it's giving mystical

What if the most powerful thing you could do was soften?This week on It's Giving Mystical, we're exploring Strength, card VIII of the Major Arcana, and the extraordinary power of gentleness, vulnerability, pleasure, and the open heart.Following last week's exploration of The Chariot, we're looking at two very different expressions of power: the heroic force that moves out into the world to conquer, and the feminine, magnetic force that draws the world toward it.Through the traditional imagery of the maiden and the lion, the infinity symbol, and the beautiful idea of being bound by a chain of roses, we explore what it means to lead ourselves, our bodies, and our lives with tenderness rather than force.We also talk about Venus, the beauty way, manifestation, the animal body, and the courage it takes to remain soft in a world that often teaches us otherwise.Some questions to sit with this week:Where am I forcing something that might respond better to gentleness?What would it mean to treat my body with reverence rather than discipline?Where is my heart in the things I'm trying to create?Can I trust the power of patience, pleasure, and receptivity?Strength reminds us that softness is not the absence of power. It is a power all its own.Welcome to It's Giving Mystical, a podcast exploring Tarot, spirituality, archetypes, and the magic of being human.Explore more at givingmystical.com, including private sessions, Field Notes, and the Tarot Workbook.Next week: The Hermit, card IX of the Major Arcana.

What if victory isn't about pushing harder, moving faster, or taking control? What if real power comes from knowing when to be still?This week on It's Giving Mystical, we're continuing our journey through the Major Arcana with The Chariot (VII), a card of victory, willpower, magnetism, and divine timing.The Chariot is full of contradictions. It appears to be moving, yet everything in the image is still. It represents tremendous power, yet asks us to relax our grip. It promises victory, but invites us to reconsider what winning actually means.In this episode, we explore:The Chariot's connection to Cancer, the number seven, and the mystery of the unseenWhy the Chariot represents both movement and stillnessSolar plexus energy, personal power, confidence, and magnetismHolding opposing forces without needing to resolve themThe difference between power and controlKairos, divine timing, and knowing when to actThe Chariot as warrior, victor, and hero of your own mythWhat this card means when it appears in a Tarot readingWe also explore the relationship between The Magician, The Emperor, and The Chariot, and how our inner alignment can create meaningful change in the world around us.A question to sit with: Where are you holding your power too tightly, and where might you trust yourself enough to relax?The Chariot reminds us that we don't have to force every outcome. Sometimes the most powerful thing we can do is gather our light, hold our center, and trust that we'll know when it's time to move.Welcome to It's Giving Mystical, a podcast exploring Tarot, spirituality, archetypes, and the magic of being human.Explore more at givingmystical.com, including the Tarot Workbook, Field Notes, and private sessions.I'd love to hear how The Chariot shows up in your life. What does victory mean to you right now?

November arrives with momentum, ancestral wisdom, and the unmistakable feeling that something much larger than us is finding its way into balance.After October's invitation to let things ride, November brings a different kind of movement. We're working with Justice (XI) and The World (XXI)—two powerful Major Arcana cards that speak to karmic rebalancing, collective completion, and the closing of cycles that have been unfolding for far longer than we can see.In this month's episode of It's Giving Mystical, we're exploring the awakening of old prayers, the protective wisdom of our ancestors, and the ways the universe seeks harmony without requiring us to orchestrate every outcome.We're also talking about kairos, the ancient Greek understanding of right timing. Not the time on the clock, but the moment when the winds shift, the conditions align, and we know when to release the arrow.This month isn't about forcing things into being. It's about recognizing what's already moving, participating where we're called, and allowing what has completed its journey to fall away.In this episode:November's numerology: the master number 11 and the energy of JusticeJustice and The World: karmic balance, endings, and collective transformationAncestral prayers, feminine wisdom, and the awakening of Earth energyRethinking karma as harmony rather than punishmentKairos, divine timing, and knowing when to actThe difference between forced action and aligned actionStaying physically, emotionally, and spiritually hydratedPlayfulness, reciprocity, and the wisdom of letting goTarot and animal medicine readings for all 12 zodiac signsThere's something beautiful about remembering that we're not responsible for moving the entire world. We are participants in something much larger, and sometimes the most powerful thing we can do is recognize the current and allow ourselves to be carried.Justice is love brought to the streets.Stay grounded. Stay hydrated. Pay attention to the weather. And trust yourself to recognize the moment when it's time to move.With love,KirstenExplore Giving MysticalPrivate Sessions, Field Notes, Women's Circles & the Tarot Workbookhttps://givingmystical.comInstagram: @givingmysticalYouTube: @givingmystical

