NEW MOON CARD SPREAD

Every new moon, we get a beautiful opportunity for a fresh start. The new moon is the time of the lunar cycle where we get to dream, vision, and set intentions for what we would like to heal, manifest, and create for the new cycle.

Cards, whether oracle or tarot (learn all about the difference between oracle & tarot cards and how to choose here), can be a powerful way to help us gain clarity and understand how to work with the whole cycle holistically. 

Keep scrolling for your new moon card spread and to learn how to work with the cards throughout the whole moon cycle!

Cards featured from The Ritual Deck.

CARD SPREAD FOR THE NEW MOON

This is a card spread designed to help you work with the moon cycle holistically- through all of the major moon phases of the cycle including the new moon, first quarter moon, full moon, last quarter moon, and dark moon.

To ritualize drawing cards, you might like to take some time before getting started to light incense or burn other herbs, ground yourself (click here for suggestions on how to get grounded), and/or do a practice that helps you open your channels such as breathwork, a movement practice, or a visualization meditation.

When you feel ready, you can start pulling cards:

1. What cycle is opening up for me?

2. What wants to emerge, grow, be tended this cycle?

3. What blocks are coming up around this? (Draw one to three cards - let your intuition guide you!)

4. Why this block is here/the shadow underneath the block (draw one card for each blockage card)

5. Advice for healing these blocks (draw one card for each blockage card)

6. Advice for working with these energies to come back to myself

This card spread can offer some beautiful guidance for working with the phases of the moon holistically. I’m going to cover the 5 major phases of the moon below - the new moon, waxing moon, full moon, waning moon, and dark moon.

THE NEW MOON

The new moon is a time of dreaming and feeling into what you want to grow during the cycle. So during the new moon time, you’ll want to focus on cards one and two. I recommend creating an altar based around the themes of these cards.

For example, if the cards showed that in this cycle, spirit is inviting you to work with your creativity, then you could create an altar representing your creative energy blossoming. This might include lush flowers, the tarot cards you drew, anything that represents your creativity to you, and sacral chakra crystals like carnelian, peach selenite, or tiger’s eye.  

Seeds are always a great addition to a new moon altar as well, a symbol of what you’re planting this cycle.

WAXING MOON

The waxing moon is the time for action. It’s an opportune time for taking the steps needed to bring your dream, your desire, into reality. During the waxing moon, you’ll want to focus on the steps that need to be taken to help card number 2 emerge and grow.

This could be internal or external! Often, I find, it’s a combination of both. 

For example, say that your cards showed that this cycle is all about growing your business. During the waxing moon phase, this could be a time where you take more external steps to grow your business (like sending your newsletter, making a content calendar for Instagram and sticking to it, etc.) as well as doing an abundance ritual. 

[Looking for abundance rituals to work with? Find four abundance rituals on the blog here.]

Remember to work with the sixth card, advice for working with the energies this cycle to come back to yourself, to support you through every phase.

FULL MOON

The full moon can feel like “everything all at once,” as one of my teachers says. The water in our bodies is heightened- emotions, intuition, fertility, psychic abilities. This is the last big push in the growth phase of the cycle so it’s the perfect time to do a manifestation ritual around your first and second cards, what it is you’re cultivating this cycle.

Notice any feelings or downloads you receive at this time and take note - you’ll weave them into your work through the waning part of the cycle.

WANING MOON

The waning moon is a time for shadow work, for releasing, for turning inward. It’s our invitation to work with cards three through five of the spread above: the blocks around your dream or desire, the shadow underneath the block, and the advice for healing these blocks.

This is a great time to explore the roots of these blocks and do practices like tapping (EFT) or breathwork to deprogram the stories and patterns that make up those blocks. If any of those blocks feel ready to be released, this is also the time to release them!

DARK MOON

The dark moon is the time of the cycle when the moon disappears from the sky. It’s a deeply internal time for rest, shadow work, banishing work, and cord-cutting.

If you feel ready at this time to release the blocks and work with the fifth card, the advice for healing those blocks, this is the time. A cord-cutting ceremony or banishing ritual would be ideal to help you wrap up the cycle and release these blocks once and for all.

You can return to this new moon card spread with every new moon to help guide your cycle. Want more rituals for the new moon? Click here!

Rituals to Help You Thrive During Mercury Retrograde

Every Mercury retrograde, it feels like the whole internet goes crazy (including Instagram crashing, the technology breakdowns with Mercury retrograde are real!) for a while with memes blaming a whole slew of problems on Mercury retrograde.

But the fact is, Mercury goes retrograde a few times a year every year, and it can be an incredibly potent time for your growth and transformation if you treat it as such. I really believe that all cosmic events happen for us, not to us, and we can let them have power over us or we can view them as empowering invitations to help us on our journeys in specific ways.

