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May 29 through June 4, 2023

Balance is the theme at the start of this week, as the Moon saunters through Libra Monday and Tuesday. The remainder of the week unfolds under a Scorpio Moon, and this one could bring out our intense side, which isn’t always a bad thing. Focus, drive, and progress will be a theme Wednesday through Friday, and we’re likely to get twice as much accomplished as we had planned! The Moon waxes full in Sagittarius on Saturday, which could bring surprising people into our midst. This full Moon could have us crossing paths with exes, people we went to grade school with, or even people we don’t know who we’ve shared past lives with. If someone pops into your head out of the blue, do a search on social media to see if you can find them. (Assuming you WANT to find them.) If an ex shows up asking for a second chance, your answer should be no, but do relish in the ego trip of knowing they’ve never forgotten you! Finally, if you’re still flying solo, this is a great weekend to venture out to the social scenes or check out dating sites. Swipe left? Swipe right? Take a chance, as anything is possible under this lovely Sagittarius full Moon!

The Path of the Tarot Priestess, by Leeza Robertson

(Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal.)

Over the years, people have mistakenly thought I was a witch. You see, there are similarities to the practices of the witch and my personal work. But I have always known I am not a witch. Yet untangling practice, craft, and beliefs is not easy when the lineages of two very separate systems have been merged over time. Which is why I felt it so important to write Tarot Priestess and lay out the path of the Priestess.

You see, a priestess can be mistaken for a witch and a witch can be mistaken for a priestess. To the uninitiated, they can appear very similar. But they are not the same and their paths, though at times parallel, are very different. I have always been and will always be a priestess. The moment I walked my first labyrinth, I felt like I came home.

Yet my relationship to the goddess was not always harmonious, which is where the Tarot comes in—for it was through my tarot work that I started to drop my biased walls of belief and open myself up to building my own personal unique relationship with the goddess. It is this path, the lesson I myself learned, that I have filled in the pages of Tarot Priestess.

In many respects, you could say I queered the priestess path. I threw away the gender bias and rules and stripped it down. The path of the Tarot Priestess is inclusive, unique, and a safe space. It is here as a Tarot Priestess that you get to come to the feet of the goddess as you are. No boxes to fill. No lines to toe. No shoes to step into. Who you are is who you get to be.

The path of the Tarot Priestess is a journey of liberation, a way to explore your tarot practice as a form of devotion. This isn't about learning a new way to read tarot; no, this is about going deeper, wider, and further with the archetypal energy that the cards already have. To do this I have placed the priestess framework over the structure that tarot does so beautifully—marrying two processes so that they easily become one seamless path of self expression and personal exploration.

This all starts with the three Priestess Gateways of the Major Arcana. The Gateways are the three levels of initiation that we must go through to honor the goddess.

Gateway One: The Magician to the Chariot: Ritual and Ceremony
Gateway Two: Strength to Temperance: Pilgrimage, Initiation and Rites of Passage
Gateway Three: The Devil to the World: Reclaiming the Wild Shadow and Dancing in the light

The cards of the Major Arcana take us through the deep unfolding layers of what it means to be a spirit having a human experience, to be tethered to the goddess while exploring the gift of physical expression. Each time you draw one of these cards, you can see where along the path you are, which gateway you are in and what lessons the Goddess has in store for you.

Right now, pick up your tarot deck. Shuffle it and flip over cards until you come across a major arcana card. Which gateway does it belong to and which of the lessons jumps out at you?

While writing this article I did this exercise and the Chariot was the first major arcana card I came across. This is at the end of Gateway One; the lesson that jumped out was that of ceremony. More specifically, a ceremony honoring how far I have come ( movement is the chariot, it is a vehicle for travel) in the last year.

This simple exercise can lead me to a deeper understanding of my journey, one that has changed immensely in the last 12 months. For one thing, this time last year I had just finished the book this article is about (Tarot Priestess</em), now it is being sent out into the world.

I can take this card to my journal and ask the following questions;

• How did the path unfold for me over the last year?
• Do I feel my journey is complete? Perhaps not seeing as this card is only in gateway one.
• In what direction am I currently pointed?
• What gift did the goddess bestow upon me here in this gateway?
• What will I need to leave behind in order to move to the next gateway or temple
• If I were to reflect on the past year, what lesson would I say moved me the most?

You can use these questions for all the gateways along with card specific questions. Think about the card you have in front of you. What does its archetype mean to you? How curious can you be about that archetype and the energy it flows into your life? If it helps, write some keywords for your card and use those as starting points for your questions.

