​The Roman god Janus is known as the two-faced god that stands at the gates. He is a guardian that sees all directions, the judge that is able to see all sides, and the one who stands in the in-between places where decisions are made who sees both the past and the future.
This is the god of January, the month that is the first of the year and yet is still in the heavy darkness and snows of the winter that began in the year before. This is an in-between time when many people are drawn to set goals for the year ahead and wax nostalgic about the year behind.

​In this, my first blog post of 2016, I wanted to encourage you, dear reader, to do both - plan for the near future and reflect on the past. Janus’ lesson for all of us is that one cannot be without the other. We need to reflect on the lessons of the past in order to learn what to do in the future. 

​When I do tarot readings at events, I often read cards for past, present, and future. So often, people come to sit at my card table with interest in the third card, the future, but it is the first card, the past, that makes believers out of them and is the real reason for them being there. When I tell them where they are coming from, a stranger who hasn’t been there but knows them through the cards, then and only then do they believe enough to see what needs to be done about the future.

​Using some favorite tools, every December I begin a time of reflection and manifestation.

I then do a Release Ritual wherein I let go of that which no longer benefits me and accept those lessons as learned so I can move on and forward all the stronger. ​

​The workbooks have lots of amazing sections and exercises and I cannot recommend them more (I have achieved so many goals and doubled my income every year since using these books) but a section that I not only use yearly with joy but have also adapted to my own lifestyle is the 2016 Oracle Reading. This is a 12 card reading, one for each month, to help you intuitively prepare for the year ahead. This leads me to my new year’s tool number two…

​Every year I give myself a tarot reading. The first part of this reading is finding the new year’s card for me numerologically (for 2016 its #5 The Heirophant). The next step is laying out cards for the year to come*. This can be done a few ways - two of the ways I like to do them is by month and by sabbat. Lately, due to the Shining Year Workbooks, I’ve been sticking to monthly with 12 cards to give a glimpse at each month ahead.

​The last thing I like to do after writing out my goals and looking at the cards is I like to look at the astrology for my year ahead and write down key bits in a weekly planner. This includes New Moons (for New Moon Newsletters and beginning small steps towards big goals), Full Moons, eclipses, planetary alignments, retrogrades, etc.

​As we cross the year’s threshold and see all the new plans and goals, ideas and blessings, lessons and mischief of 2016 all ahead of us - look also behind and where we have come from and how our past year has helped develop our personality and dreams to where they are now. Use the tools in your personal arsenal to better achieve your dreams and try out some new ones. 

#30daydivinationpic
I originally saw this challenge on Cosmic Tarot Christiane Hayes' page. She got it from a lady named Lisa but when I went to look for the original post the blog was gone and I couldn't find it anywheres (if you have access to the original post that is still view-able, please share). 

So I got the prompts for each day's picture challenge and, because it is an older challenge and no access to the original on my end, I decided to switch things up a little. I changed a few of the prompts and moved them around just a bit. You can see Christiane's blog for the original wording and follow it instead, if you like. 

I'm doing this challenge in August, which, I know, has 31 days. Feel free to wait to do this in September if you like. I will not be doing a daily challenge in September because my son's due date is the 30th and there's no telling if he will be early, late, on time or if there will be any complication or busy-ness that I have't foreseen. Also, this challenge, of course, has no set month to do it in so I will probably visit it again next year some time and encourage you to do this at your leisure and when it will be fun for you, not a chore. 

Please join me this coming month on twitter, facebook, and here on the blog for 30 days of 30 pictures of my favorite form of magick - Divination! 

