-Review your welcome packet for required class art materials.

Main Quest Videos for Week One

-2 Introductory Videos and "What is a Portal and How do I Find One?"

Main Quest Tarot/ Altar Practice Assignments for Week One

-Expand your altar space. Whatever you are doing with your current altar, your assignment is to expand the scope. If you have a small part of a shelf that is your altar, consider expanding to the entire shelf. How big can you go? If not in size, then expand in terms of your approach to altar craft, expanding your creativity, the number of items you have on the altar, the intentional addition of a space for a 5 card tarot spread, plus other cards, etc.

-Practice shuffling Ma Deva Padma's "Osho Zen Tarot," and doing the 5 card spread, 3-5 times this week, with 15-20 minutes of altar practice for each session.

-On the day of the exact new moon, create a new moon altar and do a new moon 5 card spread. This should involve clearing your altar of all items, perhaps changing the altar cloth and lighting incense/ringing bells to clear the energy of the previous month, and taking time to create a beautiful new altar with items arranged in a way that inspires you to find your way in the month ahead. Pray for guidance about the month ahead and pull cards to receive that guidance.

-On the day of the exact Moon-Venus conjunction create a "Rose Gate" altar and do a Rose Gate 5 card spread seeking guidance on bringing more love and compassion to yourself and others in the month ahead. Pray to these goddesses of love and compassion to send you inspiration through the cards. Write down (or take a picture of) the cards that come so that you can refer to them during the coming weeks.

Write in a journal your intentions for the coming  month and also your intentions for the full 8 week journey of the class. Focus on your intentions for more self love and for kinder loving relationships. If you prefer not to write them down, you might share them verbally with someone you love or say them out loud to yourself.

Main Quest Astrology/ Skywatching Assignment for Week One
Please Consult your Moon-Venus/ New Moon Class Calendar

-Find your favorite spots within 10-15 minutes walk/drive to observe the sunrise eastern skies, and the sunset western skies. 

What are your favorite spots within 30-60 mins walk/drive?

Observation and Communion with Moon-Venus conjunction and New Moon

-At least one morning sky communion experience before dawn to catch the crescent moon the morning before the exact New Moon (or to catch the exact Moon-Venus conjunction, if Venus is in her morning star phase). You are encouraged to take a photo that pleases you to commemorate this expedition.

-At least one evening sky communion experience after sunset to catch the crescent moon after the exact new moon (or to catch the exact Moon-Venus conjunction if Venus is in her evening star phase). You are encouraged to take a photo that pleases you to commemorate this expedition.

-Sometimes an additional skywatching experience for the day before or after the exact Moon-Venus conjunction. This is very worth doing if you are not confident about the weather for the day of the Moon-Venus conjunction, as you will still have the experience of them close together in the sky, and it is also helpful for understanding how far the Moon moves in a 24 hour period. You are encouraged to take a photo that pleases you to commemorate this expedition.

Thus, the main quest assignment is to, 3 times over the 8 weeks (beginning, middle and end of your class journey), go sky watching 2-3 times: at least once to see morning skies, and at least once to see the evening skies, and sometimes a third time if you are not confident in the weather conditions for the exact Moon-Venus conjunction. 

-For this first week of class I strongly encourage you to go out skywatching the day before the tightest Moon-Venus conjunction. This would be a scouting expedition to find your power spot for observing the conjunction the following day, and also to have an experience of getting ready to go out, so you know how much time you need to get to your spot for maximum observation time. 

-An optional side quest assignment would be to also go out skywatching the morning/evening when the Sun and Moon are closest to an exact conjunction and to bring special attention to the sunrise or sunset, knowing that the Moon is nearly exactly in front of the Sun as you gaze upon those sunrise/sunset rays. A special case of the exact New Moon is when they are so precisely aligned that a Solar eclipse happens, which brings an opportunity for super potent magic.

When do I start my class journey?

-I invite you to start your 8 week Tarot and Flow journey on a day when there is a Moon-Venus (Venus Gate/Rose Gate) conjunction (they happen once a month), and to enter this class portal intentionally, ritualistically, and in harmony with the cycles of the Moon-Venus relationship. This is the ultimate planetary cycle for practicing loving kindness towards oneself and others, and this is the essence of the practice of both astrology and tarot: learning to have a loving relationship with both the sky and the cards that translates to a more loving relationship with yourself and others. 

-Consult your Rose Gate calendar to see when the next Moon-Venus conjunction is happening, and then set the intention to get out to see it on that date.  As discussed in the preparation section of the course materials, every Moon-Venus conjunction happens close to the new moon each month. It is sometimes (only 2-3 times in 19 months) close to or the same day as the new moon, but usually it happens from 1-3 days before or after the new moon. Thus the focus of your skywatching assignments will happen over a 3-4 day period each month (3 times during the 8 week journey, during weeks 1, 5 and 8).