In this blog, I’ll be sharing some rituals for Mercury retrograde to help you tap into the magic of this time. But first, what is Mercury retrograde?

WHAT IS MERCURY RETROGRADE

Mercury retrograde occurs when it appears from planet Earth that Mercury has slowed down, stopped, and moved backwards.

Mercury doesn’t actually move backwards--this is just a function of the orbits of Mercury and Earth.

HOW TO USE MERCURY RETROGRADE

Mercury is the planet of communication, of the voice, of how we receive, process, and share information and wisdom.

So Mercury retrograde always highlights these themes for us, asking us to look at our challenges, blocks, and wounds around communication, the voice, and how we exchange with other people.

It’s a beautiful time for turning inward, slowing down, connecting with our intuition, and reflecting on our own process. Use the rituals below to help you make the most of this time!

TAROT OR ORACLE SPREAD FOR MERCURY RETROGRADE

Mercury Retrograde can be a time of incredibly deep listening--listening that we’re able to drop into because we’re slowing down, turning inward, and turning off the external “noise.” Cards, whether you prefer tarot or oracle cards, are a great tool to assist you with this. Use this simple tarot spread to help you understand how to use Mercury retrograde to deepen your understanding of yourself and your journey.

To ritualize drawing cards, you might like to take some time before getting started to light incense or burn other herbs, ground yourself (click here for suggestions on how to get grounded), and/or do a practice that helps you open your channels such as breathwork, a movement practice, or a visualization meditation.

When you feel ready, you can start pulling cards:

1. What inner work am I being invited into this Mercury Retrograde?

2. What in my life needs re-evaluating during this Mercury Retrograde?

3. How can I care for and give to myself during this phase?

4. Where is this Mercury Retrograde leading me?

SPELL BAG FOR CLEAR COMMUNICATION

Spell bags are one of my favorite ways to work with spells. They’re simple, effective, and you can work with the same bag for a while. My favorite kind of spell! Here’s what you’ll need to create a spell bag for clear communication:

• A small cloth bag

• Marshmallow, rosemary, or thyme herbs

• A drop or two of lavender, grapefruit, rosemary, or time essential oils (optional)

• The King of Swords tarot card (you can put the actual card in, or make a photocopy of it and put the photocopy in)

• Sodalite, lapis lazuli, blue topaz, and/or blue lace agate

• A relevant mantra, phrase, or sigil (learn how to create your own basic sigil here) on a piece of paper. Here are some suggestions, but feel free to use your own:

  • I express myself authentically and clearly

  • Sat nam, a Kundalini mantra meaning “truth is my identity”

  • Ham, the bija or seed mantra for the throat chakra

  • I always communicate clearly and my words are received as I intended them

As you place each item in your bag, visualize healing blue light flowing into your body, filling you up with this fresh energy of clear communication and truth-speaking.

Place your bag on your altar and leave it there for a full moon cycle!

RADICAL REST

In a culture that prioritizes the yang, the active, the solar--rest is radical. I recommend blocking off an evening, a weekend day, whatever time period you’re able to and creating an intentional, luxurious time of rest.

Here’s what that might look like:

• Take a bath with your favorite herbs, oils, crystals, and candles (click here for some herbal bath recipes to inspire you!)

• Wear your favorite clothes with soft, sensual fabrics and eat chocolate (or whatever other sweet treats you love--chocolate for me!)

• Bring a blanket to the park and nothing else (no phone, no book, no distractions) and just lay down and watch the clouds move, or the stars and moon if it’s nighttime.

• Turn off your phone, cancel your plans, and stay in to read inspiring books or watch a documentary.

• Turn radical rest into a ritual by bringing intentionality to it and creating a ritual space, whatever that means to you.

• That could mean lighting candles, having your crystals in a circle around you as you lay under the stars, meditating in the bath, or breathing deeply as you eat.

The options are endless! Give yourself full permission to rest in whatever way feels best to you.

Remember, Mercury Retrograde is here to help us. The things we associate with Mercury Retrograde, like communication breakdowns and technology glitches, can certainly happen. But the invitations we receive through that--turning inward, slowing down, acceptance, re-evaluation--can be beautiful if we choose to say yes and sit with our discomfort.

The Akashic Field

If you’re reading this blog, there’s a good chance that you’ve accessed the Akashic field already and didn’t even realize it. Read through the questions below to see if you have.

• Have you ever been somewhere for the first time and had a sense that you’ve been there before?

• Have you ever given a talk or presentation and felt like the words flowed through you from outside of yourself?

• Have you ever had a hunch about something that later came true?

• Have you lost your sense of self and time while working on a creative project?

• Have you had dreams or visions about yourself in a different life?

• Have you ever felt destined for a specific career or life path?

