Thinking back on…

As the solstice and holiday season have passed, the old year has passed along with it, and I feel like it certainly has. And good riddance I say to 2018. It was a long year, a heavy year, a pressing and eventful year for me. It was a year of strife and turmoil, and I have had to summon hope and strength when there seemed to be little left. Moreover, I’m certain I’m not the only one. As last month’s augury foretells rightly, it was a month of closing doors and healing wounds. I’ve found myself looking for inner confidence, looking for the inner hope that trumps doubt and fear and reminds me that nothing is certain but change, change is always constant. And likewise, this too shall pass.

These reflections come from this low point, not lowly from a pessimistic perspective, but from a point of nothingness, no expectations perhaps? They’ve been stripped, the ground has been agitated and stirred, the soil is tilled and now ready for the seeds to be put in. As I look ahead to this new year, I want to reflect on those things which served to agitate this ground.

There were times when the happiness was brimming overfull. The sun beaming down on me as my family and I spent delicious times together, laughing, drinking, eating, and generally just being merry. All of my beach excursions have been memorable, both alone and with family.

We also spent a weekend during the summer up in the mountains, away from the city, the lights, the noise, and the wireless connection. That was rejuvenating, and I often now long to be back up there, closer to the stars, with the trees and the birds.

Images have all been taken by me Natalia, Puerto Rico 2018

Images have all been taken by me Natalia, Puerto Rico 2018.

The last portion of the year was filled with increasing doubt scurrying in and occupying my space, until it all culminated in a stressful loss of employment. This change further stripped me of my confidence, which I’ve been daily making efforts to regain.

2018 was characterized with shifting changes, unexpected health issues, emotions, and stirrings both good and bad. Tension.

Throughout all this I’ve read a good share of books, some still hanging on to me. I read The Lord of the Rings for the first time just as 2018 begun, and I’m reading it again as 2018 ended. I had the pleasure of reading one of Scarlet Imprint’s recent publications, Julio Cesar Ody’s Magister Oficiorum. I began once more, and this time with luck, the heavy tome, The Tale of Genji by Lady Murasaki, which wrapped me in a veil of frustration with and love for Prince Genji, a haze I have yet to fully escape. I deeply enjoyed the psychedelic romp Reverend Danny Nemu took me through in his Neuro-Apocalypse. And I finally got my hands on Madonna’s That Maim: Popular Catholicism in Italy Since the Fifteenth Century by Michael Caroll. Tarot related, I had the pleasure of reading one of Enrique Enriquez’s books, EN TEREX IT. Also my poem/essay, “Aphorisms of the Oracle”, was published in a collection of essays, 21+1: The Fortune-Teller’s Rules: Read Like the Devil Manifesto.

Related specifically to this website, I’ve been consistently writing the auguries and find that I still like writing them, they will continue this year as well, monthly auguries. My overview of the cards is almost complete, only the suit of Wands and the Kings of the court are left. I’ve been thinking about content and what to expand on, and after I’m done with my overview of the 78 cards, there will be more space for more. And this more is what’s occupying my thoughts at the moment.

I’ve reopened and renamed my etsy shop, and am looking towards this new year and what has potential to grow in tandem with what I love to do. I love to write, to share with others, to listen, to read the cards and divine, and to share these things I love with others. If you’ve been following me for a while now, enjoying what I’ve brought to the table, thank you. If you’re a new reader, I hope you enjoy what I bring to the table, that you gain insight and inspiration. Thank you.

As always, I’m available for one on one readings on my shop. I’m also available for conversations.

My shop is here:

If you would like to chat about tarot, books, or poetry, you can reach me at my email.

Here is to another year, may it be merrier, happier, more inspiring and rejuvenating! Blessings.