THE ASTROLOGICAL CONTEXT
In the afternoon of October 14, 2023, the moon is new in Libra. As the sky darkens our pupils open, and often missed components of the sky reveal themselves.
As the arch into the New Moon began, Pluto moved direct in Capricorn (October 10). We are invited to decode, integrate, and be sensitive to a decade of lessons that are being reflected back to us. Pluto deals with death, destruction, and the underworld, while Capricorn provides lessons on careful planning, persistence, practicality, and swift, sensitive movements.
We're leaving the astrological context there. Although there is so much celestial movement, this aspect is at the center of this New Moon reading.
THE CRYSTAL GUIDANCE
Smoky Quartz on Matrix
Smoky Quartz calls us into our bodies to connect with our Root and is a valuable pairing when working with Plutonian energies. With Smoky Quartz, alleviate depression and fear, especially in difficult times. Activate your strong connection to the earth and sensual Self.
From the Root comes the "I AM" of the Seven Statements of Manifestation. We, like trees, send energy to the root for survival, for warmth of being, and sexual and creative power - we harness, sharpen, and hone resilience in the root.
You can shop SUNSAOKED Smoky Quartz at Femme Fatale DC (NW DC) and RELUME CO (SE DC).
THE QUESTION
To the Tarot, I asked What do we need to be aware of? What will benefit us to know?
THE SPREAD
Three cards, three components of the invitation.
THE PULL
Seven (7) of Swords, Reversed
Father of Cups, Reversed
Eight of Pentacles
THE MESSAGE
Don't try to be anyone else right now. Pretending to be certain limits emotional understanding. To achieve clarity, deal with one thing at a time.
THE TAROT READING
We enter this lunar cycle through The Root into the Seven of Swords, Reversed with the Father (King) of Cups, Reversed.
Oh, how frustrating it is to have been betrayed, to be navigating manipulations when we want to feel clear-headed! We are in the throws of frustration.
Mental challenges feel that much more complex when we are filtering an onslaught of manipulation. When we recognize confusion as pain, we are able to approach ourselves with more tenderness and compassion. We are quite literally breaking free from confining thought patterns and beliefs.
How did we end up here? We took a million routes and turns towards certainty as a means to simplify the complex. When really, we are here to be uncertain, to figure it out and adjust to correctly respond to the changing tides.
To move through confusion and manipulation (on a massive global scale and within the human-human experiences of daily life), we must deal with one thing at a time. The Eight (VIII) of Pentacles invites us to consider the scope of our influence, both immediate in the minutiae and outward in the massive (think: the butterfly effect).
Clarity requires understanding, and to understand, we must be able to see the problem directly in front of us and be sensitive enough to see how, and what, it is connected. The spider and its web remind us that perfection (certainty) is not possible, and we are in a constant state of catching, eating, releasing, and tending to the reaches of our existence.
The invitation here is to slow down for clarity; don't try to be anyone else. Take actions that liberate us from manipulation so we might move quickly and impact the right people in the correct way for us individually.
Briget Heidmous [Washington DC] is a Tarot reader and educator, artist, and social-enterprise thought leader. Briget has a bias-aware and trauma-informed approach to (higher)Self-Tending. Briget professionalized her Tarot practice in 2018 and launched SUNSOAKED in 2020.
To learn more about Briget: www.briget-heidmous.com