Huh...it's a little quiet out there...

Let’s Walk Back:

A 4, 5, 6, 7 and hold that thought about 8…
ahhhh, that count felt a bit off to you didn’t it?
(to all my fellow musicians, I’m sorry to have hurt you like this.)

In order to know how to move about your 2024 year, you first have to pinpoint your personal epicenter. A lot has happened between now and then, so we’re going to keep the reviews short and general and it will depend on you to revisit each year on a more intimate personal level and depth.

2+0+2+0 aKa 4 | An Even Year | The Emperor

Proverbs 11:14: Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.

It's like a fever dream we can't escape.

While many of us are tired of talking about 2020 and using the excuse of COVID for our shortcomings, we do have to put it under the scope. It was the new decade, a new presidency, and while not a religious person in modern practice, I couldn't help but pull Proverbs 11:14 from my spiritual studies and notes when it came to look back at this year. 2020 came in promising to deliver so much and somehow didn't.

It was an even year starting the decade off with the number four, giving us security, clarity, strong manifesting capabilities which easily converted into tangible items, and well-structured and organized minds. The shutdown forced many of us to sit and take a real glimpse at our lives and ask, "Is this how I want to live?" Many of us took up hobbies, finally started that business we always talked about, and either enriched our relationships or realized they were no longer serving us positively and cut them loose.

As a collective, we were doing well… so what happened?

To have such a strong year paired with the Emperor, leadership, power, and authority, we can finally see how Proverbs 11:14 interacts here. It was extremely important for our leadership to take a strong stance coming into this decade, but they themselves fell very short of what could (and dare I even say "should") have been. While everyone else was taking this year in stride, our "Emperor" slowly became more and more reversed and troubled as the year went on.

Confronted by the invisible force of COVID, our leaders grappled, unsure how to combat the crisis that engulfed us. In their bid to shield personal assets, they inadvertently jeopardized countless livelihoods. Major platforms amplified the chaos, spreading unchecked misinformation that hijacked news outlets, leaving destruction in its wake. Instead of guiding and serving the people, leadership faltered. Deliberate misdirection and confusion replaced clarity, as the pursuit of power overshadowed the collective need for solutions. Internal divisions emerged, with leaders turning against each other, forming factions within their own parties. The refusal to compromise left us without true counsel, as the thirst for control superseded addressing our pressing challenges.

To put it simply:

Without the cooperation of the advisors and leadership and their willingness to come together to make wise decisions, our nation will be the ones to take the brunt of their failures.

To start off a year filled with promise with such an unfavorable management team leading the project offers a profound perspective, shedding light on our collective experiences. It unravels the reasons behind our tendency to constantly assign blame to this particular period of our lives, providing a deeper understanding of our shared narrative.

2+0+2+1 aKa 5 | An Odd Year | The Hierophant

"The Random Quick Rise of Social Media Influencers, Scammers, Witchcraft, and Spirituality"

I’m probably going to have people come for me, and that’s cool because I’m still gonna talk about it, because some of y’all for reals attempted to hex the moon, and us well-seasoned practitioners are never going to let you live that down.

Trying to work with our "management team" feels like having a job you genuinely love, but it's marred by the challenge of dealing with coworkers you just can't vibe with. It's that clash between a passion for the work and the struggle of navigating personalities of the people steering the ship. We really felt this tension begin in year five, especially after the transition of power. Conflict, uncertainty, and sudden rapid changes no one was ready for. It was as if we were fighting to all get on the same page of a blank book 1,000 pages long. Nothing made sense!

This was a year of intangible abundance, but too many of us was blinded by a fools rush to fake riches (social media come ups.) Many paid and bought into things with the stimulus money they had, with hopes that it would help change their lives for the better. Not knowing that their investments were going to the wrong parts of their desires, as well as lining the pockets of capitalizing individuals, who had no real intention of manifesting anything promised into a reality for them. They were sold an illusion, and we have social media to thank for that, especially our “influencers and modern-day spiritualists.”

While the apps we use daily are nothing new, it feels almost as if they suddenly blew up overnight with the sudden flood of SM Celebrities and Influencers, and they started infiltrating everywhere, from dollar store survival finds to our own personal religious beliefs. Overnight everyone was a content expert, influencer, life coach, witch or other, simply because they’ve gained a mass following and the public square said so, not because they have proper credentials or accolades to support them.

