Swati Prakash

Top Tarot Healing and Wiccan Expert

Category: Astro and Tarot

Knowledge and insights on astrological and tarot or divinatory skills, sample readings, and forecasts, such as annual, monthly, weekly, or daily messages and time period shifts.

  • Going Retro…into 2016

    Going Retro…into 2016

    Time, the great illusion is (like everything else) here to teach us many things. The past is not gone until we learn our lessons from it. Problems that repeat again and again in our life are telling us to review our past and grasp the lesson so as to heal that part of us for good.

    Once the lessons from the past are learnt the problems stop recurring.

    Retrograde planetary period symbolise energy going back into the past in the form of the retrograding planet that appears to move backwards as observed from earth. While Sun and Moon never go retrograde (they represent known and unknown self) Rahu and Ketu are always retrograde (they represent Karmic issues carried from past into the present until liberation). The rest of the planets seem to go retrograde from time to time, with Mercury being the most frequent (mercury represents thoughts of mind, travel and communication). This year 2016, there are significant retrogrades besides Mercury, especially Jupiter (represents spiritual wisdom and luck), Saturn (represents boundaries and rules) and Mars (represents initiatives, agression and actions).

    retrogrades

    As you can see in the above illustration, the zodiac signs where the planets are situated or transiting through are as per the Vedic astrology. You may find that western zodiac messages are predominant all over the internet even though their calculations are considered inaccurate and outdated. The sidereal or Vedic signs are preferred by those who wish to be more in sync with the actual astronomical placement of planets. So while the western asrologers will say Mercury is retrograde in Aquarius right now, the Vedic astrologer says its in Capricorn. Its suggested you stick to the Vedic placements and transits and do not get confused with all the other conflicting data from all over the world.

    What does the retrograde mean specifically to you: You have to see what your vedic astrology birth chart looks like first. See which house the zodiac in question represents and also check the various aspects made by the planet to see which other houses are affected. It is best to order a specific reading consultation for clear and accurate analysis than merely follow whatever you are reading in the media as generic predictions, especially for the western signs.

    Retrograde of Mercury usually manifests as delays in travel, redoing of plans, reassessment, communication setbacks, past worries returning to be healed again.

    Retrograde of Jupiter could bring in karmic lessons to enhance our wisdom, or perhaps past karma whether negative or postive will return all together as a twist of fate in your life. Past life messages and gurus from the previous births might reappear.

    Retrograde of Saturn represents past justice or injustice issues returning in the present and a need to gain inner self-discipline, release from any harmful habits and attachments. Obstacles of the past if still lingering in your subconscious can be no longer ignored as they scream for attention.

    Retrograde of Mars can bring back the blast from the past, to help you deal with any anger, aggression or strong passionate energies from the past or from past lives as they re-emerge into consciousness.

    Reflect on the meaning of the planet, what it indicates as it transits with respect to YOUR UNIQUE BIRTHCHART AS A WHOLE and not just for your sunsign or rashi. Check how this planet is connected to various aspects and areas of your life through its transits, placements and aspects for each house of your chart.

    Remedies focus on letting go, forgiving, releasing the baggage from the past in order to reduce any negativity experienced during retrograde periods. Past life therapy, past life healing rituals and positive affirmations designed to let go and release unwanted energies are best.

    Remember through the power of NOW you can heal everything and be successful, healthy and happy in every way regardless of any planetary movements. Be firmly established in your inner truth through meditation.

    Blessed Be

    (*)

    To order your detailed astrological analysis and healing suggestions place your order on www.swatiprakash.com

     

     

  • Are We Playing The Game of Life?

    Are We Playing The Game of Life?

    LegacyWorld(The World Card – Legacy of Divine Tarot by Ciro Marchetti)

    Today I landed on a small ‘super-mario’ style video my son was watching for a minute and I observed how similar our life in this World is to this kind of play.

