During this episode, I talk personally about myself and my journey this past year, working with the Chariot, and moving into 2024 with the Card of the Year--Strength. I also talk about the biggest astrology transits of the year and how to work with them.
Tarot, Earth Medicine + Astrology for December
Blessed December! December’s astrology has retrogrades, directs, action, adventure, and momentum for 2024. Doesn’t that sound great?!?
Of course, we start December, like every December in the optimistic and enthusiastic energy of Sagittarius, which honestly encourages us to see the best in the future. A wonderful way to set lofty, ambitious goals for yourself. As we enter Capricorn season at the end of the month, we open the path to turn those lofty ambitions into reality, paving the way for a thriving 2024. Capricorn is an earthy leader and doer. Opening a way, even if it is not evident at the beginning of the month. I am counting on this, y’all. I’m just saying.
During Sagittarius season, we're all encouraged to embrace compassion, generosity, and joy. There's this boundless energy that serves as a reminder that incredible things can happen when we believe in ourselves and strive for more. Yet, it can also be challenging to set boundaries or exercise restraint. Listen ad-free to the episode for the Tarot of the Month, Earth Medicine Allies, astrology of the Month, and, of course, my crazy tangents into Greek Mythology and more.
As always, December’s Medicine Bundle is available for sale on my website:
Tarot, Earth Medicine + astrology for the month of November: Podcast + Info
Happy November! Angie talks about the astrology of the month, pulls a Tarot card archetype for November (the 9 of friggin’ Swords), and the Earth Medicine allies—Plant Medicine of Yarrow; Stone Medicine: Turquoise, Aquamarine + Lepidolite as well as work with the medicine of our Animal Guide of Alligator +/or Crocodile
Remember these earth medicine guides can be tools for this month, and help you do your thang! A medicine bundle is for sale in the shop, as always.
Remember Angie does her Tarot thing through her collective Full Moon + New Moon readings for the Moon + Stone Membership group as well as a Guided Shamanic Journey with the animal medicine of the month. The private Facebook group is a place where the group gathers every Friday for a checkin and circle plus lots of other activities (meditations, craft night, death café, Q&As) to have camaraderie and fellowship. Check out more information here: https://themoonandstone.com/monthly-memberships
In this episode, I do mention the Body Keeps Score by Bessel Van Der Kolk: https://www.amazon.com/Body-Keeps-Score-Healing-Trauma/dp/0143127748
PS from Angie: Dearest listeners, Apologies for the lateness of this episode, we had some personal family emergency stuff come up and as a result, my stutter makes a wee appearance here. It is too hard to edit out and I am unfortunately too behind in my work to do that, so enjoy my "I-bursting-at-the-seams-with-lateness" stutter. Much love, Angelica
blessed samhain!
Samhain (pronounced SOW-en, meaning Summer’s End in Gaelic), the third and final harvest festival, marks the beginning of the dark season for Wiccans and Pagans. Considered the most important day on the Wheel of the Year’s calendar, Samhain falls on October 31st to November 1st. It is the start of Winter in the Witches year. Many consider this New Year.
Agrarian communities clear their fields before Samhain, as lore warns that food harvested after Samhain somehow spoils and can only be left for night spirits, faeries, and the wandering dead. The community prepares for the long winter by drying the medicinal and magical herbs, canning, and preserving fruits and vegetables. Root vegetables are harvested and stored in the cellars for the long winter ahead. This is also traditionally the time when farmers butcher the animals for winter, drying and storing the meat to survive through the long winter. The meat salted and kept, and the bones thrown to the fire as an offering to the Gods and as a security for good fortune. (Bonfire= bone + fire)
In this way, the Horned God, an aged and matured stag, gives his life again so the people can survive the winter. The God is mourned over the three harvests—first as the Grain God, then as God of Harvest, then the Horned God. The Goddess grieves and as she does, she transforms into the old, wise, and wizen crone. The Goddess, worshipped through the year in her three aspects, never dies, just as the Earth never dies. Travels to the underworld, as in the stories of the Sumerian goddess Inanna, Demeter/Persephone, Mabon and more tell us about the way we conquer death and the proximity of our loved ones.
So many cultures celebrate the dead at this time with Halloween (a secular holiday that has borrowed Samhain’s revelry), Día de los Muertos, All Soul’s Day, Feast of the Dead…this is the most holy of days. Though each sabbat honors the cycles of life and death, Samhain formally honors the Dead. The veil between the living and the dead thins during this time—almost all can sense the connection to the ancestors, spirits, and faeries. When the animals are slaughtered at Samhain, farmers also decide which animals live—fed and housed during the long winter months. This is a big decision and commitment for farmers which often sacrifice food from their family for the keeping of their animals.
