Good morning, Monday 16th of January 2023.

I can't pretend you're being easy or gentle with me today, but Tarot is a place of familiarity and comfort, which enables me to show up here and continue offering my work, which is Tarot and other holistic modalities for transformation and healing.

I'm using my familiar and beloved Smith Waite deck (aka Rider Waite Smith but Smith, Pamela Colman Smith, is the illustrator, and I suspect, creator of much of it so she goes first in my book) and guess what, Tarot as ever has the laugh and The Queen of Pentacles pops out again, just as she did on Friday from the Crowley deck. Crowley himself relates the Queen to "the ambition of matter to take part in the great work of creation" to joyfully participate in the suffering of the world. And we do, all of us, suffer at times in our lives. it's a part of life. Tarot offers a place to be heard in that suffering, and the opportunity to see outside of its confines. Jessica Dore says of this card "a yearning to participate through values-aligned behaviour in the creation of an ideal world" as with the other court cards they draw us towards our own purpose. Waite himself describes her as "summed up in the idea of greatness of soul" Hers is the wisdom that connects us powerfully to the natural world, to our work and soul's calling within life, as well as our bonds with others and our own inner self.

Her contemplative gaze reminds us of the balm of taking just a moment of stillness and space from the mind's constant noise. And in a lean and cold and hard January, we can look at the abundance of nature surrounding this gentle and powerful figure in the illustration, and allow ourselves to remember our own humanity, and vulnerability, and go gently with ourselves today.

This Queen was also my daily pull the previous Friday, January 13th, when she reminded us that we always have the opportunity to be in service of the universal good. Simple eye-contact and a smile can change the outcome. You are the gift that the world needs, and whatever particular brand of medicine you offer humanity, know that it is received with so much love and gratitude for your being.

Queen of that earthly realm of Pentacles reminds us that the roots of our service must match the crown. The degree to which you offer yourself to the world must be matched by the degree to which you receive rest and recreate yourself. Today’s key words are Sustainable Service.

☆With Love

If you'd like an email reading this week or a holistics appointment, do get in touch via my website. I have a home reading and treatment room or I can come to you.