of personal transformation, say Cara George & Bess Matassa of Mojave Rising

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Hillary (Sun in Scorpio), Vintage Photo

Scorpio season tempts us to descend into our own trenches with curious headlamps as we mine the rough and ready diamonds of our most intensely intimate desires. It’s a month for reckoning with past patterning, for cleaning out our basements, and, through this fearless process, discovering the immutable essence that can never be stripped from us.

The zodiac’s ferocious femme fatale challenges us to celebrate every damn part of ourselves and to learn to withstand the endless cycles of desiring, having, and losing, in all their messy, primal glory. So take a deep breath, step into your sharpest stilettos, and get ready to get raw. You are light and darkness and mind and spirit and guts. You are smoke and ash and ripe tropical flowers and everything that dies and everything that comes back. Can you handle the seasons of your life? Hell yes, says the Phoenix.

The keyword: Reckoning.  

The song lyrics: “This is the part of me/That you’re never gonna ever take away from me, no!/Throw your sticks and stones, throw your bombs and your blows/But you’re not gonna break my soul”—Katy Perry, “Part of Me”

Check out our Scorpio season playlist, complete with stripped-down songstresses, exposed anthems, and hardcore feels.   

Harpar's Bazaar 2014
Harper’s Bazaar 2014

The color palette: Macabre boudoir shades fit for a Cleopatra queen. Think oxblood and burgundy, oxidized metallics, burnt gold, black glitter, and classic kohl.  

Grace Jones in A View to a Kill
Grace Jones in A View to a Kill

The style: Bulletproof Bond girl meets Alexander McQueen in the 1970s underworld. Think bodysuits, plunging zippers, louche loungewear, see-through lace, daring cutouts, and garter belts mixed with vinyl and leather.  

flavor3

The scents and flavors: Heady, nocturnal, and powerfully primitive. Think tuberose, oud, un-pitted olives, black cherries, raw meats, and after-dinner liquors.

The healing: Full-throttle archeological excursions and no-holds-barred carnality. Everything from closet-cleaning and oceanfront metal detecting, to sex-positive parties, pole-dancing classes, mixed martial arts, and mud wrestling.

***

Sensuous Invitation of the Month: Time Travel (by sign below).

With Scorpio and Capricorn planets coming into conversation with Sagittarius and Aquarius energies, and Neptune stationing direct, Scorpio season 2016 has a back-to-the-future vibe that urges us to time travel into our own past lives. As we sift through our emotional archives, we can re-envision habitual grooves with tough tenderness, look passionately at all that it has taken to bring us here, and launch ourselves forward with both seasoned maturity and daring wildness.  

ARIES
Scorpio season invites you to go deep or go home, as you sink your hands and teeth into your life with both your characteristic vigor and a recommitment to endurance. 
Cosmic Era: The Middle Ages—chainmail, ferocious fencing, and burning the candle at both ends.

TAURUS
Scorpio season invites you to notice where you hold back from transformation in the name of security, and to experiment with overturning and renewing. Cosmic Era: The Industrial Revolution—rapid expansion, innovative optimism, and earthy pragmatism.  

GEMINI
Scorpio season invites you to temporarily fold your butterfly wings and practice digging in the dirt as you go far beyond the surface to investigate the inner workings. Cosmic Era: Ancient Egypt—sarcophagi, the River Styx, and intricate pyramid building.

CANCER
Scorpio season invites you to collide with another person’s feeling landscape as you practice stepping outside your own emotional core and honoring the inner world of another being. Cosmic Era: The Renaissance—humanism, artistic perspective, and emotional rebirth.

LEO
Scorpio season invites you to fuse your passion for pleasurable exposure with a more risky self-revealing that brings absolutely all of you into the light, even the not so glittery pieces. Cosmic Era: 50s Vegas—dice rolling, nuclear testing, and the casino-floor courage to bare it all.  

VIRGO
Scorpio season invites you to play with power dynamics as you mix your capacity for cautious humility with a long-overdue seizure of the throne. Cosmic Era: The Tudor dynasty—crown jewels, divine rule, and the occasional beheading.  

LIBRA
Scorpio season invites you to plunge headfirst into the messier aspects of partnership as you take your penchant for relating into more radical territory. Cosmic Era: The Roaring 20s—voting women, speakeasies, and romantic revolution.  

SCORPIO
Scorpio season invites you to recognize where your capacity to understand the more primal parts of the human experience leads you to clam up, shut down, or withhold, and to practice not holding back one bit of your intensity and reveling in the full range of your feelings. Cosmic Era: 70s New York—the birth of disco and hip-hop, explosive street life, and graffitied expressions.  

SAGITTARIUS
Scorpio season invites you to repurpose past pain and use your high-spirited, free-wheeling levity to adventure into your own darkness. Cosmic Era: The Enlightenment—individual liberty, scientific discovery, and open debate.

CAPRICORN
Scorpio season invites you to loosen your grip on your usual emotional control centers and discover the strength in what you may consider weakness. Cosmic Era: Southern Cali in the 60s—surf, sea breeze, and rose-colored love-ins.  

AQUARIUS
Scorpio season invites you to turn up the heat on your cool, analytical approach as you experiment with the beauty in blood, sweat, and tears. Cosmic Era: Ancient Rome—sumptuous feasts, gladiator clashes, and exploratory sexuality.  

PISCES
Scorpio season invites you to notice when your need for retreat becomes unnecessarily reclusive, and to practice becoming intimate with everything that surrounds you as you fall deeply in love with the world again. Cosmic Era: 90s Seattle—world beats, emo crooning, and slacker idealism.   

THE SOFTER IMAGE: HIGH VIBE NYC DANCE PARTY

The Softer Image is a new NYC nightlife experiment from hip healer & mystic Luke Simon. On a mission to help folks “get turnt while staying woke,” we needed to know more…

the softer image nyc dance party luke simon The Numinous

 

The Softer Image is an exploration of new ways to party. Imagine, nightlife that expands your consciousness and improves your health. Let’s get wild without getting sick. Let’s get turnt up while staying woke. Let’s get psychic not blacked out. People want to let go and feel the Spirit so they turn to spirits. Our pop up party uses healing and holistic cocktails to open the human energy field to fun on a cosmic level.

THE NUMINOUS: What was the idea behind A Softer Image? Why do we need a party like this?!
LUKE SIMON: I wanted to start hosting a high vibe party because so many people in the city now are doing healing work and are no longer drinking. Or maybe just don’t like the spooky energy at bars, but still want to go out, dress up, dance and basically celebrate life.

We have so many amazing workshops, sessions and classes now, but there was this reservoir of vibes building up in me that just wanted to be free and have fun! Spirituality doesn’t have to be about serious self-cultivation and restraint. My higher self constantly urges me to DANCE through life. But when I try to do that at a club in NYC, it doesn’t even really start ’til 1am, and then I have to take off the next day of two to recover my sleep. Not to mention if there are drink and drugs involved.

TN: What’s your vision for the night?
LS: As I’ve honed my vibrational sensitivity, I’ve been dreaming of people hanging out in a beautiful space with great music and an elixir bar. The idea of Portals fascinates me—they say Stone Henge was one, and many cultures have used physical spaces and group energy to open up to the Universe. I was also intrigued by the idea of group trance, rituals and spells in the context of a party. Because a party basically is a ritual—the intention is FUN, and everyone brings their energy to the ritual in their own way. Partying is sacred!

TN: As you know, with our Club SÖDA NYC events we’re encouraging people to get high on their own supply. But nightclubs still feel flat to me without alcohol! Is it really possible to go wild on the dancefloor totally sober? 
LS: The Softer Image comes after a lot of personal experimenting with how to feel good in a healthy way. It’s a gathering for people to explore this question for themselves: can they have fun without alcohol? And also, what are the other, softer substances that can also help us let go of our inhibitions and have fun?

Softening has been a huge theme on my personal journey: softening the mind and trusting the flow. But also, letting go of the aggressive reaching for things that make me feel tense. Yoga has taught me about “arriving” to every moment, and “abiding” in my body and in my heart. The deeper healing I have done in the past years is all about softening the edges and releasing all that still tries to leave this moment—which alcohol, ultimately, facilitates.

The Softer Image NYC sober party pink pear The Numinous

TN: What’s the music policy? Have you got a theme song for the night?
LS: The song “Now that we’ve found Love what are we gonna do with it?” keeps coming to mind! I am so amazed by all the spiritual energy in the air and how much people are transforming. But I feel there is still this seriousness and strictness that we can integrate with a little celebration and release. What do you do with the Love and the Freedom once you get it?! You want to celebrate, but where? The Softer Image will be popping up around cities to give people a place to be their high vibe self and have fun in a beautiful, playful, temporary zone.

TN: So what can we expect on the night?
LS: Kate Falcone is creating a beautiful pink tinted interior, and the first gathering features Shauna Cummins leading us into a group trance to manifest our desires. She calls the work “Wish Craft”! Light being and wellness coach Sah D’Simone is manifesting the high vibe bar with balancing and softly altering herbal tonics, superfood snacks and juice blends. And I will DJ, along with Bryce Hackford.

The Softer Image is happening October 20 2016 from 8pm at a private location in lower Manhattan (TBA to ticket holders). Entry is $20—but Numinous readers get $5 off with the code “NUMI” Click here to get your ticket and follow @thesofterimage on Insta for more info.

TEMPLE OF VENUS: LEARNING TO BE LESS HARD ON MYSELF

In her latest Temple of Venus column, recovering over-achiever Elyssa Jakim asks: “How can I learn to be less hard on myself?”

