March Tarotscopes: Loving The Beasts Within
What comes to mind when you think of strength? Is it refusing to let others witness your tears?
Dear Sweet One,
I can hear birds outside, and I am grateful that spring is here in the southwest desert. Some trees are still bare with winter vibes, and some trees are full and bright green, and there’s all the ones in between. My puppy, Champ, a 5-ish year old chihuahua, is hanging out in our small backyard, soaking up her vitamin D, next to her big sister Lola. These gifts definitely feel like the Strength card to me. Strength is your theme for March.
What comes to mind when you think of strength? The ability to push and carry and ignore your pain? Is it the ability to ask for nothing in return for your generosity? Is it refusing to let others witness your tears?
I have expressed these versions of strength myself, as well as similar others. I did them / still do them to survive impossible circumstances, but I have found that they come at a cost. A cost that, yes, I am willing to pay, but one that is also extended to others through my relationships, and end up in my communities, too. This is where it gets tricky cuz loved ones may begin to notice walls going up, that a new hardness or bitterness has coated your energy that wasn’t there before. And I bet none of this was on purpose. You’re just trying to survive.
My hope for you this month is to embody a new strength. Recognize the strength it takes to take care of your open heart. Protect your hope with nurturing thoughts, no matter how impractical it will seem. Move the boundaries around your heart to let others in, and understand how to use them to create stability and connection. Practice these new skills with yourself first, then share what you’re discovering with trusted kin. As chunks and slivers of your armor come off, don’t be upset with yourself about them. Recognize their shedding as progress. Forgive yourself for judging yourself so harshly, then let it go.
Spend time with your wildness, the monsters within, and find out why they threaten you. When you give them time and space to exist, they, too, won’t have to fight so hard.
After getting to know my beasts, I’ve discovered that they enjoy different things, mostly, though, they like to eat, rest, cry, and connect with others. Sometimes I take them in my arms and rock them to sleep. Sometimes I wrap them in a sweatshirt and give them a comfy spot on my bed. Often, I tell them stories of how much I love them, of how much they mean to me, of how they don’t need to protect me anymore, and that now it’s my turn to protect them.
When we first met I was afraid they would turn me inside out. I wailed & railed on about how unfair it all is. I wanted to deny their existence and smother the shame. Their birth into my consciousness was painful, but when I finally surrendered, I finally understood what miracles they are, and how lucky I am to have found them.
And you are lucky, babe of the Femmeiverse. You are here, breathing, living, open. Your spirit and wounds are connecting with the world around you, with your community, working hard to bring everything you need to heal. Praise the strength of your vulnerability.
From my whale heart to yours,
Dacia
ARIES: Six of Bones
Strength + Six of Bones = You Can Stop Working So Hard
Sweet success is yours. Six of Bones tells me that you have been trying really hard to get through a challenge that felt impossible at times. You had to navigate all kinds of barriers, paperwork, calls, applications, waiting for someone to call you back, learning the “right” kinds of questions to get the answers you needed, and countless other ways a person can be denied access to any number of necessary resources. You have been working so hard for so long, and now is the time to rest. Bask in the home, little cave, space to breathe, you have carefully crafted for yourself. When I think about how the Strength card plays into Six of Bones, it is clear that this gem of a hideaway you’ve made for yourself will be more important that you realize.
Tell yourself, as often as necessary, that you can rest now. You will not be called upon at the last minute to manage a crisis. Trust that the prep work you accomplished is enough. You were able to pull off every trick in your book, sometimes even surprising yourself, cuz Spirit was on your side, and you were only ever just trying to get home. Please be gentle with yourself, too. Your process was not perfect, nor was it supposed to be, so let that notion go. If anything, marvel at your shape-shifting abilities, at your clever mind, at your keen senses, your faith that miracles will happen. Now that you’ve cleared those challenges, use your skills for your own healing.
March Affirmation: I am allowed to advocate for myself at any time.
TAURUS: Two of Keys
Strength + Two of Keys = Your Heart is All That You Need
This month your homework is to stop and take a breath every time you want to seek answers outside of yourself. Your card is the Two of Keys, with an image of someone with a lock in their heart space, who is holding a key ring with two keys. One of the keys is already in the lock, ready to be turned. Two of Keys reminds me of different times in my life when I could feel that lock in my chest, begging for someone, anyone, to open it! I just knew there was a way to open my heart, and I thought someone else held the key to do that for me. In other instances, I could feel a key in my hand, and I searched for the magic locket it would open. In both experiences, I was oblivious to the fact that I was / am both the magic locket and the holder of the key.