Day 1: Selfie with my Soul Card
Day 2: My Name in Runes
Day 3: Candle with Divination Tools
Day 4: Pendulum
Day 5: Favorite Oracle Card/Deck
Day 6: Palm of My Hand
Day 7: Cards & a Cup
Day 8: Crystal Ball
Day 9: 9 in Numerology
Day 10: Tarot Collage
Day 11: 11:11
Day 12: Crystals & Divination Tools
Day 13: Death & Lucky 13
Day 14: Rainbows

It is that time again - Mercury in Retrograde! For many this time means communication disorganization, technology failures, and grumpy goblins possessing normally happy and chipper people. 
Books and websites and blogs on astrology and magic often notes that this is a time to avoid new endeavors, important paperwork, and communication and technology in general. If Mercury in Retrograde was a tarot card I'd name it The Hermit in reverse - forced solitude and the crotchety bastard next door. 
Of course during this time period, I got the urge to do everything I was advised against! I don't know if this is because I love Mercury's trickster side or if its because of my ornery Sagittarian nature. So, instead of avoiding communication and technology, I cling to it. I created a website, work on my social media accounts, call my mom long distance, and sit on my stack of pillows, cradling my laptop against my pregnant belly and WRITE! 

Today I spent the morning tending my herb garden, sunbathing while making notes in one of my aromatherapy books and journaling. I texted and called Damon, my mom, and my sister in law over nonsense things like "remember to buy sponges" and "how goes the house cleaning?" Then I ate a quart of strawberries and wrote 2000 words on the book I'm currently working on. I pulled out one of my favorite writing inspirations - SARK's Juicy Pens, Thirsty Paper and read for an hour to avoid cleaning house. Between chapters I grabbed some water, cleaned up a little, lit a lavender candle, then grabbed my laptop to write yet another book idea up along with some notes. After exhausting that idea, and procrastinating further on cleaning, I returned to SARK's book. Here I read a wonderful note about writing is part creating words to write and part moving the tools (actual writing). SARK said something about a pen with wings and this triggered an idea...

Often Mercury or Hermes is depicted with or just as the symbol of a staff with wings - the caduceus. What if Mercury's symbol for me was not the medical staff but the tool of communication - a pen with wings! 
So I doodled in my journal a bit, drawing the pen my midwife gave me in my birth center swag bag, which is a wonderful peaceful and communicative blue and added some wings to it. I drew this, of course, with the pen that I was depicting. 
As I drew, and breathed in the lovely aromatherapy of my lavender candle and listened to the cranes bicker outside my window, I wondered what Mercury would think of me during this crazy time of retrograde. would he think I'm too bold and is preparing some crazy computer crash or miscommunication to knock me off my course? Or does he like my brash nature and grin down at me from his winged heights as I type away on this blog post that is already too long to be allowed. (I hope it is the latter)

Another thing SARK says in her book is that writing is a Daring process. It is preposterous that we put our words out there with the audacious idea that someone might actually want to read them! GASP! 
What is mischievous Mercury but DARING! He is the god of thieves and tricksters! He dares to fly when others walk or crawl. He dares to be the message bearer even when the message doesn't want to be heard! So perhaps, retrograde is a great time to dare a little with communication...

I think about how daring I must be to write a book...much less a book about a topic on which other books have already been written! I think about what my lil baby in my womb might think and even ask "Lil Caleb, is your mommy crazy to be writing?" I wonder what he will think about his paper and ink sibling when he emerges into this wild world. I wonder what he will think of Mercury in Retrograde; if he will be a grumpy goblin or daring the insanity like his momma. I think about how daring it is to write about writing here on this blog post. Little voices ask "what if you never publish?" or "what if they hate your book?" and here I'm writing about this book as if it is set in stone that it will be created. I dare to dream that it is already in my hands, created and published and being read my hundreds. 

I can't help but smile a little when I write and I light my candles and send up a little prayer to the god of communication, thieves, business, and trickery. Ease my self-doubts about writing. Let me be bold and brash like you and wave my freak flag merrily as I send my words out to the world. Give me many many winged pens that I may move my tools without care of criticism. May I keep my grin even when others are grumpy. Give me aid as I risk the stars and reach forward to communicate. So may it be.