Do you trust your intuition, or immediately doubt what you receive?

This is such a universal human experience. A friend recently consulted her pendulum about whether to take a long trip to see a healer for an intractable medical issue. The pendulum gave her a clear “yes” - but instead of trusting that answer, she felt unsure about accepting it.

Given our cultural conditioning, it’s understandable that trusting guidance from ancestors, spirit guides, pendulums, Akashic records, I Ching, tarot, or any divinatory system can feel difficult. Our small 3D egoic self is genuinely trying to protect us from harm, foolishness, or gullibility.

But when you really think about it - why ask for guidance if you’re only going to throw shade on the response?

Approaching divination as a sacred practice: set space, maybe light a candle, smudge, drum, or rattle. Then ask your question with sincerity and honor the answer that comes.

A mantra I learned from my friend Carolyn Romano that I often use: “I am willing. Help me trust. Please show me the way.”

During my morning prayers, I also ask three questions I learned from Marianne Williamson:

Where would you have me go?
What would you have me do?
What would you have me say, and to whom?

Then I add: “Please guide me. Please support me. Please show me the way.”

I only recently added “please support me” when someone reminded me how essential it is to ask for support so we don’t carry everything alone.

Make it your spiritual practice to allow the guidance you receive to stand without second-guessing yourself. Trusting intuition is an inside job.

What strategies help you trust your inner knowing? Share below - I’d love to hear from you.

Ready to deepen your intuitive practice? Grab your copy of Sacred Psychiatry (link in bio) 📚

#divination #pendulum #spiritualpractice #guidance #sacredpsychiatry #innerknowing #spiritualastrology #holistichealing #holisticpsychiatry #intuition ...

The mystery of microchimerism

Have you ever wondered why mothers seem to “just know” when something’s wrong with their children? Or how twins can sense each other across great distances? Science offers us a beautiful explanation through something called microchimerism.

This phenomenon refers to the presence of cells from one individual living within another genetically distinct person. These living fragments can be found in blood, liver, and even the brain, creating literal biological connections that persist long after birth.

There are several types:

Maternal microchimerism - fetal cells that remain in the mother’s body
Fetal microchimerism - maternal cells that persist in the child
Twin microchimerism - cells exchanged between twins in the womb
Transplant microchimerism - donor cells living within recipients

While science hasn’t fully understood the impact - whether it promotes immune tolerance, contributes to autoimmune conditions, or influences cancer risk - from a psychospiritual perspective, I find this absolutely fascinating.

This speaks to the mystery of enduring connection. How mother and child remain linked across a lifetime. How heart transplant recipients sometimes awaken to new emotions and tastes that seem to belong to their donors.

Consider this: every girl child already existed in her grandmother’s womb, because all of her mother’s eggs were formed while her grandmother was four months pregnant. Talk about ancestral connection!

We are literally made of one another. These reflections invite us to contemplate interconnection from both physical and symbolic levels.

What thoughts and feelings does this stir in you? What do you sense about the invisible threads that connect mothers and children, twins, donors and recipients, generations of the maternal lineage?

May we honor the mystery of how intimately we are all connected.

#microchimerism #interconnection #maternallineage #sacredpsychiatry #ancestralconnection #holistichealing #holisticpsychiatry #weareconnected #connected ...

The full moon in Taurus on October 25th at 11:12 p.m. Eastern Time illuminates the difficult feelings we may have about scarcity and lack in our lives.

Taurus symbolizes the quality of abundance and rules what we have and what we believe we`re allowed to have. A full moon here lights up wherever you`ve been operating from a mindset of not-enoughness.

This is an especially powerful full moon in this regard, as Venus, the ruler of Taurus, is at 29 degrees Libra, the final and most mature degree of the sign, and Mars is at 15 degrees Leo, one of the fixed signs.

15 degrees of fixed signs are considered by astrologers to be particularly potent.

Mars in Leo is about daring, playful self-expression, so this isn`t quiet abundance. There`s an impetus for creation, performance, and offering your gifts to the world.