• Have you ever known the answer to something without knowing where the information came from?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, you’ve likely accessed the Akashic field. Keep reading to learn what this field is and why you might want to access it more often!Card featured from The Ritual Deck.

Card featured from The Ritual Deck.

What is The Akashic Field

You may have heard the term “Akashic Records” and have an image in your mind of a big bright library with angels and spirits buzzing around. The true meaning of Akasha is bigger than anything our human minds can truly comprehend, including a sparkling library.

Akasha is a Sanskrit word that translates to ether. I know, you’re probably thinking, “great, what the heck is ether?”. Ether, or Akasha, encompasses all things and thoughts; past, present, and all future probabilities. It’s where the universe was born and where it resides still. I like to think of Akasha as the brain of the Universe or God.

Everything about your current life, past lives, and future life probabilities are stored in the Akashic field. Something as all-inclusive as this is difficult for our human brains to understand and that is why the term “records” is often used. I feel that the name “Akashic field” is more accurate because it is not something outside of us that we go and visit, it is something all around us and inside of us that we can tune into.

If you prefer the term Akashic records, that’s ok! I only explain the differences so you can have a more complete understanding of the Akashic field without limiting its scope.

Let’s recap. Here’s a short list of what the Akashic field is:

• Where every thought that was ever thought, word that was ever spoken, and action that was ever taken is stored.

• Information on past lives, present lives, and all future probabilities are stored.

• A frequency or vibration that can be tuned into to access.

• Accessible to anyone

Why Access The Akashic Field?

Ever feel paralyzed by not knowing how to move forward in your life? Wouldn’t it be nice to know that you were on the right path? Accessing the Akashic field can give you a sense of peace and inner knowing that you’re on a path that is in alignment with your highest potential.As I said before, the Akashic field has all future probabilities, not all future answers. That’s because you have full autonomy over your life. You always have options, and there is no “wrong” answer, just different learning experiences.For example, if you’re deciding between living a life of eating Hot Pockets on your couch and watching Netflix 24/7 or pursuing your passion for becoming a nurse (with occasional Hot Pockets and Netflixing), you’ll likely gain more from the latter. Not to say that the Hot Pocket and Netflix situation wouldn’t be a learning experience, but, you’ll probably be happier, and undoubtedly be of service in a more fulfilling way as a nurse. By accessing the field, you could have an inner knowing that being a nurse would give you a more fulfilling life. This is a pretty extreme example, but I think you get the idea!Here’s a list of other reasons why you might like to access the Akashic field.

• Learn from past life experiences.

• Heal traumas from past life experiences that may be affecting you during this life.

• Move through the world with more confidence and less doubt.

• Understand what you’re here to learn or overcome.

• Live life to your fullest potential.

• Strengthen your intuition.

• Connect with your higher self.

• Feel more connected to other humans.

This information is accessible to anyone, and it doesn’t require a special prayer or chant to do so. You can find more about how to access the Akashic Field here.

Using the Cardinal Directions in Ritual

The cardinal directions, North, South, East, and West, can help you with more than navigation. Each direction holds a meaning of its own and corresponds to one of the four elements. There are both simple and complex ways of using the cardinal directions in ritual.

A variety of cultures honor the cardinal directions. This article is looking at them from a Pagan and Wiccan perspective. The four directions are often used by Native Americans on the medicine wheel. Neither way is wrong or right, just different, and for different purposes.

Read on for meanings and three ways to start using the cardinal directions in your magickal practices.

Connection to the Four Elements

Each direction corresponds to one of the four elements; understanding these connections can help you better understand the energy of each direction.

• North corresponds to Earth

• East corresponds to Air

• South corresponds to Fire

• West corresponds to Water

A quick note about these correspondences. The elemental correspondences can vary depending on your location, cultural background, or intuition. Catherine Beyer explains this in her article The Five Element Symbols of Fire, Water, Air, Earth, and Spirit.

The Golden Dawn originated in England, and the directional/elemental correspondences reflect a European perspective. To the south are the warmer climates, and thus is associated with fire. The Atlantic Ocean lies to the west. The north is cold and formidable, a land of the earth but sometimes not a lot else.

If these correspondences don’t feel right to you, that’s ok! For example, if you live in the Southern Hemisphere, you may find that the correspondences feel off. You can reassign the elements in a way that feels natural to you or is in better alignment with your cultural background.

Direction meanings

Here’s a more in-depth look at some meanings and correspondences of each direction.

