Thursday, December 27, 2018

More visual love from India ๐Ÿ‚ and Sri Lanka!๐Ÿ

Happy holidays! Namaskar!
I hope you are feeling peaceful and rested these days. One way to avoid the stress of a mainstream American holiday season is to travel to a place where Christmas is minimally recognized...like South Asia!

India has been a blessing as always. We began with an ashram stay in Rishikesh, in the North, filling our souls with the gifts of the river Ganges in her most turquoise blue season.

Next, we headed south to Tamil Nadu, visiting the sacred mountain of Shiva, circumambulating the holy hill of Arunachala 14km at Full Moon.

Finally, we spent Christmas in Tamil Nadu at a beautiful ashram uniting nonduality, cutting-edge philosophy and unconditional love.

Now, for an interlude...
I am writing from my 4-day vacation-within-travel moment, here on a peaceful beach in Sri Lanka. Good call!

We'll soon return to Ma India, topping off our visit with New Year's in my favorite megalopolis, Mumbai, where I spent a great deal of time with my Teacher before his passing.

I'll be in touch. Wishing you all an incredible New Year! Travel well, keep it light!

Pictures attached!

P. S.  I am traveling sans laptop and thus posting occasionally on Twitter is much easier! If you'd like to follow my travels through images, please follow me on Twitter here:
@erin_reese
Check out Erin Reese (@erin_reese):
https://twitter.com/erin_reese

Sending you all so much love from Sri Lanka and Mother India! ๐Ÿ’–
Namaste and Hare Om
Erin ๐Ÿ™
Reading Tarot in Sri Lanka

Friday, December 21, 2018

Want to Learn to Read Tarot? Introducing Jill Merzon!

Hello friends and readers,

Have you wanted to learn to read Tarot? From an expert?

I'd like to take this opportunity to introduce Jill Merzon, Master Teacher of the Tarot!

 

When I myself need a clear, honest, ACCURATE reading, I always contact my soul sister Jill. I refer folks to Jill when I am on retreat. And, since I am a professional reader myself, you know that means she's EXCELLENT!

I'm writing today to personally introduce you to Jill as she is now offering one-on-one, online CLASSES in Tarot! Her classes are affordable, fun, and deep. She will tailor her style to suit your own level of experience and intuition, whether a complete beginner or a pro brushing up on your skills.

I hope you reach out to her if you're feeling called to the Tarot path!

Here is Jill's description of her courses:
Classes in Tarot with Jill Merzon



At the core, we all wish for a feeling of connection to the earth, to each other, to ourselves , and to our highest values.When we stop and listen to the voice of our higher self, it always guides us to a place of peace and true belonging.



I am now available to teach the tarot on Skype.

My course consists of 10 sessions, 1 hour per week.

The cost is $50 per class.

We will cover: 
The meanings of The Major Arcana, 22 cards
The meanings of The Minor Arcana, 56 cards
Card layouts and spreads
Clearing and grounding techniques
A greater understanding of the symbols and colors interwoven in this ancient tool!

My goal is to help my students be confident in their consultations, and trust the flow of their intuition. 



You will need:
A Rider (or Universal) Waite deck

A silk or other natural fiber scarf
Notebook and pen

About Me:


I have over 40 years of experience as a reader and teacher of the tarot. I have been on the spiritual path since 1978. I started reading the tarot on the streets of New York City. Literally, I would set up three milk crates, lay out my deck, and read pedestrians walking by. Later on, I read in supper clubs, discos, and restaurants as well as at private parties. My motto was "Have cards will travel." I have taught the tarot in New York, Germany, and The Netherlands. 
For more information, contact Jill directly:
jmerzon at hotmail.com


Jill reading for Erin in Europe, 2011

Tuesday, December 18, 2018

Notes from India ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ follow me on Twitter

Hello beloved friends and clients!
Writing from Mother India with a few images to share..one more day in the north and then heading south. I am traveling sans laptop and thus posting occasionally on Twitter is much easier! If you'd like to follow my travels through images, please follow me on Twitter here:
@erin_reese
Check out Erin Reese (@erin_reese):
https://twitter.com/erin_reese

Sending you all so much love from the holy Ganga Maa!
Thank you Maa India ๐Ÿ’–
Namaste and Hare Om
Erin ๐Ÿ™

Rajasthani sweets

Local wedding procession

Travel and Soul writer on the Ganga

Jai Kali Maa

Shiva tandava

Jai Hanuman!

Tuesday, November 20, 2018

Client Appreciation Special ~ Book by November 30th!

