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KNOW YOUR DOSHA (HINT: IT MIGHT NOT BE WHAT YOU THINK)

Posted on May 11, 2015March 11, 2019 by numinous_dev

Know your dosha…know how to balance your body your mind and your LIFE. But don’t go thinking you’ve only got one to work with, says Wolf Medicine. Image: Geonah Lee via Behance.net

*note, I am not a licensed physician and cannot diagnose or treat dis-ease. Please consult your GP before proceeding with any of the comments or suggestions presented in this blog post.

So it’s 2015 and everybody is all about getting away from categorization and labelling (or maybe it’s just the people I hang out with). You’re post- human? Post-label? You don’t want to be called anything? Cool. Those are all labels too, but whatever. And well I’m the opposite. I’m a label fiend. Gay – check. Queer – check. Black, cancer, scorpio rising, feminist, killjoy, Ayurvedic teacher and yogini. Check, check, check and check.

Listen, I get it – we all want to be seen as individuals with our own unique qualities and attributes that set us apart, but we humans also want to belong, which is why we often seek out community/tribe. There’s a constant push-pull of wanting to belong, but also be seen as standing out from the crowd.

Which brings me to a HUGE misconception about Ayurveda I’ve been wanting to address for some time: the doshas. More specifically, the idea that each of us is just one. Hint: we aren’t!

I’ve lost count of the number of times a client has come to me for a consultation, and begins the session by telling me what dosha they are. This is usually based on a quiz they took, a book they read, or maybe what some random person told them eight years ago at a meditation retreat in Maui.

Not that I’m here to patronize and act as some elevated expert guru. I was taught, in depth, a great deal about the sacred science of Ayurveda, and simply act as a conduit for that info. I have deep respect for this ancient philosophy and its lineage, and am into learning just as much as I am into sharing. This is why I want to clear up some myths surrounding not only doshas but the practice of Ayurveda itself.

So, why label the doshas Vata, Pitta and Kapha in the first place? To begin, Ayurveda, the science of life, or living in harmony with the rhythms of nature as I like to think of it, has its origins in India dating back at least 5,000 years.
According to Ayurvedic philosophy everything on earth is made up of five qualities: ether (space), air, fire, water and earth. These qualities are then separated into three categories: Vata (ether + air), Pitta (water + fire) and Kapha (earth + water). These are the doshas.

So as you can see, these elements are all everywhere – in you, in me, in our pets, our plants etc. There is no perfect translation from Sanskrit to English, but know that the word “dosha” refers to that which vitiates. Meaning, the doshas are always moving, shifting and getting out of balance within each of us, often wreaking havoc within the body as they do.

So when you take Deepak’s quiz online and declare yourself a “Vata”, what you are labelling is your true essence. It means that those qualities of Vata (ether and air) are dominant in you – but by no means are they the only qualities in you.

Borrowing from the Aries Pitta pop art weirdo Lady Gaga, it is Ayurveda’s way of saying you were born this way. And your dominant dosha will also be what lies beneath any diseases/maladies you are experiencing.

But actually, two doshas usually proliferate in people – your body type is one dosha while your personality is another. Once you know what these two are, you can use that knowledge to eat for your body type, address any dis-ease you are experiencing and, hopefully, feel empowered to maintain a balance in mind, body and spirit.

During my time studying Ayurveda I began to understand the intricacies of the doshas, and on a personal level this has helped me to better understand how I am behaving (i.e. several days of boiling rage means I need to cool that fiery Pitta) and to also work with and meet others where they’re at.

Here’s my take on the doshas and how they might all manifest in you:

:: Vata (ether + air) ::
Physically, these people are usually very short or very tall. Basically think super model, Lurch from the Addams Family or Tinkerbell. They have trouble putting on weight and often don’t achieve bulky muscle mass. These are the people who eat and eat and eat and never put on weight.

The downside? Well there’s a reason one of my favorite teachers refers to them as “crunchy, munchy, itty, bitty, teeny, tiny Vata.” They tend toward brittle hair and nails, dry skin, cracking joints and brittle bones. Of all the doshas, they are the most susceptible to disease and illness and don’t have strong immunity.

What is awesome about vata people is that they tend to be really optimistic and positive. They are creative and playful and like to think outside of the box. Vata is that person who shows up at a community meeting with a TON of ideas and enthusiasm and gets everyone motivated and hyped up…and then never shows up again or quits after three days.

:: Pitta (water + fire) ::
Whoa there Pitta people. CTFO. Seriously. Pittas – my personal favs but don’t tell – have more muscular bodies or can build muscle quickly. Their weight fluctuates and they are sometimes more susceptible to thinning hair or balding and skin issues such as acne. Gingers are usually considered Pitta, with their red hair, fair skin, freckles and alleged quick tempers.

Pittas are usually courageous, determined, goal-oriented, follow through on projects and can tend toward being bossy, controlling and critical of others. I like to think of Pitta’s tendency towards being judgy and critical as misunderstood passion. Pittas get turnt up when people are being lazy and don’t care. My best advice if you want to avoid that feisty Pitta in your life (being one myself), is to show up and be ready to give 100% – or leave and quit wasting folks’ time.

Pittas like to accomplish goals and get ahead and don’t like to do things half-assed. I advise all Pitta people prone to anger/rage to stay the hell away from hot yoga and try some twists and grounding yoga poses in a cool place instead. Also, drink lots of coconut water and aloe juice. Seva, or selfless service, is also a great way to constructively channel that Pitta fire.

:: Kapha (earth + water) ::
Big, beautiful, abundant Kapha. The dosha with the strongest immunity. It is said that Kapha is only susceptible to 40 or so diseases while Vata is vulnerable to 80+. Kaphas are a sturdy bunch. They tend to put on weight easily and have trouble loosing it (if they so desire). Their joints and ligaments are strong and limber. Their hair is think and wavy and their skin has just the right amount of oil and suppleness.

Chronic sinus, congestion and lung issues pop up when Kapha is out of balance. I don’t want to say that kaphas are pushover doormats prone to hoarding but…let’s just say that these people just aren’t frantic, anxious or bossy. Don’t expect them to purge possessions or relationships easily either. I actually make it a point to cultivate relationships with Kapha people. When you are as fiery, feisty and flaky as me, you need some of that calm, earthy vibe around you. My boo and many of my friends are Kaphas and it’s a good balance for me.

They take their time when making big changes. They are never in a rush and don’t really like to get angry or upset folks. What I love about Kaphas and try to access within my Vata-Pitta self is their sense of groundedness, kindness and empathy. They aren’t quick to react and aren’t easily angered. When Kapha is too abundant in the body, people can become depressed, lethargic, clingy and possessive. Vigorous yoga and pranayama as well as spicy food are great for busting up too much Kapha.

So there you have it – Vata, Pitta and Kapha all working together harmoniously (hopefully) within every body.

VENUS RISING: A CELEBRATION OF MY GODDESS TRIBE

Posted on May 7, 2015November 5, 2018 by Ruby Warrington

Who’s in your Goddess Tribe? Get inspired to get creative with the women in your life with this beautiful photo series by designer Victoria Keen. High-vibrational clothing throughout by Victoria Keen

“I am so thirsty for the marvelous that only the marvelous has power over me. Anything I cannot transform into something marvelous, I let go” – Anais Nin

Can you sum up your vision of Goddess energy in 5 words?
Divine
Imagination
Archetype
Yin
Community

And what does Tribe mean to you?
Tribe is that invisible thread that connects you to your people, that primal desire to be in community, to be seen, understood and held in all of your strangeness. As someone who has always been so damn DIFFERENT, finding my tribe has been everything.

My yoga teacher of over a decade, Ana Forrest, brought me into her tribe, her fold of globally fierce soul family, and I’ve since connected with this very special tribe all over the world, from NYC to Hong Kong and everywhere in between.

*Rebecca Jo Phillips shot by Victoria Keen in Tulum*

What made you want to celebrate these concepts with the Goddess Tribe series?
Over the New Year as I was meditating on all the things that you do at that time, and my intuition made it very clear that this year’s focus was to be on my Tribe, deepening my existing friendships and making space for new ones. I realized I had been squeezing my friendships into the leftover nooks and crannies of life. Without a conscious effort it’s so easy to do this.

I also needed a creative outlet from my creative outlet (!) – anyone who knows me knows that I have a forever artistically restless soul. I started putting together a mood board and got really inspired to bring it to life. In the spirit of Play and Magic, I began gathering my Goddess Tribe together.

The series has taken on a life of its own, and has given me another lens to view my friends, and another reason to seek beautiful places for new adventures. What a cool way to spend some time with friends I love!

*Bee Bosnak shot by Victoria Keen in NYC*

Bee Bosnak shot by Victoria Keen in NYC The Numinous — *Bee Bosnak shot by Victoria Keen in NYC*

When and how do you feel most connected to your Goddess Tribe?
At my Urban Wellness lectures, which is why I have this dream to make these gatherings into full retreats. My time in Tulum recently was magical and made this vision seem entirely possible – there’s such a big Tulum/NYC connection! I plan to get a house next year and set up a base and have all my friends come visit me.

Victoria’s top tips for a High Vibe shoot with your Goddess Tribe:

Get inspired. Put together a thoughtful mood board, a collection of inspiring images so everyone working on the shoot is on the same page. Plus it’s a ton of fun

Create an atmosphere. Blast really good music. Burn Palo Santo, copal or sage, anything aromatic and sumptuous, and feast on delicious organic food

The more the merrier. Photo shoots require lots of work, so the more hands on hand to help bring a vision to life the better

Play! It’s about the experience of coming together to create something, less about the result. Magic happens when we women bring our intention and attention together, a vortex is created and a portal to pure imagination is opened

Be open. Really look to see the beauty inherent in your Tribe and in your surroundings. Make things just to make them, take photos just to take them. Be ridiculous. Be Marvelous

Check out the full series and shop Victoria Keen’s collection at V-Keen.com. You can also follow the Goddess Tribe on Victoria’s Instagram account

Kaylee Boyer shot by Sam Li in NYC thenuminous.net — *Kaylee Boyer shot by Sam Li in NYC*

ROUND THE MAYPOLE: WHY BELTANE IS THE SEASON TO BE SEXY

Posted on May 1, 2015March 11, 2019 by Elyssa Jakim

Does the Beltane maypole really represent the phallus? Elyssa Jakim uncovers the Pagan roots of pole dancing, and has some sexy tips for spring… Image: Ania Powalowska

The wheel of the year is turning toward Beltane. Traditionally celebrated on the first of May, this wiccan/pagan holiday conjures up the famous image of the maypole. I wasn’t told until recently that the circling maypole is an inherently phallic symbol—decorating and dancing around, well, a large penis. So much the better! Beltane is about fertility, sexuality, and abundance. This time of year, we are beginning to really dust off our bodies from the stiffness of winter, to come home to our sensuality. We’re moving from April showers to May flowers. It is all about blossoming. As such, it is the perfect time to celebrate sexuality fertility.

I’ve been getting this hint in strange ways in my inbox all week. Emails about “my orgasm type?”, an offer for a month of erotic tips, a request from a friend to be interviewed about love, a video about how to be a conscious and loving parent. It’s seems like we’re all tuning into this energy (subtly and not so subtly) so why not embrace it?

And so, because it’s fun, I’ve gathered a few tips to help you love up your sexual self and celebrate Beltane! I’ll also be offering a by-donation Beltane ritual at Species by the Thousands in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, on May 5, if you want to keep the juiciness flowing through the coming Full Moon period.

:: SPRING SEXY TIME TIPS ::

Light some genital candles. Seriously. Penis and pussy candles, sold at Enchantments among other places, are extremely powerful. They come in red, white, and black—my preference being the white ones, for healing and purification. You can light each candle with the intention of stepping into your sexual power, fully embodying the divine feminine and masculine, celebrating the goddess and the god, and clearing old sexual hurts.

I recently lit a penis candle as a way to “say goodbye to the old dicks” in my life, and heal past sexual relationships, wishing all old lovers light. I then lit the pussy candle with the intention of fully honoring and loving her, of stepping into my sexual power and sensuality. Of course, which candle you light and how you light it will depend on your sexual preferences and history and your intuition. There is no right or wrong way to do this.

Love up your whole body. Get some shea butter, coconut oil, or any nice body moisturizer that you enjoy, and use it to anoint every inch of your body. Go slowly, celebrating each part of you, telling yourself how beautiful you are, noticing small details and marks, and breathing through the experience. This process may not be easy, as we all have so many stored, often hidden, feelings about our bodies – which in turn store feelings that may be released through this practice. My advice is to go slowly and gently, play soft music and offer yourself as much compassion as you can. And don’t worry, it’s largely lovely and enjoyable!

Do something romantic for yourself. Buy yourself flowers. Take a bath with essential oils, rose petals, crystals, and candles. Take yourself out on a date and get dressed up for yourself. Then take yourself home and make love to yourself. And if you have a partner, do all of this for them too!

Play a secret, sexy game. Whenever you see someone you’re sexually attracted to, check in with your genitals and see how they feel. Intentionally connecting our visual cues of attraction from our eyes to our sex center is so healing and opening for us. This one is great for the subway. Oh, and throw in some kegels too, why don’t you?