North

• Physical body

• Health

• Chakra: Root

• Element: Earth

• Color: Green

East

• New beginnings

• Change

• Transmission of information

• Chakra: Third Eye and Throat

• Element: Air

• Color: Yellow

South

• Hardships

• Challenges

• Willpower

• Chakra: Solar Plexus

• Element: Fire

• Color: Red

West

• Emotions

• Endings

• Self-worth

• Chakra: Heart and Sacral

• Element: Water

• Color: Blue

Three ways to use the cardinal directions in ritual

1. Add a layer of meaning to your ritual

The easiest way to start implementing the cardinal directions into your magickal practice is by facing the direction that makes the most sense for what you’re doing. This idea can be applied to oracle and tarot card readings, candle magick, ritual, spellwork, meditation, or working with the moon.

Here are a few examples:

• Face North if you’re doing a meditation focused on your health.

• Face East if you’re performing a card reading for the new moon because the new moon represents new beginnings.

• Face South if you’re asking your guides about how to overcome a problem.

• Face West if you’re doing a ritual to help you let go of something.

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2. Calling the quarters for protection

The next time you’re practicing a ritual or psychic work start by calling on the four directions, this is also referred to as “calling the quarters.” Calling the quarters will bring you protection and the energy of all of the elements during your practice. It’s also said to create a sacred space that is connected to the spirit realm.

There’s more than one way to call the quarters. A quick google search will offer you a variety of options, but here’s one way:

Imagine each direction as a wind that you’re invoking into your space. You can even imagine a specific Goddess or God for each direction. As you call in each direction, stand facing the direction you’re calling in and ask it to join you for your ritual practice. Many like to start by calling in the North winds first because it will keep your ritual grounded. Rotate in a circle, going through each direction, asking it to join you. When you’re done performing your ritual work, release the winds, and thank them for their assistance and protection.

3. Altar placement

Whether you’re creating a new altar or updating your current altar, the direction it’s facing will have an effect on it. Try to place your altar in a direction that matches the season of life you’re in or want to be in.

Has your altar or sacred space been in the same location for a long time? It might be a time to rearrange and face your altar in a direction that’s in better alignment with your life. Check the meanings for the directions above and note which one feels like where you’re at or want to be right now.

What Are Tarot Birth Cards + How To Find Yours

Tarot birth cards, also called soul cards, are cards based on the numerology of your birthday that can give you more information about who you are.

Birth cards can give you more information about your identity, your inner world, and your journey in this lifetime including your potential, key themes, strengths, and struggles.

Keep reading to learn how to calculate your cards and discover their meanings!

HOW TO CALCULATE YOUR BIRTH CARD(S)

As with most things in tarot, there is no hard and fast rule on calculating birth cards. There are a couple of methods, and here I’m going to share the method that I use personally and have found the most powerful!

1. Write out your birthday numerically. For example, if your birthday is October 19th, 1994, the digits you’ll be working with are 10-19-1994.

2. Add up each individual number in your birthday. Keeping with the example above, that means I’m adding 1 + 0 + 1 + 9 + 1 + 9 + 9 + 4 to get 34.

3. Add up any remaining digits if they are greater than 22. Since I got 34 in the step above, that means I’ll now add 3 + 4 to get 7. So the number of your birth card is 7!

If you received a number greater than 22 in step 2, like in this example, then that’s it! But if you received a number equal to 22 or less, then you’ll actually have two birth cards.

Say the number you received in step 2 was 18. The number of your first birth card will be 18, and the number of your second birth card will be 1 + 8 = 9. So you have 2 numbers to work with!

Mary K. Greer is a prominent tarot teacher who has a specific method with birth cards. In her practice, the number 18 will identify your personality card, what you are here in this lifetime to learn. The number 9 will identify your soul card, which shows your purpose across multiple lifetimes.

4. Look up the major arcana tarot card that corresponds to your number(s). I’ve made it easy for you! Keep scrolling to learn what card is associated with each number and what it means.

WHAT YOUR BIRTH CARD MEANS

1: THE MAGICIAN

The Magician, the first card of the major arcana, is a path of manifestation. You may have a lot of ideas, and you’re learning in this lifetime how to channel them, pull them down, and make them manifest in this physical reality.

2: THE HIGH PRIESTESS

In this lifetime, you are learning to embody your lunar nature. You may have a naturally strong intuition and psychic abilities, or this may be something you work to cultivate throughout your life. Working on your psychic development as well as connecting to and honoring your intuition is important for your life path.

3: THE EMPRESS

The Empress as a birth card is an invitation to connect with your creative energy and your Venusian nature. This card is about magnetizing and attracting to you, rather than pushing or forcing. It invites you to nurture yourself and to learn how to receive in this lifetime.It can also indicate a need to explore your relationship with your mother or heal something in your matrilineal line.

4: THE EMPEROR

The Emperor is an invitation to take up space. Throughout your life, you will need to work with the theme of owning your right to take up space, to expand, to be an authority, and to build what you desire without apology.