Elyssa Jakim be less hard on myself on The Numinous
Impish Elyssa aged five

Flashback: The blizzard of 1996. Greater New York metropolitan area. I am eight years old. I’ve spent several days frolicking in the snow with friends. When school resumes session, a fight breaks out on the school bus because I kept a girl’s rainbow shoelace that I’d borrowed for snow stomping. She tells me she knows I stole it. I yell and scream and insult her in self-defense (even though I’d had no intention of returning the lace—it was so beautiful!)

Later, I will feel terrible about this. Forever.

Skip to fifth grade. Every day of fifth grade. I replay all the things I have done wrong socially. The rainbow laces incident. That time I said the wrong thing to the boy I had a crush on. Or said the right thing to the boy my friend had a crush on. And I berate myself.

Repeating and repeating my wrongs in my mind. Every day.

To make amends, I grow up into a perfectionist. An intellectual, and a serious student. Someone who also takes up self-improvement projects a little too readily. Who always has a to do list that includes things like “have fun” or “breathe.”

But today I am a recovering over-achiever.

In fact, I am currently living in a college town…looking after babies for a living. Yes, I feel insecure about this as well; perhaps I have lost my intellect and let my critical thinking skills go. But here’s the thing: as fate would have it, I have stumbled upon the perfect teachers when it comes to the question I seem to have spent my whole life asking: How can I be less hard on myself?

Because in the room where I work, I am swaddled in literal softness of all kinds; soft rugs and pillows, soft baby hair and cheeks; warm hugs; the honey sweetness of baby laughter; the miracle of a sleeping baby in my arms.

And here’s what the babies have reminded me so far…

1. Trust your own innocence
I have noticed, unsurprisingly, that I am always pre-disposed to give the babies the benefit of the doubt. To see “the light of the child” as Maria Montessori puts it. Even when a fourteen-month old deliberately does something “wrong” or “bad,” I can see her full innocence and sweetness—the “wrong-doing” does not make her unworthy of love to me. And knowing myself as an essentially good person, why should I be unworthy of my own self-love when I make a mistake?

2. Be your own parent.
The biggest shift you can make in the direction of self-kindness, in my opinion, is one of self-talk. What if every time you notice yourself feeling anxious, hurt, or self-doubting, you take a big breath and imagine you are the nurturing parent of your self? What would you say to you? It would probably sound like: “It’s okay my darling. I love you and I see you. You’re doing so well. You’re working so hard. I think you’re wonderful.” In moments of self-criticism, a move toward self-compassion and self-softness is what the anxious heart truly needs. If you can remember to be gentle, sweet, and nurturing to yourself whenever you’re tempted to punish yourself, your whole inner landscape will shift.

3. Don’t take things personally.
Because most of the time, the mean things people say or “accuse” you of, aren’t really about you—they’re about them. Strive to shrug off criticism, and don’t hold yourself accountable for the feelings of others. When a baby is upset, I know that it’s not about me. It’s about that child expressing a need for something like hunger or nap or connection. It isn’t healthy for me to take up a baby’s emotions or sense of urgency if I’m helping him, it’s best if I remain calm. When facing tough interpersonal interactions, try to remain calm. I like to zoom out in this moment and remember that we’re all spiritual beings having a human experience. Tapped into this Universal truth, who really cares if someone didn’t like my skirt, or the way I handled a particular situation?

4. You’re exactly where you need to be.
Numinous tarot mistress Lindsay Mack often reminds me of this: “You are exactly where you need to be.” And these words are always a deep reminder straight to my heart space, which in turn relaxes my whole body. Nothing has gone wrong. There is no-one (especially not your self) to blame. In fact, here is an opportunity to accept. To find grace. Your situation isn’t your fault, it’s your opportunity. Your perfect situation for growth. It’s to show you what you’re supposed to be learning right now. Babies are always exactly where they are, in the present moment of being. We are born into raw presence, living one moment at a time. Isn’t that miraculous?

5. Laugh a lot more.
Laughter releases stress in the body. Period. If we can take the seriousness out of life, it frees up the part of us that takes things too seriously. It can also be empowering to laugh at life’s trials and tribulations, to see the humor in any situation. Yogananda tells us to find the company of those who make us laugh to release our worries. You can also watch or listen to things that are funny, or find a laughter yoga class (which NYC friends, Maha Rose Healing Center holds from time to time). Needless to say, baby giggles, cuddle puddles, and facial expressions always have me laughing.

***

So, how does all this baby talk connect to the goddess Venus? In the mythology of Venus, we are always asked to consider her birth—that moment she arrives on the shore, born of the sea, resplendent. It’s funny to me that Venus was not born as a baby, but as a total babe. She was born and exists as the fullest expression of her being. She exudes self-confidence, which comes from true self-kindness. She is not a goddess who typically represents nurturing or mothering such as Mother Mary or Quan Yin.

But, in her luminosity, she is a wonderful teacher of self-compassion. She helps us to find the wild and free and sensual within ourselves. Being with babies and with Venus teaches us that we can always begin again. We can always infuse our lives with freshness, sweetness, and softness. We can always rebirth ourselves to be more loving. See the sweet little babe in you, and know that you are always worthy of love and even rainbow shoelaces. Protect her and hold her like you would a treasured gem. Come back to the Venus in you, and know you are glorious. That should make it easier to be less hard on yourself.

Need more Venus inspiration? Check out Elyssa’s last Temple of Venus column on healing our money issues.

HEALING FROM ABUSE WITH TRUTH AND YOGA

“To me, yoga is about deep, honest listening and truth-telling,” says Nina Endrst…who shares her story of healing from abuse for the first time.

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I’m pretty fucking scared right now. I’ve never written about what I’m about to share, let alone shared these experiences with the world. It takes courage to be vulnerable and stand where we truly are, exposed. But it’s time to tell the Truth.

And the Truth is, I’m healing. Aren’t we all?

When I was nine years old, I was sexually abused by my babysitter’s son. I felt broken. Deeply ashamed and frightened. And for a long time, like many others, I remained silent, in fear. It took months for me muster the courage to even tell my parents—who were in the middle of a messy divorce at the time. Then I saw a Nick News segment on sexual abuse. Shit! What happened was really fucking bad, I thought.

And I felt even more guilty, the lump in my throat growing. I wanted to run as far and fast as humanly possible, but I was paralyzed. After what seemed like hours, I walked to my room, locked the door, and cried until I had nothing left. I was struggling with so many questions intertwined with intense emotions. Why did he do this to me? Why do they do this to us? I realized I had to talk.

I don’t remember much after that day, but I remember his parents called me a liar. After that, I just wanted stop talking about it, to forget it and go outside and play and try to reclaim everything I felt had been taken from me. So we back-tracked. Charges were never brought against him and I was once again, silent.

It took years to realize that this was not only the root of the profound anger and anxiety I have experienced in my adult life, but also would also prove to be the root of my subsequently developing Crohn’s disease. I can see now how my body and soul went into survival mode—how all the anger, sadness, and confusion went straight to my belly and rotted there, for years.

***

Nina earnst healing from abuse with truth and yoga on The Numinous

But in the beginning, I was a resilient kid and simply went on living my life. I had loving parents and an incredibly special group of friends (most of whom are still in my life) but deep down I remained a little girl, suffering in silence. I presented myself as tough and a little rough around the edges, when in fact I was incredibly sensitive and lost. When I got dressed in the morning, it was as if I put on an extra layer—a suit of armor to “protect myself.”

By 13, my hormones spun this carefully constructed regime out of control. My temper was explosive, and I made it my business to give my parents hell, regularly. It had all become too much to handle. One night, I took handfuls of pills and hoped that would be that. Thank god, it wasn’t. But the truth was, my soul knew I needed help and was screaming for it.

At 19 I had my first panic attack, on a plane. Everything, I’d spent my teenage years avoiding came rushing to the surface. My heart was racing, breath stuck in my chest, my belly as hard as a rock. Anybody who struggles with anxiety will know this feeling all too well.

Only, from the outside, my life looked pretty damn great by this point. I was attending college, I had amazing friends, and managed to maintain almost straight A’s alongside a busy social life. I was fucking happy! So where the hell was this coming from?

The Truth is, I had been avoiding my pain for so long, I didn’t even recognize that I had been living a lie.

***

At 21, I was diagnosed with Crohn’s (a chronic intestinal disease). I believe this was a direct result of the emotional and physical stress compacting in my stomach over the previous decade. I had tried to survive it. I had made it my mission to ignore the pain—to suppress it, push it down, deep into my belly. But here it had seeped into my cells, my tissues, my spirit.

No one knew the Truth about what had happened to me. My dearest friends only knew bits and pieces. I’m not sure I even knew the whole story, back then. Sometimes we have to make choices, and I had chosen over and over again not to acknowledge the shadows, leaving a patchwork of half-truths.

At 29 (my Saturn return) everything changed. I had a flare-up and became very ill, ultimately meaning I had to take medical leave from my job in fashion. I found myself facing some harsh realities that I couldn’t ignore any longer.

At this point, I’d been practicing yoga on and off for years, but it was in this moment that I started to live my yoga. To begin healing my body and spirit, by fully living my Truth. I left my job, signed up for yoga teacher training and took a huge leap of faith—inviting my heart to crack wide open.

The Truth is I gave myself ample time and space to be alone during that year. To cry uncontrollably. To talk, to listen, and to forgive. This is because, to me, yoga is and always will be so much more than back-bending and headstands. It is about deep, honest listening and truth-telling.

Through my practice, I learned that the way to the healing light is found when we sit quietly in darkness.

***

 

Nina earnst healing from abuse with truth and yoga on The Numinous

At age 31, I wake up every single day, grateful for my mind, body and spirit. The smile on my face is not permanent but it certainly is genuine. My mental and physical health are better than ever, as are my relationships with everyone—from my loved ones, to strangers I encounter on the street.