What if your desire isn't something to overcome, but something to listen to?This week on It's Giving Mystical, we're continuing our journey through the Major Arcana with The Lovers, card number six in the Tarot.Yes, The Lovers is a card of romance, sexuality, partnership, and connection. But it's also a card of crossroads, choice, and the powerful ways our longing moves us toward becoming.We're exploring the numerology of six, the sacred role of relationships in our human development, the masculine and feminine energies within us, and why our desire deserves to be taken seriously.Because wanting something doesn't mean we're entitled to have it. And sometimes the real gift of desire isn't the thing we're reaching for, but who we become along the way.In this episode, we explore:The Lovers Tarot card meaning and the numerology of sixLove, harmony, beauty, pleasure, and belongingWhy The Lovers represents a crossroads or significant choiceRomantic longing and sexual desire as forces of transformationMasculine and feminine polarity in Tantra and relationshipsThe difference between desire and attachmentHow relationships reveal and develop parts of ourselvesWhy loneliness, disconnection, and the absence of desire are important informationA question to sit with: What is your desire asking of you, and who might you become if you take that longing seriously?✨ Explore more with Giving MysticalDiscover the Tarot Workbook, join the monthly Field Notes subscription, or book a private session.https://givingmystical.comFollow along on Instagram: @givingmysticalIt's Giving Mystical is a podcast about Tarot, spirituality, archetypes, personal transformation, and the sacred experience of being human.

What if the Hierophant isn't here to tell you what to believe but to ask who you've allowed to decide for you?In this episode of It's Giving Mystical, we're exploring the Hierophant, card number five of the Major Arcana, and one of the most misunderstood cards in the tarot.Traditionally represented by the Pope, the Hierophant speaks to religion, institutions, tradition, spiritual authority, and the rules we live by. But here's the interesting thing: in numerology, five is the number of freedom, creativity, change, and disruption.So why does the tarot place a gatekeeper at the threshold of liberation?I like to think of the Hierophant as the bridge.. the person, belief, institution, or system we've placed between ourselves and something we long to experience directly.We're talking about:The meaning of the Hierophant in tarot readingsWhy the number five changes everything about this cardSpiritual authority, tradition, and the rules we inheritThe difference between guidance and giving away our powerCreativity, freedom, and the stories that keep us smallDirect revelation and our innate connection to the sacredHow the Hierophant can be a bridge rather than a barrierPlus, a little reflection on the Emperor, the Venus-Sun cazimi, and the invitation to reconsider what we truly value.A question to sit with: What have you placed between yourself and the life you want to experience?This is part of our ongoing journey through all 78 cards of the tarot, exploring their symbolism, archetypes, numerology, and invitations for everyday life.Explore the Tarot Workbook, Field Notes, private sessions, and gatherings at https://givingmystical.comI'd love to hear how the Hierophant shows up in your readings. Come find me on Instagram @givingmystical.It's Giving Mystical — tarot, archetypes, energy, and the art of being human.

What does it mean to become a safe place for yourself?This week on It's Giving Mystical, we're exploring The Emperor, card IV of the Major Arcana, and the archetype of the divine masculine.The Emperor is the energy of structure, stability, boundaries, responsibility, and protection. But he's also an archetype with a complicated history. In a world shaped by patriarchy, control, and domination, how do we reclaim the healthy masculine without reproducing the systems that have harmed us?We explore:The Emperor as an aspect of self, not simply a man or authority figure in your lifeThe difference between healthy masculine protection and corrupted masculine controlBoundaries, personal sovereignty, and the territory you're responsible for tendingWhy internal safety is the foundation for freedom, creativity, and abundanceThe relationship between The Empress and The EmperorHow to recognize and reclaim the benevolent protector within yourselfThe courage to stand up for yourself and say, "Thou shall not pass."We also talk about how tarot cards can represent multiple layers of experience—your own psyche, the people around you, and the collective systems we inhabit.A question for the week: Where is your boundary line? What needs protection, repair, or a little more room to grow?This is part of our ongoing journey through the 78 cards of the tarot, exploring tarot as a living art, a language of archetypes, and a tool for personal transformation.Explore more:Tarot Workbook: https://givingmystical.comPrivate sessions, Field Notes & The Thread: https://givingmystical.comInstagram: @givingmysticalHave a question about The Emperor or something you'd love us to explore in this series? Send me a message. I'd love to hear from you.With love,Kirsten

This week, we arrive at The Empress… card number three of the Major Arcana and the embodiment of creativity, pleasure, abundance, beauty, and life itself.Where the High Priestess draws us toward silence and the unseen, the Empress brings us fully back into the earthly world: into the body, nature, sensuality, desire, creativity, and the ceaseless generative force of being alive.We explore the Empress as Mother Earth, fertile goddess, creator and receiver and the powerful idea that pleasure, beauty, art, and enjoyment aren't frivolous extras. They're part of the gift of being human.We also look at the shadow of the Empress: scarcity, contraction, overindulgence, and the places where we stop ourselves from receiving or enjoying what is already here.Your practice this week: notice when something feels good — a beautiful meal, laughter, touch, sunlight, music, a moment in nature — and see if you can stay with the pleasure for one breath longer.What happens when you don't rush away from what feels good?The Empress might say: this is why you're here.✨ In this episode:The Empress tarot card meaning • pleasure and abundance • feminine energy • creativity and fertility • Venus and beauty • erotic energy and life force • receiving • scarcity and contraction • the Empress reversed • embodiment • tarot as a spiritual practiceIf you're walking through the Major Arcana with me, tell me: Where is the Empress showing up in your life this week?

