Rebecca Scolnick's Blog, page 13
May 17, 2024
What do Repeating Numbers have to do with the Northern Lights?
What’s up, swimmers?! Sending major love as we continue to ride the waves.
Last fall, I shared about a major, and largely unexplained, health issue I was going through, and how I wasn’t always able to write through it like I wanted to. Welp, wouldn’t you know it? Life has been life-ing still in our household and I have to switch gears again.
I had the best intentions for The Year of Yearning—a twelve month deep dive into topics divined by tarot pulls—but unfortunately, I’m putting it on pause.
It’s a (cringe-worthy) decision that I’ve been delaying for two months, but it’s the right thing to do. The truth is, it was a lot of time and energy to put together , but wasn’t bringing me a ton of joy, and with continued changes to our physical and material lives, I need to shift my energy to other projects.
And believe me, there WILL be other projects. They are already in the works!
I am a maker. I literally cannot stop making things. And that includes meaning. I am a meaning-maker. I deeply desire to make meaning out of this life experience. It’s how I engage with the cycles and creatures of this planet we call home. Making meaning is how I follow Mary Oliver’s instructions for living a life: Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.
When I talk to clients and friends alike about meaning-making, a topic that always seems to come up is repeating numbers. Some call them “angel” numbers, some “master” numbers, and soon, you’ll be able to call yourself an expert!
Thank you for reading swimming in the soup. This post is public so feel free to share it.
Announcing a FREE Workshop Event:
What’s the Deal With Repeating Numbers?
— a FREE numerological workshop | June 6, 2024 (6/6) from 4-5pm PST —
While repeating numbers absolutely have roots in Pythagorean numerology, did you know that the woman who coined the term “angel numbers” has since denounced all of her spiritual and New Age work and joined the evangelical church?
Beyond just the terminology used, repeating numbers — sequences like 111, 222, 333, 1212, 1234, etc. — are a fascinating and polarizing topic. What exactly do they represent? Can we receive messages through them? And what can their history offer us about their future uses as a tool for personal meaning-making?
In this free, hour-long, virtual workshop, we’ll cover:
the who, what, where, when & why of angel numbers
modern theories on repeating numbers & their meanings
how to ask for & spot repeating numbers as signs
how to decipher personal messages
frank thoughts on intuition and meaning making
Repeating Numbers in the News:TO MY PAID PALS: I’m so grateful for your support in the first couple of months of The YOY—thank you for reading! I know changes happen all of the time, but I still feel funky about it. If you need to pull your monetary support from this publication, I completely understand! I will still be recording the audio forecasts on the solstices and equinoxes, so if you do choose to stick around, you’ll still get some additional & practical resources. I love you! xx
Photo by Nelly Volkovich on UnsplashOn May 10th and 11th, our social media feeds and nightly news broadcasts were flooded with images of the Aurora Borealis, the Northern Lights, which were visible in northern parts of the United States. People flocked to see them! I’m always endeared and made to feel hopeful by the ways in which people still yearn to see natural phenomena. I also fully missed the whole event, opting to go to bed early the night they might have been visible in Los Angeles.
As I punished myself the next morning for my complete ignorance of celestial happenings, I researched why exactly the Northern Lights were so vibrant in the sky. Turns out, it has to do with geomagnetic storms—solar events that are part of larger energetic sun cycles, during which the sun’s magnetic field flips every 11 years!
ICYMI: The sun’s magnetic field FLIPS every 11 years. North becomes South and South becomes North. Which technically means a full cycle of North to North takes 22 years!
Similar to the lunar cycle, which sees the moon shapeshift from its newest and darkest phase to its fullest and brightest phase and back again, the solar cycle sees the sun’s spots, storms, and magnetic field grow from a solar minimum to a solar maximum and back.
Here, in May of 2024, we’re in the solar maximum phase of the twenty-fifth cycle to be observed and recorded, and while early predictions theorized this cycle would be milder than others, scientists have now reversed course. NASA is calling the current geomagnetic activity “the strongest solar storm to reach Earth in two decades — and possibly one of the strongest displays of auroras on record in the past 500 years.”1
So what does this mean for us on Earth?
“The sun’s magnetic field is responsible for everything from the solar explosions that cause space weather on Earth – such as auroras – to the interplanetary magnetic field and radiation through which our spacecraft journeying around the solar system must travel,” says NASA.2 It also has direct effects on our electrical grids, radio signals, satellites and GPS, and other systems that aid in modern communication.
In case you want to track the sun cycles, the current cycle started in 2019 and will last until about 2030. This means that the twenty-fourth cycle ran from about 2008-2019, the twenty-third from 1996-2007, the twenty-second from 1984-1995, the twenty-first from 1972-1983, and so on and so forth.
I’m still sitting with the potential implications of this current cycle, but it is fun to see these repeating numbers at work in nature. Come to class on 6/6 for even more sequential sustenance!
What do you make of all of this?
1How NASA Tracked the Most Intense Solar Storm in Decades (NASA.gov)
2NASA: Understanding the Magnetic Sun (NASA.gov)
May 3, 2024
What Is Your Life Path Number?
What’s up, swimmers?! Starting May off with some exciting news and a gentle reminder that I have openings this month on Moonlight if you’re interested in slinging cards or talking numbers!
First, something to read:
The day after the total eclipse in Aries, I had the pleasure of chatting with The Cut at New York Magazine—a true white whale in the life of a writer, artist and internet person like me—about numerology, repeating numbers, and the number at the heart of your chart—the Life Path Number.