Because of the uncertainty and conflicts that were laid over us due to a lack of proper leadership, many were seeking to take control with their own hands and reached for old traditions and practices without well intentions to fix their problems and worries for longevity and not short term. Many skipped over the understanding that things take time and a lot of work to have true impact and change simply because social media told them so. If a true practitioner told them “no” out of safety and protocol, it was nothing for the individual to go to the next influential “practitioner” who will tell them "yes" for $100, regardless of their safety.

I’ve gotten more scam attempts from these fake spiritualists than I ever have, and I’ve been doing this for over 20 years. It baffles me how so many will disrespect and ignore those properly initiated or ordained, or someone truly an expert in their field and line of work, but praise, protect, and uphold those actively taking advantage of their situation simply because of popularity and the desire to belong when they’re feeling so lost in a world crumbling around them.

To condemn the correct way and uphold the wrong simply because it fits your narrative better is not only dangerous but disrespectful to oneself. It openly invites those who don't care to play in your face, with your spirit, and tells the world that you feel like you are not worthy of knowing the truth and being respected. In other words, an easy soul to control and manipulate due to the desperation of wanting more and better without deeper meaning or understanding of what more and better even is. And it manifests and shows up in other aspects of your life from career to relationships.

This is a covert mindset, and a toxic one at that. A dangerous mindset that leaves you constantly questioning “why does this always happen to me?”

This was a year of commitment and traditional value, a year of properly learning the ways of crafts and skills while integrating your own self discovery and knowledge into a routine and practice that serves you. Something so many ignored. If there was an easier way, they were going to take it and it’s ok because “the internet told me so,” completely ignoring that Hierophant sits between law and liberty - obedience and disobedience and is a holy teacher. Meaning homework must be done for it will be checked, and those caught cheating and taking shortcuts during this period will be dealt with in time.

Only a few made an investment in the correct areas needing improvement and were able to see a personal gain during this time. They understood that this was a learning year. While their return may not have been in physical form, the intangible, the knowledge gained here set those up for a very lucrative position for 2022. Meanwhile, the blind led and are still leading the blind straight into a ditch. If they’ve not already fallen in, it’s only a matter of time, and for those who have, I’m sure are desperately scrambling to climb out before more fall on top of them.

2+0+2+2 aKa 6 | An Even Year | The Lovers

It was never a “yes or no.” It was simply a call to choose to love.

Now, this was an interesting year in the breakdown so far.

While half of the collective was falling into the trap of being told what to do and when to do it, there was the half that was moving in the direction of knowing what to do and how to do it.

The previous years leading us up to this point had major growth opportunities, and if stayed steady and true to your passion and north star, when you arrived you would’ve seen rows of doors of opportunity just waiting to be knocked on.

There were many well-aligned groups and tribes striving for success and abundance, wanting to connect and collaborate. To form partnerships and commitments. It was also this particular year that tripped many of us who had made it this far up and tripped us up badly. It didn’t matter if you were being told what to do, knew what to do, or fell somewhere in the middle, if your final grade from Hierophant was just barely passing, it’s a high possibility you struggled here in year six due to not knowing the material well enough, leading to a lot of second guesses and a lack of confidence in oneself.

You formed connections with those who spoke a similar language to the one you were speaking, enough to understand each other on a surface level, but in-depth meanings strayed from what was intended. You found yourself at a lot of crossroads with people you thought you knew well; you began to see contradiction in their words and actions, and even started to feel off balance yourself. All types of relationships started to bottom out, and we really saw a big push on the “self-love” narrative. While important, if your self-love leaned more selfish and not self-oriented, you most likely found yourself in a period of isolation, disharmony, and imbalance, which hindered progress because it locked you away from opportunities.

This is never what The Lovers represented or desired for us.

While yes, connection, partnerships, and collaborations are all aspects of it, the real meaning behind The Lovers is to love outwardly, loudly, authentically, and to be open and raw with your communication. To truly love oneself is to have love for your fellow extension in this world along with compassion and heartfelt guidance. So many in this season chose not to warn others of the "bridge out ahead" sign and instead watched silently as their loved ones and foes fell into the ditches. Complete ignoring that they are headed in the same direction just at a much slower pace. Where we should've spoken up the most, we allowed our voices to go unheard and we all missed the mark of unification by mimicking our leaders from year four: You either fit into our way or no way, don’t care what you say, it’s me me me with no space for compromise. This is how we do things; your opinion not needed nor does it matter because I already have and you have not.

