Are you enlightened yet? Has lockdown served up any epiphanies to you? Have you recognised anything about your life as you sit and stew in your self isolation?

I have found that this strange period has been a whole new level of surrender. I spent most of the last couple of years surrendering. Which basically means, giving over my faith and trust in the universe to the wind and going with the flow. It's hard, but I was doing it, and it was serving me up with some powerful treats, including an impressive new book contract for the Book of Tarot (preorder here) ... 

Then 2020 arrived and I decided to seize back control of my life from the universe. I got totally out of alignment and the result has been SO MUCH pain, to myself, and to others. 

Then the world stopped. And I am now sat in unexpected surrender with everybody else. Sat in my own pain, surrendered to forces that require a full stop on life.

BUT... if I know anything about surrender I know that it works. In this sweet, sickly spot of stopping, we can become so much more. 

So when I ask have you had any epiphanies yet, it's because I reckon you must have. For I sure have. I am sure that before this time is out, I will have had more. 

This period of weird frightened stalling has brought me face to face with my dark side, my shadow, my shame and my (many) imperfections. Not to taunt me. But to help me eyeball them down and release them. So that I might surrender and rise up from this different. Ready for whatever the next part of life holds for me/ What about you? Have you been made to sit in discomfort with your shadows? And if so, how are you going to transform them into something that is easier to live with? 

I pulled us all a card to help deal with our collective angst, and to learn how to make the most from this, how to turn dirt into divine... 

Seven of Wands

This card speaks to the place we are in. Isolated, alone, far from ordinary contact with the culture we previously relied on. And yet, in this odd place we don't fall and deflate. Oh no, this is a place where we rise and get higher. Not by doing, or even being. But by stopping and stilling within. Then dealing with whatever the heck comes up.

This space is difficult, but this difficulty is the dirt necessary to grow. And we are all growing. The world is becoming much smaller as we connect with our internal worlds. So we know who we are, and what we really need. As this moment lifts and life moves on, this space of inner exploration will find it's ways to change the wider world hugely. This is life changing, but it is also world changing. 

Choose to go gently with yourself at this moment. Every time you experience pain, know that this pain comes with higher purpose. That every discomfort you currently endure, will shift and become a powerful part of your personality.

In this space you are learning about you, in ways you never could have before. It is stark, it is powerful, it will make you better and happier in the long run. So sit here in this place and know that it is and will be the making of you.

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This is an intense and powerful 4 card reading, crafted uniquely for you.
Be guided right back into your power and your heart with this personal reading direct from The Book of Tarot author Alice Grist. The perfect cure all for your current situation. Each reading gives you a powerful assessment of your situation and guides you towards self awareness, intuition and making the most of whatever you are currently experiencing. The reading includes...
Heart: What is your life circumstances currently offering? Feelings, thoughts, actions, drama and current difficulties. This is the very heart of your situation.
Influences: What is your spirit wishing to share with you. Solution, promise, potential, guidance. This may also represent current blockages and stoppages to your personal growth.
A Future Card: Because we all like a little glimpse of the potential of our future and how best to embrace it! 
Final Guidance: A final word of intuitive guidance from Alice (and spirit / angels /guides).
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So when times get hard, I do what I do. I read the Tarot... Read on to see how this situation is affecting you for the best, and see the offerings I am making to support you during this time.

This is the card that arose. The Emperor.

​The Emperor, painted here a few years back for my Cosmic Mother Tarot deck, speaks to two aspects of what we are currently experiencing.

Firstly there is the internal chaos. For never before has life been more ordered on the outside. Literally. We are ordered to stay in our homes and only to leave under strict instructions. We are the subjects of a new kind of order that many of us in the free world have never experienced. Not only this but we are compelled to police ourselves, our wants and our desires in wholly new ways. We cannot distract ourselves with external people, places or things. We must sit in our government sanctioned isolation, and we must stew in it.

