When Change is Anarchy
Numerologically speaking, just a few months ago we transitioned from a 9 year, a number about endings (cycles, projects, etc..), and entered a 1 year, which is about newness and beginnings. This could mean new opportunities, new projects, new relationships, or even personal growth (new out look on things, new attitude, etc..). From a tarot perspective, this year has great potential for a lot of Ace energy, which could affect any or all aspects of your life.
For some, this may come about as a gentle transition. A brand new journey or cycle, like the Fool at the beginning of the Major Arcana perhaps. This time full of quiet opportunities that present themselves, sudden Aha! Moments, putting already made plans into action, and the like. Sometimes changes come about naturally, and sometimes we hardly even notice the little things that change until they are pointed out or bigger changes happen as a result. These kinds of changes can be subtle, and probably don’t take us out of our comfort zone, at least not too far. They may have already been a long time in the making, and are just finally ready to happen, or completely unexpected.
However, sometimes change can come crashing in, feeling like the Tower; sudden and jarring (which seems to be the case for me this year). We may not be ready for it, and sometimes it does not feel like a positive thing, especially in the moment. It can upset our entire lives, challenge everything we know or believe, and feel more like crisis than change. These times can feel like the universe is forcing a fire sale on everything that does not serve us. When change happens like this, it can feel disheartening, overwhelming, confusing, and all around negative. That said, challenges like this bring about change by shaking things up, and even shaking us down to our core, in order to make room for all that is coming towards us. It may not seem like a good thing, but in this case, patience, and a little faith (whatever that looks like for you), can be our friend. What seems hurtful and damaging, can actually bring about healing, personal growth, and better things than what we were holding on to. This can refer to more than just material things, but also thoughts, attitudes, energies, relationships, etc..
While events like this can feel like total chaos, there is always a light somewhere at the end, if we look for it. In the mean time, we can do some things to help ourselves through it; maybe even quicken the process.
First, remember to breathe. Seems like such a simple thing, and a little irritating to hear sometimes. Rather like being asked by tech support if you “tried turning if off and then on again”. However, you would be surprised how often stopping to take a few breaths actually helps. Implementing breathing techniques like box breathing (in for a count of 4, hold for a count of 4, out for a count of 4, hold for a count of 4, and repeat), or alternate nostril breathing (breathe in while holding right nostril for count of 4, plug both nostrils and hold for a count of 8, hold left nostril and breathe out for count of 6 then immediately breathe in for a count of 4; repeating the process), can be quite calming, and allow us time to gain some perspective or, at least, gather our thoughts.
Energy grounding techniques are also quite helpful, such as Earthing (walking barefoot on the grass), using singing bowls or tuning forks (especially with a Root Chakra frequency, 396Hz, or 136.1Hz, the OM frequency), grounding meditations, physical activity like mindful walking or tai chi, gardening, doing a body scan, smudging or energy clearing, and practicing mindfulness, are all ways you can help make yourself more rooted and connected to the Earth and nature.
Centering yourself, which is different from grounding in that is you centered; meaning it brings the focus back to you to align yourself body, mind, and spirit, and bring harmony and balance within. Meditation, breath work (like mentioned above), mindfulness, and using singing bowls or tuning forks (especially with a Solar Plexus frequency, 528Hz), can all be helpful centering activities.
Taking the time to clear that negative energy from yourself and your space can be quite effective, even if the chaos is still going on. Energy clearing or smudging techniques can include:

• Burning sage, Palo Santo, or other space clearing herbs
• Using a clearing spray (premade or homemade) if you cannot burn herbs for health or other reasons
• Using vibration like a singing bowl, tuning forks (like 4096Hz, 2048Hz, or 417Hz), or tingshas.
• Using crystals like Smokey Quartz (absorbs and transmutes negative energy), Obsidian, Jet, or Black Tourmaline (all of which absorb negative energy and help ground the user).

