Making Magic in May Series: Week 4: Everyday Magic

The everyday magic of following a hunch to see where it leads.

In this final installment of my Making Magic in May blog post series I'm thrilled to share with you my favorite ways of communing with my intuition – also known as stepping outside of the rational, linear, everyday model of thinking. This is where magic can happen!So far in the series I've shared the backbone of my daily practices for elevating the mundane and attuning myself to the mystery and magic that surrounds us. We’ve talked about setting intentions, creating self-care rituals, and paying attention.

Now for the icing on the cake! I'll let you in on some of the actual daily and monthly rituals I perform and my favorite tools to use (because isn't it fun to get a peek into someone else's creative living?). Tarot/Oracle CardsTarot isn't about predicting the future. It's about accessing the wisdom and insights that lie within you already. These insights from your higher mind are activated by the images on the cards – the archetypes, stories, colors, and symbols. When I pull a Tarot spread I practice suspending judgement and getting out of my own way so that the messages of my deeper truth can come through. From here, new story lines can take root in my heart. I begin communing with this higher aspect of myself – the wisdom of my body and soul.I've written about my yearly tarot/oracle spread over here.

I revisit the cards I pulled for each month as I'm about to flip the calendar. I reflect on the previous month’s insights and tune into the month ahead both intuitively and by consulting the guide book for extra clues. This practice gives me an inner map throughout the year. This year I also began pulling a daily spread or sometimes just a single card. Pulling cards for myself and others gives me a sense of deep recognition. Often my body exhales, feels a tingling of energy run through it, or like it's been hit by a ton of bricks. Oh my...yes...uh huh...wow. This recognition usually feels like a release in the body. A reckoning that allows an area that has been tight and constricted to unravel a bit, letting in new awareness.

When in doubt and worry or feeling ungrounded the cards can help you access that inner place of deep knowing. Often we need a reminder of our root intentions, of how we might best support ourselves, or how to pay attention.Using my tarot and oracle decks regularly hasn’t turned me into a tarot expert. The cards feel like an inner guide or companion on my journey, bringing me closer to my soul. "Signs, signs, everywhere signs..."I pay attention to signs. To words, animals, images, feelings, and people who come into my energetic field again and again. I allow myself to follow the thread, the hunch, the bread crumbs that life offers. This is what it means to me to trust my intuition, follow my heart, live a creative life.

It takes awareness to notice the signs.

To do this I must create space. Growing my awareness requires slowing my pace. Magic is all around us; we're often just too busy to experience it. In order to change the cycle of busyness we must be discerning. Everything we do is a choice. When I take a moment to light a candle, do my yoga practice, sit in quiet meditation, or pull my cards I heighten my powers of awareness. When I make healthful choices around what I put in my body, the words I use, and the people and activities I engage with, I keep myself open to that which is seeking me.Because as Rumi says, "That which you are seeking is seeking you."Lately, the kids and I have been experiencing multiple visits from deer and hummingbirds.

When this happens I allow myself to consider the messages they have to offer us and thank them for their medicine. I have an animal medicine book on my shelf but you can use Google if you don't.Expanding my coaching practice to include group coaching came from paying attention to what was being asked of me and opening myself to possibilities beyond my original vision. I'm so grateful I listened and got out of my own way so I could experience this expansion.

Moon Gazing

I’ve always seen a woman's face when I gaze at the full moon. When my grandmother passed away a few years ago the moon became a wise grandmother figure to me.

During our separation and the upheaval of transitions that followed I looked to the moon for guidance.One summer night when I knew we needed to put the house we had just purchased back on the market I stood outside and gazed up to find another full moon. I simply said, "I surrender. I put my trust in you. I will do whatever comes next and go wherever I'm meant to go. Please just show me a sign."When I came inside the house I opened my computer screen to find an email from a friend who was looking for a renter for their home. We've been in this perfect-for-us home for two years now. Needless to say my relationship with Grandmother moon was sealed that night.Spirit, intuition, moon energy, earth wisdom, the stars – are all the same to me. They are the mystery and magic I want to walk among.

When the moon is full I place my crystals and tarot cards out to be cleansed and charged. I too go outside or stand in a window to be bathed by her watery, reflective light. I ask her for a message and trust that what I hear is just as real as anything else – a reflection of where I'm at internally at the moment. When the new moon arrives and her face is hidden I give myself more time to become like a hermit. I dive deeper into my meditations, journaling and tarot. I spend time tucked away listening to what is wanting to be explored or created. The new moon is the time I set my intentions for the lunar month ahead.Invite Magic to Play Perhaps some of this feels new and even a little strange to you. Perhaps you’ve never basked in the light of a full moon or pulled a Tarot card. How exciting. There’s no better time than now to give yourself permission to try, to listen, and to play. As Madeleine L’Engle said, “Don’t try to comprehend with your mind. Your minds are very limited. Use your intuition.” Finding ways to connect to your intuition, your deep inner knowing, will not only help you find the magic in the everyday, but it will make it easier for you to chart a true path through your days and weeks.  Along the way you will connect more in your relationships, your world, and ultimately yourself.If you're interested in learning more about my intuitive coaching and card readings, email me with the word "magic" in the subject line.