Even with #WitchTok and other examples of magic in the mainstream, numerology can be quite a niche interest, so I especially loved reading all of the quotes by various numerologists. We may come from different lineages, practices, or schools of numerological thought, but as Larissa Martincic says, “I like to think of it as a dialect. Let’s just say we all speak English. Well, I have a New York accent versus a Southern accent. We can still get the point across, and each system is all about self discovery, a self-help tool, and a learning tool.”
Hopefully, you have a copy of my book, The Witch’s Book of Numbers: Enhance Your Magic With Numerology, and know your Life Path Number already (plus the five other personal numbers the book includes). But if not, check out the article! It’s a great overview of the insights you can gain from this calculation, and introduces the main themes and energies of each of the building block numbers, one through nine, so that you may begin to interpret your findings right away!
Let me know your favorite bits, and a huge thank you to The Cut for having me!
Thank you for reading swimming in the soup. This post is public so feel free to share it.
Next, something to listen to:
After literal years, I finally pushed the button to sync all twenty-five audio episodes of swimming in the soup, aka SITS: The Podcast, to Spotify!
On either the desktop or mobile app, you can now listen to solo episodes like:
Interviews with brilliant creators and thinkers, such as:
And of course, this year’s newest releases:
(Why George’s episode is pink is anyone’s guess? But it suits him, I think!)
Whether you’re revisiting these episodes or listening for the first time, please consider leaving a rating or review to help others discover the show. Note that any episodes sent to paid pals are still behind a paywall, but you can subscribe at any time for immediate access to the full catalog!
Until next time, just keep swimming!xx, RebeccaApril 26, 2024
On Secrets of Greek Mysticism with George Lizos
What’s up, swimmers?! Eclipse season is over! Mercury is direct! Beltane is coming to set us all ablaze!
Speaking of Mercury, or as he’s known to the Greeks, Hermes—Last week, I had the great pleasure of going back to New York City to celebrate the incredible accomplishments of a dear friend, which included seeing the hit Broadway musical, and big-time personal fave, Hadestown.
If you’re not familiar, it’s a bluesy retelling of the myth of the tragic lovers Orpheus and Eurydice. You know, the one where King Hades let’s them walk out of hell, but Orpheus must go ahead and not look behind him or Eurydice would be sent back?
Spoiler alert: it doesn’t end well.
The week before heading to New York, I had an amazing conversation with spiritual teacher, writer, and gorgeous human, George Lizos. I can’t wait for you to listen to it! We met to talk about his brilliant new book Secrets of Greek Mysticism, and while we didn’t spend much time on Hermes (don’t worry, he gets a whole chapter in the book), we did talk about both musical theatre and Orpheus!
George considers himself to be an Orphic—someone who is aligned with the philosophical school of Orphism, which stem from the writings and stories of the tragic hero-poet Orpheus. Orphics believe that even the gods move through the soul’s journey of ascension, meaning they were once single-celled organisms who have evolved through plants, animals, humans, heroes, legends, etc., to become gods.
(This belief might actually point to where Orpheus was on his ascension journey in Hadestown, when he’s a touched-by-the-gods son of a muse, but still tragically human.)
Evolving, yet eternal gods is a radical notion when compared to more rigid views of divinity, but I absolutely vibe with it. In fact, some scholars view Pythagorean philosophy (which is the spiritual lineage of my numerological practice and teachings) as being so close to Orphism that some considered themselves to be students of a secret third philosophy called Orphic-Pythagoreanism.1
All of this philosophical speak barely scratches the surface of the generous wisdom that George shares, both in his book and in this juicy conversation! I hope there are as many takeaways for you as there were for me!
Keep reading to get to know George, Secrets of Greek Mysticism, and what you’ll hear in today’s episode! Then, consider sharing this episode with a friend you think might be into it, or on your socials, newsletter, blog—spread the word.
Thank you for reading swimming in the soup. This post is public so feel free to share it.
George Lizos, spiritual teacher and authorGeorge Lizos is a spiritual teacher, psychic healer, Greek pagan priest, creator of Intuition Mastery School, as well as a #1 best selling author (Be the Guru, Lightworkers Gotta Work, Protect Your Light) and host of The Lit Up Lightworker and Can’t Host podcasts. He has been named one of the top fifty health and wellness influencers, and his work has been featured in Goop, PopSugar, and MindBodyGreen. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in metaphysical sciences, a MSc in Psychology, and is trained in various spiritual and healing modalities.
George took part in the first official priesthood training in Hellenic Polytheism organized by the Supreme Council of Ethnic Hellenes (YSEE) in Athens, following the religion’s legal recognition by the Greek government in 2017. Since then, he’s been a practicing priest of the religion at the world’s first modern temple of Zeus in Cyprus. George has taught about the Greek gods and spirituality in his books, workshops, and online courses, and his research on Aphrodite has been published by Soul & Spirit magazine and The Numinous.
George’s new book, Secrets of Greek Mysticism, is out now! I highly recommend it for anyone with a passion for, or interest in, Greek gods and goddesses, and ancestral pagan traditions. It’s rich, accessible, and full of George’s wisdom.
Secrets of Greek Mysticism cover, Weiser Books (2024)In this thrilling conversation, George and I chat about his temple-hopping trip to meet the Greek gods, enjoying and embodying direct connection to their virtues and energies, as well as past lives, musical theatre, and where to find George’s most simple, yet profound, spiritual practice.
If you’d like to connect with George, check out his website, GeorgeLizos.com or find him on Instagram @georgelizos.
swimming in the soup is a reader-supported publication. to receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a paid pal!