I recently discovered this book called Abundance Symbols by Georgios Mylonas. It describes 64 symbols, each one tied to a different facet of abundance, each with its own affirmation or invocation.

You can meditate on them, visualize them, draw them, put them under your pillow, or set them on your altar.

My favorite for this moon is Creative Abundance, a six-pointed star with an infinity symbol beneath it. I plan to draw it on a large piece of paper and set it outside in the moonlight on the 25th.

Other examples of the symbols beyond that one are Abundance of Worth, Flow of Abundance, Abundance of Healing, and Acceptance of Abundance.

#TaurusFullMoon #AbundanceMindset #CreativeAbundance #AbundanceSymbols #ManifestAbundance

Ready to explore the deeper connections between your mind, body, and spirit? Grab your copy of Sacred Psychiatry (link in bio)!

DISCLAIMER: Content shared is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice or establish a doctor-patient relationship. Astrological insights are offered as complementary perspectives, not as diagnostic tools or medical treatment. Always consult with appropriate healthcare providers regarding medical decisions. ...

On October 26th, the full moon lands in Taurus, the sign of the earth and its resources, opposite the sun in Scorpio, the sign that asks us to face what we`d rather not look at. Venus is retrograded conjunct that sun, which is correlated with a reckoning.

What does our addiction to convenience actually cost us? That`s the question underneath this full moon.

In the North Pacific, between Hawaii and California, there`s an area of trapped plastic called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. It covers about 620,000 square miles, roughly twice the size of Texas.

It isn`t a solid island. It`s an estimated 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic spread through the water, weighing about 80,000 metric tons, and close to half of that is discarded fishing nets.

A liquid detergent jug is thick, heavy plastic, and less than a third of that kind of plastic gets recycled in the United States.

Laundry sheets come in a cardboard box and skip the jug entirely.

Shampoo is now also available in paper containers that look like a quart of milk, so the swap doesn`t stop at the laundry room.

This reality impacts not only the oceans, but our bodies as well.

Microplastics have now been found in fetal cord blood, reproductive organs of men and women, arterial plaque, brain tissue, and children`s tonsils.

It`s virtually impossible in our society to avoid plastic completely, but a laundry detergent jug is one of the easier ones to leave behind.

What`s one plastic thing in your house that you`ve found hardest to give up?

#GreatPacificGarbagePatch #Microplastics #PlasticPollution #ConsciousLiving #TaurusFullMoon

Ready to explore the deeper connections between our bodies, our environment, and our well-being? Grab your copy of Sacred Psychiatry (link in bio)!

DISCLAIMER: Content shared is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice or establish a doctor-patient relationship. Astrological insights are offered as complementary perspectives, not as diagnostic tools or medical treatment. Always consult with appropriate healthcare providers regarding medical decisions. ...

The sun is easing towards the last degrees of Libra now, and the light is growing thin, and it`s getting dark earlier, and our bodies keenly register the change of season.

This is a good time to start choosing warming foods to include in your diet.

In Ayurveda and Chinese medicine, a spice is called warming not because it`s hot to the touch, but because of its internal effect.
Warming spices increase circulation and send blood to your hands, feet, and core instead of letting it pool, causing congestion.

They light the digestive fire, what Ayurveda calls Agni, so food is actually metabolized and absorbed or eliminated instead of just sitting there.

Warming spices move stagnation, coldness, and stuckness, which is a pattern the body tends to fall into as the days shorten. Herbs and spices are very supportive of intestinal health, which is intimately related to brain health.

I ask my patients to aim to include 30 different plant foods a week in their diet to support a healthy gut microbiome.

Many people tend only to think about produce options to reach that number, but herbs and spices count as well.

A teaspoon of cinnamon on your oatmeal, or a few grinds of pepper over your vegetables are healthy additions.

Our food culture is often so much more focused on macronutrients than adjusting our diets in accordance with the season.

The same advice is typically given 365 days a year, regardless of the weather and length of the days, but your body is still very much attuned to the seasons, whether the culture is or not.

