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:
Blessed Full Moon in Gemini!
As a Gemini Ascendent, I would just like to keep this brief, even though that is not my forte. It's the Full Moon, witches, in Gemini. We are focusing on our communication, confusion, mixed messages and our own stories. You know, the story of what happened that may or may not be true, but is the story you keep telling yourself in your head, or telling anyone who will listen. It is time, friend, to look at that shizzle. This actually is a great aspect to ask the right questions to get good answers, but the key is asking the right questions. Don't ever ask a question you do not want the answer to, especially in this lunation, but if you want to know, ask. I have a list of questions, but I am going to shut up now before I put my giant Gemini rising foot in my mouth. I’ll let my graphics speak for themselves!
Have a drama free Full Moon in Gemini, if that is even possible.
Blessed Sagittarius Season!
Welcome to Sagittarius Season, travelers! After we journeyed into the underworld with moody and shadow-exploring Scorpio, it is time to begin our ascent into light with hilarious, goofy, joyful Sagittarius.
Sag is ruled by Jupiter and works with the element of Fire. Chani Nicholas talks about mutable signs as dispensing something to the world. Expansive Sagittarius disperses enthusiasm and optimism. You need a cheerleader? Recruit a Sag for your team. They are excited to be part of the tribe, as long as it isn’t too long of a commitment. Sagittarius craves freedom. Any whiff of neediness or too muchness will make them “feel weird.” And when Sagittarius feels weird, they trust it. Truly. I love how confident Sag is in their own intuitiveness.
They do not need to explain it to you. They simply spread their wings and fly. That might look a little like ghosting, or maybe just cutting and running, or just a simple no without a dissertation (which I find refreshingly important.) In some circles, you might even say they can be a bit avoidant with emotions. But they know deep inside of them that energy flows where attention goes. So, they simply will say no and move on. For those among us who are watery and needy (Pisces, I’m looking at you), this might feel cruel. But Sagittarius is furthest from cruel. They are simply following their gut, getting their needs met, exploring the big, beautiful world, and prioritizing their own growth. If something feels like it holds down their expansion, they leave.
I am not going to say that Sagittarius is bored easily, because it is not quite that. They love to do things like play pool and have a conversation about their top five things to take to a deserted island, but they cannot sit in emotions and stuckness for too long. They don’t hang onto stories that keep them mired in the same emotional swampiness. They are incredibly intuitive, wise, and insightful, but also they don’t like to go so deep they get stuck. It is almost like a kind of observational depth.
Sagittarius needs travel, learning, different environments and stories, unrestricted movement, and exploration. They will prioritize it over almost anything else. Sagittarius tends to be optimistic, positive, and curious. They are the perennial student and prefer to take classes, hands-on learning, challenges, hearing it from the horse’s mouth, so to speak. They aren’t great with secondhand information or listening to petty crap, and yet, they also see everyone they meet on their travels as a teacher, a sage, a wise woman, treating them like their guru for that moment. Isn’t that a cool way to approach the world? Everyone has something to teach us in Sagittarius’s world; even the most challenging of people teach us how not to be. Sag loves that shit.
Sagittarius embodies wanderlust. Not simply to collect experiences, but to journey. They want to be embedded in other cultures, live as others live, have conversations that expand their consciousness. They are much more interested in the journey than the destination. And in the end, Sag’s gift is that they bring an individuality and curiosity that inspires others. Their intuitiveness guides them—signs, omens, coincidences, numbers, names, people that remind them of people. I was once in a gallery in Florence and ran into a customer from the café I worked at in Tucson Arizona. We laughed and laughed, and she said, “I know this is meant to be, because I have these tickets I cannot use, so I give them to you.” And then she said, Ciao! And kept on her travels. I was so humbled and excited. I used them, inviting other backpackers from the hostel where I was staying to have a wonderful experience I would not have been able to afford. Of course, she was a Sagittarius!
The spirituality of Sagittarius is that trust of coincidence and signs. They embody the medicine of the Tarot’s Fool, trusting the path unfurling in front of them. Sag’s sanity depends on trusting that the best will always unfold. They may not attribute to a certain God or religion, but it is a trust in the universe that all will happen. Their focus on the positive means they create their own reality, finding truth in those coincidences and happenstance that brings them medicine. My teacher Pixie says Medicine is the sacred, mysterious, supernatural power that exists in all things. Sagittarius is always in search of medicine—the medicine of challenge, the medicine of new places, the medicine of change, the medicine of thought, the medicine of creativity, and of course their challenge is to rise to the medicine and stick and stay long enough to grow, change, gain insight, and live it.
Your challenge during Sagittarius season is to embody Sagittarius’s way of being. Maybe you can call it the Tao of Sag. And in that balance of energy, we look for the deeper meaning, we trust our instincts and intuition, we follow the medicine, we get curious and open and let the joy unfold.
Blessed Scorpio Season!
Welcome to Scorpio Season, Shadow Walkers! Hold onto your existentialist tomes, pull out your death journals, we are in Scorpio season where we contemplate life, the universe, the present moment, absurdity, death and rebirth, sex and then, like everything else (I said that like Loren Michaels in my head.)