Go out dancing. The Earth gods and goddesses (not to mention the fairies) just love dancing. So go dance for them! Dance for your body, and dance!

Happy Beltane all. I hope that by loving up your body and sexual essence your inner fire can melt away those last vestiges of winter, making you be ready for a spring that’s full of play.

Have you been feeling the Beltane awakening? Share your spring rituals with us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook!

Elyssa’s Beltane workshop takes place at Species By The Thousands on May 5. For more information visit Elyssajakimwellness.com

TAROTSCOPES: MAY 2015

Posted on May 1, 2015November 6, 2018 by Ruby Warrington

Cast by Louise Androlia using the Wild Unknown Tarot Deck.

Taurus / Taurus Rising – Eight of Swords

Perhaps you’ve noticed…after new beginnings or points of change, the fears come rushing in. The doorbell goes and there’s anxiety number one fear – and what’s more, he’s brought all his friends with him! The good news is that this is NORMAL. Have you ever noticed how easy it is to devalue your feelings? Tell yourself you ‘should’ feel fine, or that other people have things worse? To the other extreme, maybe when you don’t feel good you reach straight for the punishment card and tell yourself you’re not good enough or that you’re broken.

The month of May is here to let you know that whatever is coming up for you right now, it’s supposed to be there. You may feel like you’re moving backwards because an old habit has reared its head. NOPE, still moving forwards. However, whatever has come up has its place in your journey and needs to be valued. This is your time to be empowered, to get to know those fears and to work with them. You realize that when your fears are familiar then they can no longer be scary right? So go on, open that door and get to work.

So what’s the higher purpose of all this? It represents a clear-out for you. You’ve committed to change, you’ve taken a leap of faith, and now the decks need to be cleared because you NEED the space. Don’t be afraid to breathe and let go. As in surrender, and give up to the flow of things; you don’t need to strangle the space around you. Your spring clean is for the purpose of transformation and no process of metamorphosis has ever felt comfortable. It takes effort and courage to crack through that eggshell, or to step out of the cocoon.

Moments of stillness are also part of the process, so if you feel stuck, disconnected, or off beat – embrace it. It’s easy to only associate action with forward motion, but this period of stop, start, anxiety, overwhelm, nonsense, sense – it’s all part of the big picture, fueled by a higher love. Your only job is to accept this, and not to devalue what is coming up and out. You are never the victim, you are the super star in this scenario. Find yourself a symbol of transformation, be it a butterfly or a phoenix. Hold tight and breathe strong. All is coming up golden.

Have you downloaded your full 2015 Tarotscope? Questions? Come and chat with me about how your month is going @louniverse

Gemini / Gemini Rising – Eight of Pentacles

Are you feeling bored? Uninspired? Got itchy feet, and want to know what’s next? I feel that you’ve stepped into a space where you’re ready for some new skills and new knowledge, and that this has inspired a renewed faith in your journey. It’s a great space to be, and it’s intricately laid with opportunities. Your best path ahead is to just allow yourself to feel clear about what YOU need. Need, not want – when you focus on what you need, you clear a path directly to your intuitive self, a soul connection. It’s quicker, easier and more comfortable. So, what do you need right now?

Don’t judge the answer when it appears – it’s often more simple than we expect. Sometimes what you need is just to lie on the floor, to have a cup of tea, to scream at the top of your lungs, to stretch out, or to look up. The deeper need is created from what you are being called to learn and explore right now – and the month of May is all about learning. For some of you this will appear in the most obvious sense, actual education. So what classes do you fancy signing up for? What skills would benefit you right now? It’s a good time for soaking up information, be it a lecture, book, or even a practice that helps you just tune in to your inner soul system.

On a deeper level this month is about recommitting to your journey and trusting the web that you are weaving. Time is never wasted, but if it were it would be any time spent worrying about what others think of you, or devaluing your time. Your life is about the exploration of you, and upping your own self-awareness so you can be of a greater good. Your month will likely highlight what parts of your past you need to forgive and to accept as a meaningful piece of this puzzle. Remember that forgiveness is an act of freedom for you, it’s actually all about self love.

Finally – under the theme of education comes teaching. Life is about cycles, so it’s also time for you to consider what you want to give back, what you feel enthused to share, on a personal and professional level. Some knowledge you’ve gained recently is going be helpful to someone you know; this is another reminder to you that everything is aligned exactly as it should be – so speak up.

Have you downloaded your full 2015 Tarotscope? Questions? Come and chat with me about how your month is going @louniverse

Cancer / Cancer Rising – The Lovers

The first key theme for your month is a return to self-love and grace, a return to a level of high personal trust. Why? Because you’ll need this when faced with some important decision-making. I want you to know that you’re always capable of making a choice that will be right for you. You don’t need anyone else to tell you what you ‘should’ do. You’ve got this – well, your inner soul system has, you just may not have caught up with it yet.

I want you to work with the word FREEDOM this month, and what makes you soar. What parts of your life feel like they’re flying up, up, up, and where do you feel deflated? There needs to be enough of the soaring to keep you balanced when faced with any anxiety, so keep reconnecting to your spirit (what lights you up) as often and as much as possible. This isn’t a frivolous activity, it’s an essential part of essential feeling good and empowered in the face of your challenges.

On the subject of new connections, whether in love or business this is a month where you may find that you are attracted to far and distant lands, travel and adventure. It’s not as simple as ‘you’ll meet someone on a beautiful white beach’ – we’re talking a much more interesting level of self-discovery. The travel theme (whilst this may relate to actual physical travel for some of you) is that you’re being called to uncover what and whom you need to fly beside you as you continue your great adventure. Just check to be sure you aren’t hauling someone on your back who should have been left behind a while ago. Spend time with those who lift you up and encourage you to feel more alive, more empowered and full of inspired strength. This is the best flight path and the one that will support you.

With these ideas in mind, know that as you leave behind the paths that just don’t feel right behind, you’re migrating to fresh and open spaces. Choose to view the space ahead of you as holding something that you need – it may just be that you don’t what it is yet. As you leap into the unknown, either your wings will form or you will be caught; trust that this is real, no matter what your fears are chiming in with.

Have you downloaded your full 2015 Tarotscope? Questions? Come and chat with me about how your month is going @louniverse

Leo / Leo Rising – Strength

A common theme in your life that only you will know is coming back into play this month, and you may well recognize it from this time last year. It feels to me that it’s common for you to experience your biggest shifts at this point in the year, just before the season changes and you head towards your solar return. It’s ad if you can feel warrior and the fighter building up within you, and so it’s time to check in with where you’re channeling your fire energy and the efforts of your highest self.

I feel that many of you are going to be called to step up your game as a teacher and a healer this month – it’s time to really be of service, babe. Remember that you can be of service in all walks of life; this doesn’t literally mean you have to become a coach or an energy worker. Being of service is about how you choose to view the world around you and your position in it. Are you angry? Are you feeling like a victim? Are you feeling restricted, or expansive of mindset?

I feel that in order for you to settle into the path that you’ve chosen, or want to choose for yourself, there needs to be an underlying theme of self-healing. In what ways have you been hard on yourself recently? Can you perform a self-forgiveness ceremony? YES you can. First, locate where you have been restricting yourself or your abilities, and write this down on a piece of white paper. Sit with the paper and take one deep breath, in through the nose and out through the mouth. As you exhale, say; “I forgive myself for the pressure and restrictions I have placed upon myself. I know that within forgiveness lies freedom. I am ready to feel free.” Take another deep breath, scrunch up that paper and either burn it (SAFELY!) or throw it in the nearest trashcan.

Now, smile. If you need to perform this exercise every day then go ahead, this is a safe surrender exercise and will help to release anxiety and criticism. And what are you going to do with this newfound sense of self, this big, wide expansive space inside? Start filling it with all the good stuff, the work you’re impassioned about, the activities you adore, and the people you can’t bear to be without. Oh and be sure to always leave a little room just for you.

Have you downloaded your full 2015 Tarotscope? Questions? Come and chat with me about how your month is going @louniverse

Virgo / Virgo Rising – Three of Swords

I feel that emotions are going to be running high throughout May my earthy friends, so it will be important to remember that feelings are normal, and good! Feeling feelings is even greater, and whatever is swimming around you right now needs to be felt. It seems as though there is something, however great or small, that you’ve been putting off addressing. It might be a really old fear that’s hanging about like a lost dog, or something brand new and so overwhelming that you just don’t even want to say hello to it. For many of you though, I feel it will be a bunch of little niggling doubts that are really only present because you’re moving forwards at full force. As we march on, we need to be constantly letting go and spring-cleaning. It’s normal and it feels good if we let it.

Your fears of disappointment or loss are wayyy less intense than the highs you will experience when you give in to what feels good. It’s the little things that are going to help, the safety nets you know you have in place, and the sense of trust that you’ve always had things in the bag. No, but seriously, you really know how to own your own story! Right now is no different.

I also want to ask whether you’re also allowing yourself to really feel all the GOOD THINGS happening in your world right now! Hell yeah the good stuff, the cascades of high fives and ‘ah-ha’ moments. Of course, there’s also the worry about whether things will still be okay and people will still like you if you evolve and change. YES is the simple answer. It’s easy to fear really embracing everything that’s going right, because you know, ‘what if’ it gets taken away again! It’s a common concern, but it has no root in reality – thinking positively or embracing the good doesn’t up the chances of experiencing a down.

In fact, I’m pretty convinced from my own experiences that when you get all starry eyed and proud of your greatness you stretch out the space around you to hold more and feel even better. It’s at least worth a try, right? So your job is to bathe in your own glory AND feel all your anxieties and overwhelm. Oh and surrender, surrender forever. Make like me, and wake up and shout ‘I SURRENDER’ in your bed. It may not look cool (or does it?) but it sure feels good to start the day by tuning in to your most expansive self.

Have you downloaded your full 2015 Tarotscope? Questions? Come and chat with me about how your month is going @louniverse

Libra / Libra Rising – Ten of Swords

As May begins I feel you are SO ready to release some pressure, and for that brain fog to clear a bit. I sense you’ve been head-in-the-sand for a little while, at least in one area of your life. Overwhelm can be a frequent occurrence for you when you’re trying to find your balance, and you know the up-up and the down-down quite well. It’s time for the cycle to shift into a brighter space, and that’s what this month’s energy is bringing you, a glimpse of clarity. Whatever you feel defeated by, know that this is the point where everything changes. Well, where everything can change.

So what can you do to feel less stressed out and more clear? First up, the classic – up your self-care practices. I’ve realized when we feel the most stuck or annoyed we get so locked in our fears that we start to believe there’s no such things as a simple solution. This is also why we’re so quick to mistrust our intuition, because surely it can’t be that simple? Can it? Yeah, well, it can, and this is why looking after yourself and valuing your time and abilities is the first point of call – whatever you are feeling (yes even if it’s AWESOME). So, renew your morning practice. Meditation is for everyone, including you; and it’s really just about valuing your time. So how can you do that? Can you start each day with even five minutes of sitting by yourself, before you jump on your phone?

Meanwhile, lets talk about how GREAT clarity is. It’s not something you can necessarily search for, or hope to achieve as a result of somebody else’s actions. Clarity is attained when you simply say ‘yes’ to trusting your feelings – which in turn means honoring your journey and slamming yourself into the present moment. Clarity is received when you commit to getting aligned with yourself, so yeah the whole self care thing brings actual results via an increases in your sense of personal power and self-confidence.

You see, although you may be waiting on external things, it doesn’t mean you can’t be confident about the way things feel on the inside, and in doing so renew your trust in your path. Oh and P.S. This is also a month for a serious truth exercise. In what ways aren’t you being authentic, and how can you change that up? It isn’t called a leap of faith for nothing.

Have you downloaded your full 2015 Tarotscope? Questions? Come and chat with me about how your month is going @louniverse

Scorpio / Scorpio – Son of Wands

This month echoes a lot of what April was about for you because things still feel very action based. However, whereas April was trying to push you into where you wanted to place your will, May is about you giving yourself permission to really dive in and kick off the experience yourself. This is a fire-driven, passion-fuelled month and likely to be pretty jam-packed – and while you may feel overwhelmed at times but it’s all going to be good. I feel lit up just writing this, so I know you’re being called to a more self-confident place. Also that the veils of spirit connection are going to be finer for you this month, so expect a greater tune in with your highest self. YEAH!

In order for things to really feel good, I want you to access the parts of your own fire element you feel uncomfortable with. You may be struggling with anger and irritability, scared of failure if you follow your dreams, or terrified of moving forward within dating or a relationship. Fire is balanced with water so you’ll find that compassion is usually helpful in almost all fire-related overwhelm – even if it’s not what we always reach for naturally.

But being compassionate to your anxieties you discover how you can self-soothe. For anger and irritation, acknowledge the anger sensation in the body, so it can be forgiven and then expressed in a creative or energetic way (hello running, sex, artwork). As for following those dreams – all I can say is DIVE IN, you won’t be disappointed. As a Scorpio you are designed to be successful at change! And for those dating dilemmas, measure up how annoyed you’ll be if you stay in your comfort zone versus the really great things that might lie ahead once you remember how amazing you are.