We continue our journey through the Major Arcana with The High Priestess... card number two in the tarot.If The Magician is the vertical — the channel between spirit and body, desire and creation — The High Priestess goes wide. She is the field. The void. The mystery. The part of us that stays connected to something much larger than ourselves.This week, we explore the High Priestess as oracle, gatekeeper, and keeper of the sacred and what happens when we stop needing everything to make logical sense.We talk about:✦ intuition, dreams, signs + synchronicities✦ the High Priestess as oracle and keeper of the mystery✦ sacredness, devotion + the inner temple✦ the Magician and High Priestess as complementary energies✦ learning to perceive what you cannot prove✦ silence, nonlinear knowing + direct revelation✦ the shadow of the High Priestess: isolation, spiritual bypassing + leaving the body behind✦ finding the sacred inside ordinary lifeAnd perhaps the question to carry with you this week:Where have I let the mystery fall away?What happens when you stop insisting that you already know what something means (or where it's going) and allow the world to speak back?Try inviting the High Priestess into your week: Show me what I need to see.Then watch what comes.✨ October Field Notes are available as a one-off or monthly subscription, with a tarot card tucked into each October mailing.✨ Private sessions are opening again in October.✨ The next Shaman School cycle begins September 2027, with more details coming soon.Explore everything at Giving Mystical.If you're traveling through the Major Arcana with me, tell me: Do you feel more at home with The Magician or The High Priestess?

October has one very clear message: no more bets. Let it ride.After September’s clarifying energy, October brings the Wheel of Fortune and Judgment... two Major Arcana cards of fate, revelation, divine timing, and conditions changing beyond our control.This isn’t a month to rush in and fill the space, force an answer, begin something simply because you’re uncomfortable waiting, or try to manage what happens next.You’ve placed your bets. The wheel is spinning.In this month’s tarot forecast, we explore:✦ Wheel of Fortune + Judgment as October’s guiding cards✦ why October feels like a month of “before and after”✦ Venus + Mercury retrograde and the return of unfinished threads✦ truth, compassion, and the King of Swords✦ what happens when the conditions around us change✦ allowing revelation instead of forcing resolution✦ stability, nourishment, and tending yourself while the wheel turns✦ a tarot + plant medicine reading for every zodiac signThere is a lot moving this month but that doesn’t mean you need to be the one moving it.Follow what opens. Respond to what arrives. Tell the truth. Keep your heart in the conversation. And wherever you can, give yourself permission to do less.October knows what it’s doing.Let it ride.✨ Field Notes: October’s Field Note, A Time of Before and After, explores these energies through art, ritual, and reflection. A few are still available at givingmystical.com.🃏 And Walk Through the Tarot continues this month as we make our way through the Major Arcana, one card at a time.If something in this reading lands for you, come tell me. I’d especially love to know: Where in your life are you being asked to stop placing bets and simply watch what happens next?

What if the Magician isn’t simply a card about manifestation—but a reminder of just how much agency you actually have?In this episode of It’s Giving Mystical, we continue our journey through the tarot with The Magician: Card I of the Major Arcana.The Fool asked us to step into the unknown. The Magician says: Okay. Now you’re here. What are you going to do with what you’ve been given?We explore the Magician as the archetype of focused power, creation, agency and the meeting place between the spiritual and material worlds. This is the energy of as above, so below—the understanding that your thoughts, words, emotions, energy and actions all participate in creating your experience.And perhaps more interestingly: why are there places in your life where you feel completely capable of creating change…and others where you feel powerless?We get into:• the numerology and energetic meaning of One• the Magician as manifestation, agency and creative power• the four tools on the Magician’s table• “as above, so below” and the meeting of spirit + matter• where you may be underestimating your own power• the difference between focused energy and scattered energy• the Magician reversed and giving your power away• why your unique way of experiencing the world matters• and, somehow, the very important question of what breed of dog you are currently living asThis week, notice:Where do I already feel powerful, clear and capable?And where have I decided I have less agency than I actually do?The Magician reminds us: you are not incidental to the creation of your life.You are the one.✨ If you’re following this tarot series, send me your questions or leave a comment. I’m building this as a living library of the tarot, and I’d love to know what you want to explore as we go.Next up: The High Priestess.