Scorpio is a fixed water sign, which means in its essence, it is both moving, flowing, flexible, emotional AND stubborn, rigid, and seeking stability. Fixed signs harness their element’s strongest qualities. And Scorpio harnesses, as Chani Nicholas says, the power of its emotional intensity. Scorpio is transformative in its way of being—pushing the perishing parts of us to finally die so rebirth can happen, transmuting into something more aligned with who they are. They are alchemists in that way.
While Scorpio’s fixedness gives it a stubbornness, which is both useful and annoying to their partners (ahem, Sam Yingst), they also seek freedom and liberation. Scorpio is defiant by nature, in the best way possible. Scorpio subverts the dominant paradigm. They throw the lightning strike that brings the Tower down. Scorpio enjoys conversations that go deep, emotionally vulnerable, intense, connective. Scorpio wants us to face the truth that we are one day going to die and so we must pay attention to the present moment. The present is made precious, in Scorpio’s mind, by the reality of death. Scorpio says, “Face your fears. Face your death. Face your Shadow. Face your Trauma. Embrace them. Play some Rummy. Have some tea. Make friends. Then be in the moment with all them co-existing in you.” Scorpio, the Emotional Revolutionary, the Goth Kid of Astrology, the Peaceful Warrior, and ones that point to the Emperor and say, “That dude nekkid.”
Scorpio’s often get accused of being too aloof, but they are observers—observers of the World and watchers of the humans (sometimes Scorpio humans feel detached from humanity, like they are from another time and place). They are conscious of what works, of systems, of human nature. They understand human nature, particularly the Shadowy parts. Through routine and systems of doing, they take out all the thought of anything superficial, so they can focus on deeper things, like the whys and hows. That routine can sometimes give Scorpio the reputation of being controlling, stubborn or unable to play peacefully in the sandbox with others. (Group projects annoy Scorpios unless they are doing it all, then they get resentful of the ”idiots in their group”.) Scorpios can have that black and white thinking in practice with lots of grey areas in theory, so they seek to both harness and to liberate. It is a contradiction that makes Scorpio such a deep, powerful season (and if you have Scorpio in your top three [Sun, Moon, or Rising], you know this makes you a deep, powerful human too.)
That power scares mere mortals.
Scorpios are not afraid of their power. They will wield it when it benefits them. Most Scorpios have a very strong sense of ethics and mortality, and so use it for good. They are excellent readers of humans. If you want a reliable first impression, ask a Scorpio. They do not hold back. They do not suffer fools, unless that fool is engaging in some of their favorite pastimes like absurdist and silly conversations, dark humor, sarcastic and witty repartee and finding meaning in everything.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t talk about the inherent connection to death and sex. You find Scorpio one of the more demonized signs in the Zodiac, but that is because Scorpio is ruled by Pluto and Mars. Pluto rules the Shadow issues, particularly death, existence, emotions, and truth. You know, those little things. Mars is the warrior, active, ready to fight, upturn or honestly have a little nooky, if that is offered. Scorpio walks the razor’s edge of existence—the liminal space between the present moment and the infinite, action and contemplation, truth and lies, the real and the imaginary, anxiety and bravado, sexiness and prudishness, life and death. Scorpio looks at the underbelly of society and says, “I bet they make some good art there. Let’s check it out.” Scorpio season honors real in the bluntest ways, showing you the real blood and guts of a situation or situation. But they bravely reveal the shadow, talk about it, take the elephant in the room for a ride, then return it to its true home.
I find most Scorpios fairly introverted, playing their cards close to their chest. But they often do not see themselves that way. In fact, they seek community, but in time of anxiety or fear or contemplation, they isolate and sometimes self-harm. It is their nature. It can be through overly indulging in some soul sedative (sex, masturbation, drinking, drugs, alcohol, eating, gambling, anything traditionally thought of as addictive), or it can be through repetitive working out, deprivation, challenges, or of course hurting oneself. Again, Scorpio is dark. They are the ones that would say they wanted to feel something, anything, and self-harmed. This is the Shadow of Scorpio—avoidant, dissociated, unable to swim in the complex seas of Pluto and Mars. But in their light, Scorpio is emotionally aware, often the most emotionally mature in the room, calling things by their proper name—Sensitivities, be damned!
It is time to take a walk on the shadow side with Scorpio. Enjoy it. We have a Lunar Eclipse on Friday, October 28th in Taurus, which stands directly opposite Scorpio on the Astrological wheel—a fixed earth sign Moon with a fixed water sign Sun.
*Hey, no disrespect. I’m a Capricorn. I get it, Scorpio. In fact, we are pretty much tailor made for each other.
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
Blessed Full Moon in Aries!
Blessed Full Moon in Aries.
When we are dealing with Full Moons, we are looking at the Moon being in the sign opposite of the sun, unlike New Moons where the sun and moon are in the same sign. The tension created by the Sun and Moon in opposition can create breakthroughs in our consciousness and allows us to grow, evolve, and transform.
Aries and Libra sit opposite each other in the sky and on the zodiac wheel, so as the Sun sits in Libra, the full Moon lands in Aries. So, we have the Sun in Libra, and we have the Moon in Aries. What relational energy do these two sign have? Well, they are both cardinal signs, meaning they kick off season, they are both leaders and often great at motivation, drive and kicking off projects. It’s the finishing of projects that sometimes challenges Cardinal signs.
