New Year for Angelina

Angelina, you liked the reading I did for Lin, and since you didn't make specific requests, I'm going to follow the same format.

Looking at the PAST, year 2006, the major archetypal influence was the Hedonist. This is a card of celebration, pleasure, and feasting. It is the enjoyment of good food and drink, tasting the good life. Last year brought many important changes for you and your family, and the Hedonist mercifully helped you deal with the stress of those changes. It is only natural when life is upside down and out of our control, to use food and drink as a simple reward system. Unfortunately, the Hedonist can lead to excess. Beer and home-cooked comfort food has wreaked havoc with your good intentions to eat well and lose weight, so it is time to put the Hedonist on hold as you settle into a new life with new healthy routines.

NOW, going into your annual cycle, the Guide archetype is prominent. Consider all the ways in which you hold the lantern for others to see the light, to follow your footsteps because you are trustworthy, knowledgeable, and willing to put yourself out there.

The FUTURE presents you with Warrior energy. The Warrior is willing to meet the Hedonist head-on and do battle with those extra pounds. Through discernment, you can see which habits must go. Through discipline, you apply new behaviors that guarantee change. It is the Warrior that will eat and drink in moderation, take the time to exercise, and find new means of self-gratification. The Warrior is a strong, uncompromising picture of health, vitality, strength, disclipline, and skillful means. You have been a Warrior in the past; all you need to do now to activate this presence is to meditate on how she has worked for you in the past, and visualize her stepping into your flesh and bones right now.

RELATIONSHIP WITH MAX gets the Teacher/Mentor archetype. You are less a playmate now and more Teacher for Max. As a Mentor, you do more than teach. You pass on wisdom and refine Max's character. What kinds of activities would you enjoy teaching Max? Finding new mutually fun educational projects to explore with him will have you looking forward to spending quality time with Max. Forget the cars and legos, and get on board with something new. Your challenge this year is to develop a new relationship with Max where he will see you as his life teacher. Quality time can focus on rocks & minerals, insects, birds, etc. Can you devise science projects around these and other interests?

RELATIONSHIP WITH PHILIP is the Companion archetype. Now who would've guessed? You both continue to be helpmates as partners to yourselves, for Max, and for the business. Loyalty, tenacity, emotional support, and unselfishness are Companion qualities.

MONEY & RESOURCES this year has drawn the Lover card. Naturally, you would LOVE to have more money coming into the business. The Lover energy refers to more than romance. In this case, it is about passion and devotion. You are a Lover of arts and crafts, of edgy home decor, gardening, cooking, and writing. Do what you are passionate about, and the money will follow. Write more, craft more. Keep your passion alive. Money will come.


DUSTPAN ALLEY draws the Fool Child. The store is your new child, and your relationship to it is one of unbridled faith and innocence. Never having done this before, you come into it with enthusiasm and joy. It is a bright, shining opportunity to be creative, to provide unique services, and be in community. The upbeat, bright, lively face of Dustpan Alley invites others to feel these qualities within themselves, to bring them home with them. As a Fool, this child has no awareness of failure, budgets, limitations, or constraints. Yet for the Fool to be protected by the cruelties of life, it needs a protectress to keep it safe. Caution: keep financial realities in focus and a healthy reign on expenditures.

Your role in the COMMUNITY is the Beginner. You are starting out boldly in the commercial community with a new business. You learn from others. You ask questions about their mistakes and successes. You pray for beginner's luck. In Zen Buddhism, Beginner's Mind is worth cultivating—it is the state of a fresh, new outlook; it is objective, and detached. Keep an open mind and absorb like a sponge.

WRITING is a world unto itself. In this world, you are Ruler supreme. You decide what to say, how to say it, and when to stop. You take immense delight in controlling words; moving them around, choosing them, stringing them together. Word play is your gift. A Ruler exercises power on a large, world scale. So too with your writing, you can influence large groups of people, allow them to see the world through your unique eyes.


Your PERSONA for this year, the face you show the world, is the Scientist archetype. In the magical arts, this would be the Transformer, but in the workaday world, the Scientist is engaged in many of the same pursuits, using the same talents for transmuting energies. This year you are examining, exploring, controlling the possibilities of a great experiment: Dustpan Alley. You apply all your skills to making this venture a success; that is, changing an empty store into a magical world of your creative imagination. In it, you fashion a queendom of practical fun, elevating the home arts into a manageable realm that other homebodies want for themselves. Martha Stewart you are not, thank god.

Your SHADOW is the Servant. You make yourself available to others for the benefit and enhancement of their lives. This can be done in a healthy way as long as you continue to serve your highest needs at the same time. Be careful; don't be consumed by the needs of others so that you lose the value of your own life. Ask yourself often, does this choice serve my highest potential?

Your greatest CHALLENGE this year is represented by the Knight archetype. The challenge involves maintaining loyalty and self-sacrifice toward an honorable cause. This might refer to Dustpan Alley or your writing. Similar to the Servant and Warrior, the Knight is a champion of service and devotion. All these archetypes are available and present for you this year as you battle the dark forces and demon of Negative Thought. Slay them with your cognitive therapy tools; journal and meet them on your terms; listen to what they say and throw away what you don't need; and most of all, keep coming back.