GIVING THANKS
Client Appreciation Special
Sliding Scale Readings with Erin Reese
through November 30th
Email me soon! erin@erinreese.com
Click to enlarge
Erin Reese is an author, spiritual guide, astrologer, and modern psychic reader based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She works with clients all over the world. For readings and spiritual counseling by Skype, phone or email, contact her directly. She can be reached at erin@erinreese.com

Mรกm ร‰an Pilgrimage Chapel, Connemara, County Galway, Ireland
Kylemore Abbey, Letterfrack, County Galway, Ireland

Sunday, November 18, 2018

Gratitude... PLUS: Images from Magical Ireland



Dearest Friends and Clients,


At this time of Thanks-Giving, I extend my appreciation to each and every one of you. It is a privilege and gift that I am able to serve our global community as an intuitive consultant, spiritual counselor, writer and teacher.


You have brought, and continue to bring, a blessing into my life with your Presence. I am humbled and grateful.


May our work together continue to thrive. Thank You.

In gratitude,

Erin

ร‰irinn go Brรกch!
Select photos from my recent trip to the magical, blustery wilds of the Emerald Isle of Ireland. Click to enlarge!

View from Mount Diamond, Connemara National Park, County Galway
Renvyle Beach, Wild Atlantic Way, County Galway
Mรกm ร‰an Chapel, Maumturk Mountains, Connemara
The High Priestess Blesses Me, Mรกm ร‰an Chapel Window
Gateway to Mรกm ร‰an Pilgrimage Walk
Sheep's Wool in Reeds, Letterfrack, County Galway
Heather and Limestone, Bog Ecosystem, County Galway
Turf: Mother Nature's regenerative heating fuel, Bog Ecosystem
Bog Ecosystem, County Galway

Bog Ecosystem, Lough Fee, Connemara
Traditional Irish Dancer & Busking Musician, Galway

Travel Writer & Mystic Global Wanderer, Erin go Bragh

Erin Reese is an author, spiritual guide, astrologer, and modern psychic reader based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She works with clients all over the world. For readings and spiritual counseling by Skype, phone or email, contact her directly. She can be reached at erin@erinreese.com.

 

Tuesday, November 6, 2018

Change at the Root Level: New Moon in Scorpio


On Wednesday, November 7, we welcome the New Moon in the fixed water sign of Scorpio. Scorpio is the sign of rebirth. The sign of the serpent eagle asks us to face the symbolic deaths in our lives that help us rise up, more powerful and clearer than ever, like the phoenix rises from the ashes. And, excitingly, this Friday, Jupiter, planet of sage wisdom and expansion, moves into Sagittarius. He's finally finished with his excavation and remodel in Scorpio - a year in which our most intimate lives have been scrubbed thoroughly! Now, with a cleaned out psyche, It's time to take a bigger leap! What have you been holding out on?


“Life shrinks or expands according to one’s courage.” ~ Anais Nin
Real growth is not for the meek of heart. Massive transformation requires massive courage. This lunation is about finding the strength to endure, and mustering the guts, grit and fortitude to grow. It is not just about self-willfulness, though. We don’t just ‘white-knuckle it’ to get through, and we don't make knee-jerk decisions; we approach change with a new wisdom – a Scorpionic tenacity, heartiness, and mastery.

Think back to all the times before that you’ve faced your darkest fears and – somehow, somewhere – you've been lifted to a higher level of awareness, a better position in life. What got you through?

For some, it’s the support of community or family; for others, it’s the belief in a higher power – the faith that we’re being looked after by the greater good in Life. Some folks pray or meditate; others dig in their heels and take action, compartmentalizing emotions and soldiering through. For most of us, it’s a combination. But no matter what area needs bolstering, it must go deep, to the quick. This is because Scorpionic change occurs at the root level, the core of existence. There is nothing superficial about it.
“Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror. Just keep going. No feeling is final.” ~ Rainer Maria Rilke
At this New Moon, we thrive when we ask ourselves the difficult questions: what do we need in order to thrive in the long-term? We may have to defer short-term comforts when we realize that what will truly help us soar requires a greater vision. We may have to hold out a bit longer for the gold; we may have to dig a bit deeper – but we will hit pay dirt so long as we don’t give up. Scorpio is the ultimate survivor, giving us the steadfastness to hang in there as long as we need.


Remember: massive change requires equally huge helpings of patience, fortitude, and courage. Gather and draw on all that you need. As a result, at the absolutely perfect time, you will rise up, stronger and wiser than ever before.