The Sun in Libra allows us to work with its vibrations in our energetic bodies. Aries is home to the first house of the self and ruled by Mars, while Libra is home to the seventh house of relationships and ruled by Venus. Mars and Venus. Self and Other. These are our tensions on this Super Moon in Aries. With the closeness to the South Node, this full moon may feel a bit like an Eclipse.
To work with some of this energy, I created a Tarot Layout that might be useful for those of you who use Tarot as a way in and to connect with Spirit.
Love this kind of content and want to learn more and go deeper with the Lunar Cycles? Check out the Moon + Stone Membership Group. Or if you are really interested in the Cycles, why not check out my class called Cycles, available right here, and it is on sale!
Happy Libra Season!
Welcome to Libra Season, creators of beauty! This year’s Libra season is infused with Eclipses, meaning that the usual Venus-ruled Libra who loves love and beauty, helping you emphasize relationships means some serious business. Why you love love, Libra? Aren’t you sick of the same partner archetype that ends up draining your bank account or energy account and hits on your bestie and gaslights you?
My sense is you are sick of it. Well, you are in luck!! This Libra season, we are looking at patterns in our relationships, particularly around why our peckers, uh, I mean pickers, might be off a bit. Why we might delve into people-pleasing, ignoring our own needs and wants, to support our partner’s needs and wants.
This is your time, witch, to break any co-dependent patterns, and finish that damned karma already. Libra excels at finding and maintaining balance, which is what makes them excellent diplomats, mediators, and judges, but also puts them in a quandary in relationships. They can beautifully see each side of an argument. They understand the complexities of each situation, including complex or difficult pasts. And what I mean by that is they often will see a big red flag in a person, friendship, romantic partner, spouse, work situation or other relationship, and then look right on past in, climbing into way back machine and putting themselves into the story—wanting to heal the wounded child. While it is great to have empathy and compassion, it isn’t great to justify bad behaviors. We often hear it as justifications and excused—"She was abandoned;” “He was cheated on;” “They had a bad day at work,” “their parents always screamed at them, that is why they scream;” or “They were not nurtured enough as a child and that is why they are:” angry, mean, short, abusive, unkind, unfaithful, etc, etc, etc.” (Fill in your favorite excuse for being treated like crap.) These are the shadow of mediator, the one that wants to remain so objective, they take themselves out of the equation of care.
Whether it is a relationship or a situation in life…if it has a number of sides, Libra is well-acquainted with each of them. But this can often lead to analysis paralysis—or for my Tarot peeps, a Seven of Cups type situation. I always want to scream, “Choose yourself, Libra.”
Sometimes Libra season embroils itself so much in compassion and empathy, the self gets lost. Libra will sometimes be in the space of having no idea what they want (that’s the analysis paralysis, I was talking about.) In relationships, intuitiveness, compassion and empathy make them favorite targets of narcissists and attachment-wounded individuals.
Of course, when Libra realizes this, they often cut and run. Because when we look at the light aspect of Libra (seeking and maintaining balance), we need to address the shadow aspect too (acting impulsively in an extreme way). So, in Libra season, if your instinct is to say, “F*ck all y’all.” Stop. Practice the Sacred Pause, and gives yourself the gift of getting curious about the desire to cut everyone out.
Listen, humans can complicate a paper bag. We are never all light or all shadow; we are often a beautiful mélange of our wounds and our wisdom. We hope to be on the path of not lashing out, of self-discovery and peace, but we are wounded, and wounded complicated people sometimes act out of their wounded self. Libra always strives to balance the two (wounds and wisdom), but hell, we are human. We can be frustratingly predictable when we get our feelings hurt. So, give yourself grace. Love yourself when you are most unlovable. And remember Libra is ruled by Venus/Aphrodite, Venus can sometimes be smitten with the façade, the beauty someone presents, rather than the complex truth of the individual. So, seeing a red flag and protecting yourself isn’t being judgmental. It is being discerning, intelligent. It doesn’t not mean you never talk to that person; it means you hold space, take them where they are, and then meet them with your empathy and kindness without having to fix them, adopt them, take them on as a project or marry them. ‘Mkay?
This Libra Season, I encourage you to find the equanimity within yourself. Who are you? Libra is a Cardinal Air sign, meaning it is heady, intellectual, thoughtful, and can be an excellent leader if that self-knowledge is there. Where Libra gets muddy is if they are subsumed in another person, ideology, dogma, religious group, identity beyond the self…they can lose who they are. Subsequently, when the Sun is in Libra, we can sometimes tap into that energy whether or not we have Libra in our charts. Approach each day checking in with your emotional regulation or emotional sobriety…where am I on the emotional sobriety chart if the Dalai Lama is one end and fall down black out punching drunk is on the other? Take the Sacred Pause before speaking, check in with yourself. Here is my usual inner monologue when I take the Sacred Pause: “You good, bitch? You gonna lash out or shut down? Can you access your wisdom? How old are you, Mami? Did you invite Spirit into this conversation? Do that now.” And if I am going to lash out or shut down and I cannot access my wisdom, I politely excuse myself, or say, “Hey, I’m feeling a little weird or emotionally dysregulated. Let me take a minute and come back to this convo. Kk.” Then I go do something calming—meditation, gentle movement, pulling weeds, journaling, pulling tarot, scrolling tiktok (though that could be addictive, so be careful with that one.)