What warming spices are you ready to include as the temperature drops and the nights grow longer?

Ready to embrace seasonal wellness and deepen your connection to your body’s natural rhythms? Grab your copy of Sacred Psychiatry (link in bio)!

#WarmingSpices #SeasonalWellness #GutHealth #AyurvedicLiving #HealthyEating

DISCLAIMER: Content shared is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice or establish a doctor-patient relationship. Astrological insights are offered as complementary perspectives, not as diagnostic tools or medical treatment. Always consult with appropriate healthcare providers. ...

The medicine we need right now might be this forgotten film...

I’ve been thinking a lot about what nourishes our spirits in these divided times, and I keep coming back to a beautiful film from 1999: “The Straight Story,” directed by David Lynch.

Based on a true story, it follows elderly Alvin Straight who, unable to drive and with failing eyesight, embarks on an extraordinary journey - riding his lawnmower from Iowa to Wisconsin to reconcile with his estranged brother after a decade of silence.

What makes this film so healing to watch now? It depicts a world where neighbors help strangers without asking their politics. Where the pace is unhurried. Where the camera lingers lovingly on cornfields and starlit skies, reminding us how our human stories are woven into the fabric of nature and cosmos.

✨ What films have you found healing during challenging times?

Ready to discover more paths to healing and resilience? Grab your copy of Sacred Psychiatry (link in bio) 📚

#sacredpsychiatry #holistichealing #spiritualhealth #holisticpsychiatry ...

Understanding unconscious guilt and the healing power of pine 🌲

Have you ever noticed how some people just can’t seem to let themselves be happy? They finally get what they want, and then something in them sabotages it. It’s as if they can’t tolerate success or joy and always need to spoil it somehow.

Self-sabotage is a symptom - much like fever - and it can have many causes. Today I want to focus on one that’s quite common: unconscious guilt.

Some people who carry unconscious guilt feel deep down they don’t deserve happiness, goodness, or pleasure. These beliefs often take root in childhood, especially in families marked by loss, neglect, abuse, illness, or unhappiness. Children usually imagine whatever is wrong must be their fault.

They grow up feeling responsible for everyone’s pain, believing their best is never good enough. As adults, they may even feel guilty for surviving or thriving when siblings have struggled.

Conventional psychotherapy can help, but another lesser-known modality that can be profoundly healing is flower essences. These subtle infusions of blossoms in water (and a little brandy) were created by Dr. Edward Bach in the 1930s. They carry the flower’s vibrational imprint and can restore emotional and spiritual balance.

My favorite essence for unconscious guilt is Pine. Pine helps those who irrationally blame themselves, apologize constantly, and feel unworthy of love - living with chronic remorse. This state often stems from early conditioning, feeling responsible for others’ distress or believing one’s best is never enough.

Unlike pharmaceuticals that broadly treat depression or anxiety, flower essences address very specific emotional and spiritual states. Up to seven remedies can be combined in one bottle. Usual dosage: two drops on the tongue or in water, four times daily.

Have you used flower essences? What’s been your experience?

Ready to explore more healing modalities? Grab your copy of Sacred Psychiatry (link in bio) 📚

#floweressences #selfsabotage #emotionalhealing #holistichealing #holisticpsychiatry #floweressence #floweressencetherapy #healingjourney #healingyourself ...

Everyone asks about your Sun sign,
But your Asc is who they meet first.

The zodiac sign everyone asks about is your sun. The one that actually decides how a room reads you is your ascendant, also called the rising sign. And some understandably find it difficult to grasp because it is complex. The ascendant is the point on the eastern horizon at the moment of your birth. This point in space has tremendous significance astrologically, even though it`s not a physical body, like the sun, the moon, or the other planets. It marks our personal incarnation and thus partakes of both spirit and matter, heaven and earth. It describes both our personality self and our physical body. It is your front door. It`s who people experience when you walk into a room.

But it`s not only how you are perceived from the outside, but also the lens through which you look out at the world.

