April 2022: Abundant Attention
Listen to this month’s offering as a podcast
Happy New Moon in Aries!
Join the Study Tarot Series this month for The Empress + Minor 3s: Experiencing Pleasure + Abundance. We’ll meet April 10 + 17 at 2pm est. Beginner’s welcome!
My books are open for readings this month…
Thank you to all of you who continue to support my work in so many amazing and generous ways.
In love + solidarity + collective imagining,
shea in the catskills
Story is movement…it’s something moving through a membrane, it’s process.
— Sophie Strand
You Might Be Interested
- Robyn Love’s Let’s Talk About It: Food & Eating Appetite was rescheduled for Saturday, April 30th at 11am est. I hope to see you there!
- My friend Perdita Finn has two incredible workshops coming up: Saints Alive—an 8-week exploration of what it means to become devoted to the dead and how that devotion can change lives and the world we live in, beginning April 6th. And Mothers of Mystery and Magic—a workshop that truly changed my life, May 6-8. Check out full write-ups + registration information about these + other workshops + series with Perdita.
…what we don’t want is the kind of classic, culturally U.S….progress narrative: “Things are much better than they used to be!” That’s always a narrative to hide the realities of climate change, white supremacy, and colonialism. We want to get out of that very thin, shallow, emotional space…and towards a very deep: What’s it like when I live in sober reality about how things are actually quite bleak, and I choose to connect with others about what we care about and move together towards that? That satisfaction, that’s pleasure. How do I restore a full emotional range?
— Dean Spade, “Dean Spade Is Asking Activists, 'How Much Bolder Could You Be?'”
What’s Inspiring Me Now
- adrienne maree brown on deep practice: “…what i want to point to is within me, deep in the folds of my mind and the muscles of my body. deep in the love discipline of my spirit.”
- Ecoerotica’s Instagram feed
- Organizers with the Shut Down Red Hill Coalition saw a huge victory on March 7, when the US military announced it would drain and decommission the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility on the island of O’ahu in Hawaii. Learn more about this extraordinary story.
- LA Opera Digital Shorts: We Hold These Truths. Composer Tamar-kali and filmmaker dream hampton unite to bring three famous poems from Paul Laurence Dunbar, Langston Hughes + Claude McKay to life.
- The Future Must Be Beautiful
Thank you to those of you who continue to send me your inspirations!
Six of Wands
Jupiter in Leo | abundant attention, auspicious creativity, beneficial energy
In Pamela Colman Smith’s image, we see a figure riding a horse, wearing a crown of laurel leaves and holding an upright wand. As in all the minor 6s, the figure in this card is not alone. Their elevation makes me think of how we elevate public figures. And then tear them down. The way we are socialized to look outside at the superhuman accomplishments of others—athletes, adventurers, leaders, entertainers. What is the effect of always looking outward, and up, at others?
In my years of formal spiritual training, we all faced the front of the room to look at the teacher + listen to him. He literally sits on an elevated platform. And while his dedication + years of study surely give him an important + undeniable authority, what do we miss by not looking at each other? By not hearing each others’ questions + insights + wisdom + experience?
I was listening to a podcast recently in which acupuncturist + facilitator Mia Herndon said, “How do we love each other well? How do we ensure that we are all able to be in this human experience, receiving the kind of care + support that we all are worthy of + deserve?” What happens when we turn our curious, loving attention on each other? When we draw each other out with questions? When we resonate + affirm each others’ experiences? What conditions are conducive to doing this?
Chapter 2 of Mona Eltahawy’s The Seven Necessary Sins for Women and Girls is titled “Attention.” She says, “Attention is power. When you command attention, you command power, and so patriarchy has muddied the waters around attention with the word ‘whore.’ A word intended to shame is used to convince women that to want attention is to want something shameful. Much like sex.”
“You just want attention.” Yes. I do. Instead of feeling ashamed about that, I’ve become very curious about the kind of attention I want—from whom, when, and how? And I am becoming deeply curious about how those in my communities + relationships like to be attended to. Do we even know? Who or what on earth ever encourages us to even find out?
Maybe I’m thinking about this because I’ve mostly been in my room for the last two years. During that time, I’ve made a pretty thorough + multifaceted practice of giving myself positive regard + attention. This study of attention—what works for me + what really does not—feels very worthwhile and is informing the work I do. My desire to love people through my work, to reflect their own light back to them, to listen closely + hold up their insights + beautiful questions. I’m not just inspired by attending to others this way; I’m edified. I learn so much from others’ stories + experiences + questions.
Criticism is so endemic to our culture + ways of being together + is a hallmark of white supremacy culture. Often, the only time we address relational issues is when there is harm or conflict. What would it look + feel like instead to center positive regard + attention in our relationships? To lift each other up on purpose? To admire + support + encourage each other? Not in a fake, fawning-white-lady way, but in a true way.
When we have an experience with each other that feels good, can we say so? Can we name it? Bring it to each others’ attention? Can we highlight + articulate what felt good to us, specifically? (Specificity is medicinal.) Essentially teaching ourselves + each other what kind of attention feels nourishing + supportive?
So I’m looking at the 6 of wands today as the “victory” that happens when we hold + connect with each other through our attention—what we’re able to create + accomplish when we’re really seeing + appreciating each other. And open + curious to learning how to do that ever more deeply, together.
Find out more about my tarot work
The emotionally intelligent person understands that institutions and systems encourage certain emotions and discourage others. These same institutions and systems often are based on power hierarchies, so they dictate who is “allowed” to feel what and when.
— Asha Sanaker
