Field notes is a place to share observations, experiences, and insights centering around:

🌀 Practice - What's happening in our personal practices, spiritual or artistic or otherwise

🌱 Environment - What are we observing in the ecosystem(s) around us? Share the organisms you encounter and how the seasons are unfolding in your world

✨ Synchronicity - What unforeen connections have been popping up? What have they pointed you towards?

🃏 Tarot - What are you experiencing IRL that highlights or expands your understanding of the cards?

Now this is a list of suggestions - please have fun and run amok with your sharing! Innovate, branch beyond what's outlined above, and be sure to comment on what sparks something in you.

And as always, be respectful, curious, and open 🪟

A client shared this with me after a reading that featured the Six of Swords, a card that shows a boatman ferrying two passengers to the opposite shore. She'd heard it at a retreat that she'd attended recently, and immediately connected it to the card. I love when these moments happen in a reading and I also love this poem.

You can find the rest on David Whyte's substack after subscribing (I wanted to respect the poet's intentions by not pasting the entire poem here):

The Pilgrim Island

Step into the boat now,
and feel the swell of water
beneath the boards.

The boatman
wants you
to join him,
and to sit
looking forward
with your
back to him,
to take both those
polished oars
in your hands
and feel the sea.

Here everything
is all movement
and a giving up
to the never-ending

rhythm of the ocean,
here the apprenticeship…

davidwhyte.substack.comThe Pilgrim IslandStep into the boat now

....I have a lovely senior cat called Mittens (Mitty), she was my husbands when we moved in together but I love her as my own. We have our own connection and I talk to her constantly 😍 I previously had a white terrier called Pippin (named after one of the hobbits in lord of the rings)but he sadly passed away a couple of years ago.

Hi, I'm Julie 👋

I live in a small village called Earls Barton in Northamptonshire in the UK,

I'm an IT Manager, previously contracting for a number of years but have settled into a permanent role now and enjoying a quieter pace to my working life.

I am a complete novice to Tarot. I've had a crazy and emotional couple of years and tarot have helped me through it. Introduced by a witch friend who knew my gorgeous deck was meant for me and posted them to me 'to help with my journey' I have always felt the pull towards tarot and when I received my deck it was like I let out a big breath I had been holding in - does that make sense?

I love nature and have a house full of plants which I have started or brought as babies and have now grown to take over my space - I love it! I have a very patient husband, who has now named my office space 'The Green Room'.

I love painting although weirdly just garden ornaments, I 'rescue' them and restore them. I have a kind of garden ornament hospital going on, with my patients waiting to be seen 🤣

I've followed you for ages Gina, I loved receiving your emails every month and today I knew it was my day to take the plunge and subscribe. I'm happy to join the new community and look forward to the conversations where I can pick up hints and tips for getting seriously started with Tarot. My goal is to be able to interpret the cards without actually picking up a book/guide and use my intuition more. xxxxxx

Had to share this one with you all (and I'm also riding high on its potent buzz right. now. 😂). Inspired by a very expensive drink at our local coffee shop, this one is easy and cheap to whip up at home.

All you need is:

• - Cold brew coffee (I got mine at costco haha)

• - Orange blossom water (can be found at most middle eastern grocers)

• - Sweetened condensed milk

The technique is this: mix a few teaspoons (or tablespoons, you choose!) of condensed milk with a splash of warm water and stir to combine at the bottom of a tall glass. A pro tip from a friend (hey, Jordan!) is to use any leftover hot coffee from the morning if you have it. Add ice cubes, pour over cold brew, top with a splash of orange blossom water, and stir gently to combine. You can also drizzle a little extra sweetened condensed milk over the top to finish - I did!

Experimenting with a new practice, a miniature weekly forecasts of sorts, where we pull a card to see how best to work with the month's reading in the following seven days. 🗓 ✨

This week, we're gifted with the intrepid, dare I say adorable Page of Wands. Well, maybe precocious is a better word... Either way, we have some pep in our step this week that puts us in a wonderful and enjoyable position to explore some next steps.

You may remember that our opportunity card this month is the Three of Wands and our opportunity for last month was the Two of that same group. I have an inkling, then, that this week may be when we discover (or stumble upon, co-create, realize) an important next step in a creative path we've been pondering.

(To do the tarot math: 2 of Wands + Page of Cup with their 1 wand = 3 of Wands aka this month's opportunity.)

This can extend to many areas of our lives - work, relationships, personal practices - but whatever it is, it's animated by true passion and excitement. Since it's the very beginning of the month we don't have to go wild when it comes to actualization, approaching the new opportunity that emerges with curiosity and loose expectations. We have the whole rest of the month to hone in on the details.

The Page of Wands reminds us that experimentation and enthusiasm are powerful tools. Don't let yourself be forced into pretend seriousness; in fact, joy and playfulness are signs we're truly onto something authentic and meaningful.

YES to...

• - exploring options

• - playing with newness

• - being boisterious

• - wearing your heart and ambition on your sleeve

• - lots of physical outlets

• - prioritizing good sleep

NO to...

• - self-seriousness

• - downplaying your dreams

• - asking for too many opinions

• - excessive caution

Hi, I’m Bethany—a practical mystic, healing artist, musician, and guide in sonic exploration. I live in Portland, Oregon, where my work weaves tarot, astrology, sound, movement, ecology, and somatic practice.

Choosing a favorite tarot card feels nearly impossible, but The Moon 🌙 remains one of my deepest companions: mystery, dreaming, intuition, creative transmission, and learning to listen within changing light.

Right now, I’m being guided by The World, The Hermit, and the King of Pentacles as I attune more deeply to the Earth body 🌎 🌱

I also love collaborating with Gina on our Elemental Explorations, attuning to our elemental bodies through shared inquiry and practice 🌊🔥🌱✨

My animal companion is Cinder Proud Tail, our beloved cat and highly independent earthling 🦁🐱

Let's get to introducing ourselves!

A little format to get things going (very optional):

- Your name & location

• - Your favorite tarot card

• - What tarot card you actually feel like right now

• - Your animal companions (bonus points for pictures)

I'll start!

I'm Gina, the creator/owner of Alchemag and Incandescent Tarot, and I'm making my home in the woods of Durham, North Carolina. My favorite tarot card (why did I suggest this?? it's torture!) ...right now (ha, workaround) is The Star. It's our environment card for the month and I feel like I'm entering a period of deepening my relationship to the archetype. The tarot card I actually feel like right now is the Five of Pentacles: cold (for some reason sitting at the desk over the air vent), boo boo-ed up with a headache, and at the midpoint of the day. Emotionally, I'm the Ten of Cups, though! Ecstatic about this new space and the people in it. 🌈 As for creatures, I'm joined by a 11 year old border collie/cattle dog mix, Ruth, four as of yet unnamed goldfish, and two hives of honeybees.