Reach for inspiration from those who seem to embody energy that you seek. Tell them how great they are, and as you lift them up, remember that they are your mirror and that you are shining equally bright. In fact, this is your natural state. Growing pains are normal but diamonds need to be polished. Rise up and show up for all of your anxieties, but don’t forget to show up for the good stuff too. It’s time to own everything you’ve been working on over the past six months and choose to move with confidence.

Have you downloaded your full 2015 Tarotscope? Questions? Come and chat with me about how your month is going @louniverse

Sagittarius / Sagittarius Rising – Three of Wands

In true Sag style, your eyes are truly off in the distance right now, with daydreams and future visions on your mind big time. And why not? You have to dream BIG right? Yes, and this month you are fully supported in looking ahead with a great expansive vision. So where are the limits? They can only be created if you put restrictions on the possible outcomes of what you want. The power of manifesting lies in surveying the scene, getting clear on what you want and need, and then setting about taking action in the present moment. The rest is without roots for now, and you’ll feel most empowered in acknowledging those future wants yet embracing all that is NOW. It feels fun, I’m excited for all the magic making you’re doing now and beyond!

I feel that with this sense of expansion in the air there are going to be a number of opportunities to get you out of your comfort zone. For some of you this may come in the form of ideas and contracts being offered to you that are somewhat different to what you’re used to. The great thing is that it’s all up to you. Think about what you will enjoy most, and what will you learn from? What will help you to grow the most in your desired direction?

For those of you who feel stuck, know that it’s only because you are blinkered in someway. This blinkering may be coming from within – do you have a case of the tunnel visions? Or does the block seem to be in the form of a situation or another person? Do you feel stuck because you’re waiting for somebody else to make their move? Recognize that the stuck feelings are actually a valuable part of the process. Just because things aren’t full speed ahead, it doesn’t mean nothing’s happening. Ponder on that for a while and trust it.

Meanwhile I hope that nearer the end of the month you’ll start getting a few more answers, but you must keep asking questions too. Don’t mess around wondering ‘what if’ – start acting and educating yourself today. Knowledge is power and self-knowledge is personal power. Oh and I don’t want to forget to add that this month is pretty great for having fun, especially for those of you with more of a controlling edge. I hate to say loosen up a little…BUT how about just shaking it all out a little more? Laughter is one of our human superpowers.

Have you downloaded your full 2015 Tarotscope? Questions? Come and chat with me about how your month is going @louniverse

Capricorn / Capricorn Rising – The Hierophant

Oh my great Capricorn! I love seeing this energy for you this month, because it’s one that you often resist the most – but it’s exactly what you need right now. It’s a month to ask for help.Yes, help – guidance, therapy, love, support, care; whatever you want to call it, it’s time to seek what you need. This is also about external help, as it feels like the pressure might need to be lifted off your friends and family. You will benefit from a third party to call a safe place. Now, this isn’t because those around you can’t or don’t want to help, it’s just that you’ll need them on the flip side really to laugh and feel the joy with too. When you can get some external support, then you get a sense of freedom and fun returning to your closest relationships.

There are different levels to this ask for support. Some of you may end up screeching it from the rooftops and others of you dropping hints all over, hoping someone might notice. To empower your own voice, sit and ask yourself what you NEED right now. Do you need a good listening to, or some bodywork, or nutritional nourishment? Maybe you need some help tuning back into your creative spirit or coaching for your business or work situation. Remember also that guidance can come in many forms, and it doesn’t have to break the bank. Read, write, walk, and open up.

What I’m feeling is that someone outside your usual circle may offer you the sweetest gem of wisdom, maybe even totally unexpectedly, so you just need to slot yourself into a place of receiving – which I know isn’t always easy for you.

In the meantime, on the flipside there are plenty of you who are in the role of the helper, and perhaps have been overextending yourself, putting everyone else’s needs first. This only leads to feelings of lack, so fill yourself up as much as possible before returning to your work. If you’re happy and feeling energized though, perhaps you’re one of the ones being called to step up and share more. Are you ready to be of service and be the catalyst for change? If you feel that call, then know people are waiting for you and they need you and your work, whatever it is. Time to take that step.

Have you downloaded your full 2015 Tarotscope? Questions? Come and chat with me about how your month is going @louniverse

Aquarius / Aquarius Rising – Son of Pentacles

May brings through a steady grounding energy that you’re really in need of right now. Did April bring in the rattles of change? I want you to start the month by committing to a pressure-free mindset. It’s so easy to pile on the goals and restrictions, in some kind of ‘I must move forward’ panic. But actually just stopping and centering yourself is essential in a time of change – whether it’s exciting or challenging.

Yes, there are a million and one things you ‘could’ and ‘should’ be doing, but nothing will feel smooth unless you ground the process. Step one is the acknowledgement of what has been happening over the last few weeks. For some of you it might be really processing big moves and for others it’s just taking a compassionate check in with your feelings and acknowledging where you’re at in terms of a balanced mind, body, spirit connection.

The next thing is to get yourself back into a positive manifesting mind set with the understanding that time is stretchy. If you feel ‘put upon’ it’s because you’ve forgotten to value your own time. Again, even with all the stuff you need and want to do, taking time for yourself is the golden ticket, you’ll get more done I swear. Just try it even if you aren’t really convinced. You can also use the mantra ‘I have all the time that I need’ when you feel overwhelmed by any to-do lists.

What I feel coming through for you strongly as well this month is a sense of confidence and trust in your own choices. This is a nod and a wink to say, it’s okay, you’re safe to keep moving on based upon the choices you’ve made for yourself. Did you shift things up for a greater quality of life? Did you decide to commit more to your own sense of self worth? YES, so there are no bad choices you see! Trust in this steady process and if your fears try and whisk you away, know it’s okay to ground down again. Slowly and steadily choose to not let your fears take the lead, you are on a new path and it’s forming solid ground. In fact, you may just start to feel like you’re growing some roots for the first time in forever.

Have you downloaded your full 2015 Tarotscope? Questions? Come and chat with me about how your month is going @louniverse

Pisces / Pisces Rising – The Six of Swords

Things are continuing to uplift and simplify for you Pisces, and no that doesn’t mean that things are super relaxed and stress free. BUT you certainly aren’t down in the deep waters you’ve experienced before. You are more empowered than you have been in recent years, and perhaps consider the fact that having all these things to attend to and all these feelings to feel might just be a sign that you are fully experiencing your life!

May is a month for really recognizing what it is you need to feel good, and then standing within your inner strength and owning it. You have things ahead that you will have to show up for, events that will require your full present moment attention, and aren’t you excited to just be there? So this energy is also about gratitude and self-assurance. I want you to stop and be proud of yourself and how you’ve navigated certain things, which maybe you didn’t know you could. Just because life doesn’t seem ‘perfect’, it doesn’t mean that you aren’t exactly where you’re supposed to be and can’t see great things ahead.

There is also a strong sense of mind, body, spirit recalibration as you move forward towards a more positive place for you. The strength you receive will come as you realize that you just aren’t that interested in drama and complications anymore. You might also have to come face-to-face with what situations YOU pull the drama card in – but this can only be great self-development for you. Alongside this though you can realize that the pull towards a more loving, creative, and simple life is stronger than the choice of stress. Now then, you really are getting somewhere.

With this new way of thinking in place it’s time to check in your baggage and check in with your baggage to venture into the great space ahead of you. I’ll use the word ‘simplify’ again, especially with your internal dialogue. Do you have room in your case for those old fears? I didn’t think so. I feel you will notice your energy shift this month every time you have one of those unexpected deep sighs, a breath that really pulls you into the present moment and makes you feel alive and awake. This is a full-functioning way of living, and doesn’t it feel good? Work with the moment and let it pull you over the rainbow.

Have you downloaded your full 2015 Tarotscope? Questions? Come and chat with me about how your month is going @louniverse

Aries / Aries Rising – Ace of Wands

The energy from this card was literally designed for you! Which leads me to feel that May is going to be a month where you really have access to your best and highest self; so, are you interested? I also imagine in true fire-starting style you may be feeling a little itchy of feet and perhaps even a tad frustrated as you burst with more and more ideas. It’s important for you to be able to ground each of your big wild dreams so that they are actually applicable – and I feel you can do this over the coming weeks.

Think of your ideas and creativity as the strike of the match, and how something needs to actually be lit to keep that flame burning. You need to actively direct the energy onto something that can keep it alive – this is the action. Now, many of you may have someone to help you here, which is where a co-worker, partner, or PR person comes in handy. Someone that’s able to grab those sparks and start forming the magic. If it’s just you, then just allow yourself to experiment with the ways in which you are least likely to procrastinate. We all know our own tricks, so where right now are you holding yourself back?

Can you pin-point your one most prominent fear? I feel that some of you may be wavering on the edge of launching a new endeavor or committing to your work because you can actually feel how good it’s going to be. So fear of success sweeps in, which is masquerading as fear of failure – but of course both are really just that old fear of the unknown! You’ve got this, just trust that you’re the expert of your own life. It’s kind of wild when you really embody that as a choice. Of course, you have to stop and listen to what you need, and always check in again and again. But it’s still you, and you do you better than anyone.

Finally, this is definitely a month for igniting or reigniting the spark with your lover or a jumping into bed with a new one. This is pure passion so you’re encouraged to leave your inhabitations at home and feel that fuel; with the right person of course. Don’t waste this awesome energy on anyone less than someone you feel a fully swoon-inducing magnetic pull towards.

Have you downloaded your full 2015 Tarotscope? Questions? Come and chat with me about how your month is going @louniverse

MATERIAL GIRLS, MYSTICAL WORLD: SAKARA LIFE

Posted on April 30, 2015November 5, 2018 by Ruby Warrington

Sakara Life puts the sexy into plant-based cuisine. Founders Danielle DuBois and Whitney Tingle invite us into their Mystical Material world…

EjyWSmg9-mgsCLccnhKZqO6WsRRaQRyE9Vm_5nV6ZqM,Use3QM8TocmDelFVWCmLuk3K3GuO1sGGelKGvWmriek — *Sakara Life founders Whitney Tingle (left) and Danielle DuBoise (right)*

Sakara Life is like the final nail in the coffin for the notion that eating whole and plant-based is anything less than seriously sexy.

Founded by best-friends-since-grade school Danielle DuBoise and Whitney Tingle in 2011, Sakara is an all-organic meal delivery programme based in NYC, while the ladies themselves have become poster girls for the movement.

Yay hot blonde girls-about-town spreading the word that whole = food-for-the-soul! But beyond their obvious poster girl credentials (no surprises that Danielle is a former model), hailing from the hippie enclave of Sedona, Arizona, they totally walk the Numinous walk.

“We believe that health and well-being are dependent on several factors: nutrition, relationships, career and love for the self,” goes their philosophy. Which is also a lot about balance (read: eating right all week like totally cancels the vodka shots on Friday night, right?) Read on for a peek into the Mystical World of these pioneering Material Girls…

Sakara Life meal delivery plans start at $99 for a 1-day trial, and are available in these zip-codes on the East coast. The service will roll out in California in June 2015

:: DANIELLE DUBOISE // MATERIAL GIRL ::

My label: anything from a second-hand store

My shoes: chunky platforms

*Jeffrey Campbell Boogaloo Leather Platform, $170.00, Nastygal.com*

My fragrance: Jasmine+magnolia+rose

*Flora by Gucci in Glamorous Magnolia, $77, Sephora.com*

My jewels: Bliss Lau

My pampering: Borax baths

My home: The Line

*Tabula Rasa x The Line Oulu Cushion Square, $375*

My food: Plants

:: DANIELLE DUBOIS // MYSTICAL WORLD ::

My awakening: Kisses. I always start my morning with kisses

My sign: Gemini

My mantra: “Be the light, always”

My healers: Ally Bogard+Betty Kay Kendrick+Elena Brower

*Art of Attention Yoga Healing Cards by Elena Brower and Erica Jago*

My reading: Sakara Book Club

My transformation: learning to love my body again

My mission: To help everyone learn to feel good & sexy in their bodies

:: WHITNEY TINGLE // MATERIAL GIRL ::

My label: Hand me downs

My shoes: Cowboy boots

*MEXICANA Zapopan ankle boots, $607, Sarenza.co.uk*

My fragrance: Vanilla

*Jo Malone Vanilla & Anise cologne, $120*

My jewels: Family heirlooms

My pampering: Energy facials with Maureen Dodd

My home: Sakara!

