Individual vs Collective

June 2023 Offering

Hi my bbyz, it's JUNE! 

June tends to be a bit of a portal month for me, as it's usually in this month that my social and mental batteries finally reach their 'fully charged' setting, which in turn ushers in a gently buoyant and courageous energy that keeps me active and curious. If you fuck with the stars, you might attribute this to Gemini season... I however just think it's the positive side effects of finally getting a healthy dose of Vitamin D thanks to sky daddy and higher temperatures. 

The hot news in this edition is that I'm teaching a Tarot workshop for a wonderful online festival in July. Full details below, if you're curious. 

My hope for us all this month is that we find things which spark activity, curiosity and conversation.

Love and magic,
ilayda x 

Updates

Tarot Secrets Workshop

Tickets are now available for the Tarot workshop I'll be teaching on Sat 15th July!  

Designed for novice and intermediate readers alike, Tarot Secrets will explore the difference between major and minor arcana, give tips on using the messaging of the different suits to create more cohesive readings, delve into the tricksy court cards, and more.

Click here for more info about the workshop and to book. 

May: wtf are the cards sayin? 

One of my favourite things about the Tarot is how good a tool it can be to explore both the individual and collective experiences of humanity. 

On a personal level, I'd look at this month's cards and talk about ego-death. I'd talk about how I went to therapy for like 3 years before I actually saw and felt any tangible benefits from the experience. I'd talk about how that was down to the fact that psychodynamic therapy can be a slow process, and how I had a lot of grief and baggage to sift through before I could begin to contemplate initiating actual, noticeable change. And I'd talk about how it was also because on a subconscious level, I knew that for real change to occur in my life, a part of me (the part that had been handed a set script about who I was, and spent a lifetime adding character and context notes and continually reading from said script) would have to die. And I'd explain that it took me that long, 3 years or so, to reach a point where I felt ready to 'die', in the psychoanalytic sense.

I'd talk about how sometimes when we want change and transformation in our personal lives, we have to let go of old notions of who we are, what we're capable (or not capable of), and what the purpose of life is (Death). I'd talk about the necessary discomfort of letting go, and the way discomfort can lead to illumination (The Hanged Man) and changed perspectives for the better. I'd talk about how this is a necessary process for us in modern life; a way of maturing (Elevate) beyond the early scripts and contexts that are handed to us by our families and adolescent experiences. I'd talk about how ultimately making room for ego-death, allows us to unify (The Lovers) with ourselves, and by extension, others and the world around us.

On a collective level, I would talk about the way society can be resistant to even the most progressive change (Elevate) because people dislike discomfort (The Hanged Man) and the unknown (Death). I'd talk about how the white rose on Death's flag is a symbol of life and how the card ultimately tells us that for new life and progress to occur, old and outdated systems, ways of thinking, and structures need to be dead and buried first. I'd talk about how humans like to pretend that death isn't coming for us all, and how that's linked to the attitude of 'someone else will surely make the difference we need' that many of us are so susceptible to thinking in the face of societal ills. I'd talk about how it can go in the other direction too, how we can become so aware of our own mortality that there seems little point in fighting for a better life for humanity while we have it.

And I'd talk about how the way to achieve the changes that we need as a collective, for the better of society, is to unite (The Lovers) with those who we share common ground with. I'd talk about how unity isn't just about 'love and light' but also about accepting the gross, the dark, the difficult and hateful aspects of our natures, and finding a way to hold space for it all. I'd talk about how the Lovers card isn't just about romance, but about choices and stepping the fuck out of your own way by beginning to understand that not everything is or has to be a binary. And I'd talk about how my experience in the therapy room, circling around the idea of ego-death is not so different from the way society circles around the notion of 'what we have isn't quite working' without doing anything about it, because as a collective we fear destabilising or dismantling the systems that we have come to know and rely on - even if they no longer serve us. And I'd explain that despite all this, the innate human need for connection, for communing with something bigger than our individual selves should give you, me, and everyone we know... hope. Hope that we can bring ourselves to do what's needed. 

So, however you choose to take in this month's cards, it comes down to this:
There is always, always, always hope for a brighter, fuller, more fulfilled future.
And yes, the route there isn't without discomfort or sacrifice. 
But then, what in this beautiful, maddening, clusterfuck of a dimension is? 

From ilayda

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