There is revelry and celebration at Samhain--magick, divination and spirit work performed at this time. But the Spirits and Fae are not always seen as allies, they are trickster, mischievous creatures right now. Unlike Beltane, people are not looking to spend all night outside. The night holds mystery and fear. So, offerings—food and drink—are left outside the doors for the Spirits and Fae. Feeding the dead remains an important part of the rituals around the world honoring the ancestors. These offerings ensured good fortune on the animals in the barn and the crops for the next year.
Because of the magical connection of this time, divination is extremely important part of this time—tarot, scrying, astrological year readings, runes, tea leaf readings, mediumship, and bone readings, where people’s names were written on bones or rocks and thrown into the fire. The next day, the bone or rock was “read” to tell the fortune of the person. Covens and families hold silent dinners where the dead are invited to share a meal. A place setting and plate of food is set in honor of the dead, and all stay silent, waiting for messages from the dead.
At Samhain, you are asked to connect with the Ancestors and your relationship with grief and death. Honor the ancestors and they can assist you on your path. Samhain is a magical time, so you are asked to take a divination method to connect to those who have passed over and the ancestors. Use whichever is your preferred way to connect to Spirit, and ask questions about the new year, about your spiritual journey and what is next for you.
I have created a Tarot Layout to connect with your ancestors and find out more about your new year.
This Samhain, I recorded a different kind of podcast, which is a history of Samhain and mostly, the modern Halloween…where does it come from and where are its roots in the old ways. You can listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Pocket Casts, Overcast, Radio Public, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Q&A with Angie on Episode 64 of Centered
In this latest episode of Centered, Angie answers some of the many questions she has received since her last Q&A episode in May on Astrology! Specifically, she is waxing a bit philosophic about life of life’s terms, being present, reacting vs. responding, sacred pause, being comfortable with being uncomfortable, authenticity and parenting and more. Here are the questions:
What is the best practice/stone to NOT shoot your mouth off at work? (seriously)
How do you know that you are doing the right thing with your life?
As a mother, how do you manage to show up as your authentic self in your business when your day is filled with chaos and managing tiny human’s schedules including your own? Do you have a specific crystal or ritual you do before you start working that helps ground you in the moment and clear your mind to focus on the task at hand?
If you want to ask me a question, you can send me a voice clip or email at angie@themoonandstone.com or you can send me a voice mail question: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/angie-yingst
Angie references these things in this podcast:
The Sacred Pause, An Excerpt from the Dharma of Poetry by John Brehm: https://wisdomexperience.org/wisdom-article/the-sacred-pause/
The Sacred Pause, Spiritual Practice by Tara Brach: https://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/practices/practices/view/21412?id=21412
Jack Kornfield on the Sacred Pause: https://jackkornfield.com/the-sacred-pause/
Tara Brach’s Meditation for the Sacred Pause: https://youtu.be/w-yF9EMkE88?si=IqtjUxKGs83vXfgH
October's Tarot Card, Earth Medicine + Sky Medicine
It's Eclipse season and the last of the two year cycle of Taurus-Scorpio Eclipses.
In this episode, Angie talks about the astrology of the month, pulls a Tarot card archetype for October (the Hermit), and the Earth Medicine allies—Plant Medicine of Mugwort and Damiana; Stone Medicine: Charoite, Moonstone + Hematite as well as work with the medicine of our Spirit Guide the Valkyrie and the Animal Guide of Phoenix
You can listen to this latest episode of Centered on Spotify (https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/VXWTngQezDb) or wherever you listen to podcasts (Amazon, I Heart Radio, Apple Music, Pocketcasts, etc) or right on my website. Or just check out my blog.
Remember these earth medicine guides can be tools for this month, and help you do your thang! A medicine bundle is for sale in my shop, as always.
You can find October's Medicine Bundle here: https://themoonandstone.com/.../oct-2023-earth-medicine...
Remember I do collective Full Moon + New Moon readings for my membership group as well as a Guided Shamanic Journey with the animal medicine of the month. We also meet each Friday for circle, and you get free bonus of Q&As with me. Check out more information here:
Blessed Autumn Equinox!
Blessed Autumn Equinox!
