Weekly Forecast Monday May 18th, 2020

Monday 5/18 – Horse  – So often we think of strength and sensitivity as being at odds with one another, but horse medicine shows us that nothing could be further from the truth. After all, sensitivity is essentially the practice of opening our awareness and dropping into a receptive state, in which we are more able to channel the energy and inspiration we need in order to create whatever it is that we wish to in the world. This is how dreams become realities, by bridging matters of the spirit with the material world. This is the balance that is called for today. To allow our intuition to strengthen our ability to empower ourselves and others. 

Tuesday 5/19 – Whale - Whale medicine is also about deep knowings, the inner call that tugs at you and won’t let go, the mission that your soul set out on before you ever even arrived here in human form. But Whale also reminds of the importance of using our voice to connect with others who are here on a similar mission. You can’t find the people who are meant to support you on your journey and who you are meant to support as well if you’re hiding out, playing small, or trying to mold yourself to meet someone else’s preferences. Share yourself. Speak out about what matters to you. Let the ones who are meant to stand beside you know where you are. Together you can create magic. 

Wednesday 5/20 – Dolphin Reversed – Joy is our birthright, but it can be challenging to connect with that energetic state when we are constricted and weighed down by resistance, fear, and overwhelm. Take some time today to bring your body, mind, and spirit back into alignment. Spend time tuning into your breath and cultivating the ability to center your own energy. Soften your body. Relax your mind. Deepen your inhales and exhales. Come back to this practice as many times as you need to today, even if only for a few moments at a time. You might be amazed at how quickly much more easily you’re able to access a flow of uplifting energy once you’ve released all of that tension and heaviness. 

Thursday 5/21 – Lynx  – You’re subtle senses may be extra heightened today and you may find yourself stumbling across some information that wasn’t intended for you. Ultimately it’s up to you to decide what to do with what you’ve learned but Lynx encourages each of us to practice discernment about what insights we choose to share and to make sure that we’re neither participating in a gossip mill nor confronting people who simply aren’t ready to hear what we have to share. It may be worth considering that the information might have fallen into your lap through divine orchestration in order to help you gain clarity or insight for yourself.

Friday 5/22 – Raccoon – We all have something to give. Extra resources. A helping hand. Even a smile can make a world of difference to the person who needed a little warmth in their day. Look around you. Who in your community needs support today? It’s not about fixing all of their problems or taking away all their pain, but rather simply putting a little wind in their sails to help make the journey just a little bit easier. Offer from any area of your life where you have overflow and know that any kindness you send out into the world will only circle back to you in one form or another. 

Saturday 5/23 – Elk – Elk has been showing up a lot in recent weeks and it makes sense given the collective experience of the Corona virus pandemic and the tediousness of trying to figure out how long our lives are going to be altered for. While no one can say for sure when we’ll be able to live free from concern about the impacts of the virus, whether that be physical, mental/emotional, social, or economically, it seems that our best bet at this point is to prepare for a marathon rather than a sprint. Figure out what adaptations you need to make in order for your new normal to be manageable for an extended period of time and then adjust accordingly. Of course, this can also be applied to any other major challenges you’re facing in your life currently. Either way, shifting into a mindset of embracing and working with/through rather than against your current experiences is going to go a long way towards helping you make it through what’s ahead without feeling completely drained on the other side. 

Sunday 5/24 – Eagle – The weekend closes out with a simple message from Eagle: Come back to your connection with Spirit. What that means to you will be personal. Perhaps that means spending time with your spiritual community. Maybe it means dropping into prayer or sacred rituals. It could be as simple as tuning into your own breath and heartbeat or taking some time out in nature. The idea is to tune into what you value most and to replenish your own soul through intentional action so you can end this week with presence and start the new one feeling nourished and ready to serve.

If you’d like to book a private card reading for more in-depth and personalized messages around what the days and weeks ahead hold for you or to gain clarity around specific issues or areas of your life, check out my Intuitive Card Readings page for more information on my card reading offerings, rates, and how to book!

And be sure to Subscribe to the HelloAshleyBerry YouTube Channel to get notified when weekly forecast videos are posted!

Weekly Forecast Monday May 11th, 2020

Monday 5/11 – Raven Reversed  – Keep your eyes and maybe more importantly your heart open to magic today. Pay special attention to synchronicities and ways in which either Spirit or your higher self are trying to speak to you. You guides can send you signs and support all day every day, but whether or not you receive and take them to heart is up to you. 

Tuesday 5/12 – Raccoon Reversed - None of us accomplish anything great completely on our own. There is always a community of cheerleaders and supporters, however small, behind every success. Today, look around you and see who could use a helping hand. Is there someone you know that might benefit from a little encouragement or generosity? If so, share what you can, just make sure that the help you give serves to empower the recipient rather than reinforce any stories about victimhood. If you’re the one in need of support, don’t be afraid to reach out to the people in your life. We walk each other home by taking turns being on each side of the equation; so, figure out where you’re at today and trust that whether your giving or receiving, the energy will come back full circle in the right time. 

Wednesday 5/13 – Owl Reversed – Trust your gut. Always. But especially today. If something feels off, it is. That doesn't have to mean that something nefarious is going on, but know that those pings telling you that this particular situation isn’t for you aren’t steering you wrong. There’s more to the situation at hand than you’re currently seeing so either put any forward movement on pause or at least dig in and ask all of the questions that you need to get clarity and peace of mind. If things are still not feeling quite right, consider exiting gracefully. No need to explain yourself. You always have the right to let someone know that something “doesn’t feel like a right fit at this time” and leave it at that.