My story is that our stories do not define us. But I do believe everything we experience on our path—bright and shiny or painful as hell—is to lead us to where we are meant to be.

The Truth may not be easy to say, or to hear, but my god is it the only way to heal.

Nina Endrst is a yoga teacher based between Tulum and NYC. She creates a safe and nurturing environment for students to explore themselves honestly. Her vinyasa sequences are thoughtfully designed to strengthen and soften the mind, body, and spirit. She lives her yoga and is inspired by traveling to places outside her comfort zone both physically and emotionally. You can discover more about Nina and her work at Ninaendrstyoga.com, and connect with her on Instagram and Facebook.

A SENSORY EXPLORATION OF LIBRA SEASON

Libra season invites us to soften and play with polarities, say Cara George & Bess Matassa of Mojave RisingHomepage main image: Awave Awake

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Libra season asks us to strap on our lightsabers, corral our unicorns, and celebrate both the ever-elusive quest and the already-realized ideal. It’s a month for playing with polarity, equilibrating between extremes, and recognizing that we contain even that which we claim to disavow.

The zodiac’s high-minded empress reveals both the perils and pleasures of building castles in the sky, as she switches between rose-colored glasses and magnifying specs. Her ultimate gift lies in the gap between sleeping beauty visions and early morning reality, where the full range of our humanness lives.

So let’s make a wish, grab each other’s hands, and take a leap across the cavernous divide with all our glorious, dynamic contradictions in tow. The good, the true, and the beautiful may truly be in the eye of the beholder. But we’ve got the compassionate courage to stand face-to-face.

The keyword: synergy.

The song lyrics: Hey now, hey now/Don’t dream it’s over/They come, they come/To build a wall between us/We know they won’t win”—Crowded House, “Don’t Dream It’s Over.” Check out our Libra season playlist, complete with aspirational anthems, synth stylings, and polarity points. 

pink shirt awave awake fall 2016 on The Numinous
Awave Awake Fall 2016

The color palette: sophisticated, clear-headed shades and ballerina pastels. Think gray, navy, black & white, icy mints, pale violets, and slipper pinks.

The style: French New Wave meets Royal bridal shower—clean lines, classic cool, and simple trench coats collide with white satin, velvet brocade, ruffles, and empire waists.  

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The scents and flavors are eye-opening citruses, culinary pairs, and candied confections—lemon Pellegrino, sweet-salty snacks, and tea-time petit fours.

French fancies for Libra season on The Numinous

The healing: anything that’s energetically and aesthetically equilibrating—yin/yang yoga, art museum and topiary garden wandering, photography classes, and hot/cold saunas.

***

Sensuous Invitation of the Month: Weather Patterns (by sign below) With Mercury and Pluto stationing direct in earth signs, Mars entering Capricorn, and Venus entering Scorpio, Libra’s high-minded idealism gets an infusion of crystalline clarity, and the willingness to work with the “real” world exactly as it is. It’s a month for invigorating our sense of responsiveness as we use current climatological conditions to build our castles in the sky.

ARIES
Libra season invites you to soften your gaze as you incorporate compromise that still feels courageous. Weather pattern: Morning mist—let yourself get a little bit lost in the haze as you experiment with slow navigation without forcing forward.

TAURUS
Libra season invites you to get full-on Venusian as you revel in the sweet sensations of ideological and sensual love in all its forms. Weather pattern: Blue skies—celebrate the majestic aesthetics of an absolutely perfect day.

GEMINI
Libra season invites you to settle some of your endlessly curious chatter and exercise judgment in a way that feels liberating rather than stifling. Weather pattern: Sunbeams—stand directly in the path of the sun’s rays and watch how these solar streaks illuminate a single patch of ground.  

CANCER
Libra season invites you to adopt perspective on closely-held emotional narratives and to step outside your story without losing any of your penchant for poetics. Weather pattern: Crisp & breezy—let the subtle dance of wind inspire you to become gently unstuck.

LEO
Libra season invites you to loosen fierce personal identifications as you recognize the self in the non-self. Weather pattern: Partly cloudy—trust that the sun still lurks beneath the ever shifting white fluff, even when it’s unseen.  

VIRGO
Libra season invites you to experiment with the sweet sense of collaboration without always having to work it out alone. Weather pattern: Humidity—notice how its closeness to your skin can feel safely supportive rather than oppressive.

LIBRA
Libra season invites you to acknowledge the polarities that exist within you as you sample both ends of the spectrum with ease. Weather pattern: Daybreak—bear witness to the darkness that comes just before the dawn.  

SCORPIO
Libra season invites you to balance your desire to penetrate beyond the veil with a little faith in wide-eyed magic. Weather pattern: Chasing rainbows after the storm—celebrate the gorgeous luminosity that can come after turbulence.  

SAGITTARIUS
Libra season invites you to fuse your penchant for emotional honesty with a truth-telling that considers the consequences for others. Weather pattern: Lightning storm—harness your electrical energy while understanding how these bolts work with the storm and lessen as it passes.

CAPRICORN
Libra season invites you to marry your keen sense of the difficult with a full-hearted celebration of goodness and ease. Weather pattern: Downpour—recognize the beauty in the overcast as sheets of rain soften and wash things away.

AQUARIUS
Libra season invites you to equilibrate your radical eccentricity with an occasional blending  that’s in service of the whole. Weather pattern: Nightfall—let yourself feel deliciously small as you witness the vast, star-studded sky.

PISCES
Libra season invites you to celebrate the mystical beauty of your most ethereal dreams while moving towards coalescing them into solid form. Weather pattern: Hail—Investigate how these mysterious waters congeal into solid shapes.

MY MYSTICAL LIFE: GETTING READY TO #TUNEINPEACEOUT

A week that’s been all about finding and using my voice, as we get ready to #tuneinpeaceout...

ruby warrington my mystical life #tuneinpeaceout The Numinous
The message, always!

:: MONDAY ::
OMFG finally did the Mayers Briggs personality test. OMFG mind totally blown. (And not just cos my personality “type”—Advocate—also includes MLK, Nelson Mandela, and Mother Theresa, lol. #TuneInPeaceOut)

:: TUESDAY ::
A Skype session with amazing Gail Schock, who’s work I’d been aware of, but had not connected with until we met in Croatia earlier this summer. Gail teaches Voice Freedom, and I need way more words than I have today to describe the serendipity of us finally getting to work together now, this week, with all that’s been stirred up for me during this particular Eclipse-season-Mercury-retrograde-999-portal.

Let’s just say, some karmic shiz been going down—much of it connected to all the ways I have not felt or allowed myself to be truly heard. Following some intuitive coaching, Gail took me into a Quantum Meditation, which she said would work to heal the memories keeping me stuck, quite literally, in my throat chakra, at a cellular level. And since we’re planning a couple more sessions, I’ll leave it there for now. To be continued…Read more about Gail and her work at: Gailschock.love

:: WEDNESDAY ::
And another angel floats into my life in the form of Carey Davidson, founder of Manhattan’s Tournesol Wellness. Again, there’s too much to write about this meeting of hearts, minds, and souls in this post, suffice to say (for now) that it seems this week for me is ALL about being heard, using our voice, and, yes, advocacy. Which makes a lot of sense since Friday’s Full Moon Lunar Eclipse is in my Pisces-ruled (healing/compassion) third house (communication). Having run several wellness-focussed non-profits, Carey has tasked herself with the not exactly humble pursuit of taking on the entire US healthcare system, to make alternative healing practices available to all. What can I say? I’m SO IN. Read more about Carey and her mission at: Tournesolwellness.com

:: THURSDAY ::
Published this amazing piece on how to heal your throat chakra by Emma Whitehair. Obviously.

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:: FRIDAY ::
And would you just look at the line-up of events that’s coming together for next week’s #TuneInPeaceOut initiative for World Peace Day! You guys ROCK. And there’s still plenty of time to plan something—which could be as simple as a pot-luck dinner and gathering with friends to discuss ways to bring more peace to your family, community or workplace today. If you DO feel called to plan something larger then send details to [email protected] and we will share as many events as possible!

NYCPeace in The City with The Numinous + Urban Yogis NYC

ALBANY, NYTune In Peace Out with Shauntay SoulFlower Brandon

RHINEBECK, NY (the Omega Institute)—A Meditation For Peace with Sah D’Simone

NEW HAMPSHIRE—White Mountains Peace-Up with Jessica Fish of Shaktivism

ASHVILLE, NCKundalini Class for Peace with Ra Ma Kaur

SEATTLETune In Peace Out with The Hoodwitch + Holy F*ck

SAN DIEGOPeace Circle with TRIBE de MAMA (click here for more #TuneInPeaceOut events with TRIBE de MAMA globally)

LONDONA Guided Meditation to Radiate Love and Peace, with Chloe Isadora

WALESA Ritual to Create Sacred Space with The Wisdom Gathering

PARISPeace Out Paris with Alison Beckner and Melanie Moser

GLOBALFacebook Livestream from Sedona with Guru Jagat

DOWNLOAD#TuneInPeaceOut meditation from Wolf Sister

LISTENA Prayer For Peace from Elyssa Jakim

You can also sign up for a LIVE webinar + guided meditation for peace with Ruby Warrington and Alexandra Roxo of The Numinous, Bri Luna of The Hoodwitch, and Dori Varga of TRIBE de MAMA on 9/21. The broadcast will be at 12 noon PST /  3pm EST / 8pm GMT—and if the time doesn’t work for you, ALL those who register will receive a recording of the session. Click here to sign up!

10 WAYS TO CLEAR YOUR THROAT CHAKRA

Heal the instrument of your voice to not only speak but also live in your truth, says Emma Whitehair… Artwork: Dr Steve Hinkey 

clear your throat chakra art dr steve hinkey on The Numinous

The throat is a physical bridge between our body and mind, while its chakra governs our communication and search for truth. It’s the most powerful but also the most vulnerable of all seven chakras, and with so many of us struggling express our true needs, a blocked throat chakra is more common than a cold these days (even if the “symptoms” could feel the same).