We must sit and stew in uncertainty, fear, anxiety, panic. We must sit and stew in home educating, or in a place of loneliness without our usually sources of support. We must sit and stew away from family, colleagues, accomplices, loved ones, lovers and friendly acquaintances. We must sit and stew and be faced with all the shadows that rise up, the stuff we have managed to avoid thinking about, the hopes and the traumas. It is all here now. And it is not going anywhere fast. The internal chaos tucked within this strict order, is unreal, and yet, here we are... 

This serves the obvious purpose of protecting ourselves and others. But in a more spiritual and unforeseen turn of events it gifts us a very real opportunity. For in our busy lives we dodge thinking about the bigger life questions that are speaking to us now. So we go years and years in spaces and places that don't bring us the joy or the challenge we deserve. We live through a lens that tells us how we should be, not how we really are. We cover our true hopes up with 'this will do' or 'good enough'. And we plod interminably towards old age and some freedom that we may find once upon a time...

Here and now we are faced with captivity, and within that captivity, we are frightened. We are pushed up against a situation we never thought would occur and find ourselves in the pressure cooker of our own hearts and minds. What happens in a pressure cooker? Things get made. You get made. We become more than we were. All our ingredients are combined to fuse into something greater than the were when they were chopped up and chucked in.

You were in pieces when you arrived in isolation. Fragmented aspects of you were placed within a difficult, vision quest of a scenario. And now, here you are, forming into something new. You don't need to know what that is. But it is happening. Every moment you lose yourself to, every tear you cry, every giggle you allow yourself in this weird, safe space. Well of that is the beginning of you. The next level is under spiritual instruction and every second you spend in this space, has so much value. 

So as you navigate this time trust that it has purpose and power. For you personally. As someone who is experiencing IT ALL right now. The struggle, the panic, the worry, the joy, the fun, the moments of exhilarating freedom, I can affirm that this is bringing us what we need. Individually and collectively. Take a moment and pray or meditate on that. 

I hope you enjoyed this reading. 

SUPPORTING YOU WITH TAROT FUN! 

To help support you (and me) I am undertaking LIVE facebook and Instagram readings regularly. Watch out for me on those platforms and hopefully grab yourself a free live mini reading. 

Also my Tarot sale remains on indefinitely, with 30 minute readings starting at just £20. If you feel the need to connect to some spiritual, grounded, comforting wisdom, then please do book and I will be in touch to conduct your reading quickly - as we are all just hanging at home - i look forward to chatting. 

With love and hope for the very best for you from this crazy moment in time, Alice 

I LOVE September. It's my Birthday month and it see's the mood shift from swirling Summer to a slightly more chill Autumn. Spiritually it takes the pressure off. It helps us doze a little longer and start to go inward ready for the hermetic power of Winter. Which basically means you are off the hook, you will feel you have more choice in what you do, and you can protect your heart and mind better from the relentless energy of 'doing' that is beginning to wear thin after a busy Spring and Summer. 

AUSTRALIA / NZ Of course if you inhabit other parts of the world where Spring is coming, reverse that. For you it is time to jump up and be busy, with all the energies and ideas incubated over Winter... The tarot below remains true no matter where you are in the world! 

Our card for September 2019 is... The Princess of Cups. Scroll down to see what that means for you...

September 2019. Let's pull no punches here, your heart is aching. Though not in a painful way, but more a song of longing, mourning and hope. We are moving into a period of true awakening to the power of our hearts, physical and etheric. We are not ruled by our brains in the way humanity has understood in modern times. Indeed our brains, cold and logical and full of worry have brought more pain and anxiety and trauma than we care to think about.

The way forward is the heart. You are opening and awakening to that forgotten wisdom. So if you feel a juddering, an energy,  a sweet heaviness in your chest, acknowledge it, learn to abide by it. For it is not wrong my sweets.

