The Winter Solstice and Yule are upon us! Hasn't this year just sped by? This week's reading looks at the predominant daily energies and probabilities of the week ahead.

To clarify, when I do these readings, I specifically ask Spirit that they help, in a positive way, those who read them. To conduct readings in this manner where many people see them, sometimes, Spirit will, or may, focus on the strongest needs that are displayed by the audience. For example, if 30 people read it, but 6 of those people are in great need of healing from grief or panic (and perhaps have even asked for guidance), they will hone in on the 6. If no strong need dominates, they will give a more generalised pattern of the week ahead. This is simply the nature of online readings such as these. For specific readings that are just for you, please consider booking in for a consultation.

The week ahead will involve some strategic thinking and planning, and seeing things from more than one angle. Decisions will be made and they might not be easy ones, but these decisions will actually cement the beginning of a path you will take - a journey you will make. It is unlikely that you will make this decision(s) lightly - you have a sense that it will set a marker and solidify your course for the future. So, you know you have to be sure about the path you want to take.

Assuming you make the decision you are happiest and most comfortable with, off you go on your path. A new project or way of life awaits. A new phase begins. "Home" or somewhere you can create harmony and feel at peace will be very important, and perhaps even essential for the new way forward. There may be a twinge of sadness about letting go of something in order to move forward, but now, more than before, you can feel the surety of your decision, so any sorrow is less than before. Instead, what you know you want is manifesting (or you know you need to make it reality).

Considering the feelings of others is as important as ever, but something has changed recently, and now, you also feel the deep responsibility and importance of considering your own part in all things and in the future that is unfolding. So, if you have discounted your own feelings for the sake of others, while you are still sympathetic about the plight of others, you know that to create your world as you envision it, and the right future for your loved ones, you must follow your own heart and be true to you. The solidity and surety of this feeling is finally there. It is a little bittersweet, but it is also beautiful, and some part of you knows everything is going to be all right now - because you are more whole in yourself.

This makes for a beautiful Christmas period. Enjoy the beginning of your new foundation. You deserve it.

Treat yourself. Find yourself a new stone to symbolise your new beginning and new-found certainty.

There are all kinds of planetary alignments currently taking place that are creating portals for clearing the crown chakra, triggering new vision, and healing or rebalancing karmic or ancestral ties. It's a very intense energy and - if you can tap into it - deep. It's deep. It's taking place on quite a higher dimensional level. Be mindful of symbols and "coincidences" in your life - they are trying to communicate something to you - as well as any messages via your dreams. You don't need to dwell on them, just be mindful. These breadcrumbs may well be useful in the future.

Let's get straight to the reading for next week:

Life might throw you a bit of a curveball next week - something out-of-the-blue might take place. The way forward is to take hold of that assertive, rebellious energy and stick to your guns. While it is not advised that you charge forward impetuously and without thought, thinking on your feet is a must, and you may have to make decisions about things quickly. While there is a potential for chaos, holding your centre and your certainly will ensure you don't get caught up in it, but ride it instead. And ride it to a victorious conclusion, too, if the Six of Wands is anything to go by.

The Six of Wands denotes victory and recognition for your efforts. Even fame. You are called to be a leader and inspire others where you can. Being the leader in the midst of whatever happens next week is well fortuned, and you may find yourself in that role either by choice or because you have been put there by circumstance. Don't be afraid of it - step into it. That's a very clear message.

The King of Pentacles seems to confirm the victorious energy of the Six of Wands. He brings with him the potential for good, strong foundations, financial stability, and abundance and gain, so it could be that however tumultuous initial events might be next week, the outcome is the gaining of some kind of surety and stability you didn't have in the same way before. Again, the key is in stepping into your leadership role - you have it in you - and be unfaltering in its execution.

Work with stone, granite, alabaster, marble, and haematite.

Good lord, the reading for the week coming is incredibly intense and feels very painful. It is multi-layered, so I am going to do my best to break it down and apply it to both a personal situation, and a global situation (because as above, so below - what is reflected outwards and perceived, still comes from within).