My food: High quality, fresh, straight from the earth

"Straight from the earth" includes pancakes in Sakara-land — *“Straight from the earth” includes pancakes in Sakara-land*

:: WHITNEY TINGLE // MYSTICAL WORLD ::

My morning awakening: Spending time being fully in my mind and in my body before sharing my energy with the outside world

My sign: Capricorn

My mantra: “What I think I create”

My healers: Maureen Dodd + Taryn Toomey + my mom and sister

My reading: You Can Heal Your Life by Louise Hay

My transformation: I don’t think I’ll ever stop transforming, or at least I certainly hope not! Change is essential

My mission: Help as many people in the world as possible feel GOOD

Follow Sakara Life on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook

BEAUTIFUL, MYSTICAL, MOVING: PLAIN INDIANS EXHIBIT AT THE MET

Posted on April 28, 2015November 4, 2018 by Gabriela Herstik

When Gabriela Herstik happened upon the Plain Indians exhibit at the MET, it was a fashionable reminder of her own awakening to MYSTICAL spirituality. Main image: Karolina Daria Flora

I’m all about synchronicity and the wonderful way our life stories seem to loop together over time. My most recent “moment” came together last week, when for the first time in 10 years I found myself back in the Big Apple. A mandatory trip to The Metropolitan Museum of Art was made, and as I was walking up the beautifully grand stairs to the entrance I saw it – the sign that read; “The Plain Indians; Artists of Earth and Sky.”

I first learned about the Navajo and Iroquois tribes in elementary school a decade ago, after my family had moved to Buffalo, NY, from San Diego. Looking back, I can pinpoint learning about the different Indian nations as the entry point to my interest in shamanism and mysticism – a journey that has connected to me to an understanding of whatever it is that truly lies beyond. By learning how the different tribes incorporated a belief in something bigger than them in nearly every facet of their lives, I was inspired to do the same – a way of being that’s seeped into my own life day-to-day.

The exhibition turned out to be an incredibly curated collection of Plain Indian art, displaying both the wonderful spirit of the tribes and the incredible talent of artisans across the nations. There were pipes carved with animal spirit guides and helpers; there were painted animal hides recounting tales of battles; there were exquisite war bonnets and, a favorite, an incredible shield embellished with a Buffalo spirit guide.

A large part of the exhibition, however, was dedicated to the absolutely exquisite and divine (in the truest sense of the word) clothing. There were hand-beaded jackets in dusty blues and vibrant reds; leggings with horsehair fringe and rich, dark blue beadwork; there was an absolutely breathtaking pair of completely beaded brogues with a matching bag from 1901…there was EVERYTHING a girl for whom fashion – self-adornment – and spirituality will be forever entwined. And all very Etro SS2015…

There were also paintings and photographs of the Plains, with the exhibition designed to chronicle the art of the tribes from the 19th century to the present day – a visual account of the experiences of these tribal nations, ending with different artists’ personal interpretations of what the future of the tribes may look like. A touching spiritual and artistic experience, the Plain Indians exhibit at the MET was beautiful and mystic and moving.

The Plain Indians: Artists of Earth and Sky is at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC until May 10 2015

FEET ON THE GROUND: A YOGA SEQUENCE FOR TAURUS

Posted on April 23, 2015November 4, 2018 by Ash Bonelli

The coming month is a time for rooting your dreams in reality. Get grounded with this yoga sequence for Taurus, says Ash Baker. Image: Anthony Maule and Carine Roitfeld for Harper’s Bazaar.

Ruler :: Venus
Element :: Earth
Modality :: Fixed
Anatomy :: Throat, neck, vocal cords, tonsils, thyroid, tongue and mouth

2nd sign of the Zodiac

We are now heading into the mid-spring month of the Bull. Think earthly sensuality and grounded, focused qualities. Perfect timing for meditating on what you would like your summer to look like. What can you create in your life with precision right now that will bloom into something magical in a couple of months? Taurean energy is what to embody wherever you need some stability in your life. Our practice this month will help cultivate empowerment through pressing into the earth and opening our hearts.

:: Lions Breath ::
Take a deep inhale through your nose, and as you exhale, open your mouth and stick out your tongue. Curl the tip of your tongue towards your chin. You will make a “Haaaa” sound. Give your tongue a good stretch and really push the air out of your throat. Inhale through your nose and repeat. Go through three-five rounds.

Now bring your hands to your heart and think of something you would like to offer to yourself or another person. Yoga can be seen as a moving meditation so what would you like your intention for this session to be?

:: Tabletop spinal extension ::
Come to hands and knees. Tuck your tailbone slightly and firm your abdominals. Inhale, reach the right leg out behind you and press through the heel, firing up all the muscles of the leg and giving you more support. Fully exhale.

Then with your next inhale reach the left arm out in front of you. Keep your palm facing inward. Looking down feel the length being creating in your spine as you reach in opposite directions with arm and leg. Release the arm and leg back to the floor. Repeat with the left leg and right arm. Hold for three rounds of breath. Complete two rounds on each side.

:: Low Lunge ::
From a standing position step the right leg/foot towards the back of the mat. Drop your right knee down onto the floor, tucking the toes under for more balance. Exhale and bend the front left knee. Make sure the knee is bent directly over the ankle. Tilt the pelvis slightly under and lengthen up through the spine.

Squeeze the inner thighs towards one another to get a little lift and then release slightly and let the pelvis sink down towards the floor allowing some opening in the right hip flexors. Inhale the arms up overhead and reach through the fingers. Hold for three-five rounds of breath. Repeat on the other side.

:: Triangle/Trikonasana with arm circles ::
From a standing position, turn to face the left and take a wide stance with your legs. Take your front right foot and point it forward and take the back left foot and point it to a 45-degree angle. You can have heel to heel alignment or wider depending on your hips and what makes you feel stable.

Reach your right arm out over that front leg and begin to reach as far forward as you can. Once you reach your edge, take the same hand to your shin, foot, a block or the floor. Take the left arm and gently reach it upwards. You can look up towards your hand or, for more stability, down to the floor. Add some flow by sweeping the left arm down towards your hip and back up creating a full circle. Take a few circles and repeat this pose on the other side.

:: Grounding Meditation ::
This meditation can be done anywhere you have the ability to place your feet on the ground or any other supported surface. I kid you not, some of my best meditations have been on a public city bus, feet planted on the floor and eyes lightly closed. So just find a space you can sit or even stand for a few minutes and begin to simply feel your breath move around your body, flowing in and out of your nostrils.

Now begin to focus on the feeling of your feet against the ground. Take time to connect with that support. Feel how strong it is and apply those qualities to the areas in your life that need more stability. Stay there breathing, feeling those focused, strong, and stable qualities within yourself. Know that you are always supported. Divinity is designed that way.

Monthly Mantra: I am supported, secure and strong in all my actions.

TURNED ON: SCENT AND SENSUALITY

Posted on April 19, 2015November 4, 2018 by Ellie Burrows

Our sense of smell is a basic bitch. This month, resident sex and spirituality columnist Ellie Burrows investigates a case of scent and sensuality. Image: The author shot by Mikal Marie Evans

I am a human animal. I know this because I spend most of my time relatively upright asking important existential questions like ‘why am I here?’ or ‘what is the meaning of life?’

But lately, I feel like a complete and total beast. I’m talking about the kind that walks on four legs, doesn’t speak, and just sniffs its way around its habitat. Like those kind of animals, I’ve been at the mercy of my nose.

Recently, I smelled the best-smelling human I have ever smelled in my life. It came from the neck, right behind the ear. No, it wasn’t cologne. Yes, it was just skin. The smell was so compelling, so intoxicating, so layered in deliciousness that I was completely and totally hooked from the first whiff. It was a case of scent and sensuality.

Even for a writer, describing the mute sense is challenging, but I think it smelled something like clean laundry, drenched in fresh water, wrapped in sandalwood, sprinkled with bergamot, dipped in Yerba Mate, and peppered with masculine musk. I realize these could be the notes in a ubiquitous fragrance called “Eau de New York City Man,” but this scent was specific. It was his scent.

Smell. It’s like the basic bitch of the senses. It’s the sense associated with Muladhara chakra: the first and lowest, the base chakra. This energetic center has to do with basic needs and survival. No one wants to have first chakra problems: trouble making money, and feeding oneself. If we can’t work these things out, it’s pretty hard to function in the world. But the smell I smelled, I would happily get low for, like first chakra low. I would literally get on all fours for it.

Sadly, many people are grossly misinformed and rank smell as the sense they would be most likely to forfeit. But smell is associated with the first chakra because it is the origin sense, both in science (did you know our entire brain grew from what was once a primitive olfactory cortex?) and other schools of thought, too.

I’m not a particularly avid bible reader as that’s not necessarily how I contextualize my spirituality, but so many of the spiritual parameters of the western world, are rooted in The Book. So it’s worth noting that according to the Judeo-Christian piece of the spiritual pie, our nose is how we got our souls: “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” (Genesis 2:7). And so it goes; no nose, no breath, no soul, no life. The inability to smell is considered a spiritual impairment, as then the body would not be connected to the soul.

Beyond the bible, in all sorts of spiritual circles, smell is wildly important when it comes to creating scared space. Walk through any house of the divine and you might smell Frankincense or Himalayan herbs. When it comes to my own sacred space, I would never sit down to write without burning something like Spider Woman, a handmade incense to enhance creativity from The Sword and Rose in San Francisco.

But sadly in urban society, smell doesn’t get a lot of attention unless we are avoiding bad aromas, or being lured into a restaurant by the part of our sense of smell that’s connected to our taste buds. And FYI The estimated size of the global antiperspirant and deodorant market in 2015 is $18 billion. That’s a lot of hush money when it comes to B.O.

If our sense of smell is the basic bitch, then in modern society sight is like top dog. Although perhaps touch should be alpha when it comes to love, just consider the fundamental M.O. of generation Tinder: we decide whether or not we’re willing to even meet someone via Google image.

Now more than ever the Internet has forced us to determine attraction in the context of sight, and this is highly problematic. Your eyes can’t tell you important things like if he smells like truffles* – or if he will like the taste between your legs.

I remember a period of time when looks mattered most to me, but that theory went out the window when I met a bald, portly guy who excelled in touch. And in college there was this guys who was totally HST (Hot, Smart & Talented), but something about him smelled like that acronym too – if you add an “I” and rearrange the letters. He smelled of mothballs, stale laundry, last night’s beer, and whatever is growing underneath your nails. You could argue that most college guys smelled like that, but there was something in his skin that was repulsive to me. Easy on the eyes, but extremely hard on the nose.

For all the sight hype, looks can grow on you provided you enjoy someone’s personality or feel they love you in the way you need to be loved. But I would be willing to bet big money that the same doesn’t go for smell. It’s too polarizing. It’s too ancient and primitive, too deeply tied to good and bad and fight or flight. I couldn’t hang around a person who smelled vile no matter how many boxes he or she ticked.

I knew I couldn’t write this piece without reading Rachel Herz’s The Scent of Desire and in it she writes this: “body chemistry plays a startlingly large role in who we are attracted to, and our nose speaks loudly to our souls even if it seems like only a barely audible whisper.”

The smell I smelled on him, spoke unequivocally to my soul – but rather than a whisper, it was an ecstatic scream. It turns out it was actually the mating call of an immune system complimentary to mine, a seed’s serenade to its ideal fertile soil. This scent, which scientifically can belong to one person and one person only, was designed for me. And so, my humanity must surrender and be humbled.

I’m an animal. I know this because lately I feel comfortable on all fours and my nose knows the answers to the questions like ‘who should I have sex with’ and ‘how can I ensure my children will survive.’

Fun Facts:

*Some truffles contain a steroid, androstenol, which gives them the musky nutty taste. That same steroid is also synthesized by human males in the testes and secreted by their sweat glands. I love truffles. I love men. Makes so much sense! Makes me want to listen to this.

Also:
No, it’s not pheromones.
Why using your nose isn’t foolproof.
When Kate met Steven.

Further Reading:
The Scent of Desire: Discovering Our Enigmatic Sense of Smell
by Rachel Herz
A Natural History of the Senses
by Diane Ackerman

DRESSING FOR YOUR DOSHA

Posted on April 17, 2015November 5, 2018 by Ruby Warrington

If eating for your body-type is about creating a sense of balance, dressing for your dosha means fashion can be healing too. By Mairi Yunits. Images: Mara Hoffman SS15 collection.

In my past, non-Ayurvedic life, shopping was my weekly meditation. It wasn’t a real weekend without a new outfit – and it certainly wasn’t an outfit if it didn’t include heels and a very tiny black dress.

Hats, bags, skirts, and tops were constantly accumulating in my drawers, and looking back, I can see how the clothes piling up on the outside were the material reflection of what was happening on the inside – layers of bad relationships, poor health choices, un-authentic friendships and lack of self-love, yearning to be organized.

A few twists and turns down the road, I found myself studying to become an Ayurveda Practitioner – which in turn has meant de-cluttering my internal and external wardrobe. Four years later, it’s clear that healing myself on the inside has in turn even-keeled my closet.

Once I had discovered my dosha (in Ayurveda we all fall into three different types physically – you can find yours out here) I began to recognize I was dressing very wrong for my Pitta-Vata constitution. So I took this on as another gateway to my healing process, and ran to the nearest store to purchase all organic cotton blue and green shirts. But also, I’m a Leo (with Leo rising too!) – and running around in T-shirts was never going to cut it.

As time progressed and I began to refine my new sense of style, the idea of dressing for my dosha began to evolve into an art form.

So what is the benefit of dressing for your dosha, and what changes will you notice?