Healthy relationships are not about completing each other. They are two fully formed and fully realized individuals coming together on parallel paths with their own desires, goals, dreams, sexuality, work, and identity. Libra brings beauty, compassion, love, empathy, but it has to start at home, so take care of you during Libra season. It wants to gift us with the tools for centering the self, honoring your identity, bringing peace, and balancing polarities, as long as your own house is in order. As Ram Das said, “We are all here to walk each other home.”
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 New Moon in Virgo
I love me a Virgo New Moon. Because I love me some labels on bins, neat and orderly cabinets, the organization and order of mouse medicine (paying attention to details). I love streamlining things, and the beauty of efficiency, and Virgo New Moons are great times to get your shit together and implement some efficiency or organization habits.
This is particularly true when it comes to caring for the self. Virgo is a healer & caregiver. This moon is awesome for learning radical self-acceptance, practicing exquisite self-care, implementing some effective care habits, and learning to mother yourself with deep compassion and love.
The New Moon on September 14th is at 9:39 PM EST, and Mercury stations direct on September 15th at 4:21 pm ET. So, the Sun, Moon and Mercury are all happening in Virgo, making this a lovely time to do Virgo work.
Reflect on the last month or so and think about our "mistakes" or the setbacks that arose...what did they teach you? Where is the wisdom in mistake? Where is the beauty in the recovery? And maybe most importantly, what was your first reaction to the mistake or block or error?
And that is the rub this New Moon--the mistakes, the disorganization, the setbacks and how you responded, is the medicine. We are on a fact-finding mission to understand ourselves.
So, reflect over the last lunation, from August's New Moon in Leo to now. Where were your setbacks, then follow it through...why did that arise? How were you or weren't you present in the moment? How did you talk to yourself? How did you soothe yourself? How did self-criticism help or harm? We can look at how we were triggered, then where is the wound? Where did it come from? How can we feel safe? How can we be kind to our wounded self? Where are our joys, our needs and our wants?
The personal Tarot layout for this New Moon is all about self-care and how we can integrate it in with our goals, then develop habits that heal and move us to more radical self-acceptance. I shared my personal reading, and used Laura Tempest Zarkoff 's deck Anatomy of a Witch for extra insight. Blessed New Moon in Virgo!
Super Blue Moon in Pisces
A watery, mystical, dreamy Pisces full moon at the start of earth and detail-oriented Virgo season awakens your subconscious dream life and brings it in for a reality check. I love that these two mutable signs can help you shift focus from societal prescriptions and comfort to what you really want. Hey, this is a time for dreaming, and maybe even taking it a step further by allowing the Virgo Sun to say, Here are the actionable steps I would take to make that dream a reality.
Don't forget to ground and tap into Earth energy during this dreamy time. It is easy to get that 100 yard stare imagining a different life and seeing a whole other existence that honors who you authentically are. But then again, maybe it just means you are spacey. Whichever, take a moment to cleanse, ground, protect and honor your inner dreams. Write that shizzle down. What changes are you needing? Go back to March 2023's intention...what goal did you set and how has that shifted?
I have a personal Blue Moon Tarot Layout for y’all, so check that out if you are a tarot reader, and here is the collective reading.
Blue Moons are auspicious times, bringing magick & light to our dreams & long term goals. This Blue Moon is wonderful for focusing on setting long-term goals, exploring the deepest of our dreams (the one we daydream about, but never speak aloud), intentions, & releasing what blocks the way to your goals. This Piscean Blue Moon is more mystical & spiritual than other Blue Moons, This tarot layout helps you go deep with your dreams. With this layout we can discern what dreams we are ready to pursue, how to get there and become aware of all those energies that distract us from our goals & bring clarity to our wounded inner voice that lies to us about our worth & limits our infinite potential. Blessed Blue Moon!
Blessed Virgo Season + Mercury Retrograde
Welcome to Virgo Season, witches!
We kick it off with a Mercury stationing Retrograde today, so hang onto your husbands, girls!* And by husbands, I mean, your communications. Keep them in your pants/in your drafts folders. Though this is an excellent time to plan things, because Virgo loves a good five-year plan and is an excellent wind at your back for the details that a bigger picture Earth sign isn't always great at (ahem, I am looking at you, Capricorn!)
Virgo is known for being fussy, but it isn't as much fussy as efficient, analytical, detailed, and a powerhouse of getting shit done. Some of you Air and Water signs might see it as fussy or sticklery, but that is just because you don't mind if the tablecloth is crooked and that is your prerogative. (But you are wrong.) Because it is a mutable earth sign, Virgo can manifest that mutability as anxiety, but it is really attention to all the things at the same time. Everything everywhere all at once. Virgo can make a minor typo feel huge. It is just because it is all important to Virgo brains, because the details make up the big picture, not the other way around. (Again, I am looking at you, Capricorn.) Virgo channels that native wisdom of streamlining, efficiency and order.
Virgo is ruled by Mercury, so you might find this particular Mercury Rx isn't as intense, but I still suggest the planning is more important than the doing in these three weeks.
