Friday, January 31, 2020

Spiritual Counseling and Mentorship with Erin




With all the love and gratitude in my heart... Thank you for being my readers and clients. I am touched. 

2020 has amazing energy. I wish to share this with you. I have openings right now for spiritual counseling clients and mentorship, if you feel called. 

I typically meet with folks every two weeks on an ongoing basis, online from anywhere in the world. This is an excellent alternative to traditional therapy and offers upliftment in ways you may not have thought possible. 

I hope to share with you my deepest support and wisdom, as well as help you to shine brightly within and without - your soul's true calling. This is my February Valentine to you, beloveds. 

Please check out my website for offerings, or to make a consultation appointment. Or, simply email me directly. Always, Erin
My writing desk. Oakland, CA
Erin Reese is a spiritual counselor, non-dual teacher, author, and intuitive consultant based in the SF Bay Area. Erin has a Master of Science in Counseling and has been reading the Tarot for over thirty years. She works with personal clients, business executives, artists, and beautiful people just like You, all over the world.

Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Frighten Me and Make Me Shy




"The day I no longer do anything that frightens me and makes me shy I will know I am finished as a writer."  
~ Ellen Gilchrist, Falling Through Space
Bill's Place, West Harlem Speakeasy, NYC

As I wrote in my blog to all of you at the end of 2019, I intended to veer away from astrological writing and forecasts as we moved into 2020. Why?


For a long time I have felt like I’ve been hobbling along with astro forecasting, like I’ve been trying to cram the aspects of full and new moons into what I want to really say, e.g. I would start an article with, “Today we welcome the New Moon in the fixed air sign of Aquarius, the rebellious, unpredictable Water Bearer. It is a time of embracing our inner freak, misfit, humanitarian.”


Maceo Parker, Blue Note, West Village, NYC
When what I really wanted to say was much more straightforward, not fitting it into the stars, i.e. “What happens when we open ourselves up to spontaneity, trust, and flow? 

We have a night in New York that includes a granddaddy of funk horn, Maceo Parker, in a night at the Blue Note in the West Village. Just like that, you’re meeting two new friends who are Native New Yorkers, around your same age and vibe, and are music freaks just like you. The night is made complete by catching a favorite DJ, Rich Medina, whom you know from Oakland, who happens to be spinning in the Meatpacking District. All this is topped off the next night at a true-blue speakeasy in West Harlem (Bill’s Place) at the same joint where Billie Holiday was discovered in 1933.”


Now that’s getting my juices going!


Children's Sculpture Garden, Morningside Heights, NYC
For the last few years, I would box myself in and would write a forecast instead of what I really wanted to say. As I mentioned the other day, I wanted to get back to the type of writing which is really a way of LIVING AND SEEING THE WORLD. Writing is really a way of life. And my life is my art. In fact: Life is Art.


I’m hoping that you, my beloved clients and readers, will continue to devour my words. That you’ll come along with me on the journey. That you’ll find inspiration in these musings. Because, in addition to being an intuitive consultant and spiritual counselor, I am a teacher, a truly free Aquarian, a communicator. A visionary. 


A writer.

For God’s sake, capitalize that sh*t.


A Writer.


The Gilchrist quote at the top of this piece says it all. So good, I'll repeat it:


"The day I no longer do anything that frightens me and makes me shy I will know I am finished as a writer."  
~ Ellen Gilchrist, Falling Through Space

We found the Journals of Ellen Gilchrist (Falling Into Space, 1987), American novelist, in our Upper West Side Airbnb. I only had to flip it open to a random spot to feel my heart soaring. A writer! Writing about the life of a writer! Gush, gush, swoon, swoon!


Lennon Memorial, Strawberry Fields, Central Park, NYC

Reminded me of another kindred spirit, May Sarton, who inspired me some years back with her Journal of a Solitude (1973). 

I always get a bit nervous when I read such pieces, because they make me quiver with The Fear, the possibility that bleeds into a knowing, seeing out of the corner of my psyche, that I might just very well drop out of society as I current live in it, and settle into a long summer or winter nap and write my brains out.


How to do that while keeping my pocketbook flush, my retirement going, all of that noise?


I’m pretty much trusting that all of you are going to stay with me on this journey - whether as clients, students, or inspired readers. That you won’t run and hide because you prefer to hear what the Moon is up to. That you’ll find some steam hidden in these posts, steam that will power up your own creative engine: Your Heart. And start chugging toward that latent dream of yours.


It might be starting a Tarot consultation practice (want to join my Tarot mentoring group that starts tomorrow?), or having a baby (go for it! Why wait if that’s your dream! Twasn't my destiny as I’m far too in need of solitude, but I want YOU to be a mother or father if it makes you swoon!). Or falling in love (are you online? Try OK Cupid and pay for premium service!), or publishing your book (really, no excuse these days with Amazon online publishing options – ignore the inner critic that says it must be a New York Times Bestseller. I cannot tell you how many "NY Times Bestsellers" I’ve picked up and promptly tossed aside as the writing is often horribly basic and the content is obvious. What’s the word? Pedestrian? Think about it.)