    In many of these gaming videos we get to begin our journey with a lower level challenge. We enjoy overcoming the hurdles, and the whole idea is to stay alive while gathering all those points or powers that we can. In case we die we are reborn so that we can once again attempt to cross the level we left incomplete when we died. The levels go on and on to endless complexities until we have had enough of play and no longer seek any more.

    Now picture your your life as one such game where you assume a character and start on a journey that goes on life after life merely to help you learn how to encounter various challenges, enjoy overcoming the hurdles and collect all your karma (points) when you do really well.

    In our game of life our good deeds are our karma points while our self-destructive behaviors lead to our struggles and rebirths life after life. We are born and reborn into higher levels and planes of operation depending on how much we learn.

    But consider these questions

    • Who is the programmer of your game of life – an outer force or the self?
    • Who assigns all these character and roles you encounter, including your own?
    • Who has created the rules of the game?
    • Are other characters and objects (whether friends or enemies) all ultimately here to support your game of life?
    • What all have you learnt and are willing to learn?
    • What degree of power do you have in the game of your life?
    • To what extent are your own focus and will power being used in your game of life to improve your play?
    • How deeply engrossed are you in the game of your life to even forget it is a game?
    • Do you feel disheartened or start all over giving yourself a new chance each time you are down?
    • If you feel like giving up out of sheer frustration, will the game end forever or will it go on until you learn life after life?
    • Are you having fun, or are you suffering in this game?
    • Most importantly – with this awareness – that it is ultimately nothing more than a game, how do you feel?
    • What would you do after you learn that it is all a self-simulated game – would you keep playing on and on into the endless levels and if yes, until when?
    • What is the whole reason or purpose of your play (not just the objective set in the game, but the reason you ever began playing in the first place?)

    I wish you all the joy, peace and liberation through your self-realization.

    Blessed Be

    Swati Prakash

    www.swatiprakash.com

  • The Man With the Beard

    In India it is almost impossible to not come across a man with a long beard, giving wisdom eloquently to thousands of enchanted people. Swamis, Sadhus, Babas, Sri Sri’s, Oshos, Sadgurus,…there is no dearth of men with long beards and saintly robes preaching, teaching and guiding others spiritually. Yes, there are a few who are not usually bearded – Yogananda, Ramakrishna, even Buddha probably considered shaving to be of at least some importance in addition to meditation.

    In the West there were and still are (a few) wise men or wizards, druids, shamans (from before the Pope and his team took over) symbolized by Merlin, Gandalf the Gray, or even the Hermit card of Tarot. All pointing to the higher self, respected, revered, held in awe and fascination, so much so that we call clever computer programs wizards that help us get things done so easily. Truly it has always been a compliment to be a wiz, hasn’t it?

    The Hermit of Rider Waite Smith Tarot cardsThe Hermit of Rider Waite Smith Tarot cards

    But where are the women? Not just the few scanty Matas and Ammas (and just why does a woman need to be a motherly figure to get some respect here) but all those numerous women who are wise and enlightened…why just a few in the limelight amidst so many men with beards? Why are they hiding under the veil of mystery just like the High Priestess – sworn to secrecy to practice in mystery covens or solitary, but not proud and open on every street and corner.

    The High Priestess - Rider Waite Smith Tarot cards
    The High Priestess – Rider Waite Smith Tarot cards

    Perhaps they all off on their broomsticks to Discworld (of Terry Pratchett) where it is completely normal to be a witch (a wise woman). Are they all still burning at stake, trapped in the cage of the past memories left by Christian inquisitors who made the word witch such an abomination that till date people are afraid to say – Yes, I am A Witch! Confused about whether witchcraft is purely evil or somewhat evil? Worried about whether half the witches are bad ones and not sure which half? Worried that they will put up a curse on you should you refuse to keep them happy? How many people have been brainwashed by Roald Dahl’s The Witches, Hansel and Gretel and other such innocent looking fairy tales passed on over generations to impress upon young minds that a witch can be really a dreadful thing to come by.

