Hello Tarot and Flowwers! I hope you've been having great skywatching and altar crafting experiences over the past week. 

Main Quest Content

For the main quest content this week there are three videos on tarot/altar practice. The first is about going deeper with the 5 card spread, and also introduces the Pixie Deck (Smith-Waite borderless edition). With each video that introduces tarot or oracle card decks, please keep in mind that they are also meant to be demonstrating and reviewing the Tarot and Flow approach, including reviewing the 5 card spread. I do spreads in all videos, and watching these should help empower your own practice.

The second video begins to introduce 30 principles (principles 1-15) that I consider essential to the Tarot and Flow approach to tarot and altar practice.  Some of these principles you won't find in other approaches to this practice, especially the emphasis on shuffling and self-love practice, so I think this video and part 2 for next week are important ones.

The third video, "Altar Practice Behind the Scenes 1," is a behind the scenes look at my own altar practice as it has evolved since I made my first altar in 1992. I show my, then current 2024, "altar garden" and show how I maximized a small space, with storage for cards, crystals, sacred objects, and found objects from nature. The video ends with a look at a new altar seven months after our move to a new home. I share my process of working with a blank canvas, and the joy of discovering the potential of a new space. 

The last video explores the connections between flow state research and the approach to tarot and astrology that I am sharing in this class. This tarot/ altar crafting practice (as well as the approach to astrology we are learning) is specifically intended to bring you into a flow state, and so understanding the "flow state triggers" reviewed in this video should be helpful for inspiring you on your journey.

• A note that there are more main quest videos in the early weeks of your class journey compared to later weeks. This additional time investment is meant to jump-start your practice at the beginning of your journey.
• I have ordered the videos to indicate the most important videos first, in this case the video on the Pixie Deck, so you can prioritize content if you need to come back to complete content later.

Side Quest Content

The top video in the side quest content is a short one introducing you to the planet Mercury and suggesting ways of deepening intimacy with them. 

Your main-quest skywatching practice for this class, as discussed in the week one content,  involves a focus on three planetary cycles of time, the Moon-Sun cycle, with a focus on the New Moon, the Venus-Sun cycle, with an awareness of when Venus is in the evening sky or morning sky (and how high in the sky you need to look for them after sunset or before sunrise), and the Moon-Venus cycle, with a focus on going out to see them when they are closest together each month (either in the morning or evening). Thus, as discussed in the week one content, your skywatching will be condensed over several days near the New Moons that happen during weeks one, four and eight of your class journey. 

The other 5 weeks of your class journey you don't have any required skywatching assignments. For myself, after these last years of committed skywatching, this is my normal rhythm: a lot of skywatching around the New Moon, and not as much (sometimes none) the rest of the month. This is especially true when the action is in the morning (or midnight) skies, as I need (we all need) good sleep. However, when there are additional special things happening at other times, I am usually motivated to go on side quests, and maybe you will be as well.

So, in your side quest content you will find videos on Mercury, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, with instructions on how/when to best connect with them. This week you will find instructions on Mercury below the video, with the dates to try to connect with/ see them in the sky.

The second video in the side quest content is called "Portaling 2" and goes into more detail on how to surf the special waves that come at the beginning of a new cycle of time, when at least two planets come together in a conjunction. This is the key practice in this approach to astrology, finding a portal (when two planets are conjunct) and letting yourself be pulled to see them and also pulled to experience their energy in certain appropriate settings.

The third video, "Finding Your Deck and Going Deeper with the 5 Card Spread"  is from 2019 and is similar to the one in the main quest assignment, but there are some different decks I introduce, and so you might find it valuable to watch.

Again the videos are ordered to indicate what I think are the most important ones to focus on, with the most important at the top of the list, and the last videos on this list are there only for when you have the time and interest to go deeper.

You have the full recording of the 2nd Zoom session on flow states and psychic abilities. I have edited out the sections on these topics for shorter videos in the main quest content for this week and next week, but you could watch this longer recording if you want more of the full experience of what it was like to be in the live class, with sections of student questions/comments as well as me giving some live readings to students.

Similarly, you will find the full recording of the 2nd live webinar that comes from the 2019 version of the class. There was a lot of good Q&A in this meeting, so it could be helpful to watch at some point. 

Other Assignments

--If you didn't get to make a New Moon altar last week, it's not too late to ritualize the start of a new lunar/solar cycle. Clear everything from your altar, shake off the altar cloth, perhaps light some sage or palo santo, ring a bell, shake your rattle, and imagine really clearing the energy of the past month.

Take at least 20 minutes for this ritual, and start fresh with a new arrangement to your altar. Perhaps use a different altar cloth. Maybe some objects want to stay and others leave. You may find yourself bringing in something from nature, some flowers, leaves or stones. Maybe there is a new crystal wanting to be featured, or a photo found in a drawer. Get into a trance state, work mindlessly, and allow your intuition and artistic creativity to guide everything. Of course, you should also consider shuffling one or more of your decks and pulling cards for a five card spread throughout this ritual. Take photos to commemorate the session. 

--Do a five card spread out in nature. This could be at your favorite spot for watching the sunrise or sunset, or anywhere else.  See if you can arrange one or more cards next to a plant, tree, stone, etc. Notice any connections (colors, shapes, etc.) with the natural setting. Take photos.

--Consult optional video play lists in the course materials.

Week Two thought form/ magic spell:

"I always wait for the enthusiastic yes pulls."