On the day you decide to ritualistically start the class, set the intention to do either a sunrise or sunset ritual, depending on whether the Rose Gate will be visible after sunset or before sunrise (Venus is sometimes an evening star and sometimes a morning star). 

On that day, go on a medicine walk (this could involve some biking or driving as well) to your best nearby power spot for observing sunrise or sunset skies. Consult your Star Walk 2 app to find the part of your local horizon where the sun rises and sets (this changes from season to season, and your animal body knows exactly what vantage point is best for current viewing/communion). You will need to have a power spot where you can clearly see this part of the horizon.

Ideally, if yours is a morning Venus Gate,  plan to arrive at your place of power one hour before sunrise, and plan to stay until 10 minutes after sunrise (70 minute portal entry). If yours is an evening Venus Gate, plan to arrive 10 minutes before sunset and plan to stay 60 minutes after sunset. This will allow you to have at least 5-10 minutes of total darkness, and you will then get to observe the changing quality of the light as it gets closer and closer to sunrise/sunset, enjoying the sunrise/sunset colors of the sky and hearing the birds as they awaken/go to sleep.

It is ideal that this be an outdoor location where you feel safe being in the dark.  If you prefer to not be outdoors during total darkness then you could delay your ritual observation of the Moon-Venus conjunction until as late as 20-30 minutes before/after sunrise/sunset at which point it becomes much harder to see Venus (though it will often be possible to see the Moon right up until sunrise/sunset).

If you can't find an outdoor location that feels safe for sacred practice done under morning/evening light conditions, then find the best vantage point from an indoor location (whether that be from your home or a safe public building where you will feel at ease to observe the horizon for up to 70 minutes). 

I think it is worth traveling for up to an hour to find your spot for the Tarot and Flow portal entry point. Although it won't always be possible or preferred, the ideal entry portal will be in or near a beautiful outdoor setting with an unobstructed view of the horizon. Often this will be on a hill or at the edge of a lake, ocean or meadow. These spots can often be  found in or nearby urban settings, but your medicine walk may become a "medicine ride" on public transportation.

Usually, even the worst urban light pollution won't interfere with seeing the Rose Gate, as Venus and the Moon are so bright. Clouds, bad weather and smog are another matter. This is part of the fun of this portaling practice. You won't necessarily be able to see every Venus Gate you set out to ritually engage with, and so when you do get to see them, it is a joyful event.

If the weather is not comfortable for you, then I recommend finding the best indoor location for you to honor this new cycle of loving-kindness, this new cycle of vulnerable intimacy with yourself and others. This could be from a window of your home, or from your meditation cushion if you don't have a clear line of sight (use the Star Walk 2 app to know what wall to look towards, or window to look through).

Week One Side Quest Content

At the top of the list of side quest content is a video overview of  some optional YouTube content that I have curated for you to check out during weeks one and two of your class journey, should you so desire. These videos are meant to enrich your experience of class, but are very optional.

Also in the side quest content you will find a video on the Mercury-Neptune planetary relationship, which is very relevant to this class, as it is the planetary relationship of tarot, astrology and other divinatory practices, as well as psychic downloads, channeling, and telepathy. Since we will be discussing psychic abilities in this class, I encourage you to check it out.

A third video in the side quest content is my 2019 presentation on "What is a Portal and How can I find One." There is a lot of overlap with the 2024 presentation of the same name, but this one was the first video I recorded for that 2019 class, and it has a unique potency. It could be worth watching if you want to review these all-important principles of portaling.

You will also find the full recordings of both the 2024 first live Zoom meeting, and the first live webinar from the 2019 class. I have edited out  this week's main quest "What's a Portal" video from the longer 2024 Zoom recording, but you could just watch the full recording if you want more of the live Zoom experience, which includes student questions, comments, as well as live readings with student volunteers. 

Similarly you could watch the full recording of the first live webinar from 2019 if you want to see where everything started, and catch some good student questions and comments.

Strongly Encouraged Media:

The Animal Communicator

Third Eye Spies

The Telepathy Tapes podcast (on YouTube)

"Life After Death with Tyler Henry" (on Netflix)

Andy Goldsworthy: Rivers and Tides

The 100 Foot Wave HBO Series

I encourage everyone to make comments below the course content videos. I will try to respond to all comments and questions.

Enjoy! These are meant to be pleasurable practices.

Recommended Reading