Virgo heals. Virgos are natural healers, in the sense, that order, stability, and cleanliness heal our chaotic minds. Virgo is the sign of the healer, giver, space holder. So, this is a great season to be engaging in new routines with healing and service work. And by service work, I mean, being of service to fellow humans and/or animal friends. How and where can you be most helpful to your community?
Now, let’s talk a little about Mercury Retrograde. So, are you like,”Angie, are you effing kidding me right now, bro? I thought we were already in Mercury Retrograde?!?! I mean, shit ain’t right already.” We go into a pre-retrograde period a few weeks before it starts, and then go into a shadow retrograde period after it ends. So, you might have been stalking you for a few weeks in its pre-shadow time frame. So, you are already swimming in the soup, people!
welcome to the jungle!
Mercury Retrograde has a reputation, because it happens three times a year for three weeks a piece, then counting the pre-retrograde period and the shadow retrograde, that is like a good 2 months 3xs a year, so calculating in my really math-deficient brain that seems like a good 6 months of Mercury doing its thing. It reminds me of my friend Billy during a Daylight Savings time change. He posted something on FB that said, “OMG, stop complaining about the time change. It happens twice a year. JUST GO TO SLEEP!” Or that one cartoon I cannot find now where the Moon is leaning in some lady’s window when she is in bed and says, “Stop blaming me for everything!”
It is because Mercury rules communication, and we often notice electronics being a little temperamental, my dryer is broken, por ejemplo, (I feel like Laura Ingalls Wilder hanging my clothes outside with actual clothes pins. I even wear a bonnet to do it and call my kids Half-Pint.)
Communications is a little wonky, like sending a text before you edited it 15 times or mispelling something on your resume for an editing job...just double check things. Mercury Retrograde is in Virgo, and Virgo is a stickler, so expect those issues of Mercury Rx to be in the little details that drive you crazy. Listen, Mercury Rx is just as important as Mercury Direct...we get to use every part of the Moon + Planetary movements. We can use this time for planning, dreaming, laying out what our steps might be. Take three weeks for that planning time, but hold off on moving forward. I have some tips for you during this time:
And if you use Tarot, here is a cool layout:
If you are up for using crystals, I use a combination of Throat Chakra stones and grounding stones. Throat chakra or communication stones like Aquamarine, Blue Lace Agate, Hemimorphite, Amazonite, and my favorite for Mercury Retrograde is Fluorite, often called the stone of the student. It really helps with clarity and understanding. Grounding stones I use are Hematite, Smoky Quartz, Black Tourmaline and...wait for it, Garnet are great. My friend Chris (Tall Chris Crystals) gave me some Black Garnet, and that is going to be my new GOTO for Merc. Rx. The grid here is Fluorite, Smoky Quartz and Hematite, but you do you, boo.
(*I am quoting Practical Magic, not suddenly shifting personalities here.)
full moon in aquarius
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:
burn out + self-care
dearest moon + stoners,
I just finished the latest Complete Tarot course, and it was such an awesome mix of people and energies. I held two Live Q&As a week with that course, plus filmed a class each week, plus a layout class, and then of course, some bonus videos. My favorite bonus is something close to my heart, which are the Greek Myths that tangentially appear in the Major + Minor Arcana of the Tarot. You know, an hour of myth exploring and storytelling is my idea of a good time.
But, y'all, it was a lot. I left a situation at Hibiscus Moon Crystal Academy where we had a team of eight people basically launching classes, which were the same classes twice a year. We had it down to a proverbial science. And it still wore us out, burnt us out, but I also felt like I knew how to do it in my bones. So, when I was putting all my energy into the Moon + Stone and launching classes, I thought, "HOW HARD COULD IT BE?!?"
It is goddess-dang hard, yo.
Neck deep in the middle of a session of the Complete Tarot, I had a total mental breakdown where I just went into a catatonic state and stared at a wall for 90 minutes. I had nothing left in the tank. My kids needed a chauffeur, lawns needed to be mowed, and still I just stared. I was waking at 3:30am just to finish stuff before I had to do more stuff. Still, I was posting classes at the literal 11th hour. I fell asleep staring at the wall. My tank wasn't just empty. I exploded the engine all together, so there was no amount of gas that would make me run, but I still had to run.
I say this only to say, in the midst of that, I had this commitment to share my story (in recovery, we call it experience, strength, and hope) at one of our main celebration days in AA called Founder's Day. It is always an honor to share your story, because it means someone thinks you have something hopeful to share. This was my local Founder's Day picnic. I am in Central Pennsylvania and our Founder's Day picnic has a nice turnout--150 people.
Founder's Day, in case you don't know, is the day Alcoholics Anonymous was founded. It isn't the day Bill Wilson got sober. It is the day that Dr. Bob Smith got sober. Pull up a chair, I'm going to tell you a story.
Bill Wilson was a stock analyst who also happened to be a real alcoholic. He lost most of his money in the crash of 1929, and went on a hellish drinking spree that lasted for a long long time. He was unemployable, destitute, living with his in-laws, drinking himself into oblivion. At that time, alcoholism was seen as a moral failing (hey, in some circles, it is still seen that way). If you were an alcoholic, you ended up in an institution--jail or the sanitarium--or you ended up dead. There wasn't much hope for drunks.