If this chakra does not have a healthy flow, not only will your relationships with others be difficult but you will not be receiving clear guidance from your intuition. On the other hand, however, once beautifully balanced, negative experiences are transformed into wisdom and ultimately you are open to a higher level of consciousness.

My business is PR and writing, and no one who knows me would think I had any blocks in the area of communication. However, what can’t be seen is that I’ve had a pretty much permanent, choked up feeling for, I don’t know, months, years…lifetimes! It’s hard to tell as I only properly noticed it early this year, when I started to really get tuned in to Self.

At its most intense, it’s an energetic constriction like a noose around my neck, but mostly it’s a lump in my throat, like I’m on the brink of tears—even when there’s no apparent reason for it.

After googling ‘throat cancer’ and ‘thyroid problems’ then giving myself the all-clear (with a deep sense of relief!), I found myself drawn to a chakra workshop with James French advertised at the Yoga Loft in London—I was ready to find out if this throat funk was a spiritual malady.

On this two-day course, I discovered that Vishuddha (the Sanskrit name for the throat chakra) has a developmental age of 7 to12. Probably no coincidence that this was when my parents divorced and I was packed off to a strange boarding school. I also learnt that the corresponding sense of this fifth chakra is hearing, giving me the excuse I was looking for to connect with sound healing practitioner, Ashera Hart, who I had met a few days before.

Ashera had hosted an incredibly powerful sonic breath + gong bath event, that had been listed by The Numinous, which had helped open my throat and started to stir things up in that area. Wondering if my unbalanced Vishuddha could be realigned further with the power of sound, I made the most of the opportunity to have a one-to-one session with Ashera in my home, while she was in London (rather than her usual base of Bali).

After this session, I met up with my healer, psychotherapist Fiona Arrigo to help me process what my body had shown me. She explained that traumas to the throat chakra are often connected to early childhood issues; when, if we experience emotional pain, we encounter separation. She commented that my adult vocal personality—which “on the surface is ballsy, clear and wise” is in juxtaposition to the inner child—who swallowed down her tears, and never expressed how she felt.

I asked by subconscious to say out loud the stories I may have been holding onto, and one resonated deeply: “no one is taking care of me…I’m alone.” And with that tears of relief fell down my cheeks. It all suddenly made sense—that part of me, the child, who had swallowed her sadness, was physically manifested like a bitter pill, stuck in my throat for over 30 years.

Fiona reminded me “to meet the understanding that we ARE alone in this life.” She also explained that the feeling I encountered during the sound healing, of being held, was the Universal holding, and in that moment, I had flipped my scratched record. Rather than archived pain, I had experienced something way more profound—a spiritual embrace so meaningful it had helped heal that source fracture.

My journey with this continues. Read on for 10 STEPS I’ve investigated to help with starting to CLEAR YOUR THROAT CHAKRA.

clear your throat chakra art dr steve hinkey on The Numinous

:: STEP BACK IN TIME ::
What unexpressed emotion or story are you holding on to? Once that’s understood, then it’s important to try and change the record, in order to free yourself. Byron Katie’s The Work might do it for you. Alternatively, perhaps you story is more complex—could it be from a pre-verbal era, or another life?

I spoke to Sue Minns, who’s book ‘Bodies & Souls’ touches on the throat chakra (as well as the others) and she explained the following to me:

“Chakras are like micro-chips of soul information that are links to our past experiences on earth, and connection to where we came from. The throat chakra, if holding negative memories, will become a bottleneck, a block to our true Self expression. Many of us (especially as women) have had gruesome deaths as a result of speaking out, spreading the word, saying the spells.

The throat is the chakra of secrets and lies, whispers and screams—and of speaking your truth without fear. A historical ‘block’ will obstruct cosmic, divine energy coming through the Crown and Third Eye to reach the Heart. It will short circuit at the throat if it cannot pass through. The central column (Sushumna) needs to be an open conduit between heaven and earth so that we can remember both our source and our purpose on this earth.”

:: SOUL MANTRA ::
“The 1st Law of Healing—all disease is inhibited Soul Life. The job of the healer is to lift the downcast eyes upward unto the Soul, and the Soul does the work” – Dr Steve Hinkey

So how do we allow the soul to work its magic? Mantras should allow the soul to take position naturally and Steve gave me these to use to unblock the throat chakra:

Because ‘I am…’ is so powerful, and soul infusion the ultimate achievement: “I am the soul infused throat”.

To use if starting to experience, or resist tension in the throat: “I am wanting to know my soul’s process, as it expresses itself through my throat chakra”

As no-one evolves without loving what they have, including dis-ease, this as a good all-rounder:

“I love myself as I am”

:: SOUND HEALING ::
Ashera Hart hosts The Frequency Shift solfeggio journeys, which encourage a Theta brainwave state, through healing vibrations, helping you access intuition, transform limiting beliefs and most especially—clear energy blockages.

I attended one of her ‘Sonic Immersion’ events (at Kind Yoga in London) which was a blissfully relaxing 90-minute experience. With the Zobet (solfeggio) healing frequencies along with sounds of the ocean, the cosmos and nature, Ashera accompanied this with an ethereal vocal invocation, tuning forks, chimes, shamanic drum and percussion.

We were told we may have dreams that night, that might reveal what is unresolved and one of mine was quite interesting. The throat chakra’s traumas can include alcoholism and yelling—both themes which were visited while in an abstract and gentle dream featuring my much loved childhood pet dog…

:: CONSCIOUS COMMUNICATION ::
Which means honoring your feelings, understanding your needs and kindly requesting that they are met. With authentic expression however, comes responsibility. There’s also a delicate balance between being honest and tactful, and on some occasions silence is golden.

Voicing irritations and raising one’s voice, for example, can pollute the throat chakra, as can gossiping, blaming, criticizing, or any other type of negative communication. If you start thinking in these terms, try to raise the vibration before saying anything. Also use this checklist:

  1. Is what you are about to say true?
  2. If so, is it necessary to be said, and does it need to be said by you?
  3. If the answer is yes, ask yourself if what you are about to say is kind/compassionate/loving.

Hearing is the fifth chakra’s sense and therefore listening is one of its most important realms of communication. That means listening to both your inner voice, and the voice of others. I think I may have an overactive Vishuddha, as I speak super fast (often with no filter) and sometimes feel impatient while listening.

With this in mind, I have made a conscious effort to start listening more intently, giving the other person my full undivided attention, putting away any devices and waiting (patiently!) to hear the them out completely before jumping in. This helps me to read between the lines and decipher others’ real needs, in order to respond in the right way.

:: THE AH MANTRA ::
To cleanse and purify any impure energy of speech, let the “AH” sound fill your throat for a few minutes.

One of the most powerful mantras on the planet, this sound is found in the name of most deities: Tara, Buddha, Krishna, Yah, Yeheshua, Saraswati, Wakantanka, Quan Yin, etc., along with many of the sacred words (Amen, Alleluia, AUM).

‘AH’ is also a sound related to the throat chakra, so it’s no coincidence that ‘AH HEM’—is the sound unconsciously made when a person clears his/her throat. While on a more conscious level, the Buddhist mantra ‘OM AH HUM’ is explained by my yoga guru Cat as “translating to body, speech and mind—speech being an integral part of having a harmonious co-existence with all living beings and speaking up for those who may lack a ‘voice’.”

:: USE YOUR VOICE ::
As long as the intention is pure, ANY way that you use your voice will help draw fresh energy through your throat chakra. I touch on the benefits of singing in this story and you can also hum, whistle, groan, sigh—ask your body what sounds need to be released, and just go for it, dialing up the volume if need be.

:: TEAR JERKERS ::
The throat is where I store my tears, and those that came with discovering my stuck story were beautifully cathartic. And as I know there are more to come, as part of my healing I chose my moments to indulge in deliberately triggering a little cry, with film.

When we watch weepies, it releases not only emotion, but also oxytocin, aka the love or cuddle hormone, which also regulates crying. A boost of oxytocin gives feelings of bonding, empathy, trust and maternal behavior, and it can’t differentiate between actual human beings and flickering images of them. If, like me, you have stuck emotion to release, this 10-minute supercut of tear jerking movie moments should have you sobbing in no time, letting those loving feelings wash over you. You’re welcome!

:: MUSIC ::
As sound is Vishuddha’s sense, music can also be a powerful activator. Partly down to some of the lyrics, melody, story or my personal associations, these tracks seem to resonate with the emotions stored within my throat chakra, allowing me to feel and heal.

What would be on on your Vishuddha playlist?

:: YOGA ::
Correcting one’s posture is key when re-aligning chakra’s, and these two yoga asanas, should help open up and/or activate the throat:

Fish (Matsyasana): Not only does this stretch the neck, it also strengthens the neck muscles needed to balance and stimulate the throat chakra.

Shoulder stand (Salamba Sarvangasana): considered the Queen of all yoga poses, because of its amazing healing abilities. Doing shoulder stands regularly is an excellent way to keep your thyroid healthy and helps sufferers of asthma (like me).

Two Pranayama exercises that also bring heat and stimulate the throat chakra are the Ujjayi and lion’s breath.

:: HEALING ROCKS ::
You can re-balance Vishuddha by stimulating its reflex points in the feet and hands: the connection point of the big toe with the feet, and halfway down the thumb. I’m taking this a step further by wearing a memento mori, which I had made by Zoe & Morgan, that hits this point of my left thumb. A gold ring depicting a skull with diamond eyes on angel wings. A little reminder of both my mortal and immortal self—to help me be more conscious and stop sweating the small stuff!