On the Edge... Grand Canyon, AZ
Erin Reese is an author, spiritual guide, astrologer, and modern psychic reader based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She works with clients all over the world. For readings and spiritual counseling by Skype, phone or email, contact her directly. She can be reached at erin@erinreese.com.

Check it out! I've been memed! My first time... from my travel memoir The Adventures of Bindi Girl: Diving Deep into the Heart of India (sequel coming in 2019!) @ morefamousquotes.com


Saturday, October 6, 2018

Relationship Contracts: New Moon in Libra + Venus Retrograde


This Monday, October 8 (Pacific), we have a New Moon in Libra, sign of the Justice Scales. Libra season asks us to look at our partnerships, formal agreements, and contracts. The overriding theme is honesty about the state of your relationships - and taking action to change, revise, and end them where necessary.

Corroborating this theme, Venus, the planetary ruler of Libra, turned retrograde on October 5th in Scorpio, sign of sex, intimacy, shared finances, shadow, and transformation. Venus-Aphrodite, the love and relationship planet, remains retrograde until Friday, November 16. The time when lady Venus is retrograde is always approximately forty days. This is affiliated with Noah’s story in Genesis – “And the rain fell upon the Earth for 40 days and 40 nights.” Whether one holds this tale as historical or symbolic, it represents a period of the material realm being destroyed, purified by water, rebirthing into an entirely new state, i.e. total transformation. 

With these two astrological relationship-renewal influences - the New Moon in Libra and Venus Retrograde - penetrating the airwaves, we can run, but we cannot hide. Get your psychic scalpel out, expand your truth-ometer skills, and be prepared to look at the trickiest of enmeshment situations. 

Are you prepared to tell the hard truth, primarily to yourself, about the other person or situation you are questioning? Are they a narcissist? Do you feel constricted or belittled? Are they capable of meeting you where you need to be met? Or is the relationship now defunct, even poisoned beyond repair?

We need to remember that death comes to relationships of all types. Even within a good relationship, sometimes mini-demolitions are necessary. Perhaps a harmful communication habit (e.g. arguing, stonewalling, withholding) can no longer be ignored, and the pattern must be changed lest the relationship ends. Perhaps the roles you have taken on are no longer needed. Pay attention, show up, be willing to change.

Certainly, a great deal of grief, perhaps symbolized by the tears in the story of Noah’s flood, comes along with relationship deaths. Remember that these relationships can be work contracts, professional agreements, and most definitely marriages – the terrain where Libra contracts most often mixes with Scorpio’s intimacy. At this New Moon time in Libra, emphasized by Venus' retrograde, we reevaluate these relationships, shed those we’ve outgrown, and make room for a fresh life chapter.
It is vitally important to allow this process without judging it. We must have the courage to recognize when a relationship contract, whether the whole kit and caboodle, or simply one aspect of it, is naturally defunct. Otherwise, we will never allow the new “us” to unfold. Picture a beautiful eucalyptus shedding its bark. As the tree grows, the original layer of bark thickens and the old, dead bark sloughs off. With many tree species, we never notice this process, but some trees shed in large chunks and peeling sheets wherein it looks much more dramatic and beautiful, like silver maples, birches, sycamore, and my own favorite, the madrone.

Just like witnessing our tree friends sloughing off, we must shed old friendships, partners, contracts when we grow out of them. This peeling away is a natural process that enables the fresh, new life to breathe through. Although it may look or feel uncomfortable, know that your life is getting bigger, you are getting stronger, and you are growing up, stretching toward the stars, higher and shinier than ever before. Onward!

"A few minutes ago every tree was excited, bowing to the roaring storm, waving, swirling, tossing their branches in glorious enthusiasm like worship. But though to the outer ear these trees are now silent, their songs never cease."
~ John Muir
 
Erin Reese is an author, spiritual guide, astrologer, and modern psychic reader based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She works with clients all over the world. For readings and spiritual counseling by Skype, phone or email, contact her directly. She can be reached at erin@erinreese.com.
Tree Pose (Vrksasana) - Sedona, AZ

Friday, September 28, 2018

๐Ÿ‚ ๐Ÿ Fall Reading Special ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ‚ Now through October 7th!


Erin Reese is an author, spiritual guide, astrologer, and modern psychic reader based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She works with clients all over the world. For readings and spiritual counseling by Skype, phone or email, contact her directly. She can be reached at erin@erinreese.com.