And what did we see from that? No counsel, you fall.

We are a species of community, teaching and learning.
Many refused to teach. Many refused to learn.

Especially in times we needed it the most. We absolutely needed and need those still, who we can trust to turn us back around when we’re headed the wrong way. The only way this can be done is with a true understanding of love and compassion, and knowing that not all love is soft love. Some love is hard, honest, and raw, just as the Lovers call for it to be.

But as we also saw in year five, it’s much easier to accept the lies that makes us feel good than it is to hear the truths that makes us do work.

A lot of the misunderstandings, misaligned values, and missed opportunities we had during this year stemmed from misunderstanding and having misaligned values within ourselves, which made way for the many heavy discrepancies we faced, both as a collective and in our personal lives. And with this being an even year, it was tangible. It was something we could physically feel and see come to fruition. And it was enough to force a good majority of us back into the familiar and comfortable space we fought so hard to get out of all because of fear and exhaustion. Leaving the remaining in the fight to take on most of the pressure to conform and go back in the boxes. 

2+0+2+3 aKa 7 | An Odd Year | The Chariot

Which brings us to the review of last year, 2023: a rather odd year, both figuratively and literally.

No doubt, we’ve all experienced some sort of weirdness last year. I personally found myself drowning in depression from late April to mid-August before finally coming out of the fog. Illness seemed to be at an all-time high for my loved ones, and the local AND world news seemed to get more baffling with each passing day.

Intangible, yet again, leaving many feeling hopeless, forgotten, and once again cheated more so than ever, especially as the truth finally began to break our shores in regards to the lies we bought back in year five. Scammers were being named, politicians were being exposed, content creators started to fall from the internet’s grace, and everything just felt very dystopian. And rightfully so, considering the Chariot not properly placed upright will give heavy energy of self-doubt, lack of direction, and misalignment.

Noticing the trend here?

If you felt this, this was not and never was your year to go in guns a-blazing, (so don't beat yourself up so much) but more so your year to step back, sit down, shut up, and just watch and listen. The year of seven was an opportunity for you to make up the homework you didn’t do with Hierophant in year five and reflect on everything you did or didn’t do up to this point. To inquire about those things you didn’t understand, get clarity on things you misunderstood, and return back to knowing.

Chariot focused on the bigger picture, on all moving and stagnant parts and taught those who were watching how they intertwined and worked with each other. It was a reminder that while you ARE…you are also not.

Two truths co-existing in harmony.
Strength in well-knowing vs ambitious ego.
Only one will lead you to true clarity and forward movement.

Don’t believe me? Just simply pause and take a look around at the very things you dislike but surround yourself with daily without second thought. Abuse of power, nihilism, narcissism, lack of true accountability, and this list can go on for days. These are all things we consume feverishly, unknowingly rewarding them with our personal currency: attention, time, and energy, whether we intend to or not. It’s dragging us down and sending us backwards. We all agree that it is, and yet it’s the forefront of our entertainment, and a feel-good chip of “I’m not that bad after all,” giving us quiet permission to remain complacent when we are truly not happy; craving change and development.

If we could return back to having the desire, no, discipline, to truly learn from those who are experts in their crafts and actually hear those who are well-knowing and confident in their work, then we could all begin to once again move in the forward direction as a collective. The “problem” is that means we must do work and take accountability for letting things get this far to begin with, and boo, no one wants that! Work is boring, someone throw a pie!

Personal Note/Experience:
I personally discovered this in my down moments and had to humble myself with an honest “while I AM… I AM also not; therefore, I should return back to my studies to learn more for this next chapter of my life.” And I did, by tapering my ego, acknowledging my imposter, moving out of my own way, and allowing myself to simply observe what was taking place in front of me as well as behind me without resistance. Regaining clarity, structure, and security from year four, recalling the knowledge I learned in year five amidst all the misinformation, reclaiming my desire to reconnect and realign in year six, and simply reviewing and reorganizing all of it in year seven, so that I may walk into year eight, a tangible year of Strength and Fortitude, ready to achieve and receive.

Okay…So All of This to Get to 2024…Year Eight

Yes, and please don't be mad, but this has gone on long enough.
I promise to touch on this in our next chat…err…read.
For now, I challenge you to take a look back at all of these years and the roles you played in them. Ask yourself, honestly and openly:

…am I ready for 2024…?

Many Blessings ♥