Some of my favorite moments with George include:
“As soon as I connected with this energetic cord that I had to my ancestors and their religion, my spirituality suddenly all started making sense. It's like the floodgates opened and there was wisdom coming in that I couldn't access previously because we do have energetic cords connecting us to our ancestral spirituality, but also to like past life spirituality. There are many cords that we have, but I activated that specific ancestral cord that allowed all the information to come in so much more easier than it would have if I was trying to connect otherwise.”
[W]e don't see the gods as more powerful and more almighty than us. We see the gods as we are, all in together. My teacher always used to tell me, we don't need to certify the gods outside of ourselves because we're already swimming in the ocean of the gods, right?… That's why when we pray, it's affirmative prayer. We extend the hands up to the sky and we say, thank you, rather than going down and shrinking and saying, please.
“I don't like control. I don't like trying to convince people to join anything. Like you do, you boo. Like it's all good. Just find what works and work it. And that's what pagan religions are. They're very open. They're earth-based. It has to do at the end of the day, our relationship with the earth, and the respect that we have to the earth.”
“Just go out there and live your life and do everything that you want to do. Don't be mediocre on following your life purpose. Express it all because you can do it all.”
But there are so many incredible insights within. Let me know which moments stood out to you!
Read Secrets of Greek Mysticism
Until next time, just keep swimming!xx, Rebecca1Betegh, Gábor (24 April 2014). "Pythagoreans, Orphism and Greek Religion". In Huffman, Carl A. (ed.). A History of Pythagoreanism. Cambridge University Press. pp. 149–66.
March 29, 2024
LOVE LETTER #6: Swimming Through Nonsensical Times
What’s up, swimmers? We are living in nonsensical times.
We’re in the middle of eclipse season. The Powers-That-Be are tightening their grips around systems that already stifle and shatter. Meta is restricting political information in an election year, during multiple humanitarian crises and genocides. I worry that Justice will not come to save the day. I wonder what that would that even look like?
So what do we do, when no one is coming for us? Where do we turn when things don’t make any sense? Inward? Towards each other? A little bit of both?
The other day, I wondered what I’m holding it altogether for? Especially in nonsensical times, perhaps I’d be better off just letting it all fall apart? Letting myself fall apart? And I’m not talking about self-sabotage, or walking headfirst towards ruin; I’m talking about allowing myself to get weird.
But what does it look like to be so far removed from the status quo, and to get weirder still? I’ll let you know.
I don’t have any answers today. I don’t even know if I have the wherewithal to attempt meaning-making today. But how could I when so much is still in flux? When we’re swirling around in the cosmic portal that rewrites previously charted courses? When we’re sitting at the feet of the Mother as she shows us how to die gracefully, and then how to be reborn into a softer, stronger thing?
Instead, I’m rooting into the work that needs to get done—the cleaning, the laundry, the words I owe others come Monday. I’m calling my friends and communing with my spirits. I’m reading; I’m resting. I’m not making any big decisions. I’m making myself lunch. And I’m looking to those who are creating containers for continued growth, expansion and healing.
Before I share some of them with you, I’m tossing it out there that The Year of Yearning might be changing shape. I’m not sure what that looks like yet, but I’m trying to walk my own talk. Thank you to all who’ve shown me what this looks like without shame or guilt. It’s funny to experience the growing rigidness of the playpen. To see how we create and intend for freedom, yet box ourselves in.
More on this soon, but thank you, always, for reading. I’m rooting for us.
Thank you for reading swimming in the soup. This post is public so feel free to share it.
A friendly reminder —
I still have openings in my schedule on Moonlight if you’re interested in slinging cards or talking numbers.
Here’s what a recent client had to say about the experience:
“I highly recommend Becca’s readings for querents of any level of familiarity with tarot. Her nonjudgmental and trustworthy energy put me immediately at ease and she struck the perfect balance between providing her own interpretations and allowing me as a client to draw my own insights from the spread. I left feeling more enlightened about tarot and with a deeper trust in myself and my intuition.” — Morgan J.
What I’m loving and musing on this week:
I deeply appreciated Tolerating Unknowns Will Make You Stronger from by Heather Havrilesky.
When we say to ourselves, “This feels bad. I need a way to fix this!” that’s the very moment when the most growth and promise lies at our fingertips. But in order to access it, we have to do the opposite of what we want to do. We have to resist the urge to analyze or find a solution or protect ourselves from our emotions.
We have to stop and feel more instead, without changing a thing.
My beloved friend and colleague, meg jones wall of 3am Tarot, has put all of their incredible classes under one beautiful umbrella called “the conservatory!” Check out more below and on their website, and if you’re not sure where to begin, they’ve even made a really fun quiz you can take to find out which course is right for you! Shout-out to my fellow Clerics!
Walk Through the Conservatory Doors
The brand new 3am.tarot conservatory membership includes absolutely everything that you need to deepen your tarot practice, with resources that meet you where you are, optional curriculums to guide your path, enthusiastic community that cheers you on — and a teacher who understands the importance of having flexibility around education.
I know that I’ve already shared some experiences with you about reading The Madonna Secret by , but I had the most immaculate realization yesterday that blew my freaking mind!
real true story —
i pre-ordered sophie’s gorgeous book the minute i could. i knew it would be life-changing. soul-giving. but i wasn’t ready for it until now.
i started reading it on 2/22. no rhyme or reason or schedule. i simply read when i was seated at the feet of the Mother, ready to hear her story.
today, i reached Good Friday in the story. i have less than 50 pages left. yeshua will die today & then what happens is miriam’s & sophie’s to tell.
today is Good Friday. i will read & finish the story on the “same days” during which it “occured.”
thank you, Mother
thank you, miriam
thank you, sophie
As always, feel free to leave your joys, your hopes, your fears, your thoughts on any of this, or even just say hello! Thank you for being here, and thank you for your support!
