Divine knowing meets sacred action

Guest post by Bri Saussy

Is there any tool out there that is as mysterious, potent, and enchanting as a Tarot deck? The pictures and archetypal themes on the cards can open our eyes to possibilities we had not yet considered for ourselves, often creating a doorway through which we might enter and discover our deepest soul truths.

More and more women are turning to the Tarot to get answers about life’s pesky questions and to meditate on major themes that are playing out in our day-to-day experience.

As a professional intuitive who learned tarot at her mother’s knee, I know firsthand the power and eloquence that the cards possess. But I also know that often when we sit down with the cards-whether to simply play with them or to perform a serious reading-we can walk away even more confused about what our next step should be. This is why combining tarot with meaningful daily rituals is a time-honored tradition.

Ritual is a way of asking the universe for aid and assistance – it is a devotional act that can be used to honor yourself and whatever it is that you are working on. When we combine the knowledge of Tarot with practical ritual know-how we have two powerful tools to connect us to ourselves and to Spirit.

A core part of my work is empowering others to embrace techniques like divination and ritual that can lead to happier and healthier lives. In this spirit I offer Diagnostic Tarot – a 10 week course in learning to work with Tarot cards and create meaningful rituals-for every circumstance, for every day. See the syllabus here and sign up for the course here.

Love, love,

You know I love my sponsors, right? They are creative, brave, amazing women, and I’m so honored to connect you with them. If you’re interested in becoming a sponsor you can click here for details, stats and testimonial love.

Turn yourself (and your life) on

Guest post by Jessica DeFeo

I have this image of you with this incredible light.

This light follows you. It shines in the steps before you. You close your eyes and you see it still. This light of yours is powerful and beautiful. I have this image of you so you can hold the belief that you, too, will see this light that I see in you. We may have turned off the light some time along our path. Or perhaps it’s only been a slow burn recently. I believe it’s time we uncover. Unfold and discover. Blow off the dust that holds our shadows and fears and turn that into a powerful flame.

I had this vision of turning yourself on.

Turning yourself on to the light that resides within you and calls you forth to your passion, your dreams, your sense of divine self. This vision held the belief that we as women deserve to live lives that turn us on. Lives that become rich with thoughts of desires and purpose. We fill our cups daily with practices and rituals of love for ourselves. We treat ourselves to compassion and deserving gratitude like we do our children or loved ones. We indulge in the pleasures of simply forgiving ourselves.

What would be on the other side of this beautiful turned on life? Who is the woman that would be standing on the other side of that compassion and forgiveness? Isn’t it worth the practice to discover what really lies underneath the fears and the shadows and the hesitation? I believe that we as women will change the world. It begins first with our own world. If we change our thoughts and play a tape that fills our hearts and minds with love and acceptance for who we are and what we bring to the world, then we could begin to shift the energy around us and in others.

It takes great courage to begin that journey of getting to know oneself. I know the fear can become bigger than the love at times. But that, too, will pass. Step by step we start to feel the familiarity of letting go and releasing the past that hurt us, the present that may not be what we expected, and the future with the fear and surprises it may hold.

We begin to forgive ourselves for the messy house when we just sit and read a book instead. For the yoga practice that fills our spirits when the kids are being put to bed. For the simplicity of no longer allowing the voice inside to belittle us. Hurt us. Tell us we aren’t worth it.

You are not here to suffer, lovely.

It is in these moments of self care practice that we turn the light on. We become grounded in this body that has held us, healed us, and supported us for years. We start to see our life as an abundant force of magic and opportunity. We lift the veil that has kept our eyes focused on the shadows at our feet.

I invite you to join me for 30 days of discovering. Creatively releasing. And patiently allowing. This class is meant to guide you through this journey of truly loving who you are. I want to help you get to a place where the voice inside encourages, supports and loves. Isn’t it time for you to feel that kind of love?

This is a safe place to dive into the parts of yourself that need the attention and the forgiveness. I believe the first step in changing your life is the step you take with how you love yourself. Let me guide you through the steps that I took, and continue to take everyday, in this journey of self acceptance and loving who you are. This is big. It was big for me, and my life hasn’t been the same since. I invite you to join me.

There’s just one week left before we begin. The first step is always the toughest. But I promise, the other side is so damn worth it.

Click here for more information and to register.