5: THE HIEROPHANT

The Hierophant teaches us how to be a channel for the wisdom of the Universe, of our guides, of the angels and other cosmic beings. In the Hierophant, we learn to channel truth and to share it with others without overly attaching to outcomes, getting stuck in our ego, or recreating harmful systems of power and authority. Throughout your life, this is a lesson you are learning and an energy you are stepping into.

6: THE LOVERS

With the Lovers as your birth card, you will be learning how to honor and unite duality within you. Throughout your life, you learn how to accept and love all the different, sometimes conflicting, parts of yourself. Evolving through your relationship with others is another big theme of this card, inviting you to allow your relationships (platonic, romantic, business, family, etc.) to trigger you, open you, and evolve you for deeper healing.

7: THE CHARIOT

The Chariot brings an energy of fierce will and determination. But it’s also the number 7 and is ruled by Cancer, adding a more watery flavor and indicating a deeply spiritual path. With the Chariot as your birth card, you’re learning to explore sacred action, action as a spiritual practice, and to trust in the power of your will to bring you where you want to be.

There’s this idea of success and victory with this card as well, indicating that you’ll need to continually redefine over your life what success means to you and what you’re actually moving towards. Is it based on your ego? Or is it truly based on your soul’s mission and purpose?

8: STRENGTH

Strength as your birth card means that you are learning about your relationship to your own power in this lifetime. Strength invites us into a deep knowing of our own power, but it’s a soft, subtle power - not one that dominates, that harms, or is in your face.

It’s a more lunar sense of power, a deep trust in your power that allows you to surrender, to open, to be vulnerable, and to trust yourself and the universe. Stepping into this energy and this sense of power is an important theme on your life’s path.

9: THE HERMIT

The Hermit teaches us how to integrate our own knowing. The Hermit isn’t looking for teachers or knowledge outside of themselves, they know they have a path where deep internal seeking is required.

This isn’t about having a lonely life, it’s about knowing that your evolution comes when you allow yourself the time alone to go inside of yourself, to close off from the external, to integrate and process whatever has come up for you.

10: THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE

The Wheel of Fortune as a birth card indicates that in this lifetime, you are learning the balance between action and surrender. You’re learning to trust the balance of fate and free will, of control and trust. Major changes may tend to be a pattern for you, but know that they’re always in your highest and best good.

11: JUSTICE

Justice as a birth card is all about truth. You are learning to believe not what you wish was true but what is actually true - a difficult and powerful lesson. Justice holds a sword to cut away that which is not true - inviting us to look at the truth of who we are, the truth of who others are, and the truth of injustice in our personal lives and in the greater systems that overlay it all.

In the more literal sense, your life might be involved with law, contracts, and partnerships in some way.

12: THE HANGED ONE

The Hanged One is an invitation to step into a new perspective and to get comfortable with discomfort. You are learning how to surrender to what is, to be in the liminal space between where you’ve been and where you desire to be, and to sit with uncomfortable situations, emotions, and thoughts without judgement.

13: DEATH

Death, ruled by Scorpio, is a path of transformation. Your life is about death and rebirth, about shedding the snakeskin of the ego, continuously evolving into the most soul-centered version of you.

14: TEMPERANCE

Temperance is a path of alchemy and magic. Temperance teaches us how to alchemize our pain, our trauma, our shadow into our greatest gifts, into our purpose, into our unique magic. This is what you are learning in this lifetime with Temperance as your birth card.

15: THE DEVIL

The Devil teaches us how to see, claim, and love all the darkness within us. When we see, claim, and love all of our shame, our fear, and our shadow, it becomes a source of our power. With the Devil as your birth card, your invitation is to get deeply acquainted with your shadow rather than letting it run as unconscious programming, controlling your life.

16: THE TOWER

The Tower is a path of cleansing and burning down old structures- internally and externally. The burning down of internal structures can look like: deprogramming unhealthy ways of talking to the self, releasing old emotional patterns like codependence or manipulation, or finally releasing self-hatred and loving yourself. The burning down of external structures can look like moving homes or cities, fighting for restorative justice, ending unhealthy relationships, changing jobs, etc.This is an energy you are moving through throughout your life.

17: THE STAR

The Star, ruled by Aquarius, is a healing path. The Star is an invitation for deep personal healing of core wounds and traumas (from this lifetime and past lifetimes) that has a ripple effect into the collective, into your ancestral line, into your descendants.

With the Aquarius ruling of the card, your path could also involve humanitarian work and efforts, helping facilitate healing for humanity.

18: THE MOON

The Moon is a path of re-wilding. With this birth card, you are learning to tap into and connect to your wild, primal nature - who you were before the world told you who and how to be. Connecting with your wildness is a sacred path of connecting with yourself, your needs, and your desires - and being brave enough to claim and step into them.

19: THE SUN

The Sun is a path of being seen. With this card as your birth card, throughout your life you are learning how to allow yourself to be seen - not as you have been, or think you should be, or wish you were - but how you actually are in each and every moment.

