It's a late post this week - sorry about that. It's been a long week, too, and I think quite soul-searching for some. I have a couple of things in the pipeline, so expect another post or two mid-week to update you all on those. I'm looking forward to getting into the garden more from next week and really getting stuck into my herbs. I also feel like, over the past two months, my shamanic work has gone "up a level". Hard to explain exactly what that means, but it's like gears have shifted and I can feel and sense things differently (better) and can move energy more specifically. I don't know why that might be, but I associate it with the same kind of energy that has me learning (mostly about herbs) at the rate of knots at the moment. I think it's partly planetary. My mind really does feel like a sponge and I also feel like I'm learning spherically - not just in linear motion. It's a great feeling, but I'm trying to pace myself (which is hard because I'm a naturally fast-paced person!).

Today, I feel to turn a card over for this coming week (from 28th February), but not to talk about it. So I'm going to turn one of the Fairy Tarot Cards, by Radleigh Valentine, which have wording at the bottom for you to expand on, take inspiration from, and grow from:

Well, that's quite nice! If you don't immediately relate (maybe because you don't feel very cheery right now), then simply look at the theme of the card and ask yourself how the theme is relevant: home, community, celebration, marriage, union, stability. Perhaps it's a theme or area of your life you need to work on to create that level of contentment; perhaps you already are working towards that. The positive energy is there, though, so do try and focus on that.

I'm going to leave everyone with a little video I threw together earlier (literally threw it together which is partly the reason the audio isn't great - that and my cat who needed my legs to lie on. How dare I try to record things properly when he wants a cuddle?!)

The video was to demonstrate a simple way we can thank and complete (bring closure to) those natural cycles of life and death in a positive way through care and ritual / ceremony - a nice thing to do for our plant people. Earth medicine is the best medicine :)

Have a wonderful week.

Dianna xxx
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Good afternoon, everyone! I hope you have not been blown away by Eunice. I, personally, love storms (admittedly, it helps if you have a safe haven of some kind!). Where I grew up, we had typhoons quite regularly and I used to delight in the howl of the winds and watching the sea fly up over the boundary walls (our flat, at one time, was directly opposite the sea). The wind has always made my spirit sing with change, transformation, new beginnings, shedding the old ... I have always found it incredibly stimulating.

And speaking of stimulating, Calendula officinalis (Marigold) is the "herb of the month". I'm selling it in 50g amounts from my little herbal repertory as a relaxing tea to drink (great about an hour before dinner). It's a gentle carminative - stimulating for the digestion, but very uplifting, too; so if you are feeling a bit "under the weather" Calendula spreads its warmth inside you like the rays of the sun, drying up all that damp stagnation. Like Chamomile, it is a bitter herb (but mildly so) - as soon as you taste it, you are sending a message to you body (to your brain) to kick-start that healing process that resonates with that taste (I am a huge fan of tasting the herbs you drink - swish it around in your mouth once or twice before swallowing; your healing begins right there. There are many, many other benefits and uses of Calendula - I always recommend you personally research what you take internally.

As usual, please check with a qualified herbal practitioner or your GP before taking herbs if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or on medication.

Next week sees the moon travel through Scorpio, Sagittarius, and Capricorn. This is a hardworking, mystical, and intense trio, and questions of discipline, commitment to a path, person, work venture, or philosophy, and what really matters to you, are bound to come up. The waning half moon in Sagittarius occurs on Wednesday, which is ruled by Mercury. Half moons are bridge points - equilibrium and balance are important, and the energy of Mercury suggests communication and the deliverance of it will be paramount in some way. Sagittarius could mean that deliverance is very direct, or that travel and higher consciousness features in some way. Enjoy this expansive vibration, because Capricorn's energy at the end of the week brings the more saturnine energy of a focused sense of duty, hard work, grit, security, and responsibility. Here is a card for you to think on for next week:

Hello, everyone! After recording the Expansion video, I decided to share it with everyone this time - that is the energy of Leo and Michael: Give ... put on a show! LOL.

I also want to say, I have a lot of ideas about things to come, including an online Kia Ora Lounge school which will cover learning Tarot in-depth, and working with *angelic forces in-depth. These are in the pipeline, and I will be talking about this more and more as the months go on and as the structure for it forms.

Enjoy the Expansion video and have great week,

​Dianna xxx
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*angels are non-denominational - you do not have to be part of any religion to work with them
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Happy rainy Sunday! My daughter loves the rain, so she's happy today, lol. My thoughts on the coming Full Moon are below, but first I'm going to be talking through the changes on this website and in my practice, the first being that I'm going to open up the Kia Ora Lounge News & Weekly Guidance page (this page you're looking at) to other contributors as and when. That's why you see my author name above. Hopefully, it won't always be me you hear from, and many other healers and therapists can be here to offer you their thoughts and guidance, too. If this is you and you'd like to write an article, do drop me a line and let me know.

Secondly, I am closing the online shop on this website. However all crystals and incense and other bits and pieces are available to purchase for all who come over, and we do have an in-house price list we can give you which covers most things (not everything).

There will be another post and email going out in a few days explaining further changes (which is better than trying to fit it all into this post).

From Winter Solstice to Imbolc has been quite a ride for me. This Full moon in Leo coming up on the 16th February is very fitting, and since the New Moon in Aquarius on the 1st of February, I have been riding high on the energy of new beginnings and paving a deeply grooved path forwards for myself and my practice.