Of course, you can easily overrule the wisdom of your heart, the feelings and knowings she whispers. As you have been doing for too many years. But right now, this very month, she is making herself known and it is in your power to feel her. From this point on, everything, everything, everything changes. Your understandings of self, your belief in your intuitive knowing, your ability to be in the moment and to be empathic, solitary, empowered and loving. All of these things are up for grabs, for the better. 

This month, go with what your heart knows. Give her space to expand, which she will do when you acknowledge what she is trying to say. She is not wrong. She knows all. She is connected to your spirit in ways your mind never truly can be. She is making herself known so that you can move forward. Be(at) with your heart.

A beautiful card for our month ahead. For personal guidance I have reopened my tarot readings and healing practice, purchase yours here... READINGS AND HEALING

How is your heart burning and opening - please share in the comments below and let's really talk... 

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What does August 2019 have in store for you?

Well first I want to speak intuitively (without the cards). Here I connect to spirit and receive a powerful overview of the mood, the themes and the type of energies we can expect.

August 2019 - This month is one of two halves. One folding seamlessly into the other. The first half, the first couple of weeks, will see us stalled and waiting. It's not an unpleasant experience, circumstances are just not quite ripe for movement. We are busy and distracted with everything and anything else that comes our way! 

As the full moon approaches (15th Aug), this stilling will start to melt and rapid movement will occur. Which means that things you have awaited, will begin to pop into your reality. Rather than jumping with excitement, it is very likely you will simply roll happily towards these long awaited movements and changes. The pause you were in had purpose. It set you up for calm, pleasant seas going forward. Because you were made to wait, the action you enter into in the second half of the month will make you mellow. All that crazy burnt itself out, and now you are ready for business. Keep the momentum and move forward with a new empowered confidence. 

Tarot for August 2019 - Two of Wands

You stand at the precipice of something greater than you can actually imagine. Which for some may be exciting, for others it may be terrifying. You may wish to see the future clearly before you move forward. But that is not really an option. Instead you must dig deep into your heart and find the trust, the hope, the weird wonderful sense that this situation is imbued with. 

You are not meant to play it small. Nor are you meant to wait much longer. The change you prayed for is here. And it is your job to move towards it, no matter how scary or unexpected it's appearance. Get brave, be bold, trust that this moment is perfect and that the circumstances you find yourself in, are exactly as they should be. One foot in front of the other, as you move in this way, so the view will become familiar and you will acclimatise to the changes that are afoot. You may not know the exact future, but your heart has a feeling all will be well. Let that rule. 

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Love is one of the core reasons a person turns to tarot. So many of my clients come to talk about their life path, and more often than not, this turns into the inevitable discussion of their love path.  Perhaps they have love, but it doesn’t feel right. Or maybe they lost it, and have no idea how, when, or who they may find it with again. The connection of love, or a lack of love, is the one thing that fuels so much of life, and indeed a spiritual path.

After 25 years of tarot practice, and an 18 year relationship with my partner hat has endured through all manner of chaos, drama, trauma, childrearing and cat parenting, I trust and know that tarot can offer, guidance, resolution, hope and enlightenment to any relationship (or lack thereof).

Tarot prompts us to understand our foibles, habits, worries and potentials in truly astounding ways. The images speak truth to our weakness,  and they offer hope to our fears. Tarot represent the gamut of dirty and divine in our everyday, and in doing so, gives us the opportunity to get better, wiser and create a life we would dream about (with or without a significant other). Tarot hold an astonishing mirror up to our hearts, and speak the intuitions that we struggle to hear (or blatantly ignore).
 
So as you step towards your hearts desire a little spirited guidance will not go amiss. Indeed it can help carve through drama and slice right to the clarity, courage and creativity you need to spiritually devour your best love life. I have hand chosen pertinent cards taken from the Cosmic Mother Deck, the deck I painted with my daughter, that will connect you back to the inner wisdom that sits inside all of your choices. These cards were crafted in the bowels of marriage, motherhood and un-conventionality; they speak to the gypsy, queen and sorceress in your soul.  They help to align you with your best self, and from that point, move forward towards your greatest hopes for your romantic pursuits.
 