Ayurveda is all about balance, and just as eating the right foods for your physical make-up is about creating the conditions for optimal health, knowing what clothes work best for your dosha can connect the three tiers – mind, body, and spirit.

Seen this way, dressing (and shopping!) becomes an act of self-care, bringing more clarity, flow of communication, and confidence, be it at your next business meeting or simply a Saturday at the farmer’s market.

It’s grounding. While our mystical selves love to float in the ethers (hey all you vatas out there) clothes can help ground us back to our day-to-day life. We each have a message to share, and the proper clothes can give us the stability we need to rock it.

Here’s how to make a dosha dropping fashion statement.

:: VATA (FALL & EARLY WINTER) ::

My airy social butterflies. First things first (because we all know these things slip the mind); you must avoid being chilly at all costs. I know you love to show off your creative side and make a statement, and a scarf could be just the eccentric addition you’re looking for. Favor outfits that are warming and grounding. Pastel colors can work wonders, and a cozy pair of socks will seal the deal. Soft, warming fabrics such as cottons, linens or merino wool, should be at the top of your shopping list. Stick to flats, as you’re the ones that benefit from the most grounding influences. When you can, go barefoot.

:: PITTA (SUMMER) ::

My luxurious fire elementals. Please don’t let your desire to impress others guide all your outfit choices. The key here is to think light and airy with your clothes. Pittas can easily feel restricted, so make sure there is room to breathe. Silks, linens or cotton fabrics are great. As for colors, keep it calm – white, green and blue will do. Limit pattern. In the summer, carry a hat and sunglasses on you at all times. While black can be a short-cut to the kind of show-stopping looks you love, be careful not to overdue it in the summer months. A Pitta can’t afford to overheat, what with world domination on their hands.

:: KAPHA (LATE WINTER & SPRING) ::

My dear conservative Kaphas. You, my wise friends, tend to go for comfort over fashion. You take the timeless approach and tend to invest in clothes that will last and be practical. While this is a wonderful skill, it can also keep you in a style rut. Next time you find yourself reaching for more practical, neutral colors, spice it up with some purple, red or orange. These colors will give you some extra spunk to get you moving. Partner with light fabrics and throw in a high quality watch to complete the look. Don’t be afraid to step outside your comfort zone when it comes to fashion, it may be the motivation you need.

If you know you embody multiple doshas, focus on your main dosha first and bring in the sub-doshas when you feel they need extra TLC. You can also adjust your attire to the doshic season.

The famous saying in Ayurveda, “it all depends,” applies to getting dressed just as much as your diet or daily routine. So start small, and pay attention to how your clothes are affecting your mood, whether you’re out and about or hanging around the house. As your closet cleans up, you’ll begin to see the magic of dressing for your dosha – and understand more fully that healing does in fact come in all shapes and sizes.

Mairi Yunits is a Pitta-Vata, Green Media Specialist, and Ayurveda Practitioner living in Chicago. Find out more about her work at Livemukta.com

BRAINWASHED: IS LANDMARK A CULT?

Posted on April 5, 2015November 5, 2018 by Ruby Warrington

When I did the Landmark Forum, I was following in the footsteps of the most badass people I know – and I learned some invaluable life lessons. So why did I find myself asking; ‘is Landmark a cult?’ By Ruby Warrington. Images: Alex Prager for Garage Magazine.

Half way into day three at the Landmark Forum, I was ready to run for the hills. Along with 150 or so other people, from every walk of life, I had been cooped-up in a windowless basement in midtown Manhattan for almost 13 hours a day straight, whilst being told that everything I knew about myself, about my beliefs, and about the world, was an illusion. An illusion created by my “always listening” mind (Landmark speak for the ego) to avoid taking full responsibility for my life.

The course leader was busy psyching the crowd up for the “big reveal” – the key teaching of the Forum that would come later that day, embracing which, we’d been promised, would lead to a life of “infinite possibilities”. So long as we “enrolled” everybody else we knew into the Landmark conversation too (at $600 a pop), and then committed to an on going ($900+) study of their “curriculum for life”.

All around me, people had already been having life-changing epiphanies as they’d worked the course – coming out from behind their “rackets” (“fixed ways of being that result in persistent complaints”) and calling friends and family members they had been “pretending” things were cool with to “cough up the fur-ball” of their most shaming truths (‘Mom, I never come visit because actually it felt like you never really loved me’).

Encouraged to publically share their breakthroughs, there had been tears, and there had been cheers. And here I was, feeling an almost physical repulsion to the teachings. Earlier, we’d been asked to identify our “strong suits” – coping mechanisms we’d adopted at key points of trauma in our lives, which had become “ways of acting and being you rely on to produce results and make it in life.” Which, obviously, had to go, along with all the other “stories” you told yourself about…yourself.

I’d identified one of my strong suits as what I always considered a healthy degree of scepticism, or discernment. It’s what made me a good editor. But now it felt like a straight jacket. I’d paid my money and I wanted a breakthrough too! But all I could think, as I took in the scenes around me, was; “OMG this is actual brainwashing in action. Why did nobody warn me Landmark is…a cult?!”

The “c-word” hit the headlines last week, in the aftermath of the HBO documentary Going Clear – an inside expose on the Church of Scientology. And watching the opening scenes, in which they described the Church’s central process of “auditing” members in order to process their limiting beliefs, I was taken right back to that basement room in the Landmark HQ.

Was Landmark Scientology lite?

The dictionary definition of “brainwashing” is; “to make (someone) adopt radically different beliefs by using systematic and often forcible pressure”. True, nobody forced me to do the Landmark Forum – I actually decided to sign up because I knew so many amazing, go-getting, and seemingly highly-evolved individuals who’d done it, and I basically wanted a piece.

But the constant pressure throughout the course to “enrol” our friends, co-workers, and family members definitely crossed over into coercion territory in my book – echoing the way Scientologists are asked to “disconnect” from any people in their life who don’t adopt the teachings of the church. It’s also the kind of behaviour that gets organisations labelled “cult”, opposed to simply “community” or “club”.

The fact that during Landmark I was also confined to that one windowless room for three consecutive 13-hour days, with minimal breaks for food, and asked not to take notes or go to the toilet (this used to be enforced rigidly, but nobody actually stopped me when I did sneak out for a restroom break), also felt a lot like “systematic” pressure to adopt their teachings.

Then there was the bizarre lingo and double-talk they used to scramble my synapses and “re-program” my thinking. Overall, by the time I left, my scepticism very much intact, it felt simultaneously like a narrow escape…and like there must be something really, really wrong with me.

Watching Going Clear (named for the ultimate goal in Scientology – a mind that’s completely “clear”, or washed, of negative beliefs), the phrase that kept returning to me was; “the Emperor’s New Clothes.”

You know the story right? About the sneaky tailor who convinces the Emperor his “invisible” new suit is actually made of the finest cloth. In fear of questioning their leader’s beliefs, the Emperor’s subjects go along with it – complementing him on his beautiful new clothes, despite the fact they can see for themselves he’s naked.

And this desire to conform is something I felt they played on at Landmark, too. Deeply rooted in our most basic psychology, human beings are pack animals after all. Positioning yourself as the outsider is also something akin to suicide on a primal level. In ancient times, distancing yourself from the tribe was a sure-fire way to get killed by predators, or die from lack of food and warmth. Going along with what’s being indoctrinated therefore is not only preferable, it’s the only truly “safe” option.

Did that explain why everybody around me was whooping and cheering when the “big reveal” finally occurred…while it seemed to me like the biggest “racket” on the planet?

Coming out of Landmark, I immediately wanted to speak to the switched-on women I knew who’d done it too. I was desperate to know if they’d felt the same as me – or if I was, in fact, a hopelessly repressed freak-a-zoid, too scared of facing my own demons to even acknowledge their existence. The overarching response I got was that yes, it was a huge shame that there was so much cult-like emphasis on “enrolment”, and the accompanying financial hard sell. Because the teachings in and of themselves were awesome…right?

And here comes the really interesting part. Seven months on, I can see that they were absolutely right – and that the Landmark Forum was one of the most pivotal experiences on my inner journey to date.

We are all slaves to our monkey minds; we do self-sabotage with the stories we choose to believe about ourselves; and we do have to allow ourselves to be vulnerable, to “look bad”, and to see beyond the illusion of reality, in order to evolve into the highest expression of ourselves. It is in this place of ultimately authentic self-expression that a life of infinite possibility lies.

Behind all the crazy linguistics and mental manipulation, these are the central teachings of Landmark (and of Scientology, from what I’ve read, not to mention Buddhist philosophy!). With hindsight, I can see how having them strong-armed into my psyche over that one mind-bending weekend last September forced me, on some deep level, to accept and work with limiting parts of myself I used to believe were unassailable.

I’ve since had the kind of searingly honest conversations with my mother that have taken our relationship to a whole other level. I no longer blindly accept what my belief system tells me, and look instead to the cold, hard facts of life.

And if I railed against actually calling any people in my life to “get complete” during my Landmark weekend (I had a lengthy email exchange with my mom, and called a friend to confess a very innocuous white lie), I have since embraced the concept of not sugar-coating stuff for fear of upsetting people, or getting a bad reaction – and seen massive benefits. All common sense stuff, actually, “but delivered in an environment of startling intensity,” as another journalist wrote about Landmark.

As for the “big reveal”? You’ll have to do the Forum and find out what it is for yourself. And if that means I’m now “enrolling” you – well, there must be some chinks in my sceptical strong suit after all.

Have you done the Landmark Forum? What did you get out of it? Connect and share your stories on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook

To find out more about the Landmark Forum and their courses visit Landmarkworldwide.com

SEXUAL HEALING: FINDING F***ING ENLIGHTENMENT

Posted on April 3, 2015March 11, 2019 by Hanna Bier

Bad sex is no joke. It’s time for a little in the way of sexual healing, says Hanna Bier… Images: From Sexual Orgasms 1-10 by Romain Gorisse via Behance.net

A large proportion of the people I know are willing to settle for “blah” when it comes to sex. My spirit sister once told me about her first time having sex in a bunk bed of an Australian hostel. She basically said: “Well, I knew I had to get it over with sooner or later anyways. I was young, so I thought, what the heck.”

I’m sorry, but to me this sounds a lot like self-rape, the social acceptance of which is alarmingly high. Because to me, saying “yes” to any kind of sex that isn’t rooted in complete transcendence and sexual rapture is an act of self-violence. Sex is a sacred act! Why would we want to settle for anything less than mind-blowing, life-altering boner sessions?

But as the saying goes; “Sex is like pizza, even if it’s bad, it’s still pretty good.” And so no wonder there’s an epidemic of 15-minute fucks, with only the privileged / lucky few having been awakened to the power of a three-hour sexual prayer.

Before I broke up with my first boyfriend, I was clueless about sexual misery. He happily took care of me for four to five hours, not stopping until my body gave up and my mind, body and flesh had been thoroughly penetrated.

And it wasn’t because he was overly experienced or had taken a gazillion tantric seminars before we had sex. It was actually quite the opposite, and simply that he was totally in tune with his cock. He was the kind of skilful that can only come from total sexual innocence. He fucked with his heart, his mind unpolluted from pop culture’s pornographic mentality. He was fully present, just doing his thing. Over, and over, and over again.

How could I have known that such wholehearted banging was actually a rarity? But since him, I have yet to find a lover who’s given me even a fraction of what he was capable of.

This discovery truly shattered me. I began to see the feminine energy around me shrinking and turning pale. I noticed the male getting limp and giving up way too soon. This sexual inadequacy manifested as stilted creativity. A loss of perseverance. Power mistaken for bitchiness. Attention mistaken for weakness.

And it’s infuriating just how ingrained the idea is that the female has to orgasm within 30 minutes, and keep quiet while doing so.

Because the biggest healing potential for the feminine archetype lies in deep and thorough fucking, and there’s no way a lady can find enlightenment in a half-hour lunch break fling. No wonder she backs out and would rather settle for no sex than intercourse that feels more like being poked or stabbed.

Every time we have bad sex, our consciousness is injured in some way, and if we don’t make efforts to heal ourselves from that, our capacity for enlightenment is severely constricted. Which basically means, bad sex = longer soul journey. And we don’t really want that, do we?

So when considering your next sexual encounter, here’s how to not rape yourself…

As a woman:
– Spend time smelling and tasting the person you are sleeping with. Ideally, you’d want to chug your lovers cum and sweat. Our body liquids are nature’s love potions. They contain all information we need in order to workout if the person we’re about to merge with is sexually compatible with us. And if they are, just a drop of their elixir will send us off into the void.
– Notice your vagina giving you signals that she’s truly ready. She needs to be fully lubricated, aching to be penetrated, and energetically sucking in the finger/penis/tongue.
– Now your only task is to open. If you can’t, something’s off. Your vagina is like a compass, pointing you away from spiritually violent sex by not wetting and not opening up. This is alarmingly obvious, yet so often ignored advice. I wouldn’t have to give sixth grade sex-ed pointers if it weren’t necessary. So trust her when she says no. Get ready to break when she says yes.
– In short, if it’s not a “fuck yes”, is a “fuck no.”