Zoe & Morgan have also created this beautiful throat chakra ring. Featuring Aquamarine, the stone of the sea, which helps the throat chakra to open, and communication to flow like water.

Other stones that are good for rebalancing the throat chakra include: lapis lazuli, blue topaz, turquoise, chrysocolla, sodalite and my favourite—sapphires, which I wear on a necklace and ring. Try wearing these stones so they sit on your throat chakra for the full healing benefit.

:: TRUE BLUE BABY I LOVE YOU ::
Considered a hue for health, blue’s calming effect helps restore balance to the throat chakra, and for me, my blue healing comes from connecting with the ocean. My happy is getting out under blue skies (ether—the throat’s element) whenever I can, and in the sea at least every few months. However, when that’s not possible a pool also does the trick. So treat yourself to a spa day, and the immersion in water as a kind of soul soothing, spiritual cleansing.

A COSMIC PORTAL: THE NUMEROLOGY OF 999

The numerology of 999 is a powerful invitation to let go and move forward in our journey, says Felicia Bender. Artwork: Victor Moatti 

NUMEROLOGY OF 999 The Numinous artwork victor moatti

999

Ah, sweet surrender.

September 9, 2016 breaks down to 9-9-9 (since “2016” = 2+0+1+6 = 9, making this a Universal 9 Year). The code is a message and also an energetic reality.

This day opens us to surrender on the highest realm. It is the end of a concerted struggle and a transition into wisdom or even a sense of rebirth.

Think about what has constituted your biggest or most consistent struggle—either in the past year, or even throughout your life. This is the time to put this issue (or issues) to center stage and into the spotlight. Now is the time to make some deep changes.

In Numerology, the number 9 is sacred and offers all of the lessons related to all the numbers 1-8. It challenges us to take the lead and embrace independence (1), to love and serve the needs of everyone (2), to express emotions in a healthy way and to be creative (3), to work hard and create stability (4), to use freedom constructively and have fun (5), to nurture and create a home (6), to live with a spiritual base and also ask questions (7), and to empower ourselves and to manifest in the material world (8).

The numerology of 999, day where there is a TRIPLE serving of 9 energy, it opens us—whether we “like” it or not—to our truth, in ways that we have been both searching for and avoiding. While we can say we want enlightenment, we often romanticize it, when the actuality is that enlightenment a painful process. It is a constant stripping away and revealing of Truth and also shines a light on how we must participate in creating what we want in the world.

There is true beauty in the transition opening on this special day. And given we also have two eclipses in September—which themselves are known to accelerate change in a big way—the numerology of 999 in this particular year presents an opportune time to unveil your deepest desires and visualize what it would look and feel like to step into your new reality.

So how to maximize the numerology of 999?

TAKE THE LEAP. Have you been hovering around a decision for so long you can’t remember a time when it hasn’t been eating at you? For example, I know people who have been thinking about getting a divorce for years and just continue to hover in the relationship. A friend of mine said it so well: If you’re constantly thinking about whether or not you should be in your marriage, you shouldn’t be in your marriage! If you’re meant to be there, thinking about whether or not you should stay or go is simply not on the radar.

BE REAL about your actions and participation—while forgiving yourself fully and completely. Do you keep beating yourself up about something you did or didn’t do in the past? Do you replay it over and over again? I think it’s Byron Katie who observes that often we have one traumatic experience and yet our mind relives it so often, it is if we experience the trauma every time we replay it. This is the time to find a way to truly forgive yourself and move on. It’s up to you to find your way to do it—Therapy? Energy work? Hypnosis? A “Release” ritual? Whatever speaks to you, try it it.

EXPAND YOUR CONSCIOUSNESS. Oh, sure. Sounds so cliché. Yet the energy of the 9 is optimized when we can truly live the Buddhist tenant of being Present—when we can live in the moment, let go of the past without resentment, and be open and curious about the future. If there’s ever a time to clear our slate of negativity, this is it. And this is made more challenging by the current conditions we’re experiencing in the world. There is so much tumultuous change, it can be disconcerting. Yet if we can be the eye in the center of the hurricane—even in the most intense times—the rest of it will become so simple.

TAROTSCOPES: SEPTEMBER 2016

Cast by Lindsay Mack, using The Starchild Tarot.

 

VIRGO :: VIRGO RISING – Two of Swords

Happy birthday, sweet Virgos! The collective energy for the month could be summed up with the following phrase: we go in to come out. Think of September as an opportunity for us all to “Kondo” our souls, to consider whether our thoughts are useful, or bring us great joy. If they do not, to be willing to upgrade them. No more wasted energy on anything that doesn’t really serve our growth. This shift will have a profound impact on our lives, our families, our dreams, our careers, and everything in between. And you are leading the pack with this sacred invitation, Virgo, beginning with your journey through Two of Swords this month.

The Two of Swords teaches us how to achieve and maintain ourten inner balance through any situation, be it imagined or actual. It calls us to go deeply inward, past our internal experiences, past any external triggers, and into the ocean of true equilibrium at the core of our being.

And here’s the deal, sweet peas: it’s not that you won’t experience stress, fears, worries, self doubt or concerns this month. You definitely will—you’re human, after all! You just don’t have to let it shake your walk of peace. You don’t have to let it drive the car of your life, or be the motivator in your decision making. You don’t have to believe your thoughts. You get to take empowered action around how you choose to let your thoughts affect you. Practices like journaling, tai chi, meditation, yoga or breathwork can help. Focusing your attention on upgrading your mental energy will create and carve out so much more space for what you do want to cultivate in your life, and what you desire to focus on. You are clearing the internal to upgrade the external.

You can begin to live joyfully in the space between your stresses this month, Virgo. Doing so will transform your life, preparing you to take off into your next great personal expansion. The upgrades we make during this time will lift both us, those around us, and everything we touch, to new heights. There is strong potential for huge career advancements, exciting inspirations or “lightbulb” moments. The door will be open for new levels of connection with loved ones, too. The sky’s the limit! Radical change is possible for you this month, Virgo. The first step is to come back inside to clear out what no longer serves.

Want more wisdom? Book a reading with Lindsay here and follow her on Instagram.

LIBRA :: LIBRA RISING – Ten of Pentacles

This month is going to feel like a cup of cold water after weeks in the desert, Libra. Ten of Pentacles is here, offering tremendous relief and regenerative blessings. You have worked, you have labored, you have walked a dark path these last few months—and even though you might not have known it at the time, you were walking back home to yourselves. Now you have arrived. This month will bring two gifts, each equally exciting and precious: the perfect conditions to birth something brand new into the world, and the chance to truly see how far you’ve come as a person. There is much to celebrate this month.

Ten of Pentacles is a card of great success and creativity, both financially and personally. It is a bountiful harvest of good fortune, and offers a ripe opportunity to step forward into an even greater arena with our work in this lifetime. It helps us to say, “Wow, look at how far I’ve come! Now what?” It is time to bring your gifts even more fully into the world, sweet Libra. It is time and you are ready. You might feel some fear, but so what? Fear hasn’t stopped you yet! Recognize how brave you’ve been. Open your eyes and really look at how far you’ve come and the garden of beauty all around you. You planted that garden with your courage, your willingness to wake up and be seen for your gifts. Now it is time to share them.

Ten of Pentacles, I believe, is also a card of karmic healing. The journey of the Pentacles isn’t just body and money; the suit really teaches us how to live spiritually in a material world. It brings us face to face with our karma, our dharma, our family legacy, our work in the world. The Ten of Pentacles shows us just how far we’ve come, and how much we’ve healed: allow this card to be a mirror for you this month, Libra. Celebrate yourself. There will be an abundance pf joyful evidence of your growth and evolution as a human being all around you. Enjoy every moment of it. Whenever you forget, come back to the truth. Drop the armor; you don’t have to defend against anything anymore.

Drink deeply from the cup of your own courage, the light of your heart, and the authenticity of your personal work. You deserve everything you desire. Share what you’ve grown, and plant new seeds.

Want more wisdom? Book a reading with Lindsay here and follow her on Instagram.

SCORPIO :: SCORPIO RISING – Oppression

Where do you oppress yourself, Scorpio? Where do you get stuck in “shoulds” and judgments, guilt, shame or doubt? Where do you obsess? More importantly, and more directly, where in your life do you beat yourself up for having the above thoughts, impulses and experiences in the first place? These are vital inquiries for the month of September—ones that will set you free if you allow them to.

Oppression, or The Devil card in the traditional Tarot deck, is going to be walking you through the process of releasing any old mental patterns or addictive cycles that are causing you suffering. Moving through this inquiry has the potential to expand you in a way you could never imagine, to open you up to more peace, trust, and access to your intuition than you’ve ever had before. Your nervous system will relax in a way it never has before. It has the potential to transform your life.

It’s not a thought, or an addictive cycle itself that puts us in Oppression: it’s the belief that there’s a problem with us for having the thought in the first place. That’s what keeps us hooked, chemically. Our brains and egos are SO much more addicted to “there’s something wrong with me” than they are to any external person, place or thing. And the thoughts themselves are also benign at their root; it’s our reaction to them that creates the true addictive cycle of oppression, the one that keeps us small, scared and locked in self-judgment. Any time we can remove the veil of self loathing around our habits or behaviors, there is the potential for personal transformation and freedom.

How do we break the chain of oppression of the self? Drop the story completely that there’s a problem with any invitation of the mind. It doesn’t matter what it is, ANY thought is just a thought; you don’t have to believe it, and there is nothing wrong with you for having it. You are ready to let go of a BIG cycle of self-oppression this month, Scorpio. Allow The Devil card to be the way home, the mirror into truth. It holds the key to freedom from the chains that bind us. The medicine of this card will give you the opportunity to free yourself from any outdated mental cycles that keep you stuck and small. Liberate yourself from the jail of your own beliefs, and plant new seeds of self love in its place.