I was very drawn to use The Haunted House Tarot deck again (so I should have known it would be a little dark, lol).

A huge, huge amount of shadow work and inner-child work in order to overcome current and past fears, are needed here.

The first card on the left is Judgement. Now, it could be that someone or many others have judged you harshly, but more so, I'm getting the strong sense you are judging yourself harshly - way, way too harshly. But the pain that you feel is real and likely rooted in an inner-child (childhood) hurt. A deep one. It could be that the child in the card is the woman's own daughter and she is having to rescue and protect her and get her out of harm's way (indicating you need to look out for a child or children, perhaps doing things against others' approval) but my immediate sense is telling me it is actually her own inner-child that she is rescuing. Meaning, of course, that you need to rescue your own self in some way.

The second card (3 of Swords) tells of an act of betrayal that slayed you, or something that hurt so deep nothing was ever the same again. Or perhaps, you are the one hurting yourself? Are you driving the stake through your own heart? Vampires are not living - do you need to end a part of you that is dead? That needs to be buried once and for all? Vampires are also parasites, feeding off the living. What is draining your energy completely? And do you need to slay it?

Sometimes, this card suggests that the intensity of your hurt feelings surrounding whatever this issue is, is overly-dramatic and a bit victim-like when it does not necessarily have to be. Even if something very bad actually happened - yes, feel the grief and anger - but do not keep repeatedly slaying yourself with grief and anger. Do not turn it all into, "I hurt over this; I hurt over this; I hurt over this" repeatedly for days on end. And even if the past inner-child hurt was very real and brutal, the pain and intensity belongs to then, not now, and there is a sense that you could be projecting that pain onto now and dramatizing the situation and/or your feelings surrounding it.

(Please note, the above is not meant to downplay trauma that needs professional counsel and healing.)

So, with those two cards alone, a huge amount of inner-work / shadow work / releasing fears and trauma is needed before you move on. The hurt feels fresh, so it could be something that happened very recently, but the root cause of the hurt that makes the current situation bloom feels very old.

Let's look at this last card, the Ace of Swords. I see this as a very powerful card, and certainly the Ace of Swords always throws up the core energy of power and control in your life. Who has the power and control over your life? Do you? Does someone else? Does an old memory or trauma have the power? Does the child in the woman's arms (first card) actually have the power and control? There are many questions to ask here. You can use a sword to protect yourself, or you can use a sword to wound yourself. You can use a sword to protect others, or you can use a sword to cut others down. The power to wield it is in your hands. The Ace of Swords always suggests you have more power than you think you do; that you are more powerful than you think you are. More questions: are you looking after yourself? Or are you neglecting yourself? Do you value yourself?

Looking at all three cards together, there is certainly a need to take your power back and wield it, and perhaps it's something you should have done a long time ago. Well, now is the time. Because the hurt feels so big you could drown in it. There is a lot of fear here around being judged and making the right decisions; there is a sense that you feel making the wrong decision could actually destroy the world or something. See? That is very dramatic and out-of-proportion unless you're actually James Bond. But if it is indeed how you feel, you really, really need to find emotional balance, especially if you do actually have important decisions to make. Do not let your fear - perhaps stemming from a past hurt/trauma - lead you down a path you don't want to go.

It is time to lay something to rest. It is time to let go. To allow something to die so that there can be a rebirth.

​Remember: the more challenging the cards, the more powerful the potential for total transformation (for the better).

On a more global level, the energies of next week are going to call into the fore all of the above for many people. There may be a sense of victimhood and power struggles within societies. A sense of being judged and judging others. People may feel slain by the control others have and forget that the power is actually in their own hands. But also, perhaps there is a deep societal need to finally bury a very, very old hurt or trauma that leeches energy from the present to keep the past alive.

I feel that very nurturing, heart-centred crystals are needed, like Rose Quartz, Blue Lace Agate, Green Moss Agate, Nzuri Moyo, Morganite, and so on.