WHAT TO DO... 

Peruse the images on the cards, ask a question in your mind concerning your current love and romance quandary, and when it feels right, allow yourself to be pulled towards 1 or 2 of the images. Hover over the image to see the name of the card. The answers to your current queries, conundrums and confusions will lay within… Scroll down to read the answers to your whispered words.

Princess of Cups – You know, you could rock up on any beach, stage or platform and they would all feel the same. For what needs to be brought to the party, is not a destination, or a thing or a perfect view, but rather, it is you. And the love you are bubbling over with. This is the most exciting thing here. So don’t pin your heart on the ‘perfect’ day, the ideal ‘home’ or the most wondrous ‘honeymoon’ or even the perfect 'lover'. But rather, recognise that the real celebration is you and all that you have to offer. So allow the party of love to start with the unconditional, potent and inspirational emotions that flow not from a thing, but from a heart, your heart. Let your love rule your world, with or without a partner. For this is what makes the change, power, glee, and transformation that you need.

​Eight of Cups – Your expectations are wonderful; they are formed from that which you already know, the life you have lived, the experiences you are familiar with. You are comfortable, safe, things are easy. There is however, so much more. This card asks you to plough past the familiar and look outside of your own personal box. Look beyond your limitations of this moment. For there are great things just beyond the horizon. Get uncomfortable as you plough towards the next step in your happy ever after… Do not settle for the same old same old. Trust in foreign shores and new beginnings. Alter your expectations to suit your dreams, rather than just your reality. For the potential you house is vaster than you recognise. Expect surprises, expect not to know it all, be ready for events, people, ideas coming from the ether and taking you to new intriguing understandings!
 
The Chariot – You have overcome so much, and yet you may at times feel pulled into all that old drama. Remember, you have survived, you have thrived, you have been guided to this new time, this new moment. It is okay to embrace it, to feel it as real, as true, as deserved. That which went before allowed for you to grow and to become a stronger version of yourself, so that you can fly forward with hope, faith and a big beating heart. And yes, that feels vulnerable. But there is no other way to be. Recognise the strength in your vulnerability. It would be weaker to cower away and refuse your blessings. Do not be that person. Stand tall. See how far you have come. Be wondrous and empowered in the path you have laid and allow it to carry you forward in glorious ways.
 
The Hierophant – The way forward is found in a mingling of the wisdom found in the past, and a sincere hope for the future. Somewhere between these two particular magics, you can uncover the path you need. For we cannot ignore what our past has taught us, nor can we blindly step into the future without some, careful reference of that past. Furthermore, we must not let the blights of the past blind us. It would serve you well to remain effervescently positive, always seeking the best in what life brings. whilst allowing your experience to be the wise guide necessary. This is a careful balanced recipe that you are capable of applying to your  love life and your general life as you move towards the next step. Trust that you hold the key to the life you create and with these words in your heart, applied by your actions, you can create as you wish.
 
Three of Cups – celebration is vitally important right now. Have you taken to the dance floor, to the restaurant, to the coffee shop with your best friends, your beloveds, your kin and had a full on connection party? Just for the sake of it. Just because happiness is best found when we share it with others. This card calls you to connect with those you adore and party out the next feeling, the next outcome. Be in commune and concert with your besties, your friends, and your most adored family. Particularly, you are called to connect with women, for their wisdom, laughter and guidance is the balm to any hurts or concerns you currently have. And they will treat you with joy, with humor and in a way that only women can. So plan a get together, a celebration of your place in life, one that will bring the handholding, healing and belly laughs that are so direly needed.
 