Next, you can explore what temple this gateway leads you to. Do this by picking your deck back up, giving it another shuffle, and flipping the cards over until you come across your first Ace. I landed on the Ace of Cups; this is the temple of water and the domain of the Priestesses of Avalon. What ace did you flip over first and what temple is the goddess asking you to explore?

In honor of your selected temple, consider getting flowers and candles in its colors to place on your altar to honor the goddess.
Cups: blue or white
Wands: red or orange
Swords: black or purple
Pentacles: green or yellow

Once you have your items on your altar, write a question you would like the goddess to help you with. Remember, it has to be in the temple you drew the Ace from. So for example, I drew the Ace of Cups. My question might be something like: "Goddess help me to create an overflow of love, happiness, or joy in my life."

For Swords it might be: "Goddess assist me gain clarity or focus around a particular problem or situation." For Wands you may think about inspiration or movement. Lastly Pentacles, which you could ask about health, money, or even growth.

Depending on the size of your candle, you may need to write your query as a short, concise ask (which is advised anyway). Then, light your candle and proclaim your request to the goddess. You might even think about opening up your journal and seeing if the Goddess has a message for you now that you have sent her a request.

Set a timer for two minutes, pick up a pen, and just write whatever floats through your mind. Some of it might make perfect sense, while some of it might seem like nonsense. Who knows, you might even be blessed with an immediate solution or answer to your question! The goddess does work quickly. Once your timer goes off, you can either let your candle burn all the way down if it is safe to do so, or blow it out and repeat your ritual again and again until your candle is burned all the way down or you get the resolution you were seeking.

Each of the temples have a different initiation, healing, lesson, and gift for you. Each temple has its own goddess. Whichever one you landed on you can guarantee the goddess has called you there for a reason. There are no mistakes along the Tarot Priestess path. The cards you draw will always be deliberate, strategic, and beneficial. The points of discovery the Goddess has laid out for you is intentional.

There is no limit to how deep, far, or wide you take your work with the cards, the gateways, or the temples. Tarot Priestess is a devotional framework, a map to assist you along your own Priestess path. May you walk it with your heart wide open and your head held high.

Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal. Copyright Llewellyn Worldwide, 2022. All rights reserved.

I put an ad on an internet dating site, to which I received a lot of responses. I liked one man's name, so we emailed a bit. I was enamored with him from the start. When he sent me his picture, I got flushed, had goosebumps, and started crying uncontrollably. I felt a profound love for him even though we haven't met. I felt like I had lost him and I was so sad. I'm not sure what to do with this. He thinks I am special also. He is in the middle of reconciling with his ex, but now I am causing him to re-think that relationship. I don't want to cause him stress, but I don't want to let him go. I think I have loved him intensely in a past life. I am 50 and for the first time in my life, I feel lonely and sad. It is as if these feelings were opened up just by seeing his picture. Is this possible? If we were soul mates, would he feel the same thing? He says he has an inexplicable attraction to me and is confused about this because we haven't met. I mistrust online connections, but I want to trust this man and I want to love him.

Betty

Susyn:

I advise you to proceed with extreme caution here, for there are all sorts of different reasons this man's picture may be triggering a strong emotional response in you. When we encounter someone we have known before in a past life, the reactions you describe are common. The intense sense of familiarity we experience can bring about a dramatic psychic shift. All our thoughts, energy and focus then turn to this one person, and the more we wonder about the possibilities, the more we get caught up in our heads and forget about what's really happening in the here and now.

The danger in connecting via the internet is the tendency to assign certain characteristics to people that they simply do not possess. I have had many clients meet someone online or find themselves fascinated with a public figure they have only seen on television or in movies. The feelings they experience are very real and all-consuming. However, if they encounter the person in real life, they may discover the object of their affections is either completely unattainable or not who they professed themselves to be.

Though this may seem to discourage your hopes of loving this man, there are a few things you can do to determine this connection's true potential. While you can remain open and see where all of this leads, you will want to proceed with caution.

When soul mates are destined to come together, it's rare for the other person to remain on the fence or involved in another relationship. At this point in time, your man is obviously not finished with his ex. If the two of you are destined to be together, the feelings you have will still be there once he has completed his karma with his current relationship. Ask him not to contact you until after he is clear of this situation completely. If the connection is as you describe, he will honor this request, and it won't take long for him to finish it so that you can move forward together.