If you’ve been asking for a sign, you are the sign. You are here to save your own ass, but not in the way you think. It is time to slow down and lower your guard. You’ve worked your way into a sweet community, and now you get to find out who you are in this environment. I know you might feel more comfortable when you can thrash about without worrying about collateral damage, but the Femmeiverse has been receiving your heart wishes, and is ready to grant them. There’s only one condition: you gotta be willing to soften yourself and stay open. That is one of the lessons of turning the key and opening up your heart space locket. I would share more of the gifts you can expect to receive, but I don’t wanna ruin the surprise for you.
March Affirmation: It is safe for me to unlock my heart.
GEMINI: Seeker of Bones
Strength + Seeker of Bones = What’s Meant to Be Yours Will Always Be There
Gemini babe, this month’s lesson is to learn how to claim what is yours. The image on your card, Seeker of Bones, is of a sweet raccoon who is reaching for some personal magical objects among all kinds of treasures, including a skull. Whenever a skull shows up in this deck, the Collective Tarot, I always interpret them as a symbol for ancestors. Essentially, whatever this raccoon is reaching for has something to do with their ancestral magic. The raccoon is you. You are going to be starting, or may have already started, the process of figuring out how to claim what is yours, including the healing and magic within your lineage.
The raccoon represents how you’ve had to make due with scraps of this and that, and how you’ve learned to make a feast of crumbs. Good job surviving, Gemini babe, and now you are being ushered into a new era of abundance. The most important aspect of this card is to take what is yours with boldness and clarity. There will be people who tell you that you have no business doing such a thing, and as long as you’re not appropriating a culture or practice that is not yours, ignore them and follow your intuition.
I know it can be a challenge to build a spiritual practice that feels authentic, especially when there’s nobody to teach you, or someone else’s dogmatic approach has left you feeling bitter about any kind of All Knowing Entity, but I’m here to let you know that all those doubts can go in the trash. And you don’t have to dig them out later, either.
Your guides and ancestors are always nearby, and if you want to connect with them, it can totally happen. All you gotta do is ask.
March Affirmation: I am willing to surrender to my own spiritual process.
CANCER: The Magician
Strength + The Magician = Super Magic is Brewing
(I debated on whether or not to keep this card for you cuz it’s the same one as last month. But also I know there are no accidents, & Spirit doesn’t lie, so I decided to go with it.)
A little over 11 years ago my maternal grandmother, Lettie, began her process of going back to Spirit, aka her health was declining quickly and we were preparing for her death. At the time, I was a desperate alcoholic who was trying to get sober, but kept losing control over my life cuz I always needed one more drink. Then one cold February morning, my mom, my then three-year-old kiddo, and myself, drove to my grandmother’s side. We didn’t know when she would pass, but we knew it was soon.
While sitting with her, praying with her, talking with her in my head, and listening to the stories about her, I realized how similar we both were — survivors who found solace in drinking. I spent three weeks helping her die, and didn’t get stoned or drunk the whole time. This was long enough to clear my head. As soon as I got back home, I began talking and communing with my grandma’s spirit, and together we got me sober.
I now know that my sobriety is not just part of my healing process, it is also connected to my grandma Lettie’s healing. I have also witnessed some of the beautiful and complex ways reclaiming my power tugs at my family web of substance use, strained relationships between mothers and their children, surviving fucked up shit with little to no support, and trying to stay alive.
I am part of this lineage of hurt and healing, and what I do matters a whole lot. This is true for you, too. Take from this what you will. I offer it with so much love.
March Affirmation: I am open to all the ways healing comes to me and through me.
LEO: Five of Bones
Strength + Five of Bones = “Let me Love You,” Said Your Heart
The tide has already shifted, brave heart. Any hope you had of preparing for the worst is totally awash, and now you have no choice but to go with the flow. The series of happenstance and coincidence that brought you here was orchestrated by the delicate and purposeful hand of the Femmeriverse herself. You are so lucky.
Your heart has been sending out signals that you are ready to feel big love, and the Femmeriverse is here to make that happen with the Five of Bones. When this card pops up in a reading, I can guess that you are trying really hard to keep hold of something precious to you, and it seems the harder you squeeze, the quicker it begins to slip through. I’m sorry, babe, cuz ready or not, you gotta let it go. Whatever it is that has a hold on your heart is already gone.
You are communing with ghosts and memories of what once was. Please, don’t feel foolish, this was a necessary part of your process so you could find a way to love that lonely beast inside of you. Now that they’re out, and your hands are empty, you can lavish them with compliments and tokens of your love.
This will be one of the hardest things you will ever do, but you are absolutely capable. Whenever you need a boost, a rest, to fall apart in a pair of loving arms yourself, your guides and ancestors will be right there. They can offer you respite themselves, or work through your loved ones. Either way, you are never alone.