Eight of Wands – events, energy and ideas may be overwhelming you. The demands of creativity, planning and inspiration are overwhelming and dizzying. Allow the ideas to flood through you, hear them all. You need not decide a damn thing just yet. Allow the magic of momentum to carry you to an inevitable outcome. There is no point attempting to stop the stream of excitement as it presents itself to you. Let it wear itself out. Step back, be as objective as you can, know that all will come right, as and when the choices are clear. Clarity is hard found right now. So let the bushel of crazy wear itself thin, in the meantime, enjoy the ride. It is indication that all is well, that you are being guided, and that the spiritual muses have a lot to say to you! So take it onboard gently, trust the pace, don’t fight it.
 
Ace of Wands – passion is nothing to be ashamed of, in whatever way it arises, be it lust, creativity or ferocious frustration. They all have deep purpose in carrying us to the next story of our life. Allow whatever is burning within you to be aired, to find it’s way, to carry you to the next destination. The worst thing you could do is pour water on your hot ideas and your passions. Instead, find ways to stoke the flames and move forward with self-belief and wonder. For the inner flames are not going to consume you, but they will clear the way for new projects, ideas, new ways of loving and intense self love and understanding. Burn baby burn.
 
Two of Swords – The decision you are trying to make may be best left to its own devices. Often in life we reckon we have more control and choice than we actually do. The outcome, being, in the end, rather the same. Meanwhile you expend all our energy in trying to make the right choice. When in fact, the choice has already made us. Do not become closed down to a bigger picture because you are obsessed with petty issues. It’s a false offering. The real issue at hand is far bigger, and this choice is but a distraction. Are you ready to jump, to leap, to take yourself in hand and act with total and utter faith? That is the real question. Whether you are ready are not, you are poised to take the biggest step of your life thus far. There is no arguing with that. So shift your attention from the small details, to the bigger story here. And then call upon your inner strength, your guides, your angels or highest self. See where you are at, and engage faith, hope and happy intent. Make a wish and leap! Do not be held back by getting stuck on one question, when there are a million other possibilities you could be embracing.
 
Nine of Cups – is it possible that you are so lost in the party, the celebration, the rave, that you have lost a little of your center? Perhaps so overjoyed with your circumstance, you have lost track of your own inner self, your hopes and dreams, your compass on reality? It’s not such a bad thing. But this card asks you to step back a little from the planning, momentum and crazy, and spend a few moments with you. Realign with the person you truly are, the hopes you hold, the feelings and intuitions that you have neglected in the relationship merry go round. Get into a deeply indulgent moment of me-time and check in with yourself. Are you okay, are you missing anything, are you dizzy with it all? A little rest and self love is called for so that you can retain a very vital sense of self. Don’t lose yourself in the joining with another. Come back to you.
 
Alice Grist is the author of tarot journal Dirty & Divine and the creator and artist of The Cosmic Mother Tarot Deck.

Regular Tarot Guidance on Alice's busy Instagram page... www.alicegrist.co.uk

Mine certainly was... Like many a white woman before and since me, I thought it was cool to parade through a bunch of indigenous religions and take what I liked...To transfuse their sacred practices into my perspective...To tokenise and treat the difference as quirky, novelty, something for my spirited entertainment and fodder for my first published book...

​And of course I didn't mean harm... But. But. But. That was my privilege, to do what I liked and mean well... Which is not good enough. Not at all. So last year I spoke to my publisher and took my first book #thehighheeledguidetoenlightenment out of print because it was just too full of my harmful borrowings. And now I aim to do better. Every day. To find my own spirituality without trampling over another's or expecting it to serve me in ways that are not mine to take. 

My work since that book has focused on how we all have spirituality within us, and how it is best explored from the events and emotions and instincts of our own experience. It is a hard trip to dismantle our white privilege and to overcome our internalised racism gifted from a culture that hasn't walked its talk yet. But if a spiritual life is anything, it is finding ways to get higher, to connect without harm, and to raise others up when we find them harmed or in need of the power that we have. ​

if you want to work with me, to find your way into your own, unique and personally evoked spiritual practice, please explore my site, check out my books and work with me here... 

