oracle reading

My New Etsy Shop: Animal Oracle Art! Plus September Animal Wisdom Reading.

I announced my new Etsy shop and my animal oracle art on Sunday morning to newsletter subscribers and must say I’m so honored to have sold over half of my original artwork in a few hours!

As a reader of my blog, I’m now sharing with you what remains for my original artwork inventory. I do plan on offering prints also, so if you see something you like, but missed out on the original I’ll be offering print versions soon.

To check out my original artwork on my website click the graphic above or click here. On my website page it will take you to my Etsy shop if you are interested in purchasing an original or prints coming soon.

As you know if you’ve been with me a while, I love, appreciate, and deeply respect animals and all the wisdom they offer to help us expand and grow. I have a feeling you do too!

I also enjoy the wisdom of oracles which can be almost anything in the world, really, but my favorite oracle by far is the Animal Kingdom and all the unique creatures within it—each with a teaching that never fails to help us along at different junctures of our life path.

So I’ve combined my love of animals, oracles, writing, and collage and also incorporated paint, gel pens, pastel chalks, paper, and dried flowers that surround Joyful Pause Cottage (and some found on my daily walks) and created what I’m calling: Animal Oracle Art.

Because animals are an opening to our hearts…

Some of these creations have been inspired by past encounters and/or connections with certain animals, and some more recent, while some I just felt called to create as a way to learn more about a particular animal.

Diving into a new medium has definitely been another opportunity for me to address and acknowledge my inner critic/inner child. Oh, the vulnerability!

But the animals were once again my guides to appreciating my shadow, calming my fears, and forging ahead despite this — and riding the tails (paws, wings & hooves) of teachings from the animals and the desire to continue to follow my heart.

What’s special about the original creations is that included when you purchase one is it comes with a written personalized inspirational oracle message. This means I will pull one oracle card from a deck of the many I have in my collection that I feel drawn to just for you, plus incorporate intuited wisdom of that animal into the message. 

While the past twenty years of my life have been so much about connecting deeper with the animals and their wisdom, these past eighteen months I’ve found myself gravitating even more to their teachings. They have, and continue to bring me a great deal of comfort, understanding, and assurance that all that is happening in our world is for a higher purpose.

Connecting with that wisdom now through art and combining my love of writing and oracles, I hope you will enjoy this new offering I now share with you through my Etsy shop I’ve named:

Joyful Pause Cottage (inspired by PAWS that taught me to value slowing down, tuning into what matters, and following my heart…)

P.S. The other exciting project I’ve been working on is making my own animal oracle deck! I don’t have a title for it yet but have created 35 cards so far.  It’s been so much fun! While I’ve much yet to create and write,  I’ll soon be sharing some sneak peeks here and on Facebook and Instagram.

And now for September’s Animal Wisdom Oracle reading…

Just click here or on the graphic to watch…

XO

Barb

                  

NEW! Etsy Shop Coming Soon!

Expanding my love of animals and oracles over the past eighteen months inside Joyful Pause Cottage I’ve been happy as a bear dipping her paw into a jar of honey!

So what does this expansion entail you ask? Well, I’m so glad you asked!

In one simple word: ART!

Another hint: I’ve combined my love of writing and collage and incorporated paint, gel pens, pastel chalks, paper, and dried flowers that surround Joyful Pause Cottage (and some found on my daily walks) and created what I’m calling:

ANIMAL ORACLE ART

I’ll be releasing my Animal Oracle Art and more of what it’s all about to email subscribers of “Letters From My Heart” first and then here on my blog and social media…(if you wish to be the first to know you can subscribe here: tinyurl.com/zf3x8tp9

I hope you will stay tuned! I’m so excited to share this with you!

XO

Barb

                  

New Moon in Leo. What Do We Individually and Collectively Most Need to Know Right Now?

I just received a new deck in the mail yesterday called Inner Light Moon Oracle by Elizabeth Lee. Elizabeth and I are in a class together and the card above is the one she just shared in our recent class. It’s also one of the cards I personally pulled when I did a New Moon reading for myself this morning.

Then it showed up yet again when I pulled a card to share with all of you today. It is definitely calling us to pay attention.

Elizabeth’s cards combine the Chinese 5 Element Theory, the 12 animals of the Chinese Zodiac, and Asian Archetypes and Symbols. This is unlike any deck I have in my collection, so I’m looking forward to the wisdom I’ll glean from it.

Ojizosama is a Japanese diety we can all call upon during trying times. We are definitely in that right now more than ever. Elizabeth’s guidebook shares that “He is a protector of children and travelers, babies hide in his robes as he shuttles them to paradise. Offerings are made to Jizo for safe childbirth and to aid in souls in their passing.”

There is so much to be said in regards to what Jizo is about. I encourage you to simmer and reflect on your own meaning.

For me, it speaks powerfully to how we are each being called to protect the children that are here now and the ones coming into this world. But it also speaks to me as protecting our inner child.

In a world that is in turmoil, now more than ever, I believe we are being called to heal those traumas we’ve carried for far too long. How important it is to look at those traumas, understand their patterns, and then heal them in order to move forward into a space of less fear in order to experience more joy despite the outside world chaos.

Ojizosama is reminding us that we are our own protectors. We are the ones that must take that inner child by the hand, the one that was wounded, assure him/her that we are here to deeply listen and acknowledge the pain of the past, assure him/her that this need not define us and that together we can experience happiness by our choosing. 

I chose the rose quartz and black tourmaline stone, plus a dried Queen Anne’s Lace flower to accompany this message and for extra support.

Rose quartz to be gentle and compassionate with yourself as you heal what needs healing and to also deeply lean into and listen with the utmost of tenderness what your heart is sharing with you.

Black tourmaline is a stone of protection from the negative energies of the world. I wear a bracelet that is all black tourmaline when I go out in public. Being a sensitive person and an empath helps protect me from the energies that are quite potent right now. But I do wish to share also that while crystals are a great tool, it’s even more important to continue to do our own inner work of healing and also set intentions for what we wish to see in the world, and then be that as much as we can.

Lastly, I’ve been foraging for Queen Anne’s Lace the last few weeks and drying them for future art projects. I learned that it is a symbol of purity of intentions. It’s also about safety and refuge. Also when the head of the flower curls under it often looks like a bird’s nest – this is a great reminder of what it takes for each of us to build a happy home – physically and within ourselves.

I believe this is really a time of healing shame that we’ve all faced in one form or another – and often stems from something in our childhood. We can rise above that! Ojizonsama and his wisdom are what we can lean into when we are scared and remember that we are protected and that we can do the protecting of what is right for ourselves and our hearts. We can do this.

Keep shining your light!

XO,

Barb