Big crazy love to you,
Jessica

You know I love my sponsors, right? They are creative, brave, amazing women, and I’m so honored to connect you with them. If you’re interested in becoming a sponsor you can click here for details, stats and testimonial love.

I dream of a garden that blooms

Guest post by Vanessa Sage for Oh, these Wild Women: Stories from the tribe

This is what comes: a greening and a dying.

My mother sends me the eulogy she wrote for her best friend who recently passed away.

I imagine her sitting at her table, holding her grief in her chest, writing for the life of her treasured friend.

I imagine this is not easy. Necessary.

She writes of a magical garden full of creatures, fireflies, and faeries.

She writes of the tending. The love. The shared laughter and rest.

She writes of imagination, excavation, and wildness.

Of the need to never stop dreaming.

I wonder what the garden of my life will be in the end.

I wonder if this is not the point: to tend, and weed, and grow, and allow the passing of the seasons to touch my life.

I wonder about what I choose to plant.

I remember as a girl always being amazed by my mother’s garden. She grew flowers. Lots and lots of flowers.

As a child, I remember going out to the front lawn and naughtily picking her carefully arranged tulips to bring to her.

I used to race my kindergarten friends for the wild irises that grew on our walk to and from school so that I could give them to her when I got home. A prize. A childhood trophy.

On walks she always knew all the names of the flowers. This was magic.

As a teenager, she went away and I killed all her lilies from lack of watering.

I’m not a good gardener. Plants tend to die in my house. My mother’s house is full of green and blooming orchids.

But I dream of planting Echinacea.

I dream of a garden that blooms.

Where I walk barefoot, slowly, witnessing the budding and the withering.

When I read the eulogy, my heart twinges in that way where you know that you are alive. Tears fill my throat and flow into my eyes.

Life is precious, I think.

And I contemplate, what do I choose to plant? What will my garden look like in the end? What will I invite in?

Sweet fragrance, forgiveness, softly spoken stories,
Connection, dew drops, starlight…


Vanessa Sage is a writer, guide, and everyday pilgrim at Sage Life Consulting.

Her work with others focuses on self-compassion, inner-bravery, and the discovery of the mystery in our everyday lives.

She lives with her partner in Hamilton, Ontario, and has far too many cats.

This week’s love list : 05.03.13

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Four links I love
Via Amanda : Hooping with Aunt Flo(w)
These two TEDx Talks :: Tanya & Ronna
This from Liz: Seeking evidence in a well-lived home
Sas’s San Francisco photo adventures make my heart go pitty-pat. Oh, I want to go there one day!

Four things I’m practicing
Saying no
Early sleeps
Extreme vulnerability
Reaching out

Four things I want to do this weekend
Go to MOM’s
Nap with zee kitten!
Play on the beach
Art journal

What about you? What are you excited about doing this weekend? Spill the beans!

With joy,

Your own luscious body is the doorway to the freedom you’ve been searching for

Guest post by Sas Petherick

logo_embodyment

Can you imagine how freeing it would be, to feel completely at home in your body?

What could you do, and who would you be, if you fell passionately in love with yourself: your body and your life? It is my humble and considered view that you would be un-freakin-stoppable!

I want you to know that you can have a conscious, trusting, peaceful relationship with your body.

youarebeautiful

My life’s mission has been to love all of myself: to be enough for me. I want this for you too. And so I’m combining a coaching toolbox the size of Texas and my own favourite practices, in an online course called emBODYment – for any woman who wants Body Peace.

We’ll explore the big dreams you have for yourself, you’ll learn how to choose your thoughts, how to tune into your body’s wisdom, feel your feelings, create more joy in your life and live on purpose.

Everyone will get a gorgeous coaching journal packed full of exercises and ideas. Plus there is group coaching, meditation, and a supportive community all available in our private website.

Here’s a little morsel of the Coaching Journal, just for you.

Using the tools I am sharing in emBODYment, I have been able to lose 65 pounds. But so much more than this, I am creating a life that fulfills me more than I ever thought possible. I feel more ‘me’ than I ever have.

Registration is open now and there are 50 places available!


emBODYment will start on the 20th of May – it’s going to be six weeks of awesome.

Hope to see you in class :)

Big love,

sas
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You know I love my sponsors, right? They are creative, brave, amazing women, and I’m so honored to connect you with them. If you’re interested in becoming a sponsor you can click here for details, stats and testimonial love.