Until next time, just keep swimming!xx, RebeccaMarch 22, 2024
The Mother's Most Misunderstood Faces
What’s up, swimmers?! We have our first eclipse of the year on Monday, March 25th. I’m sending your nervous system so much gentle love as we allow our ships to be divinely rerouted.
I’m going to be sharing some of my week with you today, and the ways in which the winds of winter aren’t going out without a fight. And while yes, I am safe, supported, and loved, if you have been thinking about supporting my work here by becoming a paid pal, or getting a reading with me on Moonlight for the new year, eclipse season, or a question on your heart and mind—it would mean so much to me right now. Thank you for being here, thank you for your support.
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote,
It’s okay if [The Great Work] feels far away or intangible to you. That is the work of this month. To rexamine, redirect energy, rewrite narratives, and resource ourselves for the world that is coming—the one we will nurture together, out of the ruins of the one that is no longer serving us. That is what lies in the lap of the Divine Mother.
I also wrote that she teaches us how to die as much as she teaches us how to live.
However, we kept it light. We greeted her with sweetness and beauty. We united with her; we worshipped her; we embodied her.
This week, we’re going to get to know some of her scarier faces; her most misunderstood faces—Baba Yaga and Kali.
“Last Week on SITS—”Here’s what you’ve missed this month on The Year of Yearning:
First,
I wrote about the numbers of March 2024: three, eight, and eleven/two, and how important—and difficult—it is to stay soft in the seat of severity.
I introduced our Mentors of the Month: The Empress with Keep Up the Good Work, and the Seven of Swords with Reset. These cards have asked that for March, we commune with the Divine Mother in ways that allow us to shed “The Myth of Not-Enoughness.”
I shared about my shroom-induced painting sesh at the beginning of my last three-ruled year, which produced a pregnant figure—The Mother as bearer, as birther, as channel.
We acknowledged that while her children, her body, her planet are sick with grief, violence, and disease, it is not too late to (re)commit to the Great Work. We also noticed our resistance to this work, and the fear that it might—we might—not be enough.
Ram Dass helped us to unite and merge with the Mother, and Hanna Williams reminded us that we may experience the Divine as cyclical experiences of concealment and revealment. So I offered ritual actions that we can take to know her.
Then,
I wrote about another experience I had with mushrooms, during the most recent Pisces Cazimi, and how it didn’t exactly go according to plan.
I also shared about some things that I’ve been loving on lately, including an excerpt from ’s essay Rebranding God, a potent note from a pal, and another piece of Seven of Swords wisdom from Lindsay Mack.
To read this Love Letter in full, as well as continue on to today’s second lesson of March, which dives into the Mother’s less pleasant, but no less holy forms, please subscribe to be a paid pal! Thank you for your support! I love you! xx
March 20, 2024
Spring by the Numbers
What’s up, paid pals?! Happy Spring Equinox!
We’re right smack dab in the middle of a three-day festival that ushers in the fertile light of the spring sun! Today, I have my candles burning brightly, and I know that even though I’m not feeling totally springy and new, they’re holding down the fort. Perhaps you can find energetic stand-ins for yourself today if you’re also feeling a bit low and blue.
Regardless, it’s time to talk about the next few months, and the energies that are at play from now until the Summer Solstice on June 20th!
March 15, 2024
A Pre-Spring Equinox Recap + Ritual Ideas
What’s up, swimmers?! As March is gifting us an extra Friday, I’m going to honor my low energy vibe this week and take a lil break from the yearning this week.
The Divine Mother, whose lap we’ve been laying in this month, straddles and blurs and tends to the thin veil between life and death (and rebirth). This makes her the perfect teacher and friend as next Tuesday the 19th, we’ll meet the Spring Equinox and a brand-new zodiacal year.
Her message to us, Keep up the good work, feels like a good opportunity to reflect on all that we’ve been exploring so far this year, as well as continue to craft spells for the coming year.
So, here’s what’s coming atcha this week:
A recap of the first two and a half months of writings here on SITS
Information and ritual ideas for the Spring Equinox
An exciting announcement of a new, online shop that I’m psyched to both hype up and be a patron of
As always, thank you for being here. Thank you for reading. Happy Spring!
Thank you for reading swimming in the soup. This post is public so feel free to share it.
Previously on The Year of Yearning:January 2024: BURN (OUT) BABY, BURN (OUT)Wow! Seeing it all laid out like this is really exciting! We’ve covered a lot of ground already. Remember that integration is just as important, if not more important, than knowledge or awareness. Revisit sections or lessons that are calling to you now, and see where you can bring that information further into your bdy, brain, and behaviors. Decide how you want to start this new year, and don’t wait for Tuesday. DO IT NOW!
Week One: What can the Fool and the Nine of Wands teach us about burn-out?
Week Two: LOVE LETTER #1: Making a Joyful Effort
Week Three: Six Ways to Banish Burn-Out (Or at least get a good start)
Week Four: LOVE LETTER #2: Let's Roar, Rage, and Roister
Bonus Podcast: On Disrupting our Habits with Kevin Munhall
February 2024: CHANGING OUR GOD(DAMN) MINDSWeek One: How do we change our god(damn) minds?!