Every zodiac sign is ruled by a planet, and the ruler of the ascendant is said to be the captain of your ship, the helmswoman. The ruling planet, its sign, and its house position have a deep meaning for this lifetime.

For instance, my own ascendant is in Sagittarius, and the ruler is Jupiter in Virgo, closely conjunct the moon in Virgo in the 10th house.
Virgo is about holistic healing and service. Jupiter is about teaching, and the 10th house is career and reputation. Jupiter`s proximity to the moon signifies that this work is emotionally nourishing to me.

Do you know who is the ruler of your ascendant?

And does it describe how you experience yourself in the world?

Please share in the comments below.
I`d love to hear from you.

#Astrology #RisingSign #Ascendant #BirthChart #AstrologicalInsights

DISCLAIMER: Content shared is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice or establish a doctor-patient relationship. Astrological insights are offered as complementary perspectives, not as diagnostic tools or medical treatment. Always consult with appropriate healthcare providers regarding medical decisions. ...

Tarot`s Tower always comes before the Star
The hardest experiences are often the ones that open us to something more

In the tarot, the Tower is card 16 and the Star is card 17. That order was set centuries ago and still holds. The card for total collapse sits immediately before the card for renewal.

I did a reading for a woman in her early 70s who had just retired with a full list of plans for the years ahead when she was diagnosed with cancer and went through an aggressive course of treatment. The context I pulled for her was the Tower, the card for when reality, as you knew it, gets shaken at the foundation. No negotiating, no easing in. The focus card, the one that actually showed where she stood inside all of it, was the Star. And that made a lot of sense. Through the whole treatment, she stayed connected to something larger than the diagnosis, and she didn`t let what was happening in her body cut her off from the parts of life that still had beauty in them. The card for what to embrace was the Four of Swords, the rest card. For a woman who had spent her life being useful to everyone around her, that was the hardest instruction in the spread: permission to lie down and to do nothing.

None of this is an accident of card order. The Tower experiences are usually the ones that do the most to grow us. And the Star doesn`t happen instead of the Tower. It happens after it, built on what the Tower took apart.

Tell me, has there been a Tower period in your life, one that actually laid the ground for a Star moment on the other side of it?

Please share in the comments below. I`d love to hear from you.

Ready to explore how life’s most challenging moments can open the door to growth and renewal? Grab your copy of Sacred Psychiatry (link in bio). 📚

#TarotWisdom #TheTowerAndTheStar #TarotReading #PersonalGrowth #HealingJourney

DISCLAIMER: Content shared is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice or establish a doctor-patient relationship. Astrological insights are offered as complementary perspectives, not as diagnostic tools or medical treatment. Always consult with appropriate healthcare providers. ...

Venus backs into Libra on October 25th.
Venus Retrograde 2026: October 3 - Nov 14
Why that makeup drawer and bathroom cabinet is astrologically ripe for a clear-out

Venus retrograde is a time to consider everything she rules, and that includes the makeup drawer and the bathroom cabinet you`ve been avoiding. You know the one. It`s populated with hair products you regret buying because they never worked properly, but you didn`t bother to throw them away.

Venus starts this retrograde in Scorpio on October 3rd. Scorpio doesn`t care about the clutter itself. It cares about what you`re holding onto and why.

Are you keeping that night cream because it was expensive and it makes you feel guilty to throw it away and to acknowledge what a waste of money it was in the first place? Scorpio asks you to reflect on this as you look through your drawers and cabinets.

Then when Venus moves into Libra, the actual choices about what to keep and what to discard can begin. Reorganize your drawer in a way that makes sense, holding on to only what gives you pleasure and what you truly value. You won`t miss any of it. There`ll be a feeling of flow and spaciousness when you open that drawer and it`s filled with things you love and use. There`s a real satisfaction in doing a task like this when the planetary timing is actually supporting it.

So during Venus`s retrograde in Scorpio, before you touch anything, ask yourself why you`re still holding onto what`s in that drawer.
Then once Venus settles back into Libra, go back and actually clear it out.

