Black Friday Free Oracle Card Reading

This free card reading was done with the intention that it will be right for you if you're drawn to read it, regardless of when you read it. 

The intention was set that the reading will be valid for you for one month from when you read it.

Current Issue

Card Drawn = Communication

You feel like you're not being heard, you're being misunderstood or wrongly judged by another. Your efforts are not being recognised. You may be suffering from a sore throat or ear problems at the moment - this is a physical manifestation of this problem.

Someone you once turned to when in need either is no longer around or isn't behaving as you'd normally expect. You feel a loss of control or connection with this person.

The angels want to remind you that although you feel you're not getting your point across or being appreciated, it is partially your own doing. You are not expressing yourself fully and something is holding you back from doing so. Once you recognise this fear and are honest with yourself, the honesty and openness needed with another, will flow and you will be heard.

Where someone is no longer in your life, rest assured the angels are listening and someone new is on their way to you very soon. You must be fully open and able to express yourself honestly in order to receive this person into your life. It may be a new friend, colleague, teacher, guardian or lover. This will all happen in perfect timing and exactly as it should, so please be patient and do not get distracted.

You may also feel as if someone has got under your skin more than usual. Ask for angel assistance in removing this negative connection. Archangel Zadkiel can use his Cosmic Flame to transmute the energy connecting you, or Archangel Michael can cut the cords that bind you to this unhelpful state.

Angelic Guidance for the Issue

Card Drawn = Playfulness

You feel overburdened with responsibilities, decisions and choices. You need to redress the balance and get some more fun in your life.

The angels remind you that you don't have to take every situation seriously and every word spoken to heart. The more fun you have, the more fun you will attract.

Try shining laughter onto the situation and you will find an amicable way to feel valued again.

Share the workload where possible, so you can bring more play into your life.

When you get time to let off steam make the most of it and make it worthwhile. Do this in your own unique way and don't allow others to hijack it or make you feel pressured to do things their way. How you have fun is your choice and if you don't honour this, you'll end up feeling worse. You must be genuinely true to yourself with this and don't follow the crowd. The angels are warning you that you could inadvertently make the situation worse if you try to fit in and don't follow what is truly in your heart.

May this reading bring you guidance and support for the next month, with love from your angels and Lou. xx

International Day for Eliminating Violence Against Women

Given that today is the International Day for Eliminating Violence Against Women, I thought it fitting that I blog about domestic violence from an insiders point of view. 

There are many stigmas attached to domestic violence, none of which are helpful to anyone involved. I'm not just thinking of this from the 'victims' point of view - can you imagine knowing you're sick and need help but not being able to ask because of what people would think of you? 

If you know or have ever known someone suffering violence in a relationship, you've more than likely wondered why they stay, why they don't do X,Y,Z to get away/get their own back...I'd like to spend some time relaying what it's like to be caught up in a unhealthy relationship and hopefully answer some of those 'whys' from my own point of view. 

Firstly, I want you to remember (if you don't already) what it's like to really love someone. The person you love has their 'faults' and you still love them, because true love is unconditional and accepting without judgement. Their 'faults' might be completely unacceptable to one person and totally worth it to you. It's no different just because the 'fault' is what might be classed as a big one. 

So what happens when someone sick loves you? To start with they will reel you in by being the most perfect partner anyone could wish for, this is because they themselves are usually incredibly insecure and they need the reassurance of your reaction to them. This will continue and you won't believe your luck (probably because you're insecure too. Like attracts like). One day this perfect person will say or do something unsettling - a good example would be "I don't like that top on you". You'll be hurt that Mr/Mrs perfect has broken the Guinness World Record For Charm, but because they're so perfect you'll think it's not very fair to question them and you don't want to ruin the perfection by causing a row over something so simple, right? Then it would be YOU at fault, wouldn't it?

As your relationship has been unrealistically perfect so far, the small comment or action will play on your mind more and you'll wonder if maybe you have put on weight? Colour doesn't suit you? You're dressing too young for your age? Self-doubt is creeping in.

Mr/Mrs Perfect doesn't want you to know how they really feel as it's a sick and twisted reality, so they'll make up for their angry comment/action by being even more perfect. Self-doubt will creep in further. You shouldn't really be worried by what they said/did, you're a bad person for not letting it go - I mean look how nice they're being now...and so the circle of self-doubt and drain on your confidence begins.