Week Two: LOVE LETTER #3: When Brains Get Bratty
Week Three: Synchromantics, in nugget form
Week Four: LOVE LETTER #4: On Courting (and Offending) the Goddess
March 2024: LAYING IN THE LAP OF THE DIVINE MOTHERWeek One: Laying in the Lap of the Divine Mother
Week Two: LOVE LETTER #5: When Rituals Don't Go According to Plan
To receive The Year of Yearning in full, please sign up to be a paid subscriber! 💸
The Spring EquinoxKnown to some pagan practitioners as Ostara, the Spring Equinox is a multi-day festival that honors Hathor, Ishtar, Demeter, Perspehone, and other goddesses of renewal throughout history and across cultures. No matter who or how you celebrate, all of these festivals mark the coming of the light of spring, and celebrate themes of fertility, resurrection, and rebirth.
Photo by Aniket Bhattacharya on UnsplashThis year, the Equinox lands on an overall 21 day in numerology (3+1+9+2+0+2+4 = 21). The World! A successful ending! Or at least an ending—an opportunity to both acknowledge and bless the journey that has come to completion, and to shirk off whatever shroud of suffering you do not want to take with you into this new year. Of course, 21’s root number is 3, the number of magic and storytelling, and our ruling number for March’s YOY card: The Empress. Work with her to cast spells of release and renewal, and rewrite narratives of hardship and doubt.
Ritual items to work with include: flowers (fresh or dried), citrus fruits, honey, wine, honey wine, clear or rutilated quartz, carnelian, and citrine.
Depending on the weather where you live, perhaps you’d like to take your spellwork outdoors in the sunlight, or shirk all sense of precision and simply commune with nature. Touch the bark of a tree, feel the wind on your skin, bury your toes in the dirt or sand. Witness the growth of plants and animal kin around you, noticing how much they’ve bloomed since the withering of winter. Drink water, feeling it rush from your lips, to your throat, and down into your belly to rejoin the rest of the living waters in your body.
Remember that you, too, are nature.
For more information on the Wheel of the Year, and creating your own rituals to acknowledge the passing of time and season, please consider my book, The Witch’s Book of Numbers: Enhance Your Magic with Numerology.
Announcing: Lore Books & Supplies!You may know Siri Vincent Plouff from their course Radical Runes or their book with Cassandra Snow, Lessons from the Empress: A Tarot Workbook for Self-Care and Creative Growth, and it is now my express honor and pleasure to help spread the word about their latest offering: Lore Books & Supplies.
Lore is a pagan/folk magic business based in the Twin Cities and online. Eventually Lore will be a third space with a bookshop, cafe, academy, and a workshop where Siri will make all of the ritually crafted magical supplies. Lore’s focus is on helping people understand the intersection of culture and magic: whether that is through traditional folk culture or contemporary culture.
To patron Lore right away, please consider:
Until next time, just keep swimming!xx, RebeccaMarch 8, 2024
LOVE LETTER #5: When Rituals Don't Go According to Plan
What’s up, swimmers?! Happy (almost) New Moon in Pisces - the last lunation of this current zodiacal new year and the last workable new moon before eclipse season! Are you planning anything magical to celebrate?
Last weekend, my wife and I went to the movie theatres three days in a row, where we saw Poor Things (delightfully grotesque), Drive-Away Dolls (love me some onscreen lesbians, even if the movie never gelled for me), and Dune Part Two.
Now, if you’ve been swimming in the soup with me for a while, you might remember that I fucking love the epic sci-fi novel Dune by Frank Herbert. In fact, I did a three-part podcast series on Dune back in the summer of 2022, in which we looked at themes of colonialism, water crises, and finally, gender (with special guest Nick Kepley or In Search of Tarot) throughout the novel, and in present times.
You may also remember that I failed to make good on a promise of a final installment of the series, which ironically would have covered the second half of Dune, the same as the film, Dune Part Two. Soooo, I’m thinking that I might finish it now that the movie’s been released?! Seems a bit divinely timed now… Let me know if that’s something you’d want to revisit?!
(At the very least, it would save my wife from having to be the only receptacle for my Dune thoughts. Maybe she can then delete the photo of me—from three hours after we left the theatre—reading to her from the book like she actually cares.)
A week ago, I wrote to you about Lying in the Lap of the Divine Mother, and shared a direct experience I’d had with the Empress while on mushrooms. While ayahuasca might be more aligned with the Water of Life from Dune (no spoilers, just continuing to see threads of this masterpiece everywhere…), mushrooms are a potent example of how plant medicines can help us see beyond our physical existences to glimpse the Mother and much, much more.
Having had two previous and beautiful experiences, I’ve been eager to take another trip, but have been holding off because I didn’t want to seek that kind of spiritual support when my expectations and desired results were so strong. Without being able to truly surrender to the experience, I was priming myself for ego-based disappointment. But after connecting with Hecate, Mary Magdalene, and then seeing the Empress as our card for the month, I felt ready. So last week—just a few days before I shared my Empress painting with you—I planned a ceremony.
In Be Here Now, Ram Dass reminds us that the Divine Mother has a sense of humor, and hand to heart, what transpired was quite funny, indeed…
A friendly reminder —
I still have openings in my schedule on Moonlight on Wednesdays and Fridays through March if you’re interested in slinging cards or talking numbers.
Here’s what a recent client had to say about the experience:
“I highly recommend Becca’s readings for querents of any level of familiarity with tarot. Her nonjudgmental and trustworthy energy put me immediately at ease and she struck the perfect balance between providing her own interpretations and allowing me as a client to draw my own insights from the spread. I left feeling more enlightened about tarot and with a deeper trust in myself and my intuition.” — Morgan J.