Bill was in and out of the hospitals, the asylums and was basically told he would die or end up with wet brain. One day, his friend Ebby** came to visit. Bill and Ebby drank together many many times, and so Bill was excited to have a fellow drinker visiting. That is when Ebby told him he had quit drinking because he found God. Ebby had joined the Oxford Group, which was an evangelical Christian organization founded by the American Lutheran minister Frank Buchman in 1921. Buchman believed that fear and selfishness were the root of all problems. Further, Buchman believed that the solution to living with fear and selfishness was to "surrender one's life over to God's plan".
Bill really didn't want to hear about God, but he was intrigued that Ebby was sober and completely transformed. So, he tried it, but couldn't stay sober. They had steps to do and ways to take responsibilities for your life. Bill ended up in another institution in a few short months.
This time, though, he had the Oxford Group's ideas about being of service to your fellow man in the back of his mind, so in the midst of his Delirium Tremens, Bill W. yelled out to God and asked to be shown God. According to Bill W., while lying in bed depressed and despairing, he cried out, "I'll do anything! Anything at all! If there be a God, let Him show Himself!" He then had the sensation of a bright light, a feeling of ecstasy, and a new serenity. He never drank again for the remainder of his life.
Bill W. joined the Oxford Group and tried to help other alcoholics, but succeeded only in keeping sober himself. So, I say all of that for background, here is what I really want to share about this story. Bill W. travels to Akron Ohio for work. He has a terrible day. The whole reason he was there was to do business, and his business deal falls through. In AA, we always say he had a failed business trip. So, he walks into the lobby of his hotel. On one side of the lobby is a bar. People are laughing and drinking and having a good time.
He wants a drink. I mean, for the first time since his God experience, he wants a serious drink. But he knows that at the core of his sobriety is helping someone else. He stayed sober all this time by helping other alcoholics in the Oxford Group. Granted, they didn't stay sober, but he did. So, he is at this crossroads. He could go into the bar and have a drink or he could get out of his comfort zone and help another alcoholic.
I think about that crossroads every day. I am not exaggerating. I think about Bill W. standing there with all the laughing joyous people on one side of the lobby drinking alcohol and a bank of phones on the other side of the lobby. It is 1935, remember and he is somewhere where he knows no one. Obviously, no cell phone, no meetings (he hasn’t invented meetings yet), no companion, no other alcoholics.
What would you do?
He goes to the phones and calls a Church. RANDOMLY CALL A CHURCH, and basically says, "I need an alcoholic. Stat."
Actually, he does call a church and talked to Episcopal minister Rev. Walter Tunks and tells him that he is an alcoholic who wants to drink, and he has found when he helps another alcoholic, he doesn't drink, so the good Reverend sends him to a woman named Henrietta Sieberling, who is part of the Oxford Group in Akron. She had been praying for this alcoholic every day, so she sends to the guy. Dr. Robert Smith, a prominent Akron surgeon, whose drinking is affecting his practice, his life, his marriage....After delaying the meeting for a day, Dr. Bob agreed to a fifteen-minute encounter.
When they met, the fifteen minutes became six hours. Bill W. told him about his own experience as an alcoholic, he talked about what he had learned about alcoholism and then spoke of his own spiritual experience. Dr. Bob drank again within the month, but less than a month later, had his last drink. His sobriety date is considered the founding date of AA. From there, together, they found a drunk in a hospital and talked to him, and then another person. They decided on principles, ideals, and what helped. One alcoholic talking to another alcoholic.
Like I said, I think about that moment when Bill W. thought he was at his lowest. The last thing he wanted to do was call a church. He wanted to have a drink, but he thought it through. He had a spiritual awakening, and he wanted to keep his Spirit awake, so he went out of his comfort zone and took the path toward the phone. He called someone and said, "I'm an alcoholic." That is probably the last thing in the world he wanted to say out loud, and when he said it, he not only saved his life, but millions of other people over the last 88 years.
We are always at the crossroads, friends. Always. We stand in the morning at a crossroads. Do we want to go numbingly into the bar, or do we want to move towards our spiritual awakening? I always say this to my sponsees—you are either moving toward a drink or toward God or your Higher Power. That one step changed the history of the world, and your one step might too. Mine might. We just never know. We just never know when we meet the person who inspires us to change the world.
Why am I telling you this? Well, when I spoke at Founder's Day in front of 150 people, I woke up not wanting to do it. I, like most people, get nervous public speaking. I used to stutter and break out in hives when I was in front of other humans. Plus, I reasoned in my head, I made this commitment in February before I knew how busy I would be. I had just had a mental health sitch, where I was catatonic, recognizing my traumatized brain was in a state of dissociation, and I was deeply depressed and distressed. I wasn't calling my people. I was just existing one minute to the next, praying for these feelings to be over soon.
But nonetheless, that Saturday morning, I got up, sang up my prayers, did my morning Reiki, and drank my coffee. I drove to an AA meeting and made coffee, greeted people, did my best to share where I was, then I went home and got dressed and went to this picnic and stood in front of 137 people, plus a shit ton more who didn't count in, and told them about the most vulnerable part of me--the alcoholic part, the broken part, but I didn't stop there. I told them about my crossroads, hoping to help someone stay sober for one day.