Before I start on the reading for next week, I'd like to mention three new/updated pages on this site.

1. Shamanic Herbalism - I've used herbs for both energy work and medicinally since 2002, and always incorporate them somehow into my life and the work I do. They are such a big part of living shamanically that they deserve their own page.
2. Indigo Essence Consultations - for the most part, I incorporate these essences into other therapies, but can also hold consultations specifically for them. They are amazing for children and were made with them in mind.
3. I have just updated the Between Worlds Essences page to include the new Lemurian Ray Essence. My angelic guides tell me there is one more essence in this range to go, and then I will "see the whole picture" of this range. I'll run a workshop specifically about them once they are complete.

Now, on with the reading. It feels like a long time ago since last week's reading for me, and I think that's because I feel like a lot has taken place in the ether. Lots of things have shifted and there is a growing sense of either apprehension or purpose depending on where you are on your journey. It's exciting, but also scary. Here is what the cards have to say for next week...

Let's start with the good news! The good news is that whatever happens next week, you are going to come out of it okay and learn exactly what you're capable of and what your strengths are.

The bad news is that there's a big challenge to overcome.

News about travel, money, and security in general means you may have to stretch outside your comfort zone to find answers. Or it may be that you are keen to get an idea off the ground that has something to do with travel / money / security, but you have to go in a direction you've never been before. What's behind that door the child wants to open? What's in this mysterious house that looks so inviting? (And probably smells of gingerbread?)

Well, the Five of Challenges (Five of Swords) is in there. An ogre. A GIANT. He represents a huge problem, or the elephant in the room. You might need to throw him out of this house, or get around him to walk out the other door. The ogre brings a sense of danger, doom, and imprisonment - will he lock you in the house and never let you escape? Your fear might be huge, and you might feel defeated. You might have to sacrifice something to win this. Or you might decide to turn around and walk away because some things aren't worth sacrificing.

Whichever choice you make, the King of Boons (King of Coins) suggests you will succeed (in a way) and be able to make yourself at home / accomplish what you set out to accomplish. The suggestion is quite strong that you need to actually deal with the ogre rather than walk away. If you are the compliant sort who likes to follow rules, please people, and not create waves, you may find next week particularly hard. Because you can't be nice to a hot-tempered giant who wants to destroy you. But once the giant is defeated, the house is yours, and all the riches in it. More importantly, that sense of self-value will be yours because of the strength you showed and the courage you saw through. However...

There is an alternate ending: that you choose the option that will bring you more money, safety, or security whether you agree with it or not. The suggestion is also strong that practical needs must be catered for. Maybe you will allow the sense of defeat (from having to face the giant) to take hold and you will settle for material safety rather than a richer type of abundance. There is no wrong or right, by the way - some challenges are brutal. As ever, the choice is always yours. But remember, every ogre or giant in your life offers you the chance to overcome and change something that matters ... for good. If you don't face him now, you might have to again one day - perhaps he'll be stronger then. Perhaps you'll be stronger then. Sometimes it's worth waiting. You have to decide whether that's the case now - it may well be.

Which crystal to use... Oooo, I don't know! The one at the end of Gandalf's staff? One that can shrink giants or make you impervious to them? Go for one that feels like it kindles your soul. That's where strength comes from ;)

I'm using a new, fun deck for next week's reading, that I got for my birthday. It really appeals to my love of gothic horror and romance, and dark fantasy.

I'm going to break up this reading into two parts, the first one focuses on a more personal "your every day life" interpretation, and the other looks at it from a global events perspective.

Next week brings you an opportunity to get things moving and go faster. But you are asked to put yourself in the driving seat of your life. You may have to keep things close to your chest to get something done next week - perhaps even be a little bit deceptive - but it's so you can "escape" a situation and reclaim your life (or something about your life). You may have to rely on intuition and gut instinct when making a move, because some information is not available. Go within and listen to your inner guidance. Trust your higher wisdom and what your emotions are telling you because you may find yourself not sure whether you can completely trust a situation or where you are being led / what you are being told. Lastly, don't forget to take time to really listen to and acknowledge your feelings, and spend time around those that also do.