Autumn Equinox or Mabon comes any time between September 21-23. As one of the lesser Sabbats on the Wheel of the year, it has a more modern approach from witches and pagans, but do not be mistaken--this time of the year has always been celebrated as the Second Harvest on the Wheel of the Year. First Harvest is August 1 when we celebrate Lammas or Lughnasadh honoring the harvest of the delicate grains, including wheat, corn, and others. Second Harvest celebrates the more abundance harvest of again corn, root vegetables, squashes, gourds and pumpkins, fall fruit including apples, pears, grapes, plums and others, and other abundant crops that last in root cellars through the winter. Third Harvest festival is Samhain, celebrated Oct. 31st, when the fields are basically done, and animals are harvested for winter.
Just for reference, the Wheel of the Year is a way on understanding what are called the Solar Festivals, or the eight points on the year that are celebrated in connection to agrarian festivals throughout the world.
Mabon is considered a Masculine sabbat (like Lughnasadha). Key concepts here are gratitude, Balance, Equality, Equity and Equanimity, Abundance, Protection, Prosperity, Self-confidence, and Harmony. If you are interested in learning more, check out my latest podcast on Centered (available wherever you get podcasts) where I talk about Autumn Equinox, the Pagan understandings of the Second Harvest (I also do a deep dive into the history of the word "pagan" and then how witches started Wicca and compiled the Wheel of the Year, including how they were named, then I talk about Mabon, the correspondences for altars and grids, and then spiritual work and insights for this time. I also share journal prompts and a personal gratitude reset ritual from her upcoming book + oracle card deck called Cycles.
Listen to my podcast about the history, lore, and rituals of Mabon (and literally so much more) right here:
I also created a Tarot Layout for Autumn Equinox, so you can work with the energies in your own practice.
I also wanted to include some pictures from my cacao ceremony and healing circle, including my altar, the distance healing grid, some candles I created and more.
Blessed September
Holy cow, it is all retrogrades, all the time. In this episode, I talks about the sky medicine, I mean, astrology of the month, pulls a Tarot card archetype for September (10 of Cups), and the Earth Medicine allies—Plant Medicine of Evening Primrose; Stone Medicine: Rose Quartz, Clear Quartz and Pyrite as well as work with the medicine of Wolf.
Remember these earth medicine guides can be tools for this month, and help you do your thang! A medicine bundle is for sale in my shop, as always. You can find September's Medicine Bundle here: https://themoonandstone.com/medicine/sept-2023-earth-medicine-mojo-bag-4lgxz
Remember I do collective Full Moon + New Moon readings for my membership group as well as a Guided Shamanic Journey with the animal medicine of the month. We also meet each Friday for circle, and you get free bonus of Q&As with me. Check out more information here:
https://themoonandstone.com/monthly-memberships
Some pieces I mention in the podcast that you might find interesting:
Most U.S. wolves are listed as endangered—again. Here’s why: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/gray-wolves-relisted-endangered-species-act
I love the story of Cailleach told by Scottish storyteller Shona Cowie. I link it in the show notes. https://youtu.be/faX4qZ4Ipbk?si=4egBKt39TAjw2UJs
Fresh Air: What we get wrong about Armageddon in the Bible. https://www.npr.org/2023/04/03/1167732024/what-we-get-wrong-about-armageddon-in-the-bible
Genesis Chapter 9:http://web.mit.edu/jywang/www/cef/Bible/NIV/NIV_Bible/GEN+9.html
blessed lughnasadh
Blessed LUGHNASADH or Lammas, depending on what you call it!! It is Angelica with your Wheel of the Year Lughnasadh history and reading. Lughnasadh (pronounced LOO-nah-sah) begins the three harvests on the Wheel of the Year. Sometimes called Lammas (literally translated to Loaf-mas), it honors the first harvest of wheat—the most delicate of the harvests. Celebrated on sundown July 31st to August 1st, it can sometimes be changeable depending on the timing of harvest. Our key word here is self-sacrifice…listen to this episode for more.
In this episode, Angelica Yingst talks about Lughnasadh, the first Harvest Festival, the beginning of Autumn and Harvest season, and the community and individual spiritual work and insights for this time. She talks about rituals from her upcoming book + oracle card deck called Cycles as well as discussing the Tarot Layout of the month. She mentions Corn Husk Dolls. You can check out this bougie one from Martha Stewart:
https://www.marthastewart.com/968909/harvest-time-corn-husk-dolls
Or watch it done with Magical Crafting:
blessed august
Angie talks about the sky medicine, I mean, astrology of the month, pulls a Tarot card archetype for August, and the Earth Medicine allies—Dandelion (that persistent ally wants to hang on for another month); Stone Medicine: Citrine, Dumortierite, and Spirit Quartz as well as work with the medicine of Spider. Remember these earth medicine guides can be tools for this month, and help you do your thang!
