The Empress Yemaya

The Orisha Yemaya is from the Yourban (now present day Nigeria) tradition. She is associated with motherhood, fertility,  child birth, mother/child relationships, emotions, the home, healing, creativity, nurturing and the ocean. Associatted with Our Lady of Regla she is said to wear 7 skirts for each of the 7 seas. Saturday is her sacred day and her colours are blue and white. She is the spirit that my friend Zaar introduced me to and gave me a special oil for her when I was looking for my apartment I have here in NOLA. I kept saying I needed a place to live. He said no, what you need is a home, a sanctuary. You need Yemaya. So I made a very specific list of what I wanted. 33 things in total to be exact lol! Well I'll have you know, all but 3 of them were granted! To name just a few, I have the most precious apartment ever, with such a warm and homey feel, all utilities included, and the coolest landlord and property manager. Not to mention the history associated with this gorgeous building. It was originally built in 1740 and later owned by a prominent Creole family. I swear it looks like a pirate ship in some places. And the numbers in my address total to the number 7.

In the tarot, I'd associate Yemaya with The Empress card and with the Queen of Cups. I think the QofC from the. World Spirit Tarot is the most perfect depiction of Yemeya.

 One of th promises I made to Yemaya when I was looking for my home was tht I would create an alter in the bathroom in her honor.


Last Saturday my friend Ren and I went to The Gulf in Mississippi to do a ritual in honor of Yemaya. I needed to say thank you as well as ask a very special request on behalf of both myself and our friend Catelyn. I wore a blue and white sundress and did my eyeshadow in beautiful shades of blue and turquoise and brought a bouquet of flowers that I put in the water for the tide to carry out.

Yemaya has answered many of my prayers, from finding my apartment/sanctuary to assisting with my communication with my mother to bringing peace and restful sleep to a very dear friend who has been plagued with night terrors for many years. Call upon her when your soul needs the loving, nurturing touch of a mother's love.

Trimming the Boarders

In this video I talk about removing the boarders from your tarot decks.

Tarot and Medical Issues

I am very cautious when making any kind of statements with regard to medical conditions. I have no letters behind my name, so I ain't a nurse, doctor, dentist or anything of the like.  Having said that, there are certain things that I either seen come up in the cards or certain associations that I could see being made with certain card combination. Here are a few:

simple chronic halitosis -  Page of Swords and Rx Ace of Cups -    That sharp tongued communicator, the Pg of Sw in combination with dehydration due to various reasons. Be it simply not drinking enough water, mouth-breathing, drinking dehydrating beverages like our BFF coffee, smoking, or eating sulfer rich food like onions. It can also mean that one may need to turn that Rx AofC right side up and put some Lysterine in it. Other remedies include chewing on parsley or mint leaves. Another cause could be bacterial or fungal sinusitis. Flossing does wonders as well.

hot freakin' flashes - Rx High Priestess and Queen of Wands -  If you have not yet experienced this bullshit, let me tell you, it SUX! I think I personally am being gifted with it due to being a smartass little shit and making fun of my coworkers who suffered from this when I was a flight attendant and they'd make the cabin so cold the rest of us had icicles form from our runny noses!
The H.P. is associated with the moon and cycles, flux. So Rx I see this as that being being blocked or stopped. And that fiery QofW shining like a  bond fire lol!