As a man:
– Wait to be invited. You can only safely enter a person to the extent that your counterpart sucks you in. Every time you push to open a gate, you violate yourself and your partner. By feeling for the opening and waiting for the call, you give permission for complete surrender by your partner.
– Be aware that the more she gets to open, the more deeply you get to penetrate. So play with it, advance a little and then wait to see if there’s a pull. If there is, go further.
– Practice stamina. Bend life over and fuck it senseless. Over and over and over again. Every time you finish early or give up before you’ve truly penetrated what asked to be penetrated, you are selling yourself sexually short.
– The male archetype enters a higher sexual order when he has perfected the skills of easing the female open. Think of it as opening her legs open, her heart, and her brain. And then keeping her there, until she surrenders just a little more to spill all of herself, losing herself completely in the torment of her sexual awakening.

Do you agree? Or is there something to be said for sex that’s short and sweet? Connect with us and share if you dare on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook…

Find out more about Hanna Bier and her work at FreeSpirited.co

TAROTSCOPES: APRIL 2015

Posted on April 1, 2015March 13, 2019 by Louise Androlia

Tarotscopes April 2015 cast by Louise Androlia using the Tarot Of The Holy Light deck

Aries / Aries Rising – The Lovers

Aries, you always feel more active when your solar year actually begins. The power that comes with being the first sign in the zodiac resonates with you, and I feel that in April there will be a sense from within that says ‘I’m ready’ – the tiptoeing since January is over.

So, what are you ready for? The energy I feel coming upon you is intense, ambitious, active, and absolutely needs to be channeled in a way that is totally of the ‘positive selfish’ way of thinking I always encourage. Everything needs to be directed from your highest self and for your best footing. All the action plans you create won’t go in your desired direction if you aren’t prepared to log in to your deepest truth, which you can tap into by simply asking; ‘What do I want?’

But I’m actually going to re-frame that as; ‘What do I need?’ What do you need in your life to feel good over the coming months? What new emotions and feelings are you searching for to accompany the material changes you are seeking? Relationship-wise, if you’re in a couple this is a great month to reconnect as team mates and soul suitors. Recognize that you are in this to learn, so step back and listen to what your partner has to teach you right now. I feel your other half has some untapped (by you) wisdom that is going to be helpful, especially in a business sense.

If you’re single, then this month will help you reassess what you need and want from a partnership, as well as supporting you to let old, repetitive stories go. You need someone to look at the world with the same creative perspective as you, to support you in your wildest ideas and not clip your wings.

Decision-making is certainly a theme this month – and why is that filling you with anxiety? Of course you’ll make the right choices for you, there’s no such thing as a ‘wrong’ choice when you’re on the road you’ve created. However, it will help you to get out of your own way – which means realizing that nothing is about you, yet everything is about you (as in around you). The next stage of your journey isn’t about giving others what you think they want, it’s about pursuing what you know you need. Think of all decisions as potential lovers; would you want to go to bed with that idea? Is this a one-night stand or an all in love connection?

I also want you not to peddle backwards, trying to fix things from the past. Shake it off and know that you’ve created space for the new. Pursue with wide eyes and a will to be surprised.

Have you downloaded your full 2015 Tarotscope? Questions? Come and chat with me about how your month is going @louniverse

Taurus / Taurus Rising – The Fool

Back here again, time for another new beginning! It’s almost like you’ve been confronted with one fresh start after another for maybe even the last year. Things are constantly changing around you, and your desire to control or have everything ‘just so’ often throws you off balance. But everything is perfectly lined up for right NOW, the big leap.

Harnessing this fresh energy is all about perspective this month, your ability to look at everything and choose to see it with fresh eyes. This means looking at your work, all your relationships, and all your options as if you’re seeing them for the first time. This also means looking past your anxieties, so that you actually see reality – those layers of ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’ are made from a mist of fear. Return yourself to the original sense of possibility and wonder that lead you to where you are in the first place.

There is no avoiding the winds of change this month, but the feeling is all brand new and awake. You may also experience shifts in your spiritual outlook, as you step into more of a teacher than a follower roll. Your calling to share information in order to change the world is more than just a flash in the pan. As I said before, you are ready – and you feel it too, don’t you? Even if you’re fighting it a little, it seems as though some recent anxieties might lift a little this month. Surrender always helps, so try to think of this a way of living – simply allowing everything to breathe and flow, allowing yourself to breathe and flow. Think; what can you do right now to help you feel more comfortable about the space in front of you? Do it.

Finally, remember that the start of a new cycle is supposed to feel bonkers. Weird, wild, and downright odd. For those of you falling into new love, it can be a panic-ridden time, with the butterflies and all that jazz. But I encourage you to ride the waves, trust your feelings, and even appreciate the anxiety. It’s new, therefore it’s teaching you something. However D0 stay aligned with your gut instincts though – this is definitely not the moment to be sharing your awesome self with those who cannot show up for you.

Have you downloaded your full 2015 Tarotscope? Questions? Come and chat with me about how your month is going @louniverse

Gemini / Gemini Rising – Page of Discs
Oh thank goodness – your power is returning! You, Gemini, have been seriously shaken and stirred in the last six months, within and without. Now it’s time to turn your energy around. No more feeling like the victim, or even, for some of you, purposefully choosing the victim mentality over relying on your own inner strength. It can hurt to pick yourself back up again, but it’s natural and you were born to do it.

This month is all about material world manifestation. Grabbing life by the balls and reminding yourself what you want to throw in the fire pit. What sparks do you want to light up? What do you need to do to feel alive again today? It’s never too late to pursue a new idea, whatever your age or your history, and the fact that you feel a bubbling under the surface right now is a sure fire sign that it’s time.

So manifest, then take action, and then surrender – this is about honoring the whole process. I also have a feeling that you need to put your foot down. Somewhere you have sidelined your own authority, maybe to please someone else, maybe just to fit in – but your voice has been lost somewhere, and it’s time to claim it back. Be reassured that the space just ahead of you is safe to work with, and also a place to stretch your creativity. I feel that some of your work-related projects need to be stepped-up a level. You are ready for more responsibility and more recognition. You have valid and valuable skills to share – don’t undersell yourself!

So, step back into your superpowers and check in again with what you had planned for this year before a few obstacles were thrown in your path. Many of them romantic by the way, right? And that’s good! But check in with your power there too.

You have the urge to feel more in control again – the positive kind of control, of course. I hope that a few of you with monetary concerns might also see a return on investments over the next few weeks. Keep throwing out the net and expect to haul some good back in. Be active, yet patient, and the month will flow to a tee.

Have you downloaded your full 2015 Tarotscope? Questions? Come and chat with me about how your month is going @louniverse

Cancer / Cancer Rising – Page of Swords

The more serious vibe from last month isn’t exactly going anywhere, but it is more independently directed by you now – opposed to last month, when it may have felt like you were at the beck and call of a more stubborn external force. Instead, this month is about reclaiming your sense of self, with links back to any personal challenges that popped up around six months ago.

Back then, I feel you may have been having some concerns around trust, as in whom to put your faith in, but also some lack of self confidence that stopped you from really standing up and asking for what you want. In the workplace, yes, but also in relationships where you felt rather powerless or without voice.

So now it’s time to re-access your highest self and most authentic voice. Speaking your truth doesn’t mean going off on one or being aggressive, it’ merely about being as close to your inner soul system as possible, and speaking from the heart – asking for what you know you need, and also know that you are allowed to have. For those of you who’ve felt as though you just couldn’t express yourself, then this is the month where things will start to shift. Your job is just to be ready, and also to claim the power that comes from your own personal losses. Feelings such as shame and embarrassment are entirely human-created, and our job is to fight them and come out on top – proud of all our experiences, warts and all.

Meanwhile this is a great energy for anything communication related, whether it’s checking in with your therapist, booking into a workshop or just pulling out your journal. You will feel the most clear when expressing and sharing ideas, pure brain fuel! If you’re in the dating pool, you will likely find yourself turned on by uber-intelligence right now – you can’t be bothered with anything less than being served up a thought based challenge. With the Air element riding high, keep watching for moments of genius, rather than allow yourself to be dragged under by any old fears tapping on your shoulder. You know them so well now, and it’s a lot easier to shake them off that you might think. So keep shaking, keep moving.

Have you downloaded your full 2015 Tarotscope? Questions? Come and chat with me about how your month is going @louniverse

Leo / Leo Rising – Three of Swords

A powerful month for your surrender practice, my wild ones! I will say this to you until my voice runs out, but this practice really is your superpower – to be able to tame your fears in order to allow your most free range creative spirit out. I suspect that over the coming weeks you may find yourself poked and prodded by needing to ‘let go’ of something, most likely a situation involving another person.

I know how easy it is for you to hold onto a grudge, and don’t worry, it happens to everyone. Right now though, it feels as though you are forcing blame or punishment on someone, and in fact this is only weighing you down. So let’s talk about forgiveness – forgiveness as a radical act of self-love and freedom. When you set someone loose, you free yourself to move forward. Forgiveness is absolutely nothing to do with letting someone ‘get away with it’ or suggesting that a painful experience was okay – it’s all about self-love, and I want you to seek personal freedom, wings wide open. Know that it’s also okay to feel pain also, to sit with it, to trust in it, and believe that it is malleable and can and will shift.

I feel that for many of you there’s also a need for release around an aspect of yourself. What punishing stories have you been replaying to yourself on repeat? Are you hauling up an old anxiety like a sword from under your bed and stabbing yourself with it? What are you blaming yourself for? What do you feel disappointed about? Where is your heart hurting? Know that it’s okay to set yourself free now, that restricting yourself won’t move you forwards, and you are allowed to keep on trucking.

It also can be hard to allow yourself to pursue the future when you see those around you as less fortunate. Trust in your journey and it’s timing, it’s not supposed to look exactly like everyone else’s. Nearer the end of the month, I feel you will receive a nice energetic boost – off the back of all this release – positioning you in a more empowered state to go forth and pursue a project you’ve been sidelining because of the aforementioned fears. Go back to your Fire element – that part of you that propels you towards your dreams – and work with it. The blame game is over, it’s time to shine.

Have you downloaded your full 2015 Tarotscope? Questions? Come and chat with me about how your month is going @louniverse

Virgo / Virgo Rising – Ace of Wands

You’ve been knee-deep in or hovering around a lot of intense feelings and thoughts of change recently. For someone so ‘on it’ with their word, you may have also been feeling unusually scattered and less confident than you like to portray. When I turned this card for you I felt a strong surge of dynamics shifting for you, and want to give you a green light along with a loud IT’S GOING TO BE OKAY when it comes to the action you are planning to take over the next few weeks and months.

This month is focused on reclaiming your Fire energy, in a new way. This is a highly creative force but I want to focus on the passion, the drive, the sex! A.k.a. the good old life force that can so easily ebb away to be eaten up by our anxieties. Your mojo is ready to be switched back on, and it’s time to strike the match one more time. How are you feeling when I talk about this energy? Like you have none of it? Or like it’s consuming you? The Fire element is so powerful and needs to be directed and channeled in the way that suits you the most.

So, prepare to launch yourself head first, heart first, and soul first into life this month. This is a wonderful chance to release new projects into the world, to share ideas and shout about your skills from the rooftops. You will be supported whether you take giant strides, small leaps, and insane cliff jumps. It’s also time to plant the seeds for the next year. I picked this card for you just about this time last year, so you may notice some serendipitous links to back then, but it also means you might get the chance to finish up or gain clarity on an old idea you let fall by the wayside. Be open to reviewing and renewing.

Relationships need a firecracker under them right now, and whether that means reigniting the spark itself or rocket fueling into a new space for a new you – again it’s a good time to be active and involved. Don’t be afraid to ask for what you need, or of honoring the support and inspiration you seek. Finally, get making. Only you know the precise frustration you feel when you aren’t creating, or learning, so get your brain reconnected to your soul and see what comes out. Get absorbed by yourself, and marinate in what feels magnetic right now.

Have you downloaded your full 2015 Tarotscope? Questions? Come and chat with me about how your month is going @louniverse

Libra / Libra Rising – Knight of Swords

To your delight a much more active month is upon you, and I feel will be able to gain a little more clarity after some misty weeks recently. For a lot of people there has been this tug-of-war going on, from feeling so uninspired to wanting change right NOW. You are ready to be on the receiving end of the shift, and so it’s important that you get connected to the exact direction that you’d like to be headed in.

DON’T PANIC – but I feel that as your mind clears you are going to really want to do everything all at once! We all know this is a recipe for anxiety, so just remind yourself that it’s totally okay to do things step-by-step – in fact this is the way things actually get done. This is also a great month for brainstorming though, so it’s okay to be doing lots of thinking. Just keep yourself in the top level of the mind, where your expansive ideas and most malleable thought patterns live. Also remember that intuition is sparked by clear thoughts – they are a wonderful duo the brain and the soul, so allow them to work together.

So then, where are you headed? I feel like a bunch of you are ready to just ‘sack something off’ and say ‘SEE YA!’ to anything that’s not working – but HOW? First you need to build a bridge. This is how change happens, start making the connective links from where you’re at to where you want to be, and have faith in the fact that you are allowed to feel fulfilled in your job, excited by your relationship, and aware of a sense of perfect health. Commit to the desire and you will get there.