Global events are going to move fast now and there may be a feeling like nothing is in control, and you don't know where everything will end up. The sense of polarity may widen. People will feel like they need to get into the driver's seat and control things, which may lead to lots of voices and lots of opinions and lots of noise. Trust will be at a minimum (more so) because there will be a greater awareness that not everyone is receiving the full information of what is going on. There is a sense of either having to deceive or being deceived. The answer is to try and not be part of the disorganised noise. It is imperative to go within for the information not being shared. (Or to somewhere you might never usually go.) Trust in common sense and what is morally and emotionally right - instincts and intuition - and make decisions from there. Drive life forwards from there. Focus on the people who are offering kindness, friendship, compassion, and love, despite the deception and polarity in the world. And offer the same to others. That's how we cut through the crap that is playing out.

Work with any crystal that takes you flying high like an eagle and seeing things from a wider angle: Moldavite; or clear quartz crystals, especially Tibetan and golden quartz, or ones with a diamond window where facets meet. An Amethyst with good clarity would also be helpful.

I'm posting this a tad late again this week - we have had two and a half weeks of birthdays in the Lounge, so timekeeping has taken a back seat. We should be back on track soon! For my Personal Guidance Tier Members on Ko-fi, you'll receive the Expansion of this reading late tonight.

Here is this week's reading....

Loud and clear, we are asked this week to think about health. Look how green the spread is. Questions about health need to be debated and talked about (see that Expression card? See the Health card?) - nothing must be censored and we must stop censoring ourselves. Everything needs to come out into the open for the new journey we are about to embark on, and this new journey is about harmony, balance, health and wellbeing; it's about the earth and how it provides for us; it's about our bodies and how they provide for us. It's about knowing who or what we serve and allow to provide for us.

The Queen of Discs (Expression) sits on her throne, very sure and very determined; very certain of who she is and the way ahead. She represents the material sensuality of the human race; our basic necessities, but also our passionate desires and pleasures - the constant balance between the two. (Which is more important?) She is paving the way for the Page of Discs (Health); for all who have less knowledge and surety than her to follow and learn. In time, she will teach the page to stand on his own two feet, but first come the lessons of The Green Man: sovereignty, nature and Spirit. Who are you? Where do you come from? Are those the same woods you walked out of many, many moons ago?

The Green Man says it's time to take a new path and live a new life - in the case of this spread, one that directly benefits our health and wellbeing. One that allows us expression of thought and choice. One that allows nature to provide for us - no other authority but nature considering all the green in the cards and the presence of The Green Man himself. This may well involve a leap of faith, or a leap into the dark, for the forest is dark in parts and many are nowadays scared of its wildness. Nevertheless, through the forest we have to go if we are to look after our health and wellbeing. The force of nature will be strong there, and we will have to face that, too. In fact, the valuable lesson we are about to undertake might just be a reminder that nature always wins and should.

The suit of Discs reflect the winter months - Samhain, Yule - and The Green Man, which represents the primal force, and the dawning of the new consciousness (the new path), suggests we will have to become much, much more uncomfortable in our lives (travelling through the dark forest) before that dawning fills our minds. Next week marks the beginning of this process. It could be that you, or others in your life, suddenly become aware of a health-related issue that makes you/them feel unstable and possibly frightened. The key to the problem is in the first card: Expression. Allow feeling, thinking, and talking to exist - do not let anyone silence you and do not silence anyone else; allow your realisations to expand you, and do not be afraid of the dark forest, but try to see it as the beginning of something brand new.

You would do well to take a practical and material approach to things for the winter - check in on your finances, know how you will feed yourself, pay for necessities, and start to understand your immediate environment. Look after your health now - exercise, eat well, be very aware of what you are taking into your body for it gives you form. If there was ever a spread that said, unequivocally, "look after your body", this is it. Expect nothing to happen fast next week - the suit of discs tends to suggest that things will unfold in their own time.

