NEW SERIES: Whimsical Wednesday #01

Or, some cool, magical, and mundane things that caught my eye or other senses this week

NEW SERIES ALERT!

I’m trying something new, tarot friends. I’m calling it Whimsical Wednesday, and it’s a bi-weekly collection of some cool, magical, and mundane things (some tarot-related, some not) that have caught my eye or other senses and have helped me add pockets of whimsy to my life.

In The Enchanted Life: Unlocking the Magic of the Everyday, author Sharon Blackie observes that “[w]e have fallen out of love with the world.” The journey of rediscovering the sacred meaning of life and reconnecting with our inner selves as well as the natural world from which so many of us have become estranged goes much deeper, of course. But it also involves slowing down and intentionally filling our lives with mundane magic and everyday enchantment. Whimsical Wednesday is an ode to that!

Just consider me a friendly neighborhood crow offering you a collection of the shiny and magical things I’ve gathered throughout the week.

Let me know if you also love any of these whimsical picks and what would make it onto your list this week.

Kira Cyan’s vintage-inspired fairycore illustrations quickly made her Instagram account one of my favorites when I stumbled upon it years ago. So when she announced that she had created the vibrant and ethereal Flower Child Tarot, I jumped on it faster than you could say “pre-order.”

In fact, your February tarotscopes featured the Flower Child Tarot if you want to take a closer look at some of these beautifully whimsical tarot illustrations.

The vivacious Florence Given is more effective than my morning alarm clock when it comes to getting my ass out of bed in the morning. Her latest book, Women Living Deliciously, is a gentle yet liberating manifesto for all women.

Here’s a snippet:

Beauty standards were invented to drain us. You know those energy-efficiency ratings you can get for your home? If there was an energy-efficiency rating that could describe you as a person, what would it say? How much energy is being siphoned out of you, lost to rumination, doing things you don’t want to out of a need to please, or focusing on your appearance? Imagine where that energy could go if you patched the holes up and directed all of that energy back into what brings you joy instead…

I accidentally started a Super Bowl Sunday tradition a few years ago when I realized I always end up doing something deliciously un-Super-Bowl-esque each year. This lovely coincidence is partly due to the fact that I never know when the Super Bowl is and it sneaks up on me each year. Last year, I found myself at an art museum. This year, I happened to have tickets to see Funny Face, quite possibly my favorite Audrey Hepburn movie, at my favorite indie theater.

Audrey plays an oh-so-serious intellectual bookshop girl scouted by a fashion magazine in search of an unconventional fresh face for a Paris photo shoot. It’s silly and fun and I can’t get enough of it.

I checked out this recently released poetry anthology based on either an NPR or New Yorker recommendation - I can’t remember which.

The first poem I randomly turned to was “An Inn for the Coven” by Gabrielle Calvocoressi and the second was the tarot-coded “Tower” by Khadijah Queen. Meant to be? I think so!

I’ve never been a skincare girly. But once I hit my mid-thirties, I knew I had to start paying more attention to my skin’s needs and wants. One of my all-time favorite moments now is when I get out of the shower with a freshly cleansed face, apply my toner and Vitamin C serum, and then, once everything’s set, pump a small amount of my daily SPF moisturizer into my hand and add just two drops of the magical and deliciously aromatic Rose Oil Blend Nourishing Face Oil by Pixi to it before smoothing it all over my face.

The oil/moisturizer combo leaves my face feeling and smelling so good I could eat it! I feel like Aphrodite.

The Girl Scouts are out in full force in Los Angeles and I am here for it. I will buy a box any time I see them set up to support them (and my habit, let’s be real.) We are a staunch Samoa and Tagalong household. What about you?

The gradual end of winter usually finds me down in the dumps since I love the cold and mourn its melting away each year. But I must say that the sun peeking out more brightly than usual through the clouds this past week as stores like World Market and Micheals begin to stock the cutest spring stuff actually has me looking forward to the new season.

Plus, what they call Easter and spring home goods, I call Spring Equinox altar decor. I’m getting really inspired to create some beautiful rituals this year. Let me know what you like to do for the Equinox!

I am proud to report that the month of February marks the most frequent and regular yoga I’ve ever done in my life! I’ve attended yoga classes 2-3 times a week at my favorite woman-owned studio all month! Which is huge for me. I even looked forward to going to class yesterday, which has definitely never happened before!

I’ve mostly been doing slow flow or yin classes but I tried one more intense flow class and didn’t die although I did get quite warm and sweaty - something that usually gives me anxiety. But I’m looking forward to trying it again soon so it gets easier!

Let me know if you also love any of the items that made it onto this week’s Whimsical Wednesday list. What would appear on your list of magical and whimsical finds and moments from your week? Feel free to give us your recommendations and favorites in the comments!

May you find some enchantment in each day and some whimsy in each week, tarot bestie.

Always,

Annie