Since my mental breakdown…
sidenote upon reflection: do I need to call it that? I don’t know. I am not crying all the time. I am just existing and numb, but it felt like a breakdown that I am hoping to transform into a breakthrough. But yeah, it kind of was a breakdown…
(back to our regularly scheduled update) Since my mental breakdown a few weeks ago, I had to keep working. I had to sit with my insane schedule of up at 330am and working for 16 hours. It didn't fall lightly on me that a few months ago, I saw a post by inspirational coach Annie Adamson that said:
"I would never hire a coach that…Doesn’t prioritize their health mental physical spiritual
Red flags 👋
🚩 Working overtime
🚩 Not moving their body
🚩 Skipping meals
🚩 Not taking time off
🚩 Ungrounded
🚩 Overly caffeinated 😝
If you are looking for a coach, ask them about their priorities. If they are not striving to live their best life, do not hire them…Looking for a good coach can be a daunting task. They could have all the "skills" and the best "intentions" but if they are not healthy it WILL effect you and your results." Ooof, man, that hit me right in the old kisser, or rather in the solar plexus.
Working overtime - uh, me.
Not moving their body - uh, me
Skipping meals - also, me
Not taking time off - um, I try.
Ungrounded - okay, I am pretty good at this one or am I?
Overly caffeinated - not overly, but at least a bit caffeinated.
I kept turning it over in my head. Is it fair to my students and clients that I feel like I am drowning and slowly dying inside and still doing a tarot reading for them?
The truth is that I have been working for the last eight years for a business where my boss took 2 months sabbatical, months and weeks off at a time, had a four day work week, 6 hour days. She modeled this, but I was working my fingers to the bone with no bonuses, health insurance or vacation days, waking up super early just to get everything done before my kids woke up. I have had to work every vacation for the last seven years because I wasn't granted a vacation. Because I had zero $ for vacation time, even though I gave tirelessly for this business, because you know what, I WASN'T EVEN A FULL TIME EMPLOYEE.
That is not my boss's fault, that is mine. She modeled good work-life balance. She modeled time off. I just didn’t take it. I tolerated working myself to death. I allowed myself to burn out. And to have my own business these last 10 years, I have had to work weekends, evenings, all my days off. I had to find babysitters, and drivers and cooks. I have stumbled in at 11pm after a long circle, only to get up again 4 hours later and do it all over again. And sometimes for 2 people who paid me $80 collectively, not mentioning rent and stuff I bought for the circle.
That is just the reality of this life as a healer, reader and human. Or it was my reality. Maybe I should say, that is the reality of someone who is mired in scarcity thinking and self-loathing. This must be what I deserve, because I have never not worked. Not since I was 13. I always had a job. It is where my worth was based, and that isn’t fair to anyone, most of all me.
+ + + + +
I stand at a crossroads again. There is an office on the left side of my consciousness. In it are shelves of books about all my special interests--tarot, crystals, mythology, shamanic healing, religions, mental health. There are classes I should teach, people who need readings, there was journeys to perform, and it is filled with people begging me to help them. It looks so inviting to me. But it is set up like a casino--no clocks, no loved ones, just me giving of myself until I drop.
On the other side of my consciousness is a simple row of telephones. They go to a direct prayer line to Great Spirit. If I walk to the phone booth, I get to ask for help with my workaholism and my boundary-less practice. I get to plug in. I get to move my body. I get to eat more than energy bars and mixed nuts. I get to keep it simple and log off of social for a minute, and ask my kids if they want to meditate with me. I might even play guitar. I will definitely be in therapy. And I will allow the 1000 yard stare to let me know I have a feeling I need to feel.
All of that is to say, I know some of you are searching around for how to schedule a one-on-one session with me or my classes. I have been struggling with some mental health challenges, including burn-out, chronic pain and fatigue, which has pushed me to make the difficult decision not to see clients for the time being. I will be focusing on self-care, mental health, and reconnecting with my spiritual practices.
I am still offering Live Q&As at the end of the month. I appreciate all your support of my personal practice. I will inform you via newsletter if I offer one-on-ones again. (I assume this will look different than it has in the past, like maybe one day a month in person and one online, or something, but this will not be offered again until at the very soonest, Winter 2023, but you never know how I will feel with some distance and healing time.)
Much love
* “Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome (WKS), sometimes referred to as wet brain, is a brain disorder related to the acute and chronic phases of a vitamin B1 (thiamine) deficiency. Thiamine depletion is seen in individuals with poor nutrition and is a common complication of long-term, heavy drinking. It's possible to reverse the symptoms when caught early, but left untreated, WKS can lead to irreversible confusion, difficulty with muscle coordination, and hallucinations.
Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome (WKS) is sometimes colloquially referred to as “wet brain.” This term, however, used to talk about WKS is stigmatizing and stems from the inaccurate belief that individuals willfully contracted WKS due to prolonged alcohol misuse. Using phrases like “wet brain” can create a negative bias, perpetuate the idea that addiction is a moral failing—and not a medical condition—and prevent individuals from seeking the help they need for WKS, which is a severe, life-threatening brain disorder that is actually comprised of two conditions.