Have you seen Doreen Virtue's epic list of all that is bad in the world of the New Age? When I first read it I was mildly miffed, and then, more amused. This 'oh please lady' turned to empathy as I pondered how hard and painful it must have been for her to turn against her own body of work and faiths. Then I forgot all about it, until, prompted by a FB challenge from the lovely George Lizos, my apathy turned to anger as I realised that to denounce a whole host of practices, done by a large number of perfectly good people, who are doing no harm, and simply seeking to find meaning in their lives, is tantamount to hate speech.

Not just hate speech but hate speech that dehumanises the people she critiques by suggesting they are lead by demons. The suggestion being therefore that they are lesser, bad, evil even. Ya' know, because they watch Harry Potter, collect crystals and allowed a self help guru to inspire their lives... 

I don't care about what Doreen's particular faith is. I'm sure it has always been this intolerant. What I care about is her jumping on that bandwagon and using her very public and powerful position to laud fear in the name of 'love'. Because this is where shit starts to go bad. It is by finding demons in others that we start to create divisions, that we make them other, wrong and to be feared. We know where this leads don't we? This kind of grotesque judgment of others, based on what? Her faith, her God, her holy book? Leads to anger, divides, wars, violence, abuse, gas chambers in the name of... There is a dire lack of perspective in her new stance, a blinkering to what is really good and bad, a closed circle that see's only it's own perfectionism and the damnation of all else. 

So no I can't sit back with "love and light" and say, 'each to their own', because she is not affording a whole planet of people that same right. Cos it's not just the hippies she is coming for. It's everyone who is not a fundamentalist like her, it's not just the culturally appropriated beliefs that new agers tend to take, but the faiths that lay behind them, hindu, buddhists, 'eastern mysticism', shamanic faiths, whomever and whatever. (I fear the New Age is a soft target, and I dread to think what she will come out with next, for this route, leads to stronger routes of intolerance as she is buoyed up by fans... I'm guessing Homophobia, Islamophobia, Transphobia as dictated by her God)

​According to Virtue, all faiths, other than hers are demons waiting to pounce. If it's not her precise way of seeing, it's demonic and it's not coming in. Her A-Z, amusing as it might may be, is dictatorial and dangerous. She will be wearing a MAGA hat next and doing Hitler salutes. Strong words I know, but better than saying she is cursed by demons at every damn move she makes, which is basically what she accuses everyone else of. 

I've seen hate. My mum was Gay in the 1980's and my Dad was a priest who became a Wiccan. I've personally been privy, and subject to fear and torment based on those two differences. I've witnessed worse too, I've studied the pain caused by 'isms' at university for a depressing three years. I've sat silent and been tolerant of it as people in power make jokes and make it 'normal'. And from all this experience, all of the hate, so epically, tragically infused into our humanity, it starts from fear. And that fear comes from powerful, well positioned people who speak about divides and demons and difference. 

If you want to use your faith to rail against something, how about crime, war, prejudice or sexual abuse? Because getting your knickers in a twist, publicly, with power, about Star Wars, or Feng Shui, Aliens or Unicorns, or a bit of burned sage, because it is 'of the devil', is an odd way to go. Denouncing things that make people feel better, and as if they have some control, as being based in evil, is a heck of a strong road to take. Whilst in many respects, it is absurd and ridiculous, it is hate, made real. People will suffer as a result of this, as their choices and preferences are called out as dangerous by ordinance of Queen Doreen. 

This A-Z is I hope, where many people will take their 'demons' and flounce off empowered. For there is no other reaction to this. It is pain and fear made manifest. We don't need it. We can be better and rise above this low level, critical, judgemental, fear inducing drama. I'll take my chances with my 'demons' because I've seen real life devils and they don't look anything like what she is lauding. Doreen is now priestess of propaganda, and hate mongering in my book. Nothing more, nothing less. 

Alice's latest book Dirty and Divine for more fierce real life spiritual talk...