Don’t forget too bring in more positive energies with herbs like sweetgrass, crystals like amethyst (peace), citrine (joy), or rose quartz (love), or with vibrations (639Hz, or 528Hz). While you are clearing away these energies, you should try to recognize what energies you are holding or attracting that do not belong to you. You definitely want to clear these away as well, but recognizing what you are taking on that is not yours can help you avoid doing so in the future. You do not need to take on what does not belong to you.
Don’t forget to shield yourself. Whether you are shielding for the first time, or just reinforcing one that you already have, this is an important step. The most common way to shield is through visualization, by creating a shield of white light around you. The more you practice, the easier it will become to create and maintain this shield. There are plenty of informative guides online and in books that can help teach you do this effectively. You can imbue it with the intent to only let what is for your highest good through, as well.
Finally, anything that you do as self care is helpful. I have already written a post before about self care so, if you haven’t already read it, it has a more detailed information on this topic. Practicing self care is as easy as doing something that brings you joy. That will look different for everyone, maybe you are crafty, a reader or writer, an athlete, a gardener; whatever your heart desires. The key is making sure that you remain in the moment and enjoy it.
However this year has been going for you, however this 1 energy has affected you (or will affect you), and whether any of it is within your control, remember, you can control how you respond to it. If you have any doubts, you can look for signs from the universe/your higher self/the Gods. What do you keep seeing, animals? Numbers? Words? Other signs? Keep track, look them if you they don’t intuitively have meaning to you. In the end, you can always look within, and let your intuition guide you.
I would like to add here that if what you are going through seems too much, I encourage you to talk to someone. Friends, family, a mental health professional, a religious leader (whatever your  whomever you need that you are comfortable with). You never need to go through these things alone. Take care of you, always.
So how has 2026 been treating you thus far? Any surprises? Anything you are looking forward to? What energies have you noted since the transition into the new year? Has it been filled with chaos or comfort?

The idea that we have a soul that is separate, yet connected, to our bodies is not a new one. Neither is the idea that we can temporarily separate them. Shamans, witches, and energy workers of all kinds have been practicing astral projection for various reasons. Whether it is used just for the experience, the gathering of knowledge, healing, or any other magical/spiritual reason you can think of, it is a valuable skill to have. Technically, with the right knowledge and enough practice, anyone can learn to astral project. Some would say that you may already be doing it in your dreams. Like any skill, some may have a more natural talent for it, and can learn it more quickly, but that should not let anyone who wants to learn, be deterred. There are plenty of books on the market to learn this art. A Witch’s Travel Guide to Astral Realms by D.J. Conway and The Practical Guide to Astral Projection by Denning and Phillips come to mind. Astral projection is an intentional act that allows you to explore not only the world around you, but other planes of existence as well. That said, astral projection can be attained without conscious intention. It could happen while dreaming, particularly while lucid dreaming, or while our mind is in an altered state, like during meditation or while driving off to sleep. If one has a natural talent for it, they could also, unintentionally, astral travel more easily during one of those states. It is considered a spiritual practice/skill within the realm of metaphysics, and is often dismissed by mainstream science. Yet, there is much evidence, anecdotal and otherwise, that would suggest otherwise.
Another similar experience, that seems to be more widely accepted, is the Out of Body Experience, or OBE. This phenomena is considered to be a spontaneous and unintentional ejection of the consciousness/soul from the body. Stories of this occurring usually happen when the body is undergoing some kind of stressful or traumatic experience. There are plenty of anecdotal references to OBE’s happening during surgeries, accidents, or when the individual is having a near death experience. These stories are more likely to be discussed from a psychological or medical stand point, and is often described as a dissociative or hallucinatory event created entirely within the brain. The person only feels like they are outside of their body. However, that explanation leaves a lot of unanswered questions for me, especially when the person who undergoes the event can relay details of the situation they should not otherwise be able to (like seeing there actions of others while they themselves are unconscious, and a verbal account is not being given in the moment). You can read more about out of body experiences in plenty of paranormal books and psychology texts that talk about near death experiences.
While the main difference between these two occurrences is the intention, or lack there of, to have one’s soul or consciousness leave the body, there are many similarities between them as well. In both instances, the individual describes sensation like vibrations, and feeling of floating. They can also describe their surroundings, and even move around to see more than they could from their body’s vantage point. Both also require an altered state of consciousness that would allow for the physical and energy body’s to be become separated. By the above definitions, one could say that astral projection could be considered an out of body experience, but not all out of body experiences would be considered astral projection.
Regardless if you believe in the soul or not, there is much evidence that both astral projection and out of body experiences exist. What do you think? What do you think? Is it the soul or consciousness detaching from our body, or just our brain working over time because it is under stress/duress? Have you ever experienced either? Under what circumstances? I would love to know.  
 