The first part of WKS, Wernicke’s encephalopathy, is a severe and temporary condition characterized by confusion, loss of muscular coordination, and abnormal eye movements and vision changes.
The second aspect of WKS, Korsakoff’s psychosis, often follows or accompanies Wernicke’s encephalopathy. Korsakoff’s psychosis is a persistent, chronic condition that can cause significant impairment in learning and memory and interfere with a person’s ability to function normally.”
from the website American Addiction Centers
** Edwin Throckmorton Thacher (29 April 1896 – 21 March 1966) (commonly known as Ebby Thacher or Ebby T.) was an old drinking friend and later the sponsor of Alcoholics Anonymous co-founder Bill Wilson. Thacher was a school friend of Wilson, and battled his whole life with alcoholism, frequently landing in mental hospitals or jail. After one bender, three members of The Oxford Group, Rowland Hazard, F. Shepard Cornell, and Cebra Graves, convinced the court to parole Thacher into their custody. Hazard taught Thacher the Oxford Group principles and the idea that a conversion was needed between patients. Hazard lodged him in the Calvary Rescue Mission, operated by the Calvary Episcopal Church in New York City. He is credited with introducing Wilson to the initial principles that AA would soon develop, such as "one alcoholic talking to another," and the Jungian thesis which was passed along to Rowland Hazard and, in turn, to Thacher that alcoholics could recover by a "genuine conversion".
personal note about one-on-ones
July 1, 2023 - Personal Note:
Dearest clients,
I know some of you are searching around for how to schedule a one-on-one session with me. I have been struggling with some mental health challenges, including burn-out, chronic pain and fatigue, which has pushed me to make the difficult decision not to see clients for the time being. I will be focusing on self-care, mental health, and reconnecting with my spiritual practices.
I am still offering Live Q&As at the end of the month, and working on a number of creative projects, like writing a longer tarot book, publishing my oracle deck, writing a book about cycles with personal rituals, and creating more in-depth healing mentoring circles. I appreciate all your support of my personal practice. I will inform you via newsletter if I offer one-on-ones again. (I assume this will look different than it has in the past, like maybe one day a month in person and one online, or something, but this will not be offered again until at the very soonest, Winter 2023, but you never know how I will feel with some distance and healing time.)
Thank you for your patience and understanding.
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.”
hello from the Abyss
Yes,I created this digital art. Thank you for asking.
I had the most incredible dream last night: Kali first came, with her tongue and severed head necklace, then Kuan Yin with this pearlescent aura, almost like the chatoyance of a crystal with layers of light and colors of gold and pink (quite the contrast from Kali) and then la Virgen de Guadalupe with her grief and eternal love, she showed me the protectiveness of her aura, all spiky and sharp. They came in one by one, appearing to me, holding me, healing me, nurturing me, caring for me, the Mothers, as though I were convalescing, recovering from something or maybe even dying. They all held me as I lay on the floor crying.
I watched this as an omniscient viewer—above and away from the pain of this scene.
I still don’t quite know if this was the past or the present or the future, and also maybe it doesn’t matter so much. Maybe I just needed to be reminded that I am held by the Mothers, by the goddesses of Time, Compassion, and Love.
Lately, I have been in a deep hole of Not-Enough. Time looks down and says, “You will never get ahead of me, honey.” And then Energy says, “Angie, I sent you some fatigue, so you slow the fuck down already.” And then Chaos brings her deviant whirlwind of memories and triggers, she throws down random shit she found in her basement. There are kid-illnesses, construction projects with their loud beeping and noises. There are also sounds of machine gun fire from the local Army base. "OH, also, that new medication that is supposed to alleviate your joint pain has a side effect, excruciating migraines, you will love that," she laughs. "I also found a bunch of rabbit holes that will distract you for a while from what you are doing, because I know how much you love being sidetracked. Have fun!”
I decorated my abyss with a galaxy lamp too, so I am just making this place home for a while. Sometimes when you stare at the abyss and it stares back, just imagine me in there reading about the Eleusinian Mysteries and how you make bath bombs from scratch.
+ + + + +
I am neck deep in the middle of a session of the Complete Tarot.
I always have the most amazing students, who are insightful, wise, and interesting. And when I am pulling classes together, I love to innovate, change things up, weave more in. But dang is it a shit-ton of work. Have I mentioned (this hour) how much I love the Tarot—the art, the symbolism, the depth of meaning, the research?
I mean, it fires me up. For this session, I have brought in all the symbology and iconography as a step of the teaching. Is it too much information? Maybe. Possibly. But thus quoteth the Buddhist prophets of Brooklyn, the Beastie Boys—I can’t, I won’t, I don’t stop.
I also recorded a bonus video telling the stories of the Greek myths that appear in the Tarot, and I just wanted to keep going and going, but that’s how I ended up in the abyss of Not Enough time, energy, and stability. I reminds me of this Tarot Meme that makes me laugh.
So, that's what is up with me. I'm in a hole and it involves pain, exhaustion, and lots of research. It's not as bad as it sounds. What is up with you?
Much love. Angelica
PS I have some classes come up, so check out my Events page for all the stuff I have planned until the end of the year.
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.
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.?✨