Remember I do collective Full Moon + New Moon readings for my membership group as well as a Guided Shamanic Journey with the animal medicine of the month. We also meet each Friday for circle, and you get free bonus of Q&As with me. Check out more information here:
https://themoonandstone.com/monthly-memberships
https://herbiary.com/dandelion-root-tea-caddy-2-5-oz/
blessed midsummer
Blessed Midsummer, friends, it is Angelica Yingst with a bonus episode celebrating another turn of the Wheel with Summer Solstice celebrations. Some call it Midsummer, Summer Solstice or litha or Leetha, as others pronounce it. I could not get a clear pronunciation of it. I found an Irish speaker who said Litha, but Wiccans will sometimes say Leetha. Ultimately, the word for the holiday comes from the Anglo-Saxon name for the month of June — Ǣrra-Līða. That essentially translates to “the first liða” — and July is effectively named “the second liða.”
everything you ever wanted to know about astrology
Buckle up, Buttercup!
I spent a few months dotting her Is and crossing her Ts with this mega-questions from Natalie:
My question is: would you be willing to talk a little bit about astrology?
My questions kind of fall into 3 buckets:
1. Maybe you could give a high-level overview of how you think about and approach astrology, including sun sign versus moon sign versus rising sign.
2. And/or maybe a quick description of each sign. Along with how you characterize them. I suppose this could be a full podcast in its own right. Or maybe even 12 of them lol.
3. And/or how do you incorporate astrology into your readings and your life?
Sure, I could have broke all these questions up and not given you a 1.5 hour podcast, but then you'd have to wait, and I spent so much time connecting the dots, telling you the Ancient Greek myths associated with the constellations and zodiac, breaking down each sign, house, placement, etc....so, you don't have to! Take your time and listen. I worked hard to make it manageable and understandable for someone who knows nothing about astrology. It is a lot. I am a lot. I mean, it is part of my shizzle—to be a lot. But that is what happens when you ask a Capricorn Sun, Taurus Moon and Gemini Rising to do a little research. You will soon very much understand that. Enjoy this episode!
Blessed May!
Happy May! Here is the Tarot, Earth and Sky Reading for May with some significant lunations:
The Card of the Month is the Three of Wands and we are working with the Medicine of Arnica, Smoky Quartz, Carnelian and Green Aventurine with the specific beautiful energy of the beloved Condor. You can purchase a medicine bundle of May’s medicine in my shop.
May 1st is also Beltane, or May Day, the energy of fertility, sex, creativity and joy comes through loud and clear and we honor our own fertility and flirty natures. I recorded a podcast with all the history and lore of Beltane as well as a reading.
Tarot + Earth Medicine Reading for April
Listen to this month’s tarot + earth medicine reading on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts, or right here on my website!
Blessed Vernal Equinox
Blessed Vernal Equinox, friends! This episode of Centered is a reading, history and insights around Vernal Equinox or what modern pagans and Wiccans call Ostara.
Disclaimer for this episode is that I nerd out on some religious and cultural history of this time of the year. I include talk about Christianity, Judaism and the bible. I tend to give you biblical verses for context not preachiness. One thing to know is that I have a degree in Religion. We tend to say that Theologians, of which I am not, focus on what God thinks about humans, and Religion scholars focus on what humans think about God, so I am coming from the latter of these. And in this quest to put things into context, I often will go to the source within that religion. I do my best. I was raised Catholic and am now a pagan. I’m an earth-worshipping, tree hugging, faithful and faith filled believer in the Goddess and God, and often will just say God to mean it all. I want you to know that, because I don’t want to mislead anyone. I tend to see our alikeness in religious beliefs rather than our otherness. I could literally talk Religion all day. And maybe I will some episode.
So, there is no one traditional religion or culture where you would find all eight pagan/Wiccan sabbats as a holiday system. Wicca, also known as Witchcraft or the Craft, seeks to reestablish the link to the earth and the cycle of seasons by following what Wiccans call the "Wheel of the Year." Celebrations, known as Sabbats, serve as the spokes of the Wheel, reminding practitioners of humanity's intimate connection to nature. The Lesser Sabbats, tied to the solstices and equinoxes, and the Greater Sabbats, purportedly tied to harvest and livestock cycles, occur approximately every six weeks. Through observance of the Sabbats and Esbats, rituals taking place every new and full moon, witches keep in touch with the progression of the year and nature's rhythms.That came about in the 1950s with the creation of Wicca by Gerald Gardner.