 

Physically, our hearts are vital to our continued existence. Spiritually, they are often centered in meditation and yoga practices, self-care, energetic work, and so on. I consider them to be our metaphorical hearth, our spiritual epicenter of Self. When we talk about looking into the heart or centering our intention into the heart during any spiritual practice, it is common to jump right into thinking about the Heart Chakra, also know as Anahata. Anahata is a Sanskrit word meaning “unstruck”, or “unhurt”, which symbolizes the sound made when two parts do not touch, or the “soundless sound” of the divine, but also the state of clarity achieved from a detached and objective view of a conflicting situation when approached with openness (opposite/conflicting forces integrated together to create an effect (sound) without these forces confronting each other (two parts touching))*. This Chakra is located in the center of the chest and represents compassion and emotional balance. It also acts as the bridge between the lower and upper chakras, connecting the physical to the divine within. While it is an important part of energy work and energy healing, it is not the only energetic or spiritual “heart” we have. The other, and I think these two are sometimes confused or mistaken for being the same thing, is the Heart Center.
The Heart Center is located just to the right of the center of the sternum. Its Sanskrit name is Hridaya**, meaning Spiritual Heart Center. It is basically the seat of the Self, the inner self, and/or the consciousness.  It is a spiritual portal that provides connection to the “Whole” and to inner stillness. Ramana Maharshi (renowned Indian Sage and jivanmukta) says “The heart is the center of the Self, and the Self is the center of centers”**. He goes on to say that “The heart imparts sentience to the senses”**, which makes sense considering how deeply and diversely we feel things, and how differently our experiences and memories are, regardless of how many people share the situation.
  That said, the Self is not actually contained within the physical body. When we meditate or do other heart centered activities to help us connect with the divine infinite, this is where we first put our focus. However, during the activity, this connection should take us outside our physical selves and into the infinite (the universe, the Higher Self, a higher consciousness, etc..). Once we return from this work, or whenever we wish to “touch base” with this feeling, it will be there, just right of the sternum. It is said that this is because the memory of it is contained there, making it more easily felt, remembered, and connected to. The more we practice, the stronger and faster that connection can become. As Ramana Maharshi says, “The Heart is limitless, because it has no form, it can contain totality”**.
Although both the Heart Chakra and the Heart Center can both center around harmony, balance, and divine connection, they are not the same. Working with the heart and its energies, regardless of at what level, is important to any spiritual practice, but we should also be working through the heart to add those energies into whatever we do, and that is one way the Heart Center comes into play.
As I said at the beginning, I see the Heart Center like the hearth of the Self. The hearth was traditionally the heart of the home, both it’s physical and spiritual epicenter, a physical representation of what made the home feel Iike a home. A happy home would have a clean, well maintained, cared for hearth, that provided warmth, light, the ability to cook nurturing meals, and a place where the family could gather. Your Heart Center is your hearth, it is the home for the Self. How do you maintain yours? What nourishing things do you prepare there? What kinds of people and energies do you allow to enter or stay? How often do you care for yours and how? When was the last time you connected?
 