Want more wisdom? Book a reading with Lindsay here and follow her on Instagram.

SAGITTARIUS :: SAGITTARIUS RISING – Four of Wands

Stability, accomplishments, celebration and joy are just a few words that could define your journey through September, Sagittarius. Four of Wands is a truly beautiful card, filled to the brim with blessings. Think of this entire month as a rite of passage, a celebration of yourself: how far you’ve come in your life, how much work you’ve done to get there, and how magnificently you’ve done it, even though great challenges. Those of you who are ready for the “next big thing” in your lives will walk closer to it than you ever have before. You can also expect big expansions this month around whatever you’ve been calling in energetically.

For some of you, it’ll be a month of professional blessings. For others, it might be more time off from work for play, the deepening or beginning of a relationship—even a wealth of fresh creative inspiration. The “four” in Four of Pentacles is significant, too, as fours signify stability in the Tarot. In other words, Sagittarius, the other shoe is not going to drop. There is a rational container around this time of joy: the one you built with your hard work. You get to reap your harvest this month. Enjoy it to the fullest degree, cultivating joy and self-celebration in every moment, every breath of this month.

You do have to trust in the invitation to celebrate, though, loves. That’s a part of this month for you, too. Trusting that you deserve this—to play, to rest, to receive more abundance, more attention, more time off. You have to be willing to be lighter; weeding through any old stories that argue against how much you deserve what’s manifesting at this time is imperative. This doesn’t darken the day—it just makes it sweeter. You’re not only getting what you want this month, Sagittarius, you’re learning how to accept it, how to say yes to it.

Receiving anything is a master class; it is truly hard work for everyone. Just keep celebrating alongside any discomfort or contraction, keep walking toward the light, bowing to the harvest you have cultivated. Then make room for even more goodness, even more joy. We cannot accept the blessings being showered on us if we don’t know how to open our hands to them—and you are going to be offering your palms up to the Universe on a whole new level this month, Sagittarius. Get excited.

Want more wisdom? Book a reading with Lindsay here and follow her on Instagram.

CAPRICORN :: CAPRICORN RISING – Temperance

Temperance is the alchemical bringer of transformation; it makes the impossible possible, and teaches us how to replace striving with allowing. The energy of this month is asking you to trust in the unknown in a way you never have before, Capricorn. If you can bow over to the great mystery, it will be a month full of beautiful and potent upgrades to your life.

You are learning to walk gracefully through the world while unseen and incredible threads are being woven together on your behalf. It’s a much better option than pushing, working or struggling to tie the threads together in a way that exhausts or drains you. Let it be easier; begin to foster trust that you will have everything in your life that is aligned for you in one way or another. The moment we surrender and release what we most desire is often the moment when enough space is made for it to come flowing in.

The medicine of Temperance is largely mysterious. Even the imagery on the traditional Rider Waite card suggests that miracles are happening: the blending of fire and water, the angel’s ability to balance on two uneven surfaces, the pouring of the water at a scientifically impossible angle. It’s letting us know, visually, that events are occurring in a magical way, in a way that would be impossible for any human being to accomplish. If we attempted any of the gravity defying feats that the Angel in the Temperance card does so effortlessly, we would fail. We would spill the water, we would lose our balance; we would put out the fire with the water over and over again.

We don’t just “get” this card in a reading—it is earned. It is earned through the willingness to release the grip of control in favor of surrender and trust. It is a very powerful sign of all things good and transformational, and indicates that you have done potent work to get to where you are. You are ready to level up and receive something new from the Universe, Capricorn, and Temperance is preparing you to do so. Lay yourself bare; let fire and water flow within you. Energetically surrender anything you are manifesting or wishing for, even without knowing the how or the why. The more you release, the more will come flowing in.

Want more wisdom? Book a reading with Lindsay here and follow her on Instagram.

AQUARIUS :: AQUARIUS – Ace of Cups

You will truly be sipping from the overflowing cup of Universal love and abundance this month, Aquarius. Sparkling and regenerative, it will be here to flood your life with some true magic. Ace of Cups is a card of holy self-love; falling in love with yourself, embracing all that you are, inviting joy and fun into your life. It can sometimes be a card that indicates that we could connect with someone new and special, but we have to start first from within.

Loving the self is its own special frequency. At its barest foundation, self love is a blend of spiritual re-parenting, a deep gratitude for the physical body (regardless of weight/appearance), and an emphasis on spontaneity, play, focus and helpful, nourishing discipline. It is centered in a kindness toward self, a willingness to make amends to the body, and to the heart. The body forgives, again and again and again, no matter how we may misstep with ourselves.

The deepest invitation of the month for you, Aquarius, is to truly learn how to drink from this cup of love in the first place. Many people just literally don’t know the how of self love. They might follow all the steps, doing everything that seems right and smart, and come out with a half empty well, the heart still crying for more. September is not only about drinking and marinating in the blessings of such a beautiful month, but learning how to love yourself in a way that fills you up and makes your soul shine. It takes time, reflection, willingness and curiosity to learn to love yourself and allow yourself more pleasure into your life; it’s a deep journey of the spirit.

It is time for all of you to know, beyond question, that you are enough. Deep enough, nourishing enough, rich enough to fill your own well. You don’t need anyone or anything else to fill it for you. Many of us work through this on a regular basis, of course, but this month feels like a truly expansive one for your whole sign in this area. Ace of Cups is here to deeply evolve your relationship with yourself. To sweeten your relationship with yourself, and in turn, expand your relationships with others. As you drink more from your own cup, more externally loving mirrors will pop up around you. Take the first sip and dive deeply into your body and heart.

Want more wisdom? Book a reading with Lindsay here and follow her on Instagram.

PISCES :: PISCES RISING – Seven of Wands

Expect to dive into the depths this month, Pisces. This plunge is going to help you foster a newfound trust around any area that triggers a sense of lack, scarcity or competition in your psyche. It’s a big shadow, but you’re ready to look at it squarely. You will be empowered to truly know, from the core of your soul, that only you can do what you came here to do. No one can take or steal anything away from you, and you can’t miss what is yours. Never, ever, ever. I absolutely trust that the logical part of your brain knows this beyond a shadow of a doubt—this is a healing for the sensitive, tender, vulnerable part of you that’s still not 100 percent convinced.

September’s invitation to you will be to understand that it’s not the adult in you that gets scared about this—it’s the inner child. When we understand that we are free to step forward into our greatness, regardless of our fears and insecurities,             we find ourselves speaking our truth, dropping our armor, and healing our inner child with every step.

Seven of Wands is about helping us to cultivate an unshakable trust that all things align as they are meant to for us. Whether the doubt around this area of your life is most prevalent in your career, finances, family or your love life, it’s all the same; you can never miss what’s meant for you. The key to rewiring these beliefs is to turn a soft focus and loving attention to the inner child part of you when those thoughts start whirring. Doing so will shift the difficult feelings around this subject out of shadow and into the light of awareness. Once the feelings are out in the light, we can begin to truly rewire them.

Fearing that there won’t be enough for us can sometimes manifest as insecurity, jealousy, comparison, even obsession. If you’re experiencing even an ounce of these difficult emotions around any aspect of your life, this month will be a blessing and a relief. It will present a ripe opportunity to transform them. Releasing these untrue beliefs will clear up space within you to be more expansive, trusting and sure of yourself. The waters around this are deeply vulnerable, but ultimately freeing—if you’re willing to swim in them. If anyone can do it, it’s you, Pisces. Dive deep and come out shining.

Want more wisdom? Book a reading with Lindsay here and follow her on Instagram.

ARIES :: ARIES RISING – Three of Wands

Three of Wands is a spectacular energy, one that is deeply creatively fulfilling. The month will be overflowing with excitement, potential and reason for celebration. This card comes up when we have worked—and worked you have, Aries. You know what it takes to fulfill your goals and dreams, and you have hustled to get there—now you get to experience the payoff for much of it. Honoring how hard you’ve worked, how far you’ve come, and what exciting opportunities lie ahead will be a delicious part of September. Much of what you have planted in the first half of 2016 will be in full bloom this month, ready to harvest and share with the world. Expect this time to be very sweet.

Also expect that you will start getting hungry (in a great way) for new projects, material and collaborations; to teach and learn on a whole new level. This will be awesome, and I highly encourage you to lean into it fully. Just as you have mastered and reaped the wonderful things you’ve been growing, you will begin to want to lay down new seeds: Three of Wands at its finest. Just go with it, and start planting those dream seeds, even as you celebrate.

The pace of this month for you, Aries, to quote Jim Gaffigan, might feel a bit like “you’re drowning, and then someone hands you a baby.” Sorry to say it, but as sweet as this month promises to be, the actual work load and intensity is not going to let up much for you. Its an amazing time, full of potential and an indication of all of the hard work you’ve been doing, but not much slowing down. The best thing to do is work within that structure. This month is really an opportunity to learn to integrate a bit more rest and fun within the breakneck pace, cultivating more ease in general. It is advisable to do this now, especially within the bridge of this month’s Mercury Retrograde, which is providing you with some organic resting points within the chaos. It will be a very busy, but amazing month for you in general, full of lessons and potential expansions.

Again, Aries, really celebrate yourself this month. Raise a proverbial glass to your hard work. Let any potential setbacks or disappointments become learning opportunities; don’t let anything break your stride too much. Let yourself dream big, and dive into your creativity fully.

Want more wisdom? Book a reading with Lindsay here and follow her on Instagram.