Next, you must agree to meet in person. Being with him a few times in real life will usually tell you everything you need to know. Either your connection will grow stronger, or it will quickly fall apart.

You have already invested your heart and soul in this man without even meeting him. This alone can put the relationship in jeopardy, as you are prone to forgetting yourself and putting all your focus on him. Energetically and romantically, this can smother the spark instead of fanning the flames. I encourage you to step back from these dramatic waves of emotion and allow Spirit to reveal the true purpose of this connection.

*****

Oceania:

I suspect you've been carrying deeply buried sadness all your life, and something about this man's internet persona has triggered that sadness. While this is a gift, please don't assume that the feelings are related to HIM. He is merely the key that opened a long-locked door within you. Your feelings are likely related to a profound loss that took place during your early life, like a death, divorce, new sibling who seemed to replace you or a cold and emotionally distant parent.

When someone triggers our old business, we often feel as if we've known them in a former life or for most of THIS one. We have this profound feeling of inexplicable familiarity because the person has stirred up dormant feelings from our early childhood. We may experience a sense of resonance, bittersweet longing, and an intense desire to connect with them.

If we could look at this man objectively for a moment, he seems unsettled. I might even use the word flakey, as he's in the middle of reconciling with his ex AND dabbling on a dating site! When people go fishing online while in a relationship, it's usually because they're seeking a distraction from their real life or because they unrealistically believe there's a Prince or Princess Charming out there with whom things will more easily fall into place.

While its important to choose a partner who is stable and compatible with our goals and values, a relationship mostly works or doesn't because of what we put into it, not because of whom we've chosen. I've always liked Laura Schlessinger's relationship-success formula: Choose wisely; treat kindly.

You said you don't want to cause this man stress, which sounds loving. You said you don't want to let him go, which sounds immature, self-centered and possessive. These conflicting positions show that both your adult and child selves are involved. The child in you yearns to heal the past and mistakenly thinks you need HIM in order to do so. The adult in you recognizes that love is about wishing for someone's happiness, with or without you.

It's good to move to the phone and an in-person meeting in a timely manner after making an internet connection; otherwise, you can't be sure that what you're feeling is based on reality. When the only contact is email, chat or texting, it is easy to fill in the gaps with our own idealization and fantasy. You say you want to love and trust this man. I suspect you want to love and trust SOMEONE, but no one - this gentleman included - deserves your love and trust until they earn it over time in real life.

Astrea:

Many times in life we hear, "You will always have what you NEED, but not necessarily what you WANT." Your spirit must have needed to experience the feeling of leaving your human body, and the suggestion in the next chapter of Sylvia Brown's book was all it took to get you there.

Even though you hadn't read it yet, your SOUL recognized the title of that chapter as something it had been seeking, and your soul, knowing that you had that reference to read after your experience, got with it and out you went!

While I don't usually recommend her books, Sylvia Brown has a wide reaching and powerful effect on lots of people. A Gemini like you would be able to relate easily to her writing and put it to good use. Synchronicity - you gotta love it!

I like your description of "getting caught." That's exactly what it feels like, isn't it? One minute you're free and hovering above the room, and the next minute, ZAP! back down into your corporeal form you go!

As a little kid, I loved that "feeling of return." With practice, most of the time we can control that event, but sometimes, when our physical ears hear a distracting noise or something else occurs to knock us back into reality, back we go. With practice you will be able to control your return better.

I find it interesting that you were visiting your mother-in-law and not someone in your own genetic family. Evidently, you and your husband got married for reasons that are even deeper than love. His family's interest in "psychic stuff" will nurture your children in such matters and help them to grow into their own abilities.

You'll never have to be concerned that when your daughter visits them, she'll be discouraged from exploring her own psychic life and power. My parents encouraged me to develop my psychic senses in a time when it wasn't nice to even discuss such things in public. Heck, it's STILL not considered a great topic at the dinner table in some families!

Your kids will get to talk about it ALL and ask questions and read and study. This is going to give them such an edge in life! Talk with your husband about how you want to present this to your kiddos, so that you are united in your approach and ready to tell them their experiences are all natural and okay.

A word or two of warning: Geminis often have difficulty staying grounded in REAL LIFE. Don't get so strung out on your ASTRAL life that you neglect what you're doing here on Earth.

You are at the beginning of a long journey to learn where your power really lies. Try to be patient with this process and take your time.