At the end of the forest (which could take months, or even years, to walk through) there is either good health, or ill health. Only you decide which it will be by which paths you take through the darkest parts of the forest.

The strongest image I take from these three cards is the Page of Discs - mankind in learning - on one knee, bowing down to The Green Man (nature).

Work with chlorite (or chlorite in quartz), epidote, ruby in zoisite, or green calcite, all for centring yourself and connecting with both nature, and the nature you hold in your heart.

I apologise this Reading comes a bit later than usual. For my Personal Guidance Tier Members on Ko-fi, you'll receive the Expansion late tonight.

​Let's get straight into the Reading which is very succinct for next week:

This is very much a week of action and the advice is that you must take action! Stop reminiscing on past "shoulds" and "shouldn'ts" and stop trying to guess what will happen if you do this or that. Instead, know what is right (because you do know in your heart) and just do it. 

An important decision needs to be made - a decision about moving forwards and taking that action. Assume a leadership role in your life (or your job if the reading relates to a career circumstance) and lead the way. Ride on the strength of your conviction. No, you might not be popular with everyone - so what? Who cares when it's about integrity and what's right? It's time to take the reins of your life and steer the way ahead. It might not be easy, but if you don't take control of your life now, someone else will take control of it for you.

The road ahead after you've made this decision might well be challenging, but in the same way a difficult sports match is when you're playing and in pain and sweating and out of breath. Hold the vision of THE END in your mind - that's what you're striving for. That's what you're steering towards. 

Go for it! And don't look back.

Use shaman stones (moqui marbles) for the strength to forge ahead; for bringing forth the sacred person you know you are inside; and for balance as you take off into the unknown.

This year's Samhain is summing up to be quite an intense and powerful one, but also one which offers great hope for change if we are willing to put the effort in ... and it is effort. It is a bit of a hard slog that is needed...

Samhain (All Hallow's Eve) is the time of year where we celebrate the end of the Harvest and give thank for all we have. It's a time when we get together and take stock of all we have accomplished this year and then plan how to move forward (which is very much the message in the cards below). It is also a time to lick our wounds. We get ready to retreat for the dark of winter and it is a time when everything naturally slows down, and if we are in tune with the seasons, we may well feel like slowing down, too. Hibernating in some way or another. Feelings of tiredness and an intolerance to rushing may be prominent leading up to Winter Solstice. Take note of this and honour it. Try and listen to your body's needs, for it is recalibrating with the natural cycles of the earth (which involves readying for Winter here in the northern hemisphere).

Samhain also marks the beginning of the New Year in Celtic tradition as death always marks a coming rebirth. We are now at the beginning phase of a brand new cycle.

Patience and observation are very much keywords for the coming week. You might be yearning to reach the "end goal", but circumstances aren't quite right yet. This is clearly depicted by both the middle and last card: the Seven of Pentacles is about analysing your harvest and having to decide whether to reap now, or wait a bit longer for a better yield. Patience might be your saviour - it's about timing everything right.

Likewise, the Three of Wands is about taking stock of your current project or venture; observing the terrain and making plans for where you want to go next and how you're going to get there. So, without a doubt there is a sense of having to wait next week.

The King of Cups advises us to be wise next week, and use our well-gained knowledge over our lived years in compassionate ways, to help the current situation rather than hinder it. The King of Cups in this deck is represented by Erasmus of Rotterdam, a dutch philosopher born 28th October, 1466 (timely for this Reading!). He was a well-travelled man and a Catholic priest who was openly critical of the abuses of the church. Nevertheless, he chose to stay within the church, determined to reform it from within, and used many Humanistic techniques, evidenced in his many writings, to do this. He is regarded to have been hugely influential in paving the way for greater religious tolerance within his field.

This is a beautiful example of how one person can create ripples with his/her truth, that effect not just the current situation, but centuries into the future, and is suggestive of having to stay within the challenge in order to transform it. It takes patience, observation, bravery, and foresight, all with compassion so we can move forward in the most humane way possible.

