The images above are from Musical’s Tonight’s production of Carnival. It was magical for me to have the opportunity to work on this, because it was the very first show I was in (as a small child) and also my favorite musical. I adored this cast. They were spectacular! (We even had a magician in our cast!)
Hi Friends! At times like this, we all need a little magic. I know it sounds far-fetched and seems distant, but it’s still there. I’ve been thinking about how much, as a society, we want to really, truly believe in magic. You can see it reflected in some of the most beloved parts of our culture - Magic Kingdom, Magic School Bus, Harry Potter….. I suppose as children, we are more willing to believe and then it drifts away slowly with age (How very Peter Pan of me.) However, there are many forms of magic we use in everyday life as adults without even thinking about it - positivity, optimism, wishful thinking, casting a spell, bowing our heads in prayer. I have always believed in magic and I refuse to let that go.
Last night, I couldn’t fall asleep. I started thinking about all of the loved ones in my life who are in the “high-risk” group for this illness and, of course, I started to spiral. So much of what could happen in this situation is so out of our hands. My heart was pounding, my head was spinning and I couldn’t breathe. But, then I just simply asked the universe to look over them and started to slow my breath. With each release of my breath, I put forth a magical intention - I imagined that the breath I was releasing was creating an imaginary forcefield surrounding them with my love and protection. I did this slowly with focus and purpose until….I was asleep. I don’t know if this magic will have an impact, but I have to keep believing.
One of my most magical friends, Sasha Graham, has been helping me weather this storm. She is magic personified! And, last night, while face timing with her and another champion of a friend, I asked her to pull a card for us - something I could share with all of you today. She really cut to the core of where we all are right now and I hope this resonates for you, like it did for me….
FROM SASHA GRAHAM:
This is the Moon Card from a deck that Sasha designed! - The Haunted Tarot Deck
Feeling a little weird? Yeah, me too. It's not like you were ever normal to begin with. But this? This is the hardest, heaviest stuff many of us will collectively and individually ever face. This is the life-may-never-go-back-to-normal-as-we-know it weird.
But let's be honest.
Was our "normal" of the last few years so fantastic?
Is not going back to normal such a terrible thing?
The Moon is the card of myth and monster. It is your psychic altered state, your deepest internal landscape. Vampires linger, shadows creep, and werewolves howl.
Glowing, fuzzy moonlight gifts us with the space for our eyes to adjust while new qualities and potentials emerge. Our instinct is to fear the unknown. Moonlight softens the edges for the things too scary to look at in broad daylight.
The Moon recalls dreamlike visions passing through your imagination. Spells are cast. Devils leap over dancing flames. Intense psychic energy grows strong inside you. Dark prophesies are uttered amidst pandemic declarations. What are you to do?
The Moon circles the earth. Its cycles echo the transitory nature of human life, menstrual cycles, and nature of all things inhabiting the visible and invisible world. Life, the universe, we are in a constant state of flow.
The Moon's nature of flux is an eloquent reminder ~ that no matter we face, given time, it will change. No circumstance lasts forever. Good, bad, or indifferent. Life’s nature and the psyche’s energy hustles and flows like foamy ocean tides.
“Yes,” the Moon says, “Things get weird, scary. The unknown is terrifying. Unimaginable things occur. But not forever. Nothing lasts forever. The important question is, how will you respond?”
The Moon allows you to embrace your weirdness. Embrace the scariest, squirmiest part of yourself. Sit with it.
This strange portal of time is an opening.
Be awkward.
Be vulnerable.
Be uncomfortable.
Be excited.
Be depressed.
Be pro-active..
Be with whatever comes up for you.
Confront the monsters you normally push away.
Cause, right now, it's moonlight 24 hours a day.
And if you don't do it now, then when?
Sasha Graham's work has been translated into Chinese, Italian, French, Spanish, Polish and Portuguese. She is the author of eight books including: Tarot Diva, 365 Tarot Spreads, 365 Tarot Spells, Llewellyn's Complete Book of the Rider Waite Smith Tarot and the forthcoming Practical Magic of a Tarot Practice. She served as editor and writer of Lo Scarabeo's Tarot Fundamentals, Tarot Experience and Tarot Compendium. The Haunted House Tarot is her first tarot deck with Marvel artist Mirco Pierfederici. Sasha's second dark and delicious deck with artist Abigail Larson, The Dark Wood Tarot will be released by Llewellyn in 2020. She is a contributing author of Llewellyn's Magical Almanac, 2020 and Llewellyn's Witches' Calendar, 2021.
Best wishes,
Sasha Graham
Pre-order The Dark Wood Tarot: https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Wood-Tarot-Sasha-Graham/dp/0738759309
I am so grateful for magic and magical friends. Sending you all light and love! - Holly