Your Life is Your Art. You are Art. Life Itself, is Art. And You are That.


Start mixing your colors, baby.


Nightclub, Meatpacking District, NYC
Erin Reese is a modern psychic, non-dual teacher, author, and intuitive consultant based in the SF Bay Area. Erin has a Master of Science in Counseling and has been reading the Tarot for over thirty years. She works with personal clients, business executives, artists, and beautiful people just like You, all over the world.

In-Person Tarot Mastery Course with Erin Reese
Starts Tomorrow! 2 slots left!
Online Tarot Mentoring Group with Erin Reese


EVENING SECTION:
Wednesdays, 7pm to 8:30pm Pacific.
Starts January 29th
Ends February 26th


PLUS: I'm excited to introduce my new website. Check it out! www.ErinReese.com

erinreese.com


Follow me on Instagram!
IG & Twitter: @erin_reese

Friday, January 24, 2020

On Wilier Writing (and Wilco)



Alice in Wonderland, José de Creeft (1959). Central Park, New York City

I’m experimenting with a new form of writing. It reminds me of when I was living in India. Between 2006-2010, I felt safer to write and expose myself because I was quite literally 10,000 miles from California, my largest reader base. Distance gives a sort of psychological protection. When I returned to the U.S., I returned to writing from a different voice – yes, a strong voice – but one that didn’t feel as risky. I rarely wrote about my own direct life.

Last week, I took a risk by writing about my experience at the New York Public Library and my spiritual encounter with J.D. Salinger. This may not feel like a stretch to others – just reporting on the facts, of what I witness, stringing together the pieces of art and literature, non-duality and spirituality. But what I’ve noticed is that when I write from the heArt, it is vulnerable. When I write about things that blow me out of the water, whether an encounter with my spiritual teacher, or a piece of art, I feel vulnerable. I’ve let you see me – the personal me.

Once upon a time, many years ago, at a house party in San Francisco's Mission District, I was trying to explain this level of vulnerability in being a writer, to a Harvard-educated woman who is an actual crossword creator of The New York Times puzzle. While a different sort of writing, this woman knows her words. So, we had words.

She said to me, “The more personal, the more universal.” It struck such a strong chord I inscribed that line in my journal, and it traveled with me to India, where I tried to go as deep as I could in my “Bindi Girl” spiritual travel blog, to convey my experiences to the folks and readers back home.*

The Mad Hatter 'n Me, Central Park
Words with Wilco

Over Christmas on holiday in Hawaii, I read the book Let’s Go (So We Can Get Back) by the musician Jeff Tweedy, founding member of the indie-alt country-rock group Wilco. I’ve appreciated Wilco ever since seeing them live at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley, on tour for their 2004 album A Ghost Is Born. I can still hear the beautiful guitar ruckus of the encore song, “Spiders (Kidsmoke),” smell the pungent herb wafting thru the airwaves, my SF buddies and I rocking out at the top of the outdoor concert forum under a clear moonlit sky. Music-loving heart exploding at the unleashing of distortion at all the right moments. Nights like that never leave us.

Jeff Tweedy of Wilco
Memoirs and autobiographies are my favorite genres – and rock and literary (and spiritual) memoirs are at the top of my list. So when I read Tweedy’s memoir, I was delighted to receive his wisdom on writing techniques, especially the following passage in which he describes how he learned to get to the juice, to pen the lyrics that make an impression and stick with us, even when we don’t know why:

"When I write in this mode, I write for myself first, pretending that the audience isn’t even there, and will never be there. I can get things off of my chest, I can invent versions of myself that are better than I believe I am . . . or worse, are even downright awful and murderous. I can expose shadow selves that I believe I should keep my eye on. I can admit things about myself without really having to take ownership of anything. Having it all feel private and insular creates a sense of authenticity I’m not sure I’m able to explain in an understandable way. It’s a trick I play to coax myself into being okay with exposing things that feel powerful and intimate because they’re the types of things people often hide about themselves, or even from themselves. This style of writing felt new and exciting, and even more so when it came to perfecting the songs and recording them." -Jeff Tweedy, Let's Go (So We Can Get Back): A Memoir of Recording and Discording with Wilco, Etc.

Woohoo! When I read that passage, I immediately highlighted it in my Kindle and noted to self: Yes, it’s time to get back to that kind of writing. Can I do it? Can I really do it? Write unedited and share it publicly? Pretend that no one is going to read it?

Well, since we’re publishing this on the Internet, no filter, I may not let it all rip, but I will certainly try…

NYC Taxi Cab Winter, 2020
Erin Reese is a modern psychic, non-dual teacher, author, and intuitive consultant based in the SF Bay Area. Erin has a Master of Science in Counseling and has been reading the Tarot for over thirty years. She works with personal clients, business executives, artists, and musicians all over the world.
In-Person Tarot Mastery Course, Fall 2019
Starts next Wednesday
Online Tarot Mentoring Group with Erin Reese


EVENING SECTION:
Wednesdays, 7pm to 8:30pm Pacific.
Starts January 29th
Ends February 26th
 Early Bird Pricing ends today!