March 1, 2024
Laying in the Lap of the Divine Mother
What’s up, swimmers? Welcome to March.
The energy of this month feels like a swirl. A big, whirling cyclone of this and that, all overlapping and unfurling as we move ever closer to a new zodiacal year.
Numerologically, March is the third month of the year, bringing us into communion with the themes of the number three (3)—life experience, the journey, creation, communication, magic, and also destruction, misunderstandings, and primordial chaos.
In 2024, March gets a kick in the pants by our yearly number, eight (8), elevating our perspectives to that of the number eleven (11). Justice. A bird’s eye view. Transcendence out of the mud and into the heart of the blooming lotus. All the while remembering that we are rooted in the energy of two (2)—love, connectedness, compassion, and diplomacy, but also painful separation, conflict, dissonance, and the tight clamp of a hardened heart.
Our cards, as well as the ceaseless news cycle of violence and rupture, speak to the severity and the possibility of this moment. While the horrors are rich and complex, the medicine offered is simple and somewhat sweet. Gentleness in the face of depravity is the name of the game this month. Tenderness, yes, and also the art and act of being tenderized…
March is a portal between worlds, so it’s a good thing we’ve been making friends with the liminal space. Still, we are ready for the next, even if our legs are shaking.
The Year of Yearning will consist of twelve topics of study, one for each month of the year. Every Friday, you’ll receive a little lesson or a love letter. The first installment—which you’re reading now—will be sent to all subscribers, but the full versions of the love letters and the second lesson will be for paid pals only.
March 2024: Top Row (left to right) - The Game of Thrones Tarot by Liz Dean and Craig Cross, The Morgan’s Tarot. Bottom Row (left to right) - The Game of Thrones Tarot, Postcards From the Liminal SpaceOur cards for March 2024 are…3 - THE EMPRESS with KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK
THE SEVEN OF SWORDS with RESET
This month, we are…LAYING IN THE LAP OF THE DIVINE MOTHER
On New Year’s Eve 2022, I ate mushroom-infused chocolate and finger-painted. I didn’t have a plan or design, and I certainly wasn’t paying attention to my “craft.” I simply let my fingers dip themselves in paint and spread about a blank canvas. The result (pictured below) was a colorful, pregnant person. It was an incredible sight as the clock, and I, slipped quickly into 2023—a three year in my personal numerology.
Why was this sight so revelatory? Three is the ruling number of the Empress, who is often depicted sitting amongst the trees, atop a throne or other seat of luxury, holding a scepter, wearing a crown of stars, and flanked by the shield of Venus. But more importantly, in many iterations, the Empress is pregnant.
My shroom-induced masterpiece, dated 12/31/2022Now, personally, I do not wish to have children. That is fine; the Empress does not mind. For they cannot be reduced to one type of gestation, nor one type of birth. They are ripe. They are ready. They are bursting with lifeblood, bringing that which is growing in the darkness into the light of the physical world. In Radical Tarot, calls the Empress: The Erotic Force of Creation. Their fecundity is available to everyone through the senses—through smell, touch, taste, sound, and sight.
The Empress—as bearer, as birther, as channel—rules the physical body. The one that houses us in this lifetime; that encases our spirit, our breath, our spark, in dense, yet intelligent, matter. The Empress is the body in pleasure and the body in pain. They stoke the fire of creation and destruction. They usher in both life and death, while transcending the dualistic concepts altogether.
The Empress reminds us that we cannot get what we want without taking into account what it will cost us to get it. There is always an exchange, even in magic. A price to be paid, a sacrifice or offering needed. This for that. Expansion here, now, but contraction there, later. It is in their care that we experience both the fruit we’ve worked for and the promise of the rot still to come. This is a natural balance.
The Divine Mother—as this energy is referred to in Ram Dass’s spiritual guidebook, Be Here Now—teaches us how to die as much as she teaches us how to live.
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Here, in the lap of the Divine Mother, we are being called to listen .
Three rules communication, which includes both speaking and listening. One of the tenents of Synchromantics we explored last month is to listen far more than we speak. I know, it’s hard—even former-Bachelor Peter said that was his plan going into season two of The Traitors, but if you’ve been watching, you know he’s been pretty damn chatty… Every day is a chance to practice new habits and skills.
Before we hear her sweet praise, and her gentle voice encouraging us to Keep Up the Great Work!, the Divine Mother has a more pressing message for us:
Her children are dying. Our children are dying.
Her Earthly body is suffering. Our Earthly bodies are suffering.
Those who are sick with power and greed seek to control all matters of creation and destruction. They wish to desecrate the walls of her temple and spit on her floors. They will take and take and take and take and take—and she will give.
To her detriment. To her destruction. To her Death.
The Divine Mother is with the children and peoples of Gaza, and Aaron Bushnell, and Nex Benedict, and all her children whose names will never make the six-o-clock news or a social media feed. She scorns the works of those who would wish to gatekeep the sacred art of child bearing, which has always involved the use of medical and technological advancements. The ancestral midwives knew which herbs to work with to produce various results when it came to reproductive health. They were also killed by those who feared their knowledge and self-empowerment. The Divine Mother was with them, too.
Here! Here is where she begins to whisper to us with honeyed lips—
For her Death is paradoxical. She endures, she is ressurected, she will rise again. The Divine Mother—The Empress, the number three—heralds over the cycles of beginning, middle, end; mother, maiden, crone; birth, life, death.
It is not too late.