Ostara celebrates the vernal equinox. Ostara is one of the holy days that Gardner solidified for pagans. Ostara, named after the Eostre, the Germanic Goddess of the Spring (others say she is Celtic) is celebrated on the Vernal or Spring Equinox. Like many other spring celebrations in other cultures, Ostara symbolizes fertility, rebirth, and renewal. This time of year marked the beginning of the agricultural cycle, and farmers would start planting seeds…listen to continue.
Centered Episode 49: Tarot Q+A
In this episode, I am talking about Tarot + the spiritual work of the healer. I have questions that I keep finding that I forgot to answer earlier, or just held onto for a bit, so apologies if that was you. I like to create Q&As that are related. I also have some events and things coming up that you might be interested in, so I have that after my questions, if you hang out that long. Enjoy this episode of Centered.
The questions:
Can you talk about how to create your own tarot layouts? How did you start doing that? And how do you recommend doing it?
What is a significator and why don’t you talk about them?
Beka Caudill asked Is there a certain day you suggest doing your tarot pull for the year? Any specific questions to ask?
Julie Milletti asked Are there times when you don’t do anything spiritual — tarot, meditation, earth medicine practices, etc.?✨
Tarot + Earth Medicine Reading for March
Blessed March, friends! They say March roars in like a lion but leaves as a lamb. But this March is roaring in with so much astrological shifting, we may want to roar, cry, mew, dance the Macarena, and hide under a blanket with a computer to take over the world.
This is the month we have all been waiting for, or at least, that is what we were told in the beginning of the year by astrologers. All these retrogrades, they said, just wait until March when everything shifts. I was in my live membership group circle and someone mentioned the crazy astrology in March, and I had totally forgotten. I was so caught up in what I thought would be a mild February. It was anything but for me. I was definitely getting ready for March.
So, if you have felt like me and are saying to yourself, “What gives? I thought this would be the calm time of the year.” You have laid the foundation, friend, to shift, change, adapt and let yourself get taken by the inevitable transformations of March’s astrology and energy.
Of course, I discuss this all in the Tarot + Earth Medicine Reading for March in my latest podcast. Click to listen here or at my Anchor site. Or you know Spotify, ApplePodcasts, etc…whereever you get pods, you can get mine.
+ + + + +
If you like these readings for the month and want to dive deeper with me, I have my Moon + Stone Healing Memberships. I do readings for the group on the Full Moon and the New Moon and provide a monthly shamanic journey to all members. We circle up for Coffee on Fridays and talk, pull cards, explore topics. There are a few price points for everyone and for one tier, I do a personal reading.
I just wanted to share that, since so many of you ask for how to work with me, or learn from me, I also have a place where you can schedule distant sessions with me.
And one more thing, I am starting a monthly Live Q&A, which will be very similar to my office hours at Hibiscus Moon Crystal Academy. You can sign up here. The last Wednesday of the Month. More about that coming!
shadow work
I am answering questions again. I like to answer questions, so keep them coming.This time I invited Kyra Paules to join me. We exchanged some Marco Polos about it, and then we jumped on Zoom.
Do we do shadow work or does the shadow work us? That is not the question we answer, but we say it at some point. So, Kyra and I thought we would answer some questions about shadow work, but really we only answer one question. Why are we qualified to talk about shadow anything? We like it. Also, Kyra is training to be a Jungian analyst, she is an official shadow retrieval facilitator and a therapist. I am a shamanic practitioner and we basically are shadowy creatures that like to explore the liminal spaces. And I am in recovery and we do shadow work, even though we don't call it that. We call it the fourth and fifth step.
Here are the questions we actually were asked:
Tan - My question is: how do you integrate shadow work? Shadow work gives us breakthroughs and revelations, most of the time I end up not knowing how to integrate it. How do I implement the changes? Sometimes I might even have a glimpse of what I need to do but actually doing it becomes hard. Maybe ego sabotages your missions with laziness or talks you out of it. How can we integrate our shadow in a way we don’t fell into it again?
Beka - yes, break it down on how one can do shadow work, ID your shadows etc.
If you want to find Kyra, go to http://awentarot.com and you can always find me at http://themoonandstone.com
Imbolc Reading
Enjoy this Collective Imbolc Reading for February 1. And you can try it yourself with this layout from my book the Complete Tarot Layouts:
Episode 44: Tarot+ Earth Medicine Reading for February 2023
Enjoy the tarot + earth medicine reading for February 2023