March Affirmation: When I let go of what isn’t working, I make room for more miracles.
VIRGO: Seven of Bottles
Strength + Seven of Bottles = Your Heart Holds the Answers You Seek
January was intense, with the Tower showing up, and was a big help in freeing you from a path that wasn’t gonna work out in the end. Since then, you’ve been wondering what comes next. Seven of Bottles, your card for March, tells me that the answer lies nestled within your heart. The only way to get to it is to continue taking down some walls from your old life that are actually keeping you from letting your new life in.
Stop trying to predict what’s coming your way or catastrophizing what could happen, and let your life unfold naturally. This is a challenge for anyone, and your earth sign tendencies may make it harder than it needs to be. Instead, use your planning skills to carve out time to connect with your heart, with your spirit, and your intuition.
You can meditate, start a dream journal, free-write in the morning, sit outside and notice what surrounds you, go to the library and read up on topics that interest you without making a project of it, or take yourself to an event of your choosing. Basically, Virgo babe, have fun. Strengthen your heart by making yourself happy.
Before you know it, and really when you stop searching for it, the answer(s) will come. Your heart will be soft enough to give you what you want cuz now you can receive it. You are such a blessing, and you deserve all the love you share with others. This month is about you meeting your own needs in a new way.
March Affirmation: I am open to receiving answers in all the ways the Femmeiverse want to communicate with me.
LIBRA: Apprentice of Bones
Strength + Apprentice of Bones = Study of the Heart
With every breath, you are changing, and with your new insights and levels of awareness you are ready to begin taking a Bone Inventory, as the Apprentice of Bones suggests. I like to think of bones as a metaphor for your foundational beliefs, spanning from your self image to your relationships with all of creation. These bones are at the core of your world and how you experience it.
Go slowly when taking yourself and your world apart. You’re gonna find that some bones are healthy and strong, and some will be broken and need to be taken care of. You will find places that were once broken but didn’t heal properly, and you’re gonna have to re-break them yourself before putting them back in place. You will find bones that are missing, and your job will be to grow it back.
You may also find bones that don’t belong to you, inherited bones from your family that have no place in your body or spirit. It is so important that you take your time throughout this process, and to make sure you emerge from this phase slowly. You need to be gentle with your bones as they reconnect. You are gonna learn all kinds of things about yourself, things you didn’t know you were still carrying around, and things you didn’t know you were missing.
Your guides and ancestors will be present throughout your process, so ask for help when you need it, but know that they won’t tell you what to do. They will support you, not shape you. You are in your own hands.
March Affirmation: I have all that I need to put myself back together.
SCORPIO: THE FOOL
Strength + The Fool = Say Yes
Everyone is innocent. This never changes. I’m not referring to the puritanical idea of being virginal, but of the fact that there is a piece of you that is always connected to Spirit and remains untouched, unmarred by this world. The part of you that believes things will work out somehow, and isn’t afraid to try again, even if life totally kicked your ass. The Fool, your card for the month, is the perfect archetype to embody this energy.
Try something new by saying yes to things that are outside your comfort zone. Let your gut guide you into adventures that renew your spirit! Don’t worry about not being prepared enough to embark on new journeys, that’s part of the magic of the Fool. What you need will be provided for along the way by the Femmeiverse, your guides and ancestors, pals you have yet to meet, and through your own abilities to femmeifest.
The Fool is the very first card of the major arcana in the tarot, and can sometimes be mistaken for being naive, but what you need to remember is that the Fool also carries all the wisdom from the tarot, and this is just a new layer. You, deer one, also carry all the wisdom from living all your years, and this is more valuable than anything you can pack into a bag or suitcase.
This is how you will be prepared for the unexpected, how to find your way when you think you are lost, and how you will always find friends and home. Good luck, and have fun!
March Affirmation: I trust that I am prepared for all of life’s adventures!
SAGITTARIUS: Apprentice of Keys
Strength + Apprentice of Keys = Claiming Your Whole Self Is Powerful
This month, your guides and ancestors want you to focus on healing your relationship with your power. The image on your card, the Apprentice of Keys, is of two people who are learning how to eat fire together. Neither one is an expert, but they share what they know with each other, and learn a lot in one another’s presence.
I love fire as a metaphor for power, cuz you are in the process of learning how to take power back into your body and spirit. Usually when this card comes up, the Femmeiverse has granted you a peer-mentorship relationship, and the two of you will come into your power independently, but at the same time. Just like the fire eaters, you will develop your own safeguards to ensure that you are responsible and accountable in your use of this new power. You will also need to figure out how to call back your power.