Sunday, September 9, 2018

New Moon in Virgo: Perfectionism, Slightly Imbalanced



"Balance is the point I cross
on my way to the other extreme."
~ A Mentor of Mine

Baltic Sea (Ost See), Northeast Germany
It’s been several months since I’ve written a post. And do you know why? It’s a 6-letter word called SUMMER. Yes, in and among meeting with you, my beloved clients worldwide, I’ve been traveling in foreign cities, camping in wildernesses, exploring forests, swimming in streams. In the past, I’ve pushed myself to write articles while traveling. But this summer, I decided to tune in, drop out, listen to the flow of rivers, oceans of consciousness in which I’ve had the luxury of swimming. I’ve been online less, resting more.

Even with the unplugging intention this summer, it’s still difficult to live without distraction. So often, I desire to run away, to flee back to my semi-monastic years in India. But the dharma of my life has me here, in the world, doing that imperfect dance of the ever-elusive state known as balance.

Ah, yes, balance. This is where imperfection does its thing, perfectly. Think of a tightrope walker high above the circus. She is never completely in balance. The muscles in her feet, the tiniest bones, are constantly moving, shifting, keeping her aligned. It is never perfect.

I love the analogy of being permanently off-course, and still finding our way to a goal. Think of an airplane at 30,000 feet, en route to Hawaii. The airplane is always just slightly off-course. The auto-pilot technology continuously adjusts, adjusts, adjusts. It appears to be a straight shot all the way to Maui. But the truth is, the plane has been off-course the entire time.

I’ve been practicing yoga asana for 25 years, taking my first course in the UC Davis Experimental College before studios appeared on every corner. My body has changed over the years. Some poses that were mentally scary or seemingly impossible in my early 20’s are now easy – like headstand. I have noticed less flexibility in backbends. And I have far more strength in my 40’s, especially as I’ve taken up trail running in the East Bay Hills. And, with increasing strength has come better balance.

Virgin Mary Chapel, Andechs Monastery, Munich

The Imperfect Art of Health

Today is the New Moon in Virgo, sign of the Virgin - meaning, a woman whole unto Herself. Virgo is often critiqued as the “picky, perfectionist” sign. But I see it more as refinement. Whatever is needed, less or more…that is refinement.

New Shoes in Lisse, Holland
The sixth house of the astrology chart, traditionally ruled by Virgo, is the house of hygiene. And hygiene does not just pertain to physical health. It is also spiritual, mental, and emotional. The word “hygiene” comes from the from Greek hugieinฤ“, meaning the ‘(art) of health.’ Like all forms of art, healthy living is individual, unique, original, and above all, authentic.

What is healthy living for me, may be entirely different for you. What I eat may not nourish you. What you smoke may not support me. Who you sleep with may perplex me. Who I love may confuse you. But the ultimate decider of what is HEALTHY is… YOU. Your own inner authority. You, and your own Higher Self. You decide. Hence, the falsity, the illusion, the LIE of perfectionism when it comes to health, to anything really.

Where are you lying to yourself? Where are you consciously or unconsciously living by the lies imposed upon you by others, by society, by culture? Are the beliefs that you have around what constitutes a healthy lifestyle surreptitiously sneaking in to harm you? Maybe you have a non-binary, non-right/wrong approach to gender, to food, to intoxicants. Maybe your struggle to attain the perfect amount of money, power, prestige, beauty, youth, creative expression, relationship, even mental health or spiritual serenity is driving you insane… even, paradoxically, the desire to attain inner peace – the subtle striving to be a super human. Can you see that sneaking in?
Typisch Deutsches Essen, Brandenburg
What happens if we let go of all that sh*t, no pun intended, and simply practice the art of health, of hygiene, that works for us, today? What happens if we listen to what we authentically need in the moment? What happens if we have faith that we will make the best choice for ourselves? When we say f* off to those rules and belief systems that purportedly protect and help us, but actually strangle our spirits and true selves? What if we trust that we will, like that airplane en route to Hawaii, get exactly where we need to go, all the while being ever-so-slightly off balance, imperfect all the time?

Yes, what if?

Trust that your body-mind-spirit know exactly what they need. Uniquely you. So, take an end of summer holiday, and drop the stress-monger super ego perfect voice, just for today.

Erin Reese is an author, spiritual guide, astrologer, and modern psychic reader based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She works with clients all over the world. For readings and spiritual counseling by Skype, phone or email, contact her directly. She can be reached at erin@erinreese.com.




Summer Holiday Scrapbook

Practicing headstand - imperfectly - on Mother Earth - German countryside
Running in Former East Berlin

Rolling Stones, Olympiastadion, Berlin

South Lake Tahoe Bear Friend

Desolation Wilderness, Lake Tahoe Basin

Reichstag Dome, Berlin
Backpacking, Lake Aloha, Desolation Wilderness