Trust is another important subject for you over the coming weeks, especially as I mentioned last month with regards decision-making. When taking action, try not to take the detour into fear – which we all know can be pretty easy; just keep connected to your enthusiasm and you will be right on track. Also, don’t be afraid of asking for what you want, and don’t be scared if you feel intimidated! Sure, some moments are awkward or uncomfortable, but then they’re DONE, and you are free. You’ll never be let down if you commit to walking on through challenges, even when you can’t see the other side – it is there. Commit to everything that is alive in the present moment, embrace your wild heart and stride on.

Have you downloaded your full 2015 Tarotscope? Questions? Come and chat with me about how your month is going @louniverse

Scorpio / Scorpio – The Chariot

I for one am excited about the surge of forward motion that’s come upon you. You’ve probably felt it over the last ten days – synchronicities rife, those webs weaving together, movement on old projects or even just a touch more clarity of the mind. You’ve been really trying to get authentically connected to YOU recently – and last month you kept trying to tune more into your natural life force. Did you discover what truly fuels you? It’s THAT energy that will propel you forward now. In fact, I feel almost overpowered by what is ahead of you; big ideas, strong, rooting forces, and a lot of unapologetic self-expression.

You may be tested on your will over the next few weeks, and it might feel like everyone is asking you; ‘what is it you do?’ If you hear this over and over, realize that the Universe is testing your ability to stand in your authentic voice and say out loud ‘this is me!’ Think of it as a game of Highest Truth or Dare, and enjoy it. Practice standing in the self that you know is real – even if it’s new to you. See how things flow better when you release expectations and drop what you ‘think’ you should be?

So now you have permission to move forward, think of your soul’s calling as the destination. But you aren’t chasing it – your soul is always there with you, and it’s light is your beacon, to pull you from the shadows in every moment that you need it. Of course this is also a good time to travel, within and without. This fairly masculine energy gives you stride and force – you want to go places and be seen – so show your face! You’ve had moments recently of wanting to hide away, so I love to think you might be forced into the spotlight. It’s definitely time to get out of your comfort zone, and you will know in which area of your life that sits. Which corner of your life needs to be given a kick in the backside?

Finally, if you’re one of the Scorps who’s been shaking your fist at the heavens and reprimanding the Universe then…have you even been claiming ownership of your life? Are you present with everything you’re feeling TODAY? No? Well, it’s time to take back the controls. Time is never wasted and movement is always supported.

Have you downloaded your full 2015 Tarotscope? Questions? Come and chat with me about how your month is going @louniverse

Sagittarius / Sagittarius Rising – Two of Cups

The coming weeks bring forth an important shift in your thinking, and there’s a sense of positive reconnection to your journey. It may not be an earth shattering epiphany, but I feel many of you will just become raw and real about the ways in which you’ve been working against yourself. Or, the ways in which you’ve backed yourself into a dark corner. Raw and real, got it? The great gift we have as humans is that we can shift our perspective any time we choose. You can also simply acknowledge the different phases in your life – for instance the Saturn Return, a time renowned for shaking you to your core, in order to align you with your highest self.

This month, the cycles are well and truly turning, and you are being pulled up and out of a cloud now as you are gifted with a new sense of clarity. The thing about moments of clarity is that we often assume they’re going to be prophetic lightning bolts from the sky, but usually they are revealed in quiet moments of simplicity. You may suddenly just ‘get it’ in a few new areas – and in regards to your own self, suddenly release some pressure that has been weighing on you for years, a lessening of anxiety brought forth by simple measures.

There is a great sense of allowing yourself to be free, and you will most likely know which old habit needs to truly kick the bucket. I also see a new pathway for you, and feel that you are ready to embark on a new exploration of your creative self, one that’s paved in rainbows. This will see you feeling alive and excited, and is something you’ll pursue over the rest of the year. It doesn’t have to break the bank or even change the world (though can if you’d like it to). This is you purely about pursuing new feelings, and where on Earth they might take you.

I imagine you are going to be bursting with ideas, over the next few weeks especially. Don’t get overwhelmed by what your own mind is capable of, appreciate how weird it is, and share your out-there ideas with fiends. Strike the match on new adventures with those people you feel drawn to, those whose eyes pop at the same stuff – this is where the magic lies. Anyway, to experience all of this you need to get up off the floor, so come on!

Have you downloaded your full 2015 Tarotscope? Questions? Come and chat with me about how your month is going @louniverse

Capricorn / Capricorn Rising – The Four of Wands

This is such a lighthearted month for you my brave warrior. Dare I say it’s time to swoon about all the good things? Because…there are some good things, right?! Something, or more than one thing, to celebrate? This is a month of luck and gratitude, for of all that you’ve been working so hard on. Think of it as simply a bit of a stop and smell the roses scenario.

The good vibes that are flying around you are all about RESULTS, and so I feel you will be pulling in the rewards and compliments from what you’ve been cooking up over the past few months – or even longer. I’m hoping that this might be an energy you like so much you decide it can be permanent. Consider it as an experiment in lifting yourself up out of the struggle zone, to be that fly on the wall in your own life and to gaze upon situations from a simplified viewpoint. Can you see how there could be a more peaceful solution to anything that feels a little chaotic?

Gratitude is important for creating expansion, and I’d like you to practice self-gratitude this month, a.k.a. an admiration of your own talents and quirks. Write down all that you admire about yourself as an invitation to the Universe to deliver more of the same back to you. This is also a good exercise if you’re trying to meet new people. Write down the aspects of yourself that you wish to be seen, so that you’ll see them in others. It can be difficult, as you often bump into your own self-confidence anxieties, finding it hard to bring forth what talents and admirable qualities you have. Let me confirm to you now – you have many!

By becoming aware of what we have opposed to what we lack, we stretch time and space a little in order to hold more good things. That’s gratitude in a nutshell. BUT don’t ever undervalue your negative feelings by thinking you ‘should’ be thankful. It’s important to feel all your feelings equally.

I’d also love to encourage you to embrace a few leaps into the unknown this month – to hold someone’s hand, shout YES, and dive bomb your life. Don’t hide in the shadows, experiment with what makes you feel the most alive. Also, tell your nearest and dearest how great they are, and make some time to get to know them. Don’t assume anything.

Have you downloaded your full 2015 Tarotscope? Questions? Come and chat with me about how your month is going @louniverse

Aquarius / Aquarius Rising – The Tower

You’re sitting in quite a similar space to this time last year in regards to an idea, way of thinking, or career prospect. Look back to last April – where were you? I feel that for many of you, a final phase of healing come up now, taking you to a better place. But there may still be a challenge in this – as all roads out of the woods conceal a few twists and turns. Be kind to yourself and release time pressure. If you are feeling that ticking clock, know that it’s a timeframe built only from fear and that you are exactly where you are supposed to be – always.

It’s a month for shaking things up and bringing forth the change that you want to see – as opposed to sitting and waiting for things to shift themselves. What’s the thing that you feel is missing in your life right now? And how are you speaking about that thing? Are you using a tone of lack – for instance; ‘I never meet anyone I like’ or ‘I can’t do that’? Check your internal and external dialogue and see how you can shift it to something more expansive – a thought process that has stretch.

You see, when this card comes into play there is always change around you, and my job is to make sure you are the master of it. I feel a great entrepreneurial energy high for the next few weeks, where you have the power to throw out your greatest ideas to an audience who really want to listen. It may be that you’ve recently met someone who will be pivotal to that great leap – a business partner or even just a new friend that you feel finally gets you and your weirdo ways.

Romantically, expect and be willing to be surprised. Everything that’s not right for you will move quickly, so avoid falling into a sense of loss – remember that space is being cleared for the correct jigsaw piece. But with that lightning bolt effect, those great experiences are usually in the space to the sides, not in our blinkered tunnel-vision. Perhaps you just say YES a few more times this month, to the things that scare you the most. Or you decide to show up for the people that have shown up for you – and don’t worry about the rest. Finally, be ready for divine inspiration and don’t ignore the directions from your soul – the signs are there.

Have you downloaded your full 2015 Tarotscope? Questions? Come and chat with me about how your month is going @louniverse

Pisces / Pisces Rising – The Six of Discs

A month for recalibrating your thoughts about what an equal partnership means to you. I feel that in recent times you have experienced higher than usual feelings of disappointment to do with others – whether it’s those closest to you, or even just feeling aghast about the human race in general. In those moments it’s difficult to not feel judgmental or, more likely for you, overwhelmed and hopeless. The great news is that help is en route via your greatest comrade – YOU.

You may want to start the month with a flash of forgiveness. Give it all up, surrender your ego, part ways with your anxieties, and trust the path that got you here to be able to work with the moment that you are in. Forgiveness sets you free, remember. And now, it’s time to just check in with the scales of balance. It’s easy to complain that you’re giving more than you’re getting, but if you shift your goals and desires to a higher level then the harmony might well return. Try to avoid statements like; ‘Why does this always happen to me’ – or a belief that you are locked in any patterns. The great thing about noticing repetitive cycles is that once you’re aware of them you’re able to see what you can do differently. So how can you change your attitude?

We also can’t ignore the gratitude factor. Good things are coming your way and good things surround you, so try and put yourself in a space of receiving. Be ready to see the unexpected opportunities that might crop up nearer the end the month. I feel you may also tune into bird and flower symbolism. Perhaps you already have a lucky winged friend (angels included of course!) who you see every time you need some reassurance. You can also make the magic game more fun by requesting specific signs – it helps keep you in a more expansive and open space.

In your romantic endeavors the same themes apply – don’t give out to people who can’t seem to show up for you. This isn’t all about you, but you are the only one who can raise your mood by choosing to partner up with someone who at least is willing to try. For those of you already in the L.O.V.E. zone, I feel the coming weeks are a gorgeous time to just be in your love. Feels good, doesn’t it?

Have you downloaded your full 2015 Tarotscope? Questions? Come and chat with me about how your month is going @louniverse

MATERIAL GIRL, MYSTICAL WORLD: ANYA HINDMARCH

Posted on March 27, 2015November 5, 2018 by Ruby Warrington

Luxury and laughter are the hallmark of Taurus Anya Hindmarch. Here’s a peek into the colorful world of this week’s Material Girl…

Award for Best Fashion Marketing Campaign, In The Cosmos, Ever, goes hands down to Anya Hindmarch. Her What Planet Are You On? microsite invites consumers to enter their name and birth details, and then delivers a totally in-depth reading along with all kinds of cute details – like your birth flower, Native American Zodiac sign, celebrity birthday twins, and even the number of seconds you’re been inhabiting your current human suit.

It was actually launched last summer to promote the brand’s SS14 collection, but it’s still live and still totally addictive! And, in our eyes, it cemented Anya’s status as one of the coolest chicks in the industry. Remember, this is also the woman behind the iconic canvas ‘I Am Not A Plastic Bag’ tote, which was launched in 2007 to highlight the importance of sustainability in fashion – talk about ahead of the game!

anya hindmarch smiley face wink sticker charlotte stockdale thenuminous.net — *‘Wink’ sticker, $45*

Anya’s latest project is equally uplifting – a super cute collection of leather ‘stickers,’ which she’s produced in partnership with super stylist Charlotte Stockdale. The idea is you pick your sticker(s), and use them to ‘sticker-up’ anything you like – from your purse to your gratitude journal – while the smily face (see above) is also featured throughout the current SS15 accessories collection.

Anya, for services to astro-geeks everywhere, and for making the world of high fashion an altogether happier place, we salute you!

:: M A T E R I A L G I R L ::

My label
If not vintage, and I know I’m biased, but I love the Brits! Erdem, Stella McCartney…I also have a rather brilliant blouse from House of Holland. I smile every time I see it.

Erdem SS15 collection featured on thenuminous.net — *Erdem SS15*

My shoes
Flats by Tabitha Simmons, heels by Gianvito Rossi, but ideally sneakers – Adidas Stan Smiths or Common Projects.

My fragrance
A perfume from 400-year-old scent shop Madini.

My jewels
My wedding ring.

My pampering
Sunday mornings in my bright blue bed, with the newspapers and a big mug of tea.

My home
London! With my husband and five (yes!) almost grown up kids.

My food
My husband’s roast chicken.

:: M Y S T I C A L W O R L D ::

My awakening
A brisk walk around Battersea Park with a girlfriend.

My sign
Taurus.

My mantra
Fire yourself every evening and come back the next morning as your replacement!

My healer
Wine! But truly, laughter. At work we laugh every day, it’s our fuel – laughter and cake.

*Vegan gluten-free carrot cake by The Hardihood*

My reading
Sadly, being truthful, my email.

My transformation
I had been CEO and Creative Director of Anya Hindmarch since we started over 20 years ago, and a few years ago I fired myself as (and hired a brilliant new CEO!) so I could focus more on the creative side, which is what I love so much. I’m now Chairman and Creative Director. I’m OBSESSED with craftsmanship, and the magical process that happens behind the scenes when making beautiful things. It’s the reason I do what I do.

*Have A Nice Day tote, Anya Hindmarch SS15*

My mission
Happy parents make for happy kids. Brilliant advice from my mother in law. And I stand by it.