Are there items you already know you`re keeping for the wrong reason? Tell me in the comments below. I`d love to hear from you.

Ready to explore what Venus retrograde can reveal about what you`re holding onto? Grab your copy of Sacred Psychiatry (link in bio). 📚

#VenusRetrograde #AstrologyInsights #ScorpioSeason #Decluttering #LibraSeason

DISCLAIMER: Content shared is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice or establish a doctor-patient relationship. Astrological insights are offered as complementary perspectives, not as diagnostic tools or medical treatment. ...

The “wince” - that sharp inward flinch that reveals your psychological goldmine

Have you ever remembered something you did long ago that makes you wince? That sharp inward flinch of shame or embarrassment that floods your body in an instant? Maybe it was an insensitive remark, an inappropriate joke, or a thoughtless action that hurt someone or revealed something about yourself you still find hard to face.

It’s natural to want to push these memories away - they’re uncomfortable. Yet they tend to circle back, as though they have unfinished business with us.

Psychoanalytically, the wince is a portal - a rich goldmine of psychological truth, a treasure trove of clues about the early conditioning of our family and culture, and the invisible rules about what was acceptable, lovable, or worthy of belonging.

When we revisit these memories with curiosity instead of judgment, guilt, or shame, they have tremendous teachings to offer. Rather than being haunted by past mistakes, we can harvest their meaning.

The work is to stay with the discomfort and ask:

What is this moment trying to show me about how I developed into who I am today?
What makes it so hard to let go?

Every time you turn a compassionate gaze toward a wince and seek to understand it rather than reject yourself, you reclaim a lost aspect of your wholeness and open the way to greater vitality and authenticity.

Do you resonate with the concept of the wince? What does this bring to mind for you?

Ready to explore more about healing shame? Grab your copy of Sacred Psychiatry (link in bio) 📚

#selfcompassion #psychoanalysis #sacredpsychiatry #healing #innerwisdom #authenticity #holistichealing #holisticpsychiatry​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ ##holisticpsychology #holistichealth #healingshame #innerchild #innerchildwork #innerconfidence ...

70 years. 200k of you. And it`s still not enough.

The chart from my 70th birthday year has Saturn rising. My solar return ascendant sits exactly on my natal Saturn at 29 degrees Scorpio. Saturn is the planet of time, age, and limits, and it`s showing up right at the start of this new year of my life.

And that same week, this Instagram channel reached 200,000 followers.

Both are significant milestones to me.

I was moved by the movie *Nomadland*, starring Frances McDormand as Fern, a widow living on the road in her van. One of Fern`s close friends, Swankie, has a terminal cancer diagnosis. In my favorite scene, Swankie talks about moments from her years of kayaking. White pelicans landing on a lake in Idaho, settling onto the water just a few feet from her kayak. And a cliff full of swallow nests. She rounds a bend and finds hundreds of nests on the rock face with swallows flying all around her. Their reflections in the water made it feel like she`s flying with them. She says something to the effect that this was enough. She`d seen it. Her life felt complete. And she`d be fine dying then.

Turning 70, I feel very differently. I feel like I`m just getting started, and I am in no way ready to go. It`s not that I don`t deeply appreciate all the beauty and wonder I`ve been given. It`s that I love it all so much.

It reminded me of an exchange with my own analyst. In Pittsburgh where I grew up, there was an amusement park called Kennywood. As a child, I adored it. I told my analyst that after spending a day there with my parents, when it was time to go home, I didn`t want to leave and I made a big fuss. This angered my parents who said disapprovingly, “ It’s never enough.” My analyst response was, “ Of course. Why would it be enough?”

Thank you all for your interest in my perspectives. It has astonished me that so many people are interested in what I have to say and participate so actively and meaningfully in the comments.

What`s your Kennywood? The place or thing you`ll never get enough of?

Ready to connect on deeper themes of joy and abundance? Grab your copy of Sacred Psychiatry (link in bio).

#gratitude #Abundance #EmotionalConnection ...