We may still commit ourselves to the Great Work.1 Her work. Our work. The work of this world, the work its peoples, the work of this Earth-bound life experience.
It is not too late.
The Seven of Swords worries that it might not be enough. That we might not be, have, or do enough. But the Seven is Swords is often preoccupied with what is outside of their grasp and their purview. The Seven of Swords is not often satisfied with what they are already holding in their hands.
The truth is, the Seven of Swords might be right. Our actions might not be enough, we might not be enough. But we just don’t know yet. We don’t know what the future holds. We don’t know how this is going to play out. What we do know, however, is that when we feel helpless, we are less likely to take direct actions against the powers-that-be. We are less likely to make concerted efforts towards change. We are less likely to use our voices to make Good Trouble.2
The Great Work is an esoteric concept of the internal journey that is always dancing with the external world. Furthering our lessons from last month, our commitment to the Great Work teaches us that we are God. It shows us that we have everything inside of us to create, destroy, live and die. The Great Work teaches us that we are this body, this soul, but also much, much more. There really is no other.
The Great Work rewrites the myths of this Earthly world. It opens us up to new ways of listening, methods of storytelling, and perspectives within old stories.
It’s okay if this feels far away or intangible to you. That is the work of this month. To rexamine, redirect energy, rewrite narratives, and resource ourselves for the world that is coming—the one we will nurture together, out of the ruins of the one that is no longer serving us. That is what lies in the lap of the Divine Mother.
In “The Myth of Not-Enoughness with Seven of Swords,” an episode of Tarot for the Wild Soul, host Lindsay Mack says, “that sense of not-enoughness is like the most insidious, time-wasting, bullshit lie. And it's a lie we believe so completely that it completely can totally drive our lives.”
This month, we’re in need of a mental and mythic RESET. For how could God ever not be enough?
LAYING IN THE LAP OF THE DIVINE MOTHERNext week, I will write to you about my second experience with shrooms and the Divine Mother. It did not go as expected, and yet, she was quite generous with me. Soft, yet firm; her sense of humor necessary and welcomed. I am grateful.
But first, let us come to know her through the words of those who have already glimpsed her veiled state. Let us bask in the moonlight of the Mother who tends to us all. Let us begin to commune with her—to know her—and to play in her paradoxical sandbox of pleasure and pain without attachment to our desires.
1. UNITING WITH HERIn Be Here Now, Ram Dass writes:
Lame, halt, blind, dying
We’re all dying
At this moment your body is disintegrating before your very eyes. If you’ve taken LSD you may be seeing it do this but you know it’s happening anyway
It’s all a downhill trip
All the way
Boy, what a funny place to get attached!
To something that’s got to go like that
So Buddha says: The cause of suffering is attachment or desire
They all say the same thing!
Third Noble Truth
Give up attachment
Give up desire
You end the births
You end the deaths
You end the suffering
You end the whole thing that keeps you STUCK!
If I’m not attached to this particular time-space locus then I can free my awareness from my body and I can become
ONE with it ALL
I can merge with
THE DIVINE MOTHER
Rituals for Merging with the Divine Mother: Take three deep breaths, in through the nose, and out through the mouth / Sit for a Lovingkindness meditation / Light green candles / Say prayers to Mother Mary, Mary Magdalene, Our Lady of Guadalupe / Sit in Nature and notice / Engage all five senses and then let go of those “knowings” / Put one hand on your heart and the other on your belly, and practice feeling and releasing your physical body
Musings on the Divine Mother from Be Here Now by Ram Dass2. WORSHIPING HERThen, he writes (as pictured above):
All you can do is honor her and love her
Because if you say
Wow Lady I know who you are
You’re the keeper of this reform school
That’s attachment
Can’t have her
Can’t reject her
Can’t live with her
Can’t put her away
Just honor and honor her
DIVINE MOTHER
You’ve got to
WORSHIP HER
Rituals for Worshiping the Divine Mother: Pull the Empress card from your tarot deck and spend time with both the artwork and the spirit of the card / Adorn your altar with offerings of milk, honey, and roses / Say a rosary of your choosing / Read The Gospel of Mary Magdalene or The Madonna Secret by Sophie Strand / If available to you, call your own mother and thank her efforts. If not, invite the Divine Mother into your heart, and ask that she attend to your Earthly wounds
3. EMBODYING HERHanna Williams, who was on the podcast early last year, speaks about the Divine through cyclical experiences of concealment and revealment, so it didn’t come as a shock that when I first sat with the Empress, they spoke of the concept and craft of Glamour Magick!
Glamours are concealment spells that can work to shift the perceptions people have of you out in the world. It’s an ancient art, which has roots in Celtic, Greek, Roman, and Egyptian mythology. Perhaps this month, we can research Eastern examples to round out our cultural understanding of this type of magic.
Modern-day glamour magick “offers a powerful means of self-expression and self-transformation.”3 It can be used to both worship and embody through the ritual and every day use of clothing, jewelry, make-up, perfume, herbs, lotions, oils, bath soaks, crystals, tattoos, food, movement, mantras, and more.
Rituals for Embodying the Divine Mother: As I am not an expert, here are a smattering of perspectives and spells to try, written by others who are well-versed in glamour magick:
Feather of Green Witch Living, who wrote an article on Glamour Magic that includes various rituals to try, tells us that we are already familiar with a simple form of this craft: “A popular form of glamour magick goes by the name of positive affirmations… The saying, “fake it ’till you make it,” is a glamour of a sort. You are training your mind to become the ideal version of yourself until you and everyone else around you believe it and by default, it becomes true. Just like with any spell, when you believe something to be true, it shifts the energy for that outcome to become reality.”
