((All images courtesy of Google Images and Facebook.))

((Read left to right, bottom to top. Cards featured from The Steampunk Tarot, Moore and Fell.))

 The Lady or The Tiger? Rocks or neat? Chocolate or Vanilla?

Should I stay or should I go?

So many questions, so many choices, so many decisions to be made; some may be critical, most are trivial but all require answers – FROM YOU! You do not lack commitment and you certainly feel up to the challenge as long as you can do it your own way and in your own time.

NEWSFLASH: You can’t always get how you want!

The Full Moon in Virgo is upon us, February 22, 12:20 pm (CST). This Full Moon is commonly referred to as Full Snow Moon because it occurs during the deepest part of winter in the Northern Hemisphere (this post comes to you from the cold and snow City of Chicago). Another name for the February Full Moon is Cougar Moon; the time of a silent and solitary hunter surviving the winter through skill, cunning and self-reliance.

While the cards speak to an amount of personal resistance to outside demands and schedules on our road to success, our Full Moon in Virgo has bright Cougar Eyes; do not waste time or energy on false drama or negative imaginings – there is too much important work to be done right now! Review your personal landscape with a critical eye and note any work projects, household chores, or health issues, you may have overlooked or left on back burners. You are personally responsible for these matters and this is the time to get after them until they are either a) completed, or b) successfully shepherded to the next level.

Another good use of this solitary cougar energy; learn to enjoy your own company and upgrade the quality of your thoughts. To assist you in this, I suggest you begin with self-care:

Prepared meals: Are you a good cook? If you are, you should cook for yourself. Set the table, eat slowly and enjoy every mouthful – NO SCREENS! Background music is fine – I suggest classical or jazz because they open a variety of channels in the brain with their complexities, assisting quality thoughts. (NOTE: Clean-up will be yours as well – consider using it as a meditation opportunity.)

Good books: If you are not one to pick up a book, you are in for a treat! Go to a bookstore (the more “local” the better) and look for a book (a real book you can hold in your hands and should avoid dropping in the tub) you are either just dying to read, or would not normally choose. I suggest you choose from the classics; the story-lines may be well-known to you but the beauty and flow of the language can be a wonderful new (re)discovery, and have a positive influence on your language patterns.

Pamper yourself: A little pampering can go a long way; we feel better on the inside when we feel better on the outside. What do you enjoy too infrequently? Soaking in a bath? Getting a massage? Having a facial? Whatever your “aahhh” is, make an appointment today. Allow yourself the luxury of relaxation and let your mind drift – anywhere it wants to go – and review where it lands. Any thoughts you do not like, or do not serve or affirm you, must be banished – No, thank you. Off you go!

Make time: Stop telling yourself you “just don’t have the time” to take care of your own needs, wants and desires – it is simply not true. Everyone – I mean it, EVERYone – finds time for their priorities. Make sure your priority list includes your own self-care; if not you, than…..?

It is also important to remember every Full Moon is incredibly powerful – it controls the tides, you are not immune! – and sometimes it brings some discomfort:

• The body: overall ache or soreness
• The mind: dreaminess when awake, nightmares or vivid/intense dreams when asleep
• The spirit: generally moody, easily agitated, increased desire to be left alone in your own space.

These discomforts may be managed with self-care as well; whatever your best go-to comforts are employed when you have the flu would be well-employed here as well.

On a related note, Sun enters Pisces on the 19th; that extra-splashy,  dreamy-otherness will also be present for this Full Moon – do try to enjoy it.

((All images courtesy of Google Images and Facebook.))

((All images courtesy of Google images and Facebook.))

Long live the Granny Witches!

…and ask yourself:

“Am I giving myself away?”

“Am I allowing myself to be consumed rather than nourished?”

I found this on Facebook (thank you, Wicked Love Revised!) and while it specifically refers to a woman giving her whole self to a man with no discernible benefit to herself (not counting the “need to be needed” because I think we all know that should be worked out with a therapist), I think it clearly applies to ANYONE in any situation where they are consumed rather than nourished.

Bad jobs, bad relationships (any kind), bad habits – all of it – eat away until there is nothing left to take. And if that is not enough, when you are bottomed-out, they demand more or they leave; if you die trying to continue the feeding, it does not matter – it was never about you anyway.

During this season of transformation, examine yourself and the changes you want to make including a good look at anything taking more than it gives; release all that does not serve you! Know in your heart you can find better for yourself once you make room by removing  the parasitic obstacle.

Tough love begins with you!