Shop the new Anya Hindmarch sticker collection at www.anyahindmarch.com/stickers

HOLY C**P! How I achieved the perfect poop

Posted on March 22, 2015November 5, 2018 by Wolf Medicine

Don’t get grossed out! The perfect poop (PP) is a sign that mind and body are working in perfect harmony. Ayurvedic practitioner Wolf Medicine says finding hers meant leaving New York City…

Image: Oh...by Edward Edwards via Behance.net — Image: Oh…by Edward Edwards via Behance.net

Forgive the crude title, but the Ayurvedic practitioner in me can’t help but get real about bowel movements. After all, a good gut is the key to good health and lately I’ve become obsessed with poop because I know it’s about more than just taking a dump. When shit ‘ain’t right down there, it’s a sign that shit ‘ain’t right in the mind – and in the name of addressing both, I find myself on a quest to figure some stuff out in my life.

Essentially, my ultimate goal in Ayurveda school was to experience the Perfect Poop (PP) – which is what all the doctors and practitioners who taught me actually referred to it as. The PP occurs first thing in the morning upon waking. A friend of mine says the urge to poop is what wakes her up in the morning. It should be shaped like a banana or a coiled up snake (yes this is truly possible), and yellowish brown in color.

If you aren’t gagging or disgusted by now, congrats! You are an emotionally mature person. If this is grossing you out then you’d better read on, because once you realize how important it is to have the PP daily, you will be looking in that toilet and jumping up and down with glee and admiration when it finally does occur.

For me, achieving the PP is epic, a sign that I am truly taking care of my body. The thing is, it only ever happens when I leave New York (my home) for vacation, or if I take a day or two off work. Seriously, I once went to visit my mom in Texas and was pooping perfect poops for days. And recently, after being constipated for three days, I had a morning off and experienced a moment of PP glory that brought such a sense of calm and happiness I almost took a picture to show to my friends.

I had been eating Ayurvedic meals of root veggies, ghee, Kitchari, and all that good stuff, and drinking warm water in the morning and Triphala tea at night for several days in addition to taking ‘moments of silence’ (my phrase for meditation) each morning. Then, it happened: not just a nice, long, snake-like poo in the toilet, but proof that my body was responding to my good intentions. A sign that mind and body were working in perfect harmony!

Getting all the waste out of the body, not only physical but mental waste as well, is how we stay healthy. Put good food and thoughts in, and the kidneys, liver and colon will get the ‘bad’ stuff out. What happens if it stays in? Well, cancer for one thing. And migraines. And skin rashes and acne and a host of other ailments and diseases. If the crap isn’t coming out via the rectum, then it’s coming out in the skin, or festering in the colon, liver or blood, or wherever else the body decides to store it. Then it gets rotten and toxic, and then you got problems.

Which brings me to 2009. Back then I was in my late twenties and drank one to two bottles of wine a day. After months of my skin breaking out in either acne or eczema, I decided to change my ways for good. I didn’t really pay attention to poop then. I knew constipation was bad because I’d read it somewhere and that was about it. I was pretty regular but relied heavily on coffee to help me ‘go,’ which, I later learned, was also contributing to all the skin issues.

So I quit drinking coffee and alcohol (and ‘til this day I feel like if I can accomplish both those things, then I can do anything in this lifetime. ANYTHING). I cut out gluten, and later, much later, processed sugar (another REALLY difficult journey that’s a whole different conversation).

I also started reading about Ayurveda, and even went to an Ayurvedic doctor who put me on a diet of no onions, garlic, tomatoes, shell fish, cashews, peanuts, yogurt, fermented food, coffee or alcohol, along with having me take a bunch of Indian herbs and immune boosting vitamins. Meat was also off the menu, but I decided I needed at least one thing in my life that I could still enjoy. Was this hard for me to stick to? Hell no! I actually found I thrive off this kind of shit.

I love a challenge, and I’m so vain that if it keeps my skin clear, I will do it. For the next eight or so months I pretty much stayed away from partying and instead ate really well and read books at home. I actually don’t remember if I was having regular bowel movements at that time but I assume my digestion was better.

The bad news is, I was still getting eczema outbreaks every so often despite my saint-like diet. About two years into my new Ayurvedic life, a friend suggested I try meditation. I felt my body stiffen and my mind shut down (but not in the good, meditative way) as soon as she suggested it. Sit still? Not think? Quitting coffee is one thing…but for somebody whose made restlessness an art form, that shit is impossible.

You think checking your Facebook or Instagram non-stop in a problem? Well I laugh, ‘cause that is child’s play people. Try not committing to ANYTHING, ever, as your life’s work. Routine, consistency, commitment, stillness…all of it is like kryptonite to me. I’m amazed I’m still with my current girlfriend (it’s been nine months which is like nine years for me).

I have yet to join a club, organization or class, and stick with it for more than a month. I have also managed to avoid a permanent place of employment throughout my twenties and into my mid-thirties. The list of careers I have either attempted so far include, but are not limited to: joining the peace corps, working on a boat, becoming an ordained minister, being a massage therapist, homeopath, acupuncturist, psychiatrist, naturopath, bike mechanic, addiction counselor, hermit, herb farmer, stripper, dominatrix, queer porn actor, houseboy, dancer, choreographer, yoga teacher (that is still something I’m looking into) and many more.

I’ve also made several attempts at figuring out how to make a living hanging out in the desert or the beaches of Hawaii and Australia (I’m actually still looking into those). All of this is to say my passions and interests vary, and rarely stick. So if I can’t even choose a life path then how in the hell am I going to meditate even three minutes a day (my goal each morning when I wake up)?

People often blame New York, saying it breeds this sort of behavior in folks. I hear over and over that there is so much variety here – so many paths to choose – that people take on too much. I’ve come to believe it isn’t New York that makes people this way – rather, it’s a mecca for people who already have this monkey-mind-I-love-to-be-busy-and-do-as-much-as-possible quality in them. New York is where busy people come to get off on being busy.

How does this relate back to the PP? My digestion got really fucked up when I lost a long-term freelance job, around the same time my friend suggested mediation to me. And what I’ve learned about pooping, or lack thereof, is that if your mind isn’t settled, calm and in harmony with your body, then the rest of your body will not function properly.

This is an illustration of the direct link between mind and body. If your mind is scattered and frantic, then your digestion will be scattered and frantic and too – thus, constipation (and lots of other symptoms that come under the umbrella term IBS).
In Ayurveda this is called a ‘vata’ imbalance. Vata is ether and air. It is a quality within each of us that is light, cold, rough, dry and constantly moving. It is located in the mind and pelvis. You can’t always see ether and air but they are there.

So how to address this imbalance? I have learned to find a calm, grounded place for my mind through meditation and yoga. For me, sticking to routine as much as possible also helps. Any divergent from my morning or evening routine means no PP for me. I seriously need two hours each morning of quiet time – no talking, no rushing to get ready, no looking at lots of crap on the internet – in order to properly evacuate my bowels.

My girlfriend and I recently made an agreement to block Facebook from our lives and to have silence in the morning to either sip warm water or do pranayama, and that has helped a lot. When I still get eczema every now and then, I know the feedback my body is giving me is that a time of retreat will do me some good – in addition to upping my dosage of probiotics and blood cleansing herbs.

As for finally settling on a career as an Ayurvedic practitioner? Using the practice to heal myself and my poop has shown me that it’s my dharma to share Ayurveda with others. Oh wait. Or is my path simply to become a yogi, practicing svadhyaya in the mountains of northern India? For now I commit to listen to my body and follow its guidance.

Have you found a way to do the PP too? We’re all yogis here, so come share your stories on Twitter, Instagram (maybe not your photos tho) and Facebook

Find out more about Wolf Medicine here.

MY MYSTICAL WEEK: HOW TO MAKE A PRAYER ARROW

Posted on March 20, 2015November 5, 2018 by Ruby Warrington

Looking for inspiration for your spring Equinox ritual? Why not make a prayer arrow, says Numinous founder Ruby Warrington…

Greetings from Rancho La Puerta! One of the (if not THE) original old-school ‘health farms.’ Open since 1940, La Puerta is located down in Baja, California, and is basically 3000-acres of orgasmically beautiful ranch where you come to workout, get pampered, and eat three clean, organic, plant-based meals a day, in the name of a total system reset.

Most of the ‘retreat’ type settings I find myself in these days also include a healthy, heady dose of cosmic healing. Just a couple of weeks back I was swimming with dolphins in the supercharged seas directly above the sunken ruby crystal of Atlantis, taking morning kundalini classes and getting high on raw vegan Tiramisu and cosmic breath work (a whole other story, which I will share in detail another time!)

No such numinous antics at La Puerta, where the schedule flips from cardio classes to yoga, and healthy cooking school to lectures on personal development. Sure there are daily meditation clases, and I sought out a heavenly crystal bowl sound healing session (which, judging from the snores, most people were treating more like a siesta), but the focus here is on good, wholesome mind-body alignment. None of that mystical mumbo-jumbo. Or is it?

One of my favorite workshops all week was called ‘Make a Prayer Arrow,’ taught by a local artist named Tim Hinchcliff. Taking from the indigenous traditions of Mexico, he described the act of making our arrows as “a direct communication of heart and spirit, conveyed to the higher powers of Nature.” In other words, a straight-up tool for magical manifestation – and just perfect for the day right before the vernal Equinox!

When I mentioned this, he gave me a look to say; “hell yeah missy, that’s why we’re here,” and carried on talking the group through the meaning of the “votive” arts (from the Latin votum – for ‘vow’). “It’s the same as when we light the candle on a birthday cake, and blow it out with a wish – which can also be seen as an eternal flame, placed in a sacred space, conveying a wish for health, happiness, and pursuit of our dreams.” LOVE. IT.

There was all sorts of crafty goodness laid out on the table in front of Tim, representing what he called the “Five Languages of the Dear” – all of which we would use to “express our focus in crafting our Votive.” And so I invite you to take from the below in creating your own Equinox votive, to birth a new intention for your cosmic journey!

How to make a prayer arrow for your equinox manifestation by ruby warrington for thenuminous.net — *My prayer arrow (and amazing vintage mukluk boots!)*

1. RICE PAPER – for writing out your Votive / intention. This could be a goal, passion, or offering of gratitude, for ourselves, for others, or for humanity.

2. DOVE FEATHERS – to summon the spirit of the Dove to be your messenger. The Dove is a symbol of peace, love and spirit, and her “coo” is a call to a higher sense of awareness.

3. COLORED YARN – representing either the five directions (in Huichol cosmology), or the Chakras. “Your choice of color expresses you in all it’s pureness,” said Tim, and he explained the representations as follows:

Directions:
North – WHITE for the clouds and sky realm
South – BLUE for water and growth
East – RED for the sacred mother and the new Sun
West – BLACK for the ocean and the dream world
Center – YELLOW for Earth regeneration and creativity

Chakras:
Crown – WHITE / VIOLET connection with infinite wisdom
Third Eye – PURPLE / INDIGO seeing within, devoted intuition
Throat – BLUE / TURQUOISE voice communication, clear thought expressed
Heart – GREEN soul heart awareness, love through action
Solar Plexus – YELLOW gathering of life force through positive work
Seat – ORANGE creativity, regeneration of self
Root – RED beginning and ending pulse, earth beat and balance

4. HERBS / SPIRIT PLANTS – oh the sweet smell of the fresh cut herbs from the ranch! “A small bundle attached to your arrow will both energize your senses as well as communicate your message,” said Tim. The basket contained:

Rosemary – “dew of the sea,” for remembrance and cheer
Lavender – “lavar – meaning ‘to wash’,” to find courage to let go of stress and fatigue, enhance intuition
Bay Laurel – “sprig of peace,” to gather strength to excel and celebrate achievements
White Sage – “wand of healing,” releases entanglements, brings wisdom
Rose Geranium – “hug of the hills,” home and memories, creativity and fertility

5. QUARTZ CRYSTAL – there was also a small dish of baby clear quartz crystals, presented by Tim with the following message: “With my clear thoughts and intentions I have crafted this arrow today, crystal clear and strong.”

Tim then showed us how to attach each of the above to a slim stick of wood, our arrow, starting with the rice paper intention, which we wound around the stick and fastened in place with a small piece of wax.

We then used the colored yarn to wrap the feathers in place, and continued winding yarn around the stick, leaving enough space at the bottom to “plant” the arrow in the Earth somewhere meaningful to us.

The sprig of herbs and the crystal were then tied to the arrow with more yarn, to create a colourful, fragrant totem of gratitude, love and positive intention!

I love any kind of ritual that’s designed to create a physical representation of my inner desires, for myself and for the world I inhabit, and was so grateful to find Tim’s workshop during my stay at la Puerta – where it turns out the magical and the mystical is all around, when you choose to look for it.

I plan to plant my arrow tonight, sowing the seeds of my hopes and dreams for the coming year and acknowledging the experiences that have brought me to this moment. 2015 – we got this!

What rituals do you use to honor meaningful points in your journey? Connect with us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook and share your Equinox stories.

www.rancholapuerta.com