As time goes on it's harder for Mr/Mrs Perfect to keep the lid on the hurt and fear inside them and sooner or later they take some of it out on you. By this time they'll have made sure you don't have many friends around you - they're insecure and they need ALL of you to even feel slightly human, so friends and family had to be removed from your life (discreetly and for your own good, of course, they're just being protective, you see). You've been lacking confidence lately and your friends and family had turned out not to be as good as you first thought (Mr/Mrs Perfect had pointed this out to you a while ago). You've nowhere to turn and since Mr/Mrs Perfect are so perfect, it can only be your own fault that this has happened. You can't imagine life without the adrenaline rush and constant reassurance of Mr/Mrs Perfect. You decide to let this one go, it's a one-off and you know it won't happen again, besides you know you haven't quite been enough for Mr/Mrs Perfect lately and they need you. They're the only person in the world who needs you right now, your friends and family have left you.

Now the lid is off Mr/Mrs Perfect can't control it anymore, like a demon unleashed it rules them and in turn, it rules you. You know they wouldn't really want to hurt you and each time they make it up to you, you forgive them because you feel trapped and unable to move on from the place where love once lived. You're dying inside and you wonder why they do it, why you and why you can't go back to the good old days. You'd do anything to go back to the good old days....so you decide to find the strength to get back there. Instead of showing Mr/Mrs Perfect the door, you show them what it used to be like and they're insecurity is temporarily relieved, like a bittersweet reward for what they did to you. They don't want to be, but they are hooked on the cycle of hurt. After an extreme down, endorphins are released and this coupled with your efforts, unwittingly feeds the 'monster'.  

At the first sign of your efforts waning the insecurity and fear will grip them and they will lash out again and again. They play games they don't even know they're playing to see your reaction and feel attachment to everything you do. You'll think you're worthless, even your best efforts aren't enough now and you'll be too scared to fight and too tired to ever 'win' this war. The more they hurt you, the more you need the old them.

Think about when you've had a bad day or traumatic incident, who do you turn to for comfort? It's no different for the people trapped in these relationships. And so you can see how these things start so easily yet are so hard to end. You think you'd stand up to anyone and you think you'd never put up with it, but until someone you love with all your heart has done it to you, you can't honestly pass comment. Things happen all the time in relationships that we don't like, we compromise and they move on so fast we can't remember what it was we didn't like last week. These relationships are no different. In fact, you want it to move on fast, why would you want to stay in the abusive state when you could move on and forget it happened?

If you know someone trapped in an unhealthy relationship, try to understand and listen without judgement. As hard as it is try not to force them to leave, as it will only cause more problems unless they're truly at the point they can see it through. What they need is a friend with the same unconditional love that their relationship started off with, so they believe they have the unquivering support to leave and survive.

My earliest relationship was one like this - a never-ending circle of hurt and hope - sadly, my hope was never met, but luckily I found an ounce of strength locked inside me and I finally left for good. It was years ago, but it still haunts me at times and I have the scars to prove it. The scars don't define me as a person and the experience allowed me to feel such pain that there is little on this earth I can't empathise with, so I'm grateful for what it gave me.

For all those suffering or who have suffered violence from a loved one, my heart goes out to you. Just know that you are worthy of love in all its perfection.

If we really want to eliminate violence we need to remove the stigmas and stop blaming the victims for not sticking up for themselves.

Violence of any sort must be eliminated from the world so we can all live in love. 

The Day My Nana Passed Away

I have the sort of mother who is selfless enough to stand back and allow me to make my own judgements, be myself and make my own experiences to grow. This has always been the case. My nana on the other hand wanted me to be a certain way, look and act a certain way. Both were straight from the heart and for the highest intentions. I'm so blessed to still have my mum in my life and to have had my nana, especially with such different personalities to learn from.

I desperately wanted to be as glamorous as my nana that had a new outfit for every occasion, including shoes and bag - today's WAG's would fear her as major competition! My nana wanted me to be a model and I wanted to fulfil this too: parading up and down the front room, practicing my pout to her applause. However, at the ripe old age of 12, I chose to become vegetarian and my mother in her selfless way, let me. Show me a tall vegetarian! I'm far too short to be a model and I'm too short for my weight too. So sorry to disappoint, nana, but mum will be pleased that I made my own choice and stuck to it.