Here, witch and writer Gaby Herstik is speaking about a former offering, but also the foundations of her glamour magick practice: “The temple of glamour is a space where we honor the Goddess, Venus and the divinity in ourselves through ultra femme aesthetics, lingerie, flowers and magick. [My definition of the temple] is, ‘dressing up as glamour as alchemy. Honoring the Goddess through creation as initiation with opulence and extravagance. In vintage lingerie with flower petals and moonlight in our hair.’”
In an article for Hauswitch called Glamour Magic for Beginners, Kalyn Anderson, offers us a simple spell called "Clear the Fog" Facial Steam “that will help to soothe the skin and quiet the mind.” For this steam, you’ll need peppermint, lavender, rosemary, and green tea leaves, but she also shares a table of common skincare ingredients and their magical associations so that you can create your own lotions and potions.
Lisa Stardust calls upon the wisdom of many prominent witches to offer a few examples of glamour magick spells in How to Practice Glamour Magic for Teen Vogue. Spells to try include: Find Your Power Color and Scent to Build Confidence, Heal Insecurities with Bath and Mirror Magic, Use Crystals and Minerals, and Make a Charm.
This month, I invite you to play with glamour magick in your life. Take notes, and listen deeply for whispers from the Mother as you delight in her, and your, beauty.
In a slight shift from the previous months, we’re approaching March from a place of process, not product. We’re creating, yes, but for the love and act of it.
Become less concerned with outcomes. Give up attachments to results. Commit yourself to your practices. Find pleasure in the blood, sweat and tears. Sit in awe of your Divine Spark, which lives in everyone. Come to care for all children of the Divine Mother. Take action from this place. Everything for the glory of the One.
Until next time, just keep swimming!xx, RebeccaTo continue receiving The Year of Yearning in full, please sign up to be a paid subscriber! 💸
1“The Great Work signifies the spiritual path towards self-transcendence in its entirety. This is the process of bringing unconscious complexes into the conscious awareness, in order to integrate them back into oneself.” — Swan, Theresa (2010). Incorporating alchemy into contemporary theories of transformation: Transpersonal embodiment through the coniunctio (PhD dissertation). California Institute of Integral Studies. ISBN 978-1-109-76116-0. ProQuest 305237207
2A phrase attributed to the late American civil rights leader and politician, John Lewis.
3The Enchanting Art of Glamour Magic: Exploring History and Techniques by River Blue on Medium.
February 23, 2024
LOVE LETTER #4: On Courting (and Offending) the Goddess
What’s up, swimmers?! Happy Full Moon in Virgo. February has flown by.
I subscribe to quite a few newsletters that speak to astrological transits and the ones I’ve received this year about the Full Moon in Virgo have been cracking me right up due to some major discrepancies about when this lunation will occur! Some have said Thursday the 22nd, others today, Friday the 23rd, and some say tomorrow, Saturday the 24th.
(FWIW, the Farmer’s Almanac says February 2024’s Snow Moon will exact at 4:30 AM PST / 7:30 AM EST on Saturday the 24th.)
Now, most agree that it’s perfectly fine to honor the moon’s cycle for the entirety of the time it occupies a certain sign. This means that you have 2-3 days surrounding the lunar phase to make magic with it. But what I find so absolutely hilarious about these differences in reporting is it perfectly represents the Pisces-Virgo polarity we’re in (the sun is currently in Pisces, the moon in Virgo).
Pisces likes Big Picture thinking, where Virgo enjoys attention to detail. Pisces says, “you have all the time in the world! Celebrate whenever you feel called to do so! It’s all good!” Virgo grumbles in the corner - “Can you believe this wishy-washy attitude? I’m trying to make a point here!”
This polarity also illustrates some of what we’ve been exploring this month—the mental matrices we engage in when attempting to make change. The balancing of the voices in our heads that cry, “KEEP GOING!” and “STOP, YOU FOOL!” The silencing of our inner critics and fearmongerers, while diving deep, head first, into faith, trust, and pixie dust.
Even with the extra day this Leap Year, the below Love Letter will wrap up February here at SITS. Thank you so much for being here, for reading along, and for letting me know that last week’s mantras from Synchromantics: in nugget form was a missed an opportunity for hole jokes!
And a huge thank you to those who’ve booked readings with me through Moonlight! I still have slots open on Wednesdays and Fridays through March if you’re interested in slinging cards or talking numbers.
Longing Lovers,
In October, I made an offering of a depinon to the goddess, Hecate.
I took the remnants of a spell I’d cast, half of an onion, and some other examples of divine detritus to a crossroads in Griffith Park and buried it for her in the dirt. I didn’t make any requests or petitions, I simply said hello, and spoke aloud my desires for a relationship with the Witch’s Goddess. Almost immediately, a squirrel came to say a sweet hello. About twenty minutes later, at the top of the mountain, I was stung by a bee.
In the months that followed, I barely had a taste for magic. I was hurting, I felt betrayed by my body, and abandoned by my guides, and my faith was at an all-time low. While I believe that I connected with Hecate again during a “dancing meditation” on a rare, high energy day, I didn’t follow up with her much after my initial offering.
The other day, while discussing the finale of True Detective: North Country with my wife, I told her about the Indigenous goddess that is at the heart of the story—a sea witch, of sorts, who was murdered by her father and left to drown, and who now exacts revenge against those who commit similar atrocities.
“You can call upon her,” I said. “But you can also offend her.”
Suddenly, I felt full body chills. I thought of Hecate.