This Full Moon on the 16th brings a fiery, motivational, and dynamic energy to the fore. It is the "peak" of a phase you might have have recently started and will see some kind of clear "marker" enabling you to move forward in a permanent manner concerning an area of your life. Take care not to get too caught up in passions and excitement. While these feelings are essential to tap into and use properly, their essence is so strong at the moment, it could burn you out if you have not mastered the sheer speed and intensity of this Leo dynamism. It is Leo in its youthful stage. Picture a young male warrior in his early 20s - the prime of his physical and energetic performance - with no boundaries to stop him, determined and enthusiastic, willful and daring, and you have the energy of the week ahead. It is one beautiful doorway to stride through, but do it with no doubt and no fear, because that Leo fire needs your direction to mould it or it will go anywhere it wants to. Discipline is important! (And Leos don't much like discipline, lol.) But it really is a stunning and powerful Full Moon, so make the most of it. Pave that path of yours and do it with certainty and pride (the good kind of pride that is about surety rather than ego).

I have turned a card over for the Full Moon below. Personal Guidance Members on my Ko-fi page can tune into a video Expansion of this later tonight.

Well, of course it's Archangel Michael! (Certainly a good card for me with regards to everything I am starting as he is one of my guardian angels.) Michael so perfectly encompasses both the Leo fire and the discipline needed to see it through - that base chakra energy, which of course resonates with your crown chakra, too (willpower and mental strength), as two polar opposites (crown and base) always need to remain in balance. So ... ask him for guidance. He is present and available to you, and will offer strength and clarity on your path forwards next week.

​The Chariot Tarot card (number 7 Major Arcana) also comes to mind for me.

In terms of crystals, consider using any red ones - garnet, haematite, red jasper - and any clear quartz crystal with very good clarity (Herkimer diamond, too).

Have a wonderful week ahead, and I shall be back in a few days with more updates :)

Bright blessings, 

Dianna xxx

First, let's talk about some changes coming to this website (some which already have).

1. The home page (Shamanic Sanctum) looks different. Everything we do here is very streamlined on that page now, making it much easier to see and understand.
2. While I very much "run" Kia Ora Lounge, it was always intended to be a space for everyone's peace, well-being, and learning, rather than a site for my own work, so I have moved my own therapies and services to my new upcoming website, Heart Warrior Herbs (launching next week, 14th Feb). But Kia Ora is still the venue where all sessions take place. This is where I teach and guide. And I just want to mention, the Lounge is very much a joint effort with Alastair who is there with us at every Circle and gives me invaluable guidance on it all. It is our space, not just a space for my sessions.
3. This page will change from 14th February (the header already has). These weekly posts will be less Tarot-focused and more about my thoughts for the week ahead: what I see, hear, sense, and have experienced, culminating in what I hope will be inspirational posts for anyone reading. I'll still sometimes turn a card or two if my intuition tells me to, but the bulk of the Tarot element (from the 14th February) will move to my Personal Guidance Tier Members on Ko-fi and be incorporated into my Expansion of the Weekly Guidance videos.
4. The New and Full Moon videos will continue, and while I'll still be using my usual two cards for these moon readings, there will be more of an emphasis on intuition and free-channelled thought.
5. Lastly, yes, Tarot readings are still available. I prefer in-person readings, but will do online video and email ones for some queries. The Tarot pages on this site are offline and under maintenance for now - there will be more news on that next week.

Our Circles are going strong and I am looking to get new ones going, so if you're interested and free on any weekday morning, please do email me to let me know so I can put you on the updates list.

If you decide you do not want to be on the RSS list for this Newsletter any more, given the above changes, simply reply to any of the weekly emails you receive from Kia Ora Lounge and ask to be unsubscribed. I'll send you a reply to confirm that I've taken you off the list. Thank you.

So, on with the reading - the last one that will be in this exact format.

Visions for the future are laid down next week. Things are manifested, and yet other things are a little frustrating - there is indication there are small challenges, events, or people in your way, making things just a little more difficult than you might want them to be. But these are only small niggles. The Ace of Swords indicates they will be overcome, though you may have to find a clever, ingenious way to do so.

You are in a powerful place of leadership next week. You have the ability to command and make things happen for yourself and for others. Do not be disheartened if you find yourself on the receiving end of "needing someone else's permission" to proceed. Either play the game and give them what they want, or wait it out until you find another way ... or ... leave them behind and go your own way. It actually doesn't matter which you do as long as it's true to your vision, and your vision is powerful next week. It's worth following and seeing it through to initiation / completion.

Foundations and finances, and how one helps the other, is a topic you will have to think on next week in one way or another. It's important. Find a balance with money so you are spending what you need to spend, but not giving away what you shouldn't. Help could even come to you financially, but you may have to ask for it.

All in all, it's a good, strong week for your vision, your leadership, the manifestation of your project(s), and doing something different and independent ... possibly away from anyone or any authority that holds your purse string.

Flint would be a great stone to work with next week - it represents that strong, Mars energy in a stable form. It's a stone of both foundation and action. There is plenty of flint in Great Britain! Go find yourself a piece and ask it to guide you. You can always give it back to the earth when you have finished with it.