My nana was a strong and definite woman, the head of the family, as is the case in many a scouse family - what the head female says...goes! You don't mess with your scouse women and my nana was no exception. Her key phrase was "scratch her eyes out" referring to anyone who didn't play along with the agenda. This was a woman you would want on your side and I was so lucky that she was on mine. She had a warm heart and my best toys all came from her, those tacky dolls you get when abroad; frilly dresses from down the market that made me feel like one of the black and white movie stars she watched, Barbie, musical boxes…oh loads of tat, but the sort you love as a kid. She knew how to rock my world and she did it.

The sad thing was she was also seriously ill and disabled, not that you could tell, she had more fire in her than anyone I’ve ever and probably will ever know. In fact you could say her fire was her disability, no balance… all roaring fire. I loved this about her and wanted to be as extrovert as her and as willing to stand up for myself as her. In reality I was introvert and a door mat. Again, sorry, nana.

A lot of my time spent with her was in hospital and we never knew if this was the time she wouldn’t return home. She defied Doctors every time and would say “I’m not going (to die) until I want to”. One particular night she was very poorly in hospital and my parents had rushed to go and see her. My son was in bed and I was alone in my front room waiting for news. The room went freezing cold and I felt my nana float up past me, I had a terrible sense that something was amiss. The phone rang causing me to jump sky high; it was my grandad wanting to know where my mum was as she wasn’t answering her phone. I explained they were on their way to the hospital and sadly my grandad confirmed that they were too late, my nana had passed a moment ago.

That night I went to bed heartbroken as despite me moving away and certainly as a teenager not seeing as much of her as I would have wanted, she was such an inspiration and influence on me that I felt the loss through every part of my being. I curled up in a ball of pain and grief hoping the duvet would offer some comfort. It didn’t. Instead the freezing cold came again and I felt my nana climb onto the bed and hold me, she also told me to “stop being soft your mum needs you now!”. Wise words. Then she left and I continued my sorrow riddled state through the night.

At her funeral we were all asked to close our eyes and remember her – the good times, of course. I was sat next to my great aunty Rose (my nana’s sister) and I instinctively turned to look at her instead for comfort. She whispered would I like to be held by nana one last time and I nodded. Rose took me in her arms and brought my nana through to me, taking on her physical form. Rose wasn’t like my nana but it was my nana that hugged me, in shape, size and feel. I was reeling from the experience and full of questions about how I’d known my nana passed, how I felt my nana in my room and now this….

Rose later told me she was a psychic medium with her own circle and a spiritualist lending library. It was the start of me building my own knowledge and beliefs in spiritualism. Although, it is my Grandad who has taught me the most on the subject and to whom I give credit.

As Rose left, I hugged her one last time and she held my hands and told me my nana wanted me to have strength. As she touched my hand she said “take her strength, she wants you to have it” and “find your own evidence”. I felt my nana with me and indeed her incredible strength.

My nana now comes to me in times of need and guidance. This is most handy as I’m a giving person and will forgive anyone anything, but sometimes I do need to protect myself from people taking of advantage of this. I don’t believe anyone would knowingly take advantage, but some people just expect to get away with more with me because I’m kind. It’s those times that she shows up, full of fire and guides me or just gives me the push needed to stick to my boundaries.

With her support I am growing all the time and I hope to build more secure boundaries that allow me to be true to myself the way my mum wants me to, but not to allow people to only take from me, the way my nana wouldn’t want them to.

Whoever you’ve lost from your life there is a piece of them with you in your soul and consciousness and you can access them any time.

When the journey together on this planet ends, have faith that another day you’ll be re-united and may well start another journey together in another life.

This blog post is dedicated to my mum, my nana and all the strong empowered women in my life. To those who have gifted me experience, to those that have made me grow and to those that continue to be an inspiration and support to me. Thank you. 

More like this:

Me, My Grandad and I

We Live and We Learn

10 Lessons in Parenting that my Parents Taught Me

Bereavement - Fighting Your Way Out of The Dark