 
 
*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anahata#~:text=In%20Sanskrit%2C%20An%C4%81hata%20mens%20%22sound,of%20energies%20at%20this%20level
** If you would like to know more about Hridaya and Ramana Maharshi you can visit hridaya-yoga.com/knowledge/core-teachings/what-is-the-heart-center

Return of the Soul
There other day I was having a conversation with a friend of mine about reincarnation, and I thought it would be an interesting topic to chat about. This topic more often that not, in my experience, sparks conversations surrounding on both if it is possible for a soul to return, and why this would occur. I have read plenty of stories about children who remembered their previous life. How they describe details of lives, places, and people they could not possibly have had prior knowledge of. The story of Dorothy Eady (also known as Om Sety), who, as a young girl, fell down the stairs, and, after seeming dead for a brief time, awoke remembering a separate life as an Egyptian Priestess. At a later visit to the New Kingdom temple exhibit at the British Museum, she was able to more fully remember her previous life, which sparked a life long passion for everything Egyptian. Other notable story is that of Titu Singh Toran, whose remembered past life as a smuggler/store owner seemed more real to him, at 4 years old, then his current life. He was able to accurately identify the city he had lived in, his previous name and occupation, his personality, how and where the died, accurately identify and name his previous wife and children, and even had birth marks on his head that matched the wounds from the murder of the previous man. (This case, however, brings up a question of reincarnation or soul replacement, due to some sketchy birth records). There are plenty more stories like these written about in books, and talked about in various TV specials. From all I have read, and what I know, I do believe in reincarnation. However, in this post I am not going to debate the possibility of its existence. Instead, I want to talk about the different theories of how it happens. There are as few versions that I find interesting (I hope you do as well).
Before reincarnation happens, it is generally thought that the soul goes through a process of remembering its life, processing what happened, seeing the lessons learned, and noting what was not learned/still needs to be learned. Some theories suggest that the decision to return lies with the soul, as does the particulars of the new life to be lived (what lessons to focus on, where and to whom to be born, the types of trials they will face, etc..), while others believe that those details are determined by a higher power, the higher self, the universe, etc.. depending on their beliefs. This is where the different theories come in.
One theory is that the soul is its own entity. It is part of a larger cosmic community, but it is an entity unto itself. Whether it determines its fate in the next life or not, it learns, grows, evolves, and ascends as a singular being that is part of a larger collective.
Another theory is that only a part of our whole self incarnates into a physical being. The larger “whole”, commonly referred to as the higher self, detaches a part of itself to incarnate on the physical plane to learn their necessary lessons, to experience new things, and gain new insights. This is possibly a step towards greater ascension. This theory brings up a question (at least it did to me), about earth bound spirits (ghosts) that do not return to the spirit realm/universe, but remain on earth. It would suggest that this part of the higher self remains fragmented until the spirit passes on (is successfully called back by the Higher Self), or is helped to pass on. In the latter case, would that then be considered moving them on, or soul retrieval instead?
Stemming from this theory of a higher self that fragments is another that suggests that the higher self fragments into every soul that is alive on the physical plane, all at one time. It is experiencing life from every perspective simultaneously. This is either happening all in the here and now (a linear timeline), or in every time (past, present, and future) as well. This theory would seem to suggest that the universe as we know it is not only the creation (on all levels) of one greater being, but IS this being. This theory also begs the question about earth bound spirits and soul retrieval.
Another theory that I was recently made aware of is of the soul being reincarnated in more than one body at a time. Unlike the previous theory, the Higher Self is not experiencing everyone, everywhere, but a few select souls at one time. This could happen in the present time, or perhaps in multiple times simultaneously. This could be another possibility for past life remembrance or soul replacement (where it appears one soul completely takes over a body they were not born into, or they share it with them).
As you can see, there are a few different theories to think about. There are some parallels between them, and they all stand on their own as solid theories. While not all of them will resonate with everyone, and every culture and religion has their own thoughts and beliefs on the possibility of reincarnation, it is interesting (at least I think it is) to think about how it works, what awaits us after this life, and what we hope (or would choose) to happen at that time. Most of these theories also bring up questions about Earth bound spirits, what clearing them/helping them pass on does for us. A question for another post perhaps?
If you do believe in reincarnation, I wonder which of these theories most resonates with you. Had you heard of them before? Did you know there was more than one theory about reincarnation? Did you learn about one that resonates with you or makes more sense to you now? Did I miss one? I would love to know.