    Articles of witchcraft have been totally muddled up with all kinds of nonsense even till date – no matter how much we tell these journalists to pay attention to real facts and not fiction. References to movies and television shows such as The Craft, Bewitched, Charmed… that make a mockery of witchcraft, images of brooms and cauldrons of green slime, focus on hexing and love spells, newspaper headlines that begin with the word Devil, features that focus on myths and burning times as if the Christian views of witches are the most important thing about witchcraft, stories that almost always present counter-views by some ill informed rationalist or ‘expert’ who has no idea what witchcraft truly is with focus on how women are hunted and killed on accusations of ‘witchcraft’ when the fact is that it is merely a wrong or inappropriate use of the word witchcraft which as NOTHING to do with those ‘accusations of cursing’, and right on top Halloween cartoons designed to mock at witches used to embellish the story and make it more colourful (Phew! but I am not going to shorten this sentence)….truly journalists can do much better than all this.

    Yes, I would love to see more real witches and real witchcraft featured in the media – stories that say the truth, not some conditioned misconceptions but the real truth – that witches are nothing but the wise people who practice folk medicine, give intuitive or spiritual advise and were generally respected long before the meaning of the word witch was distorted to wicked from wit or wisdom which is and will always be what witches are all about. Why else are there so many places and plants, as well as people with the words such as wych, wich or witch in their names all over the western world, if not for the fact that these words were never meant to refer to evil but only to folk or pagan magic which has been practiced all over the world as a natural way of life – you may introspect and find the answer for yourself.

    So the next time you hear someone say ‘wise wizard’ and ‘wicked witches’, do give them the facts without any hesitation.

    My book Yes, You Are a Witch! has more information. You can get it on kindle or as a paperback – just search on amazon.

    yes you are a witch cover - frontglobal wicca revolution cover front

    And….for the sake of the Goddess, do not forget, witchcraft (not necessarily religious but a spiritual practice) is not exactly the same as Wicca (a specific religion or spirituality). More about Wicca in The Global Wicca Revolution 

    Happy witching!

    (*)

    Swati Prakash

    www.swatiprakash.com

    meaningofwitch

    Get more information and useful quotes, free pdfs, courses and newsletter on www.globalwicca.com

  • Reach your Inner Core

    Reach your Inner Core

    Earthquakes are felt on the surface, there is peace at the core.

    In the circle of life, we experience ups and downs, highs and lows, trials and tribulations – only if we are superficial.

    Going within in the first step to experiencing peace. At first it is challenging, there are many distractions in the outer world of superficiality. Only the one who meditates goes within. That is how it all begins – the journey of magick – to find your power of spiritual consciousness. You see the suffering all around. You feel for the world, not just yourself. You seek healing and love. You have made an intention. You are ready for transformation.

    At a deeper level we are not only aware of the superficiality, there is also a temptation to return to the outer world and engage in the same cycles of unconscious karma. Only the one who persists goes truly within. You hear the voices of chatter – the hollow sounds of laughter and cries of ignorance. You see the sights that excite and depress. You are tempted to engross in them – to be a victim once again – to blame, curse, suffer. You meet your inner devil luring you away from yourself. You choose to love yourself. That is how it continues, the path of magick -through dedication. You stay on the path – the straight path that goes within. Through sattva or the middle pillar of the tree of life you travel within. Through your chakras from earth to crown you journey on. Towards your center..you focus…focus and focus …shedding all the layers one by one…from one initiation to the other…going on deeper and deeper within. Letting go of your personalities and facades…leaving behind all your shadows to meet your inner light of truth.

    At the innermost and deepest level, we are aware of the outer superficiality, but established in our innermost core. Unfazed by the highs and lows of the outer world, we have found a perfect grounding in our spirit, the inner self. We are at the apex of our being …which is the axle of the wheel. We turn the wheel through inner magick…no longer trapped in the automatic and semi-automatic, unconscious and subconscious cycles of destiny or fate. We have arrived, only to return again – but when we return we are not the same – something has changed forever. The gold that can no longer be corrupted. This is alchemy.