Bringing all the parts of you - even the parts of yourself you don’t love yet - into the light to be honored and witnessed is how you release shame and step into your fullest potential.

20: JUDGEMENT

Judgement, ruled by Pluto, is a path of breakthroughs around judgement and criticism. You are learning that every judgement we have for someone else is just a mirror of what we don’t love within us. With this card, you’re learning to release judgement and criticism towards yourself first and foremost, and all beings everywhere.

21: THE WORLD

The World is a path of endless potential, of closing karmic loops. With the World as your birth card, there is the potential to end painful cycles that may have gone on through generations in your ancestry or through many past lives by doing your own healing work.

22: THE FOOL

Technically, the Fool card is actually 0. But in this practice, you can use the number 22 to identify the Fool card. With the Fool as your birth card, you are learning to release the ego mindset of “I know” or “I should” and step into a curious mindset or “what if?” Or “I could.”The Fool is the embodiment of a seeker, willing to take leaps into the unknown, trusting that they are fully guided and supported.

The meaning of your birth card will likely evolve over your lifetime. At certain points in your journey, you may relate to the card in different ways or feel into a different aspect of it. That’s great! Like life, each tarot card is complex and multifaceted.

You can start to get to know your birth card on a deeper level by meditating on it, journaling with it, putting it on your altar, and working with embodying it.

Interested in learning more about birth cards? I recommend getting Mary K. Greer’s famous workbook Tarot For Yourself and diving in!

The Birthplace of Sacred Geometry // What is the Vesica Piscis?

The Vesica Piscis symbol is comprised of two overlapping circles that form an almond shape in the center, also called a “mandorla.” Though the coming together of these circles may look simple, and possibly remind you of fun times in middle school filling out Venn diagrams, its meaning is profoundly powerful.

Vesica Piscis translates to “bladder of the fish” in Latin, this not so flattering or mystical name was given to it due to its similar appearance to a fish bladder. The Italian phrase “mandorla,” or almond, refers to the shape created in the center.

Mathematically speaking, this simple shape is the starting place of very complex geometry. The circles have the same radius and intersect in such a way that the perimeter of each circle touches the center of the other. The almond shape created by the overlapping circles contains two equilateral triangles. For more on the mathematics of this shape, exciting as it may be, you’ll need to do your own research! From here on out I’ll be focusing on the significance, meaning, and uses of this sacred symbol.

Let’s dig into the significance of this symbol and even more important, how you can put it to use in your spiritual practice.

Where did it come from?

The Vesica Piscis was formed first in nature, but when it was first identified by humans as a significant shape is still up for debate. Beyond nature, this shape can be found in paintings of Christ and Buddha, modern-day logos like Coco Chanel, crop circles, and ancient and contemporary architecture. It is also the starting place of the Seed of Life and the Flower of Life. If you missed my blog on these two basic sacred geometry symbols, you could learn more about them here.

Like most sacred geometry, there’s a lot of speculation about the origin(s) and meaning(s) of the Vesica Piscis. Because this symbol is found in so many places, it’s hard to pinpoint where it originated. Many, myself included, believe this simple symbol found all throughout history and nature has a divine source.

What does it mean?

Because the Vesica Piscis symbol shows up so often in nature and human history there are varying meanings associated with it. One thing most people can agree on is that it is a significant symbol.

Some view the Vesica Piscis as a Christian symbol due to its similarities to the “Jesus fish.” It also mimics the shape of the female vagina and is therefore viewed as a symbol of femininity, birth, and sexuality.

From a spiritual viewpoint, if we recognize the circle on its own as Source Energy (God or Goddess, whichever you prefer), the Vesica Piscis represents creation or the “womb of The Universe.” Think of a single circle as a Source of Energy, adding a second circle represents the spark of creation when the universe is born. This idea is enforced by its similarities to the shape of the vagina, the starting place of birth on a human level. It is enforced again by the fact that it is the starting place of most sacred geometry.

This is why for many, the Vesica Piscis symbol is considered very sacred. On a spiritual level, it represents creation, birth, and the joining of spiritual and physical. Take this a step further, and without the Vesica Piscis, sacred geometry would not exist, and we would not exist.

How can you use this symbol?

Here are a few ways to bring this cosmic symbol into your practice and honor its sacred meaning.

Represent Goddess Energy

The almond shape of the Vesica Piscis mirrors the form of the female yoni. If you’re trying to call in more feminine energy or connect to Goddess energy place an image of or create the shape of the Vesica Piscis on your altar. Placing this symbol in an area you use often can uplift the space and bring in more feminine energy. Try enhancing the shape by adorning your space with other symbols and objects that represent femininity like a cowrie shell, carnelian, rose quartz, or roses.