TAURUS :: TAURUS RISING – Four of Swords

September is an organic invitation to really rest, Taurus, avoiding any unnecessarily stressful, chaotic or frenzied situations. Taking a break from more dramatic friends or family members is also advised, as well as allowing for ample alone time to re-center through the month. Trust your gut completely on the amount of recharge time you need, as it truly will be the compass that guides you through a peaceful September. If you happen to be more open, empathic, or intuitive, the above advice will be a requirement, not a suggestion.

Four of Swords calls for a mental break, a true rest of the mind. It usually arises when we are in transition, or moving through something that is kicking up a lot of emotional dirt. The card’s energy actually serves to sweep away the debris, leaving us clear and lighter. Respect the fact that you might need more time to yourself this month, Taurus, and that that’s perfect for you. I mention that because FOMO can sometimes arise with this card, which can be painful—know that if you truly need to take a month away from people and recharge, you can honor that completely. They will still love you when you feel more called to be social.

It is wise to offer yourself as much space as possible during this Mercury Retrograde in Virgo, which is just going to want to make you curl up into your blankets and take it easy. Please treat yourself to that as often as you are able! This particular retrograde might be a little intense for you, especially around situations that make you insecure and more paranoid. You just might need a little more space to distinguish between whether something is your imagination or whether it is fact. Within this time of being more internal, emphasize sweetness and really treat yourself when you can. Make sure you are clearing yourself every day with sage, palo santo, and using selenite at night before you go to bed to cut any cords or release energy. Keep your third eye and crown chakra really beaming bright.

If you’re someone with very little personal time, don’t be surprised if the Universe helpfully hands you some more time to yourself: a shift to your child’s nap, a surprise work day from home, an evening obligation that gets cancelled. Just flow with the energy of the month, and take the chance to go within.

Want more wisdom? Book a reading with Lindsay here and follow her on Instagram.

GEMINI :: GEMINI RISING – Queen of Crystals

Err on the side of pragmatism this month, Gemini. Go slowly through September, ground yourself regularly and drop into the body before making big decisions. It is extremely advisable to be as classically oriented as you can with this Mercury Retrograde: not too many big decisions, not too many far reaching plans. Let it be a time that is more in than out, more thoughtful and mellow than energized. A good rule of thumb is if you feel really personally stretched, it would be wise to shelve what you possibly can until October.

Queen of Crystals, or Pentacles, is bringing a depth and a groundedness to your daily life that will be a deeply beneficial energy to your movement through the Retrograde this month. She’s slowing you down, and the main reason is because October is going to be bananas for you!

The fall will hold LOTS of movement, expansion and energy, so take measured steps while you can. Let this Queen show you the way. The Queen of Crystals is the holder of water and earth; she is the healer of the body and the keeper of wise ways. She is doing two things for you, Gemini, she’s slowing you down and bringing you into your body.

You can look at the latter as being very straight forward: emphasize physical exercise, nourish your body with foods that make your cells sing, hydrate like it’s your job, and love yourself up. Take baths, have beautiful sex and/or self-pleasure, go on walks, lay on the grass before it gets too cold. Soak up the fading summer days and meditate on this particular cycle for yourself: what worked, what didn’t, and what are you manifesting for the next cycle. This is all some beautiful Queen of Crystals body magic.

September is also the perfect time for you to review your finances, take an inventory of any areas of your life that need it, or to do a deep clearing of your home and space. Again, let this time be an intuitively pragmatic reflection, rather than a leap into new projects. You’re basically doing a full check in on everything in your life, inside and out. Embrace it fully and completely; it is a perfect time to get your ducks in a row for the upcoming season, both energetically and practically. Let your every step be a meditation on the present moment.

Want more wisdom? Book a reading with Lindsay here and follow her on Instagram.

CANCER :: CANCER RISING – Page of Cups

Travel deep into your magical weirdness this month, Cancer. I mean that in the best way possible! September’s energy wants you to come out and play. It wants you to trust yourself, to bathe in the waters of your imagination, to get back to a pure, childlike, magical place within your being. Like Gemini and many of the other signs this month, September is more of an internally directed time for you, Cancer, and it will be very wise to embrace this invitation. That doesn’t mean that it’s not aligned for you to be out and about, but there is a very rich inner landscape that awaits you this month. Do your best not to skip over it, as it contains many treasures.

Page of Cups is the embodiment of the child spirit, or in other words, a completely free and intuitively guided human being. Sensitive and individualistic, the free child spirit is able to express themselves from their heart, fully and totally. They are creative, imaginative and spontaneous, just like Page of Cups. The being on the card owns himself, wears what he wants, and doesn’t care if you don’t get him: he knows who he is and feels fabulous. Page of Cups is a full expression of love, magic, weirdness and creativity borne of the freedom to be fully ourselves.

The way back home to the child spirit within you, Cancer, is play. In order to play, our nervous systems must be relaxed. In order to have it be play, it means we don’t worry so much about what other people will think, or what it means to create what we are creating. We do it because play and imagination are the purest forms of channeling, and that’s the Page of Cups’ highest invitation for you this month: to expand your instinct, and to download new forms of connection with Divine that feel creative and joyous.

Look for the people in your life who express a Page of Cups frequency as inspiration. Be inspired by actual children, who are the perfect embodiments of this energy. For this month, do as your inner child does, or as a child would do, and notice how it makes you feel. Dive into your inner landscape and let it be fun, spontaneous and deeply creative. You might be very pleasantly surprised by what gets birthed from this free space.

Want more wisdom? Book a reading with Lindsay here and follow her on Instagram.

LEO :: LEO RISING – Four of Cups

Four of Cups is offering you a much needed and well deserved break in external engagements this month, Leo. It will be a potent opportunity for career advancements, personal projects, deep study into something new, or focusing on your health and wellbeing. Just be willing to create a little space between yourself and others this month, unless the person feels like true soul family. If it feels effortful, or if there are any “shoulds” involved, steer clear—at least for this month. The Retrograde is going to be extremely important for all Leos, providing an organic opportunity to clear away any past relationship karma, and to develop a new level of personal trust in your decisions. If exes come back up out of the woodwork this month, that’s great—you get the chance to definitively release them. Say bye and then block ‘em.

I always mention this in some capacity with the Four of Cups in my Tarotscopes: the traditional meaning of this card is, in my opinion, extremely misunderstood in one important capacity. Many people believe that there is deliberate self-sabotage happening with Four of Cups, that we are in some way making ourselves unavailable to new situations or potential relationships, saying no when we should say yes. I call bullshit. That fear (that we are going to miss something) is the very reason why we need Four of Cups energy in the first place.

The pure essence of the card is a wise inner break: an emotional clearing and a chance to go within and digest past experiences. This decision to heal and integrate is largely shunned in a culture that tells us to push through everything and to be on high alert constantly, lest we miss something. We can never, ever pass by what is truly ours. It will always find us. It is safe to trust in our decisions.

I mention this because it is important to trust yourself within this energy, Leo. Trust the time it takes you to heal, to clear and to ready yourself to engage again. You owe an explanation to no one. Four of Cups, like Four of Swords can bring up an intense feeling of FOMO; know that this is not only part of the card, but part of life. Don’t let it stop you from saying “no thank you” when your body is really asking you do. Trust yourself, go within, clear what is ready to be cleared—including self-doubt.

Want more wisdom? Book a reading with Lindsay here and follow her on Instagram.

A SENSORY EXPLORATION OF VIRGO SEASON

Virgo season brings an invitation to revel in the details, say Cara George & Bess Matassa of Mojave Rising

white caftan virgo season by Mojave Rising on The Numinous

Virgo season asks us to sharpen our tools, clarify our intentions, and get back down to the sweet labors of love that just feel good in our bodies. The zodiac’s so-called “virgin” is actually a fiercely self-contained sensualist who’s married to her own internal code, trusts deeply in her distinctiveness, and finds delicious divinity in daily detail.

It’s a month for relaxing into the subtlest material pieces of our lives—from savored flavors and ephemeral scents to watching the way the light hits the pavement just so—and for relishing in the feeling of processual work that moves with the rhythm of what is without having to prove anything at all.

The astrological Queen of the intricate and the refined reminds us that we are a part of every last thing that surrounds us and that every last thing absolutely matters because heaven is most definitely a place of earth.

The keyword is Alignment

The song lyrics are: “I’m every woman/It’s all in me/Anything you want done baby/I’ll do it naturally”—Whitney Houston, “I’m Every Woman.” Check out our Virgo season playlist, complete with considered lyricism, wild women, and pop gravitas.

The color palette: soft metallics and shifting sands: salmon pinks, rose golds, light caramels, and pure silver.

desert sand full moon virgo season by Mojave Rising on The Numinous

The style: 1930s Greta Garbo meets Southwestern naturalism: refined yet rustic glamor, caftans paired with high-heeled boots, intricate art deco jewelry, nude lips, loose braids and buns, copper lockets, and just enough coverage to spark the sensuous imagination.

red hair chanel jewelry Virgo Season by Mojave Rising on The Numinous

The scents and flavors: simple trusted tastes, herbaceous blends, and medicinal elixirs. Think rosemary, camphor, fresh bread, bergamot, tisanes, and hot cobbler carefully concocted with seasonal fruits.

virgo season

The healing: considered, refined, and earthily aligned. Try tasting menus, perfume making, Marie Kondo-style closet cleansing, or even the slowly revelatory art of burlesque dancing.

Sensuous Invitation of the Month: Interior Design (by sign below)

With Mercury stationing retrograde in Virgo, Venus and Jupiter entering Libra, and the final Saturn-Neptune square, it’s a month for getting our houses in order, making use of the materials on hand, and bowing at the altar of aesthetics. For letting the material world refine our values and bring us all the way back home to what we truly love. From Barbie dreamhouse jacuzzis to Southern country kitchens, it’s time to realign our environment with our interior selves, and to move majestically and naturally through the spaces that surround us.