pregnancy - Aces, Pages, High Preistess, Empress, 4 of Swords, 3 of Swords, 4 of Wands, The Sun, 4 of Cups, 5 of Cups, 7 of Swords, 3 of Wands, 3 of Cups, The Star, 2 of Swords, King or Queen of Swords, The Tower, 9 of Cups   - 
Aces are new starts, seeds ripe with possibilities. I tend to see the Ace of Swords and Wands as a male child and Aces of Cups and Pentacles as female. Ive seen the H.P. with the 7ofSw show an ectopic pregnancy. The Empress of course is the archetypal Mamma. She is number III in the major arcana and 3's are about synthesis, creation. Where 2 has now become a 3rd. Hence the 3ofC, 3ofW or 3ofP. I can see where the 3ofSw could mean a miscarriage or  abortion, especially if the 2ofSw is near by, as it shows a difficult decision must be faced and made. Or if the 3ofSw is next to The Tower it could mean an abrupt or unplanned end to the pregnancy. On the flip side, if the Tower were next to The Star or 9ofC, it would show a very pleasant surprise about the pregnancy. The 4ofSw I've seen  mean bed rest. The King and Queen of Sw could represent the OBGYN or nurses. If the 4 or 5ofC would be a signal of possible postpartum depression. That AofSw could show a C-section.

back pain - 10 of Swords, 10 of Wands, various Pentacle cards - As a person who has to deal with the issue of chronic back pain, I've seen these cards come up time and time again. 10ofSw can show the possibility of surgery or the amazing benefits of acupuncture. It can also show how excruciating and shocking that sharp nerve pain can be. 10ofW can show an injury due to over exertion or extreme stress. If I saw The Tower near by, I'd know it was referring to the fact that I had accidents that caught me totally off guard and caused my situation. With my personal injuries, I know that the 9of P aka "disks" is referring to my back injury, as I damaged 9 disks when I had the first accident.

dental issues - King or Queen of Swords, Ace of Swords, Page of Swords - For me it is the QofSw since my beloved dentist Dr. Barbosa is a female. She is so awesome! If you are in Philly and need a patient, compassionate, and highly skilled dentist, she is the one for even those of you who fear the dentist. I see the Page because of communication and that Ace as the drill or implements that may be used.

Again,  for love of God, use common sense in what you choose to say to clients and compassion with how you say it. And find out what the laws in your state may say with regard to discussing anything that has to do with medical situations.

F&F Bontanica

Last week I had to opportunity to go F & F Botanica and I am so glad I finally made it. A botanica is a spiritual store where one can get supplies for voodoo, santeria and witch rituals. I hadn't been since before Katrina, or as we say here, "before The Storm" and I am so glad to know that it is still here. The owner Felix is such a lovely gentleman, so knowledgable and so hospitable. I went to get some supplies for a ritual to the Orisha Yemaya because she is the spirit who I called upon to found my beloved new apartment I have in The Quarter. Going to the botanica is kinda like going to the MAC store. You can spend a lot of hours and a lot of dollars quite easily because you will want everything you see. There are so many beautiful statues to the various saints and lwa (spirits in the Hatian voodoo tradition), and Orishas (spirits in the Youban tradition). There are soaps, incense, and more candles than I've ever seen anywhere.





/>So tonight I decided to ask the tarot what was the hidden treasure I found by going to F&F and I used my newly trimmed Robin Wood tarot with my rockstar reading.

Lead Singer - 7 of Cups - I am expanding my spirituality by learning about voodoo. It has been so widely misunderstood due to being vilified by the media and explained from the perspective of outsiders. It is also clearly representing the 7 Orishas
Back up #1 - The Hermit IV - I love being a witch. The aspect of it that I do not like is the lack of a sense of community. I think the option to be a solitary is great! But I have missed having others around me to interact with. The path of my spiritual journey has been what has sustained me through MANY an uphill battle and shone me the light that shines from within my spirit that it took me about 40 years to be able too see.

Back up #2 - Death  XIII - most interesting that both are hooded figures. To me a hood represents wisdom that must be protected and shared in a very responsible manner. Clearly one can see how this applies to the practice of voodoo.
Death is about massive change that segways into a new way of life, and damn if I ain't had a whole hell of a lot of that. I am so excited about the transformations that are taking place and the rebirth I have gone through as of late. Going to the botanica reminded me that my spiritual path is the most sacred aspect of my life. I have to make my own way and make no apologies to anyone for what is the natural course of things just because they may not understand or be comfortable with it.