    The lotus blooms in the muddy waters, untouched and unpolluted, only to spread love and light.

    As we change the world changes too.

    You create and dream…the world is shaped around your consciousness. As you row your boat gently down the stream

    …the wheel turns, merrily this time….

    Blessed Be!

    (*)

    http://www.swatiprakash.com

    RWS_Tarot_10_Wheel_of_Fortune

    Illustration: The wheel of fortune – Rider Waite Smith tarot

  • You Are NOT a Zodiac

    You Are NOT a Zodiac

    Perhaps you were born at hhmmss time on ddmmyyyy date at xyz location. Does this mean you are an Arian, Cancerian, Capricornian…etc etc for life?
    Just how important is your sunsign or moon rashi?
    How about your ascendent or rising sign?
    And yes, your jupiter, venus, saturn, mars, pluto, rahu, ketu, neptune, uranus, mercury….what about those zodiacs. Are the signs these other planets occupy somewhat less important in determining your personality than your sun, moon and ascendent? Probably not. People are complex after all, are they not?

    So what is your zodiac? Is your personality a Taurus because its your western sunsign, or a Scorpio because its your vedic moon rashi….or should you refer to the horoscope of Gemini as its your vedic ascendent….are you all of these….or are you somewhat an Aquarius too because most of the other planets seem to be in Aquarius in your vedic chart….or should you consider your western chart too just to be on the safer side….and discover you are also a Cancer rising to an extent…..oh dear…what is actually your zodiac?

    The answer is none. Yes, none of these zodiacs are you. No one zodiac can ever truly be you.

    Try this, try believing you are a zodiac other than your birth sign of sun, moon, ascendent, etc….try. Really…really…really… believe it. Then read the horoscope of that zodiac regularly. Chances are….as time goes by you will program yourself to become that zodiac..and perhaps….someday……you will agree with those predictions too. Trust me.

    You are what you think you are.
    You are what you believe.
    You become what you want.
    You are unlimited.
    You are every zodiac, and at the same time…
    You are NOT a zodiac
    At least not NOW in the PRESENT moment

    Your birthchart or horoscope shows the karma you inherited from your past lives till your birth. The most important thing I teach my astrology students is simply this:
    Your horoscope or birthchart has just one use…to show you your limitations …those you imposed on yourself so far through all your lifetimes… and the ways (spells and inner work or unprogramming) needed to get rid of all limitations.

    Yes you were born with sun in a zodiac, moon in b, ascendent c, jupiter in d…and so on and so forth. You were born at hhmmss time and ddmmyyyy date at xyz location.
    And then something wonderful happened somewhere down the line after you were born.
    You grew up (i certainly hope you did)
    You acquired free will (at least some of you)
    You learnt how to use your mind (more or less)
    And whether or not you noticed it, your mind created your life all this while. And your mind, whether or not it be limited by your past, your horoscope, your birth sign, your preconcieved notions about who you are…will create whatever you believe to be you and your life.
    If you believe you are poor, you will continue to be. If you believe you are clever you will be. If you believe you are emotional you will be. Your personality and life experiences are all about those deeply ingrained beliefs you hold on to so preciously.

    No matter how deep the conditioning, no matter how strong the cords of karma, you can stop being a puppet of your past. Your beliefs limited you so far. All of them. Whether good or bad, no matter how attached you are to them, they are your beliefs and not the real you. Just merely, although importantly, they are beliefs.

    And if you ever wanted to toss them all out of the window…and it maybe a good idea to try doing that for once (by learning the right way of tossing them out)…..you just might be able to experience who you truly are meant to be :
    Free.

    Learn how to really read your horoscope, if only to figure out how to attain freedom from the same.
    Be not a slave to fate.
    Be a witch.
    Because you really are not a zodiac.

    Blessed be
    Swati Prakash
    @witchyswati