This is the energy of the week to come.

Also note, the New Moon in Scorpio on the 4th November. Yes - a challenging situation indeed! Either in your life, or in the outer world globally. (Scorpio moons are never the easiest.) But sit with it, as more is yet to come to light - it's about waiting for the right time to harvest your yield.

Work with Pyrite: looking for the truth - the gold - within the illusion. Looking for the heart within the hate. Looking for the right within the wrong. (And so on.)

What a week! It's been a week of strong mothers - warrior parents - family bonds, revaluing strength from within. Nothing is insurmountable with care, nurture, and support from those who understand.

​Here is next week's reading....

"Family" also features in the coming week: questions of value and where you find your abundance. What keeps you together? What holds you at the seams? What inspires you to thrive and grow? A lot of people have spent the past two years discovering their foundations are not what they thought.

Further realisations of family value , self-value, and character come into play next week as you/we prepare for our future. For those of you who have put in hard work and made changes to realign with your values, opportunities may well present themselves. New doors open where old ones have closed, so take care to keep an open mind to how things unravel and understand that there may be hidden gifts in something that seems an unfair challenge. (This is something I discovered myself last week. I turned a card which told me there was a hidden blessing in something hard I had to do, and sure enough that blessing - directly connected to the challenge - presented itself in the most unexpected way!)

For those of you only going through those realisations of value now, the hard work is ahead of you. It may be a more "foreboding" door that opens for you, but know that it is the apprehension and shadow feelings you carry that make it seem foreboding. The opportunities are still there - it's just that you have to go through the transformation process first.

Try not to judge yourself or others too harshly as you come to realisations about your life and the way forward, but use your wisdom and discernment to make the decisions and choices you need to. You may feel like you are stumbling in the dark next week with regards to making decisions - perhaps you can't see the outcome clearly, or you are unsure of the consequences. If this is the case, it is time to close your eyes, take a deep breath, and go within to find trust in yourself and faith in the design of life, and make your choices based on those fundamental qualities.

In all cases, keep calm next week. You've got this.

Black Obsidian, Shungite, Obsidian Snowflake, and Smoky Quartz can all help you travel through the above energies.

This past week I have been reminded how painful moments and hard challenges make us stronger; how we always learn something from them (if we want to) and shed our skin in the process, moving on as a new person (in part, anyway). There are no truly bad lessons, just the opportunity to learn, even in the most terrible circumstances (which, of course, does not justify any terrible thing).

Next week, we move into quite an intense energy...

The predominant energy next week is passion. The strength of your beliefs and conviction. Your bond to someone or something. It has the potential to stir a cauldron of fire inside you that you feel compelled to release into the world. You will want to forge your way ahead on this fiery energy, strong in who you are.

This may be a passion you have for something or someone, or for an important decision you have recently made. If it is a "couple" situation, you will ideally want to make sure you are on the same page with regards to your (near) future or "the next step" you are taking. There needs to be some kind of agreement even if you go separate ways on something. Because you can see your path ahead clearly - very clearly. And you need to go and pave it.

Next week, everything will be about standing your ground and creating something new from that stand. There is the potential for a huge birth inside you - a new "you" almost - forged in fire and steel. It's beautiful.

However, there is a challenge (of course). The challenge could come in the form of a dominant person or an authoritative body, and you may find yourself having to stand strong in the face of harsh disagreement from some area of your life. If you can be analytical, logical, and reasonable, using the law (for example) in your favour as you wield that fire, all the better.

These cards suggest things lie in your favour. But you must be strong and firm - not caving in - heroic, even; and be willing to be birthed anew in some way or another. Stand strong, stand in your heart, and walk on, unburnt, by the conviction you wield.

Ooo, I'm not sure. I'm seeing something mystical and from storybooks, just like that crystal the wyvern is forging with its fire; something holding the deep orange of sunsets and sunrises. Maybe a very deeply yellow/orange Citrine. Whatever crystal this might be, let it call to the hero inside you.