Thursday 5/14 – Mountain Lion Reversed  – Today, Mountain Lion asks us to sit with our relationship to leadership. We all have a gift to share with the world and leadership is having the ability to step boldly into your power so that you may live out that purpose. If this is something that comes as a challenge for you, ask yourself why. Are you projecting something from your past onto an imagined future? What magic would you create in the world if you weren’t afraid of or in judgement around shining brightly? If you consider yourself to be a leader, you might take some time asking yourself about your leadership style and how you can operate more from a place of service and less from a place of ego. Don’t be afraid to face your own weaknesses. All truly great leaders not only own up to their shortcomings, but find ways to use them for growth, both their own and that of others.

Friday 5/15 – Blue Heron Reversed – Last week kicked off with a message about getting out of our heads and into our bodies and it seems that that’s the call once again. Self-reflection is a wonderful thing, but it’s important that we balance it with moments of embodied presence. Movement can bring us back. Intentional connection with others can be a route. And good, old-fashioned silliness is a surefire way to turn the volume down on the mind chatter and up on what matters most in this moment. Find what works for you and, even if it’s only for a few moments, allow yourself to just be.

Saturday 5/16 – Spider Reversed – When we block our creative and expressive energies, they need to find some sort of outlet and one of the most common ways they end up showing up is in frustration or jealousy. If you find that either of those experiences are cropping up today, take that as a sign that you need to let move some energy up and out. Sing. Paint. Dance. Write. Scream into a pillow if you need to. Just whatever you do, don't leave that stuff bottled up. 

Sunday 5/17 – Grouse Reversed – Being in a body can be a mixed bag sometimes. Intense experiences of pleasure sit in contrast to equally intense experiences of pain. Because the latter can be so much more jarring, sometimes we focus on that end of the spectrum, but today we are being asked to find ways of connecting with the joys of this physical experience. What senses do you derive the most joy from? Sight? Smell? Sound? Touch? Taste? Mindfully tune into the gifts that you receive from those experiences and let yourself revel in gratitude for the opportunity to live in your unique body. It won’t make the pains of this life disappear, but it will certainly make them so much easier to navigate.

If you’d like to book a private card reading for more in-depth and personalized messages around what the days and weeks ahead hold for you or to gain clarity around specific issues or areas of your life, check out my Intuitive Card Readings page for more information on my card reading offerings, rates, and how to book!

And be sure to Subscribe to the HelloAshleyBerry YouTube Channel to get notified when weekly forecast videos are posted!

For the Love of Tea and Healing through Ritual

During the summer between my freshman and sophomore years in high school, my mother, stepfather, younger sister, and I spent some time in Barbados. My father had just committed suicide and we were all processing that in our own ways. Like my relationship with my father had been, my emotions around his death were complicated. I needed space from my family to move through the layers that were coming up for me on my own terms, so I spent a good amount of the trip by myself, hopping on buses into town to explore and roaming the vast and lush grounds of the property we were staying on.

One of the remnants of the colonial history of Barbados is that many of the hotels and resorts offer high tea every afternoon, and during my stay, I found myself spending many of my afternoons sitting by myself on an outdoor patio, drinking tea and taking in the natural beauty that surrounded me. I didn’t realize it at the time, but this was my entry point into the world of ritual and the healing that can come from practices that encourage stillness, presence, and simplicity.

When I returned to LA with my family, I continued to make tea for myself almost daily. I would boil the water, drop a tea bag or two into a teapot, and watch the steam pour out of it as I filled it with water. I would wait a handful of minutes and then pour my fresh brew into a mug with a little raw sugar and cream, just as I had enjoyed it during my time in Barbados.

My family thought it was kind of silly, but for me, it was a way to create sacred time for myself. The whole process was meditative; it dropped me into my body and my sensory experience and allowed space and quiet so the more subtle aspects of my inner world could come forward. I savored those moments. They were healing in ways that I didn’t even understand at the time. But I could feel it. Even if I wasn’t consciously engaging in a practice of self-care, I was doing something that was nourishing for me on so many levels. And so, I continued.

Over the years my tastes have shifted. Black teas to greens to florals and herbal infusions, but the practice is the same. Heat the water. Steep the tea. Drop in to the experience.

These days, it’s become a very intentional practice. I choose the ingredients that I’ll be using with care and often choose a plant or a blend of plants based on what I’m needing support around. Rose for opening the heart. Thyme for immune support. Ginger root to cleanse. I’ll set aside time to really be present with the ingredients, both as I prepare them and as I sip the infusion, and I’ve come to notice that each ingredient seems to have an energy of its own, a medicine, not just for the physical body, but for the mind and spirit as well.

The element of water is present, too. The source of all life and the universal renewer. Few things are quite as soothing as perfectly warm water, the simplest of all healing balms for weary bodies and souls.

Each of these pieces comes together to create something greater than the sum of its parts. Plants, water, time, all infused with intention. None of it has to be fussy or complicated. Honestly, it could be as simple as a little bit of fresh lemon juice in warm water, but used as a way to hold space for yourself, to connect more deeply with the parts of you that so rarely get heard above the din of everyday life, it becomes a ritual. A practice in healing. A way to make even the tiniest moment sacred.

And while tea is my healing ritual, the truth is that it could be anything. Watering your plants. Dancing in your living room. Taking a bath. Massaging oil into your skin. Preparing a meal for yourself with so much love.

So many people seem to be seeking heightened spiritual experiences these days. A connection to something greater, something ancient, perhaps. And while there’s nothing wrong with exploring different practices to find what supports you most, I think what so many people don’t realize is that profound connection to Spirit doesn’t require elaborate ceremonies or a bunch of fanfare. It can be found in the seemingly mundane, everyday rituals that we create for ourselves. In moments of quiet, enjoying the simplest pleasures, like watching the steam rise and swirl above a freshly poured cup of tea.