Crystal Grid for Manifesting & Birth

Fortunately, the Vesica Piscis is a simple shape that lends itself to easy crystal gridding! Due to its simplicity, you may not need a diagram, but if you’d like one try drawing the shape or printing one online. I used a Seed of Life grid and formed the grid on one of the Vesica Piscis shapes within it, shown in the image below. Otherwise, arrange your crystals in an almond shape and add any crystal embellishments you desire.

Crystal grids that focus on new beginnings, birthing new projects, physical birth, or manifesting new things into existence are ideal, but not limited to, for the Vesica Piscis. Here’s a list of stones you could use for grids of this nature. Use the ones that best suit your needs and feel free to add more of your own!

• Citrine for manifesting

• Amethyst for connecting to Source Energy

• Pyrite or tiger eye for luck

• Green aventurine for abundance

• Carnelian for femininity and physical birth

• Clear quartz for amplifying

Connecting with Source Energy

Many believe that the two circles in the Vesica Piscis represent the physical world and the spiritual world, thus creating a portal from one to the other when they overlap to form the Vesica Piscis. If you’re trying to connect to the energy of the spirit world to become more enlightened or to improve your intuition, try meditating on this symbol as you work.

I hope you feel more connected to this powerful symbol and sacred geometry as a whole! Learn more about sacred geometry and find tools to create your own crystal grids in The Goddess Discovery Book.

Four Abundance Rituals

Do you want to call in more abundance? You’re in the right place! Abundance can come in so many forms and means many different things to different people. Abundance could be time, money, freedom, or anything else that makes you personally feel abundant!

In this blog post, I’ll be sharing four rituals to help you connect with the abundance that’s always available to you. Keep scrolling to read them!

ABUNDANCE CRYSTAL GRID

Crystal grids are a beautiful tool for manifesting more abundance in your life! The ideal time to set up your abundance grid is at the new moon, and you can leave it up until the full moon.

Start by gathering your stones and cleansing them. Your abundance besties in the crystal kingdom are aventurine, citrine, quartz, moss agate, tiger eye, and kyanite! Try one of each stone, although if you have more than one, that’s great, too.

You’ll place your citrine stone in the center and arrange your other stones radiating out around the citrine in a way that feels good to use. Use the crystal grid in the Goddess Discovery Book or place your stones on a cloth or table.

As you place each stone, keep an image in your mind’s eye of what you’re trying to attract. Ask yourself how you’ll feel when you receive the abundance you’re requesting.

After all your stones are in place, trace your crystals with a pointed quartz. Imagine the quartz connecting your crystals and unifying their energy. Try to connect with your grid daily until the full moon!

ABUNDANCE SPELL BAG

Spell bags, known in Voodoo as “gris-gris,” or to Native Americans as “medicine bags,” are one of my favorite ways to make magick. The waxing moon is the best time to do any abundance spell work, so try to do each of these rituals then if you can!Here’s what you’ll need to make a spell bag for abundance:

• Basil or a sprinkle of cinnamon

• 10 of Pentacles tarot card (or a copy of this tarot card if you don’t want to put the actual card in the bag!)

• A knob of ginger

• Honey calcite, pyrite, citrine, or green aventurine

• Anything else that represents abundance to you. For example, if you work for yourself you might include a printout of an email where a client booked a session with you.

Spend some time with your spell bag to infuse your energy into it. Hold it in your hands as you meditate on abundance, and breathe into it before you pull it closed!

ABUNDANCE CANDLE MAGICK

You can work with the magic of fire to help you call more abundance into your life! If you’ve never done candle magick before, read this blog to learn how to get started.For this spell, you’ll need:

• Green candle

• Carving tool like a sharp point crystal, toothpick, or athame.

• Tiger eye, citrine, and green aventurine

• Patchouli or frankincense oil

• Coins or money

Start by cleansing all of your items for the spell. This can be done by wafting herbal smoke over them or visualizing white light cleansing them.

For this spell, you’ll be carving the Fehu Rune into your candle. Fehu is a powerful symbol of abundance. If you’d prefer to carve a specific dollar amount or item you’re hoping to attain you could carve this into the candle too.

Anoint your candle with the oil of your choice. As you carve and anoint your candle, visualize your abundance goal.

Arrange your crystals, money, and candle in a place where you can leave it up for a few nights. Light your candle and meditate on the flame. Visualize your abundance goal clearly, imagine yourself reaching your goal and what it would feel like to attain it.

You can continue this until the entire candle burns or snuff out the candle and continue the same ritual each night until the candle has burned completely.

Bonus! You can get this spell as a free printable spell card (along with spells for love, letting go, and connecting with your intuition) here.

