blossoms on the hill

My morning reading🌾 // I've always had an interest in herbalism, and I'm trying to be more intentional in growing my own, but my knowledge is scarce. This book is quickly becoming my herbalist's bible. It's so thorough, and the author obviously has a deep respect for the plants she writes about🌿

Sorry for the mass posting, I've been behind on getting my Instagram posts on Tumblr, and I can't just cross post because this is a side blog🙄

My card for the day is the Fool🐁🐍

I love this Fool card so much, largely because there’s so much symbolism. You can peel back the layers of this card like an onion.

Our Fool is a wood mouse. Because they like to burrow, I tend to associate mice with the earth element. This mouse is grounded and resourceful, curious and clever. I think it’s also interesting to note that mice were an animal sacred to the god Apollo. I think that the Greek god of light and knowledge is a good fit for our curious, innocent fool☀️

There’s an element of danger in this card that I haven’t seen in other Fool cards. This sweet little mouse is standing on top of a snake (I think it’s a boa constrictor, but don’t quote me on it). So we have predator and prey here. And I’ve spent so much time meditating on the fact that the snake is looking at the mouse but the mouse isn’t looking at the snake.

This is a deep, multi-layered card, but I think one of the things it speaks to is how to be a human being in a dangerous, violent world. Life can feel like a constant danger sometimes, but our little mouse can teach us to step bravely, with clear eyes and a full heart and the sun at our backs💓

The Wooden Tarot by A. L. Swartz

I pulled two owls today! The King of Pentacles and the Five of Cups make for an interesting, and ultimately uplifting, pair.

The Five of Cups depicts a barn owl, one of my favorite birds. To me, the barn owl is related to anxiety and insomnia. Barn owls are unusual in that they don’t hoot like most owls–they shriek. So I think this bird is a good fit for the Five of Cups, a card traditionally associated with mourning and regret. This owl has lost three of its eggs, and is preoccupied with its loss.

The Five of Cups reminds us of the importance of mourning. It reminds us that it’s good to take real time to grieve a loss. It can be healthy to sit with your emotions instead of running from them. And this barn owl, when it’s ready, will be able to look up and see the two eggs it still has. It will also see the powerful King of Pentacles.

This King is represented by a great horned owl, and I think here it speaks to the kind of strength and groundedness that’s needed to rejoin the world after a period of mourning. I think it’s interesting to note the difference in the eyes of these two owls. The barn owl’s eyes are hollow–it’s not seeing reality and has drawn into itself in order to heal. The great horned owl’s eyes, in contrast, are clear and strong and meeting our gaze directly. This King is here to offer help in times of weakness and light in times of darkness. At its breast is a tumble of flowers, as if it’s ready to remind us of the soft beauty the world has to offer💐

Linestrider Tarot by Siolo Thompson

The woman who owns the apartment we’re subletting has the most gorgeous plants. I can’t wait to get back to Austin and plant some aloe vera🌿

I pulled the Three of Pentacles this morning🏵🏵🏵

I can’t tell if the birds in this scene are ravens or crows, but I’m going to guess crows, based on the thinner beaks. So we have two crows building what looks like a nest. And I love the use of crows here because it speaks to the more practical side of a relationship, one that involves collaboration and partnership. Crows mate for life and tend to build lasting bonds with one another. And since the Three of Pentacles is about teamwork, this is a good reminder of how helpful it can be to make an effort at building long-term relationships.

This card is great for me, because, in general, I like to do things myself even if it’s more difficult for me. I like to be in control. I’m bad at delegating tasks. I’m bad at asking for help. I always hated group projects in school. So sometimes I need the universe to remind me that it’s okay to ask friends for help! I certainly fall into a trap of not wanting to burden my loved ones with my problems. But the people who have chosen to be a part of my life are good people who *want* to help me. I like pulling this card because it’s a reminder that I never have to face a problem on my own if I don’t want to❤️

(Unrelated, but how pretty are the backs of these cards?!)

Linestrider Tarot by Siolo Thompson

I love seeing my favorite plants in the city🌺🐝

Fauré, coffee, and my favorite decks–I love it when my husband is home to watch the kids💓

Guys, these cards are full of magic, I can feel it✨

I pull the Knight of Stones/Wands for myself a lot, but I’ve pulled this card three or four times this week, which I love. (I saw the unicorn tapestries at the Cloisters last week and I can’t stop thinking about them. I’ve had unicorns on the brain.) To me, this card represents inspiration as a sometimes elusive muse. This unicorn tells us to *run* with that burst of creative inspiration whenever we can find it🦄

And the Six of Stones encourages that leap of creativity, leading us to victory with that beautiful crystal crown. I think it’s interesting to note the single stone rising above the others. To me, this calls to mind a solitary victory. This isn’t a team effort. It’s a victory all your own, and I think that sentiment pairs well with the solitary nature of the unicorn.

I’ve been loving the Earthbound Oracle as a way to flesh out readings with the Wooden Tarot. Transformation is interesting here, and I like a green, earthy card paired with the fiery stones, grounding the energy. This card also echoes the Magician from the Wooden Tarot, with its luna moth and budding leaves. This reading is all about harnessing that inner spark to make big change. See what I mean by all this magic?🦄🐛✨

Wooden Tarot and Earthbound Oracle by A.L. Swartz

At the Cloisters yesterday evening with my cute boy. This part was my favorite. It's basically a witch garden. 🌙☀️🌿

"You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves." -Mary Oliver

My card for the day is the Four of Swords This is so appropriate! I've been thinking a lot lately about rest. Mostly about how I'm not very good at it. I chase after two toddlers all day every day, so it's hard for me to find time to rest anyway. And when I do, it's just snatches here and there. But I can see a marked difference in my quality of life when I can make ten minutes every day to sit and breathe. I've attempted daily meditation many, many times, and the habit never lasts more than a month. But I'm going to try again, with a different perspective on the idea of ritual rest/meditation. The Four of Swords has been on my mind as I think about this. I think it has a lot to teach us about the concept of rest as a ritual. The stain-glassed window encourages us to think about rest as a sacred part of our lives. It reminds us to rest regularly, as an act of self-care. But people are busy! Sometimes our lives are so chaotic that we can't set aside a specific time every day to stop and breathe. But time isn't the only way to ritualize a quiet moment. I think it's possible to create a sacred moment whenever you can find it, whether that's at dawn or dusk or sometime in between. Light the same candle, play the same music, be in the same space (even if that space is just a space in your head). Find a way to make that moment matter, even if it happens spontaneously🙏

So I'm planning on using the Earthbound Oracle less as a stand alone deck and more as a companion to the Wooden Tarot. But today I wanted to draw a single, first card as a way to say hello, and I drew Perseverance🐟 It's a card that's eerily fitting to my life right now, a pink salmon bursting out of the water. Salmon are obviously most well-known for their journeying upstream every year, and we all have cycles in our lives that feel like a long slog, all uphill. But this card also shows us a hopeful sun beating down, reminding us that the struggle pays off☀️

I got a present in the mail today! It's smaller than I imagined, and I love it. It fits perfectly in my hand like a special little gift💓

This place is full of magic✨