ARIES
Virgo season invites you to infuse some of your full-throttle thrill seeking with a careful consideration that strategizes before leaping and allows the world to sometimes have the first move. Design Inspiration: Release into the dazzling sensation of the world infusing the interior by clearing the area around your windows and treating them as pieces of art à la Julius Shulman’s iconic 1960 photograph of the Stahl house.

TAURUS
Virgo season invites you to trust that you already have more than enough of what you need and to tap into your ability to repurpose what you already have into something gorgeously useful. Design Inspiration: Channel the restored farmhouses of Taschen’s Country Interiors as you dig into your soul dirt by repurposing objects, reupholstering prized furniture pieces, and reveling in local rummage sales.

GEMINI
Virgo season invites you to return to the sensations of your body as you learn to read and value environmental cues as much as you do intellectual ones. Design Inspiration: Relax into treehouse dreams with Joel Allen’s British Columbia masterpiece sourced entirely from craigslist materials, and experiment with small seasonal shifts in your own space by mixing indoor with outdoor- even if it’s just tricking out your fire escape with sparkling lights or placing found stones in your sink basin.

CANCER
Virgo season invites you to celebrate distinguished solitude as much as you do emotional relationship. Design Inspiration: Channel the DIY solitude of converted sheds by creating a space of your own—whether it’s affixing glow-in-the-dark stars on your ceiling for private night dreaming, or cordoning off a corner of shared space entirely for yourself.

LEO
Virgo season invites you to step away from the proscenium as you relax into behind the scenes labors without always having to show yourself. Design Inspiration: Conjure the inward-facing glitter and sparkle of the Madonna Inn’s bombastic Barbie bathroom by decking out your boudoir with jewel-encrusted toiletry boxes, and writing yourself impassioned lipstick messages on your mirror.

VIRGO
Virgo season invites you to rediscover the wild sensualism of your inner witchy woman who follows her own credo. Design Inspiration: Evoke the high-quality, woodsy wildness of the fur, fire, and open air bathtubs of Palm Springs’ Sparrows Lodge with a singular, luxe design piece made from natural materials like a marble slab, bamboo soap dish, or wool rug.

LIBRA
Virgo season invites you to discover the “beautility” in your world by blending your idealized aesthetic sensibilities with down-to-earth usefulness. Design Inspiration: Channel the majestically utilitarian Library of Congress with organizational pieces that are also decadent and gorgeous.

SCORPIO
Virgo season invites you to marry your emotional intensity to material complexity as you investigate the intricate detail of the world that surrounds you. Design Inspiration: Explore the elaborate Art Nouveau design of the Parisian metro system by experimenting with patterned wallpaper or trompe l’oeil at home.

SAGITTARIUS
Virgo season invites you to take your passion and make it happen as you delight in the earthy sensation of grounding your most far-flung visions in the material world. Design Inspiration: Motor west with inspiration from Route 66 in Tucumcari, New Mexico, and invite the open road into your space with 50s Americana kitsch design elements.

CAPRICORN
Virgo season invites you to celebrate the process of refinement without this having to match internally or externally imposed standards. Design Inspiration: Move towards the sensations of slow cooking and process-based work by conjuring warm Mediterranean-style kitchens through decoratively usable rotating spice racks, hanging fruit baskets, and dishes affixed to the wall.

AQUARIUS
Virgo season invites you to trade in some of your panoramic thinking for delicious attention to detail. Design Inspiration: Delight in the futuristic efficiency of the tiny house movement and play with proportion in your own space with terrariums or dollhouses.

PISCES
Virgo season invites you to step out of the endless seas of possibility to practice the art of discernment. Design Inspiration: Strip down with spiritually-aligned Japanese minimalism and infuse this practice in your own space by cleansing one room, or building your design around a singular object or color.

HOW I BECAME MY OWN REBOUND RELATIONSHIP

Rather than indulging in a post-break-up rebound with another person, engage in a fling with yourself says Emma Whitehair…  Artwork: Maja Planinac

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The first thing that “rebound relationship” googles up is: “an attempt to fill a hole in your life… to avoid the pain of a breakup.” And there’s few of us unfamiliar with that visceral craving to have something, or someone, fill the void left by the ending of an intimate human connection.

Even though my last breakup didn’t involve a breakdown, letting go of a lover often leaves me feeling bereft. That special closeness lost, gone forever, with them having known me so intimately.

So I grieved a little, before my gut suggested—actually shouted pretty loudly—that I needed to treat this hole as space for growth. This was my time to face my fear of being single, pack up my emotional baggage and elope. With myself.

Unlike the quick fix of a fling, or a replacement insta-relationship, rebounding with yourself is about so much more than simply avoiding heartache. No one else can offer the same level of security, unconditional love or acceptance, as a divine relationship with yourself.

As I have discovered, this kind of self-generated love allows your life to flow with joy, and for things to start magically falling into place. In the words of Oscar Wilde: “To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance”. So, how about a three-way with mind, body and soul; be part of the self-love revolution!

There are many routes to saying a passionate yes to yourself, and while each person’s path is as individual as them, here are a few things that helped ignite a romance with the soul mate under my very nose. Literally.

:: TUNE IN TO YOUR INNER WISDOM ::

A.k.a. your intuition, as only it knows what your true needs are, and how to go about getting them met.

‘Focusing’ was a technique I learned on a course at the West London Buddhist Centre. A reflective practice that involves taking a curious awareness into your body and listening for messages, simply close your eyes in a quiet place, as you would to meditate, but instead, sense what needs your attention.

Describe out loud what you are experiencing. Is your chest tight? Stomach heavy? As I described my constricted throat the words resonated deeply, and the words that followed flowed, like a stream of consciousness. with my body, not my head, leading. “There is so much sadness I need to release…talk about….to heal…”

Then the visuals came. I saw an anxious, pining Wolfhound—frantically scratching at a locked door and whining to be let out. It took a few days to process this but eventually it dawned on me: this was a clear message to step away from the door to the outside world, and deepen my meditation practice.

:: UP YOUR MEDITATION GAME ::

As Einstein said: “I think 99 times and find nothing. I stop thinking, swim in silence, and the truth comes to me.”

Although I previously had a vague meditation practice, I wanted to try a new technique in order to get a better connection to my inner self, and Transcendental Meditation was the gateway.

From the first session, I noticed how effortless it was to meditate using a mantra as a stepping stone. And a few weeks in, I had my first experience of transcending, which will stay with me forever—I was hardly using the mantra at all, my breathing became shallow and I felt a melting sensation, like I was disappearing into unboundedness. My head become weightless, like a helium balloon before I felt an an ecstatic rush. It was the feeling of falling in love, with myself. Grinning from ear to ear, I was hooked.

The more I meditate, when negative thoughts and emotions inevitably creep up, I have the tools to observe them with curiosity and acceptance. So regardless of what’s happening in my life experience, I can get to some serenity. Not quite cosmic consciousness yet, but slowly and surely getting a little closer.

:: DEAL WITH THE JUNK IN YOUR TRUNK ::

And I don’t mean sorting out your loft, although that of course can help too (just speak to Marie Kondo). Most of us have issues holding us back in one way or another, and a breakup is the perfect time to find the right professional to help with some emotional sat nav.

For me that person was Fiona Arrigo. With a background of 30 years in psychotherapy, Fiona runs haute holistic healing retreats in rural Somerset, where she carefully assembles a crack team for bespoke programs. Orchestrated treatment by treatment, the therapists all compare notes to ensure the next session works with the discoveries from the one before.

Checking in with me each day of the retreat, with just a little guidance during our chats, Fiona helped me untangle my past, understand some of my triggers and shift a lot of the sadness I have been carrying around since the ‘dark ages’.

Note: aside from Fiona’s healing retreats, she also has clients from all over the world she ‘sees’ for skype therapy sessions.

:: EXPERIMENT WITH HOLISTIC HEALING ::

Be open to finding multi-discipline healing techniques to help you feel more integrated. The investment in yourself is worth it.

My The Arrigo Programme retreat gave me the opportunity to try everything from Acupuncture, Kinesiology and EFT to Soul Fragment Retrieval. Astrological Counselling being the biggest eye-opener—helping me understand recurring obstacles, life lessons and talents.

On this retreat I also hit a sweet spot with Tibetan Pulsing—an energy work using a diagnosis from the iris of the eye, which gives a feeling of such deep peace. Transformational Breathwork was another game changer, and Matrix Re-aligning allowed me to have a conversation with my deceased mother’s spirit, releasing some of the grief I’d been holding on to for years.

:: HAVE A SING-ALONG ::

From Kirtan Kriya to church choir or karaoke, the benefits of singing are scientifically proven. Encouraging deep breathing, it uplifts your spirit and gives a sense of well-being

Personally, I prefer warbling along into a hairbrush at the top of my voice, in the privacy of my own home. Get it all out by wallowing with Adele or having a rage-along with Alanis. Then move on by creating a feel good playlist of songs such as State of Independence, Ch-Chng and Love Me. Or take the anthems of co-dependence, and change the object of the lyrics adoration to Self. Let It Go may or may not also be on repeat. Sorry neighbors.

:: TALK TO YOURSELF ::

Not like a crazy lady, but like you would talk to your lover—using words of self-appreciation not depreciation. Develop an affectionate conversation with yourself and respond to any negative thoughts with compassion, acknowledging them but not letting them linger.

Be reverent, congratulatory and give compliments regularly. Look, really look at yourself in the mirror, hush the critical voice and observe with the eyes of love. Thank your body. Be your own cheerleader.

Deepen your self-love practice at out next Club SÖDA NYC event, Sex, Lies & Alcohol, August 23 in NYC. Details and ticket info here.