Comb carefully through your past to identify all the ways you gave it away, why you thought it was a good idea, and forgive yourself for doing so. Your peer-mentorship will be a place to understand your relationship to power and deconstruct any false beliefs about it.
For instance, if you have been hurt by someone in a position of power, you may have unconsciously created a belief that powerful people are dangerous, or that you will hurt others if you are powerful. When you find these old beliefs, grant yourself permission to grieve their creation, let it go, then affirm your new belief in its place.
You can even set up a personal releasing ritual for deeper healing, and discover how useful your power can be.
March Affirmation: It is safe for me to be powerful.
AQUARIUS: Five of Keys
Strength + Five of Keys = You Will Survive
The time has come to burn it all down. It probably won’t make much sense to anyone else, but that doesn’t matter. You have your reasons. You know why. Five of Keys shows the aftermath of such a cleansing, a decimated forest with a handful of trees still upright, amidst them a fireplace intact. The fireplace is how you survive such a purge. Your future ancestral self will come back through time and help you build it, then sit with you inside as everything rages outside. The ones who don’t understand believe that this forest is lush and healthy, thriving in all the ways. They are ignorant of the fact that the root system is actually in decay, and the trees are rotting at their core. But you do. And you know what you gotta do.
This forest represents surviving trauma that often originates in families, and is confirmation that you no longer need to keep their secrets. You have decided that rather than keep this facade going of Everything is ok! and pass these lies onto future generations, you’re gonna set it all on fire by sharing your truth. Don’t worry about telling anyone else’s truth, sharing from your experience will be more than enough to light that match.
You are not responsible for previous generation’s choices, but you are responsible for your own. Starting over like this ensures that your descendants, whether through blood or chosen family, will not have to endure the dissonance of their inner truths and the false exterior of the old forest. Be patient and oh so gentle with yourself, it’s shocking to witness such transformation. Proceed slowly & take your time when replanting. Rest often and reach back through ancestral memory to figure how to start again.
Your lineage has been waiting for this healing, and will help you rebuild.
March Affirmation: Transformation is necessary for new growth, and I am ready.
CAPRICORN: The Moon
Strength + the Moon = Change Will Be Your Guide
This month is all about trusting the intangible — feelings, dreams, intuition, prayer, practicing affirmations, envisioning your health and wellness, and overall trusting that good things are coming your way. Your blessings are like the inception of waves way out in the ocean. They only become visible once they’re closer to shore, but that doesn’t mean they’re not as powerful below the surface. It just takes time. So you gotta give yourself time, babe.
Your heart has been becoming softer and softer, sometimes in spite of any resistance you have, and this will serve you well. You might find yourself feeling more weepy than usual, or wanting to stay home where you feel safe, or your pain may become more pronounced. These are all signs that you are shedding some of those thick outer layers, and a more vulnerable version of you is being birthed. And just like a baby, you need to be tender with yourself.
If you don’t feel like doing things that require more than you feel capable of, negotiate staying home if you can. Delegate commitments, aka ask for help, and be open to receive it. Also, resist the urge to take on any additional projects for now, even if you think you can handle it.
You’re gonna be busy enough taking care of needs you weren’t aware of until recently, and that’s totally ok! There’s no need to feel shame or berate yourself for not knowing these things before, it wasn’t time yet. All you gotta do is remember how lucky you are to be taken care of by such a compassionate, attentive person, and that’s you.
March Affirmation: I trust that my needs will be taken care of.
PISCES: Intermission
Strength + Intermission =
This month is less about fighting against yourself, and more about surrender. Your card is Intermission, or as Tess (City Witch) names it, The Hanged One. There is a purpose to your world being turned upside down, and your job is to figure out why so you can move on.
Accepting your circumstances gives you the best chance, cuz the more you fight and struggle where you’re at, the tighter you will feel those binds. Now is not the time to force anything to happen, you will only churn on the inside with frustration. Instead, relax and observe. What feelings come up for you when you are not trying to fight your circumstances? Are any of them familiar? Do they conjure up memories you haven’t visited in a while? Perhaps they’re thoughts that won’t leave you alone, thus the need to keep moving?
All I can really tell you right now is that something deep inside is trying to surface. The magician on the face of this card has swallowed the skeleton that will help free them, but first they must wait for the key to make its way out. This is you, water babe. You are the magician who swallowed an ancestral key, and the only way to access it was for the Femmeiverse to plop you upside down and make you wait.
While you might’ve forgotten that this whole ordeal is actually part of your plan, the Femmeiverse has not.
March Affirmation: I am open to considering new perspectives, even if they turn my world upside down.