ABUNDANCE TAROT or ORACLE CARD SPREAD

Turn to tarot or oracle to understand your blocks to abundance and what you can do to connect to more abundance. You can create a ritual space by grounding yourself first, lighting candles, burning herbs or incense, or doing anything else that feels right to you.

Cards from the Journey Tarot Kit

When you feel grounded and centered, shuffle your cards while holding the intention to connect with the wisdom of your highest self. Draw cards for each of the following questions:

• What belief system or patterns blocks me from the abundance I desire?

• How to release this belief system or pattern

• How to open myself up to greater abundance

• My mantra for calling in abundance

Spend some time journaling with your cards and meditating on your mantra card. If you’d like, you can place your mantra card on your altar!

How to Tap Into Your Resiliency (And Why You Should)

Resiliency is about your comeback rate.

It’s not about never getting knocked down, or dropping into fear, or letting your ego drive the car. It’s about how fast you can come back: to joy, to love, to trust, to who you really are.

Because we’re all humans, and life can be really messy. Sometimes things happen to us, sometimes we hurt people, and sometimes we forget our divine nature.

That’s where resiliency comes in. Resiliency is here to bring you back to trust when bad situations happen, to bring you back to love when fear starts to take over—even stronger and wiser than before, with an even deeper and more meaningful connection with yourself.

You may have heard before that you can only go into joy and pleasure as deep as you’ve gone into your pain. This is a necessary part of living and an important part of your spiritual practice. But that doesn’t mean you have to or even can live there.

Think of the moment you connect with your resiliency and come back to joy as the Temperance card in the tarot. You’ve been through death, but you’ve come through it into the magic of rebirth, of stillness, of calm. There are still more challenges ahead (the Devil card is next) but you can know that and still be in a place of Temperance.

Scroll down to get some tips to help you tap into your own resiliency and strengthen that connection.

Lean on your community.

You don’t have to do it alone. Who are the people you trust to tell it like it is, lifts you up, and not judge you? Whether it’s your mom, a close friend, or your sister, don’t be afraid to call on that person or those people to help you when you need it.

Look for the lesson or greater meaning.

You don’t have to believe that everything happens for a reason. But look for the greater meaning or lesson in whatever it is you’re going through— and if you can’t see it yourself, ask your community to help you find it.

I find that the tarot is an incredible tool for this. Each card of the Major Arcana is a step on the journey to the World, a card of wholeness and joy.

Try laying out each of the Major Arcana cards in front of you and asking yourself which card you’re in.

Are you dealing with a shedding of your former self, of parts of your life? Maybe you’re in Death.

Are past hurts keeping you in fear? Maybe you’re in the Fool reversed.

Each card can help you realize which lesson you’re learning right now. Once you pick your card, look at its place in the journey. See the greater context of where you’re heading—to the vibrant energy of the Sun, to the wild juicy feminine of the Moon, to the wholeness of the World.

Why do you do what you do in the world?

Whatever your greater purpose is, connect with that and remember that you are on this planet for a reason. You are here to bring forth what only you can bring forth, and the world needs.

So rest, feel your feelings, go through what you’re going through, and know that ultimately you will get through it because you are here to fulfill your greater purpose.

Connect with your intuition.

Is this ever not the answer? Connecting with your intuition can help you see the greater meaning in what you’re going through. It can help you know when you need to reach out for support and who to reach out to. It can help you know the best path to take forward.

If you’re feeling blocked, one simple thing you might like to do is ask your oracle or tarot cards, “What message does my intuition have for me right now?”

Get more tips to connect with your intuition in this post.

Find what makes you feel good.

When you feel stressed, upset, or you’re going through a difficult time, what are some simple things that help you feel better? Think about what they are for you (use the list below to spark your creativity) and write them down on a piece of paper that you can return to when things aren’t easy. Some ideas are:

• Dancing

• Doing yoga

• Rubbing your feet with oils

• FaceTiming that friend or family member who always knows what to say

• Reading your favorite book

• Spending more time alone

• Spending more time with people you care about

• Taking a walk

• Playing a singing bowl

• Listening to an inspiring podcast

• Eating your favorite meal

• Being held

• Drinking a cup of tea

• Receiving energy healing

• Meditating

• Journaling

This is going to be super unique for everyone, so think about what it is for you!

Move your body.

You’ve probably heard a yoga teacher talk about how what you do on your mat is a mirror for life: what you do when it gets hard, how you talk to yourself, how you move through transitions.

It turns out, even science knows that’s true. The researchers who wrote the book Resilience: The Science of Mastering Life's Greatest Challenges actually found that the most resilient people in their studies had exercised regularly.

It turns out, that the stress of exercise helps us adapt to the stress of life challenges. So however you like to move, whether it’s yoga, running, weightlifting, dancing, jumping rope, or something else, try to make it a regular part of your life. It will actually help you be more resilient!