Why I use Oracle cards, Moon cycle readings, and astrology

It's probably the most ‘woo’ thing I do but over the years it something I’ve used more and more. It started many years ago in my teens when I bought a pack of Tarot cards. I played with them for a while, but quickly tired of them and packed them away.

Then in the last few years that I delved into moon cycles and astrology (you can blame covid for a searching for answers in a world that had gone a little weird).

There was something comforting about looking up at the moon and realising… we’re not meant to feel the same every single day. When it comes to astrology, this wasn’t a quick paragraph in a magazine, but something deeper looking at natal charts.  Again, a search for something – who knows what that search was for.

We can all get a bit stuck, have off days, loose motivation and this became a way to understand why, even a way of acceptance. I think some of this search is because we are bombarded with information more than ever, but frequently it doesn’t feel like what we see on social media it is speaking to you.

Some days we’re energised and full of ideas. Other days we want to retreat, reflect, cry, nap, journal, or simply be left alone with a cup of tea and our thoughts. Yet modern life often expects us to operate like machines — productive, switched on, emotionally steady, endlessly available. No wonder we are overwhelmed.

This is one of the reasons I love working with oracle cards, moon cycles, and astrology. Not because they “tell the future,” but because they invite us back into relationship with ourselves.

They help us pause long enough to ask:

• How am I really feeling?

• What season am I in emotionally?

• What needs attention right now?

It’s a tiny moment of reflection that can change everything. Just selecting a few cards can help to focus the questions.  So rather than providing answers, Oracle cards simply allow an ease of asking the questions.

Oracle Cards are a mirror, not a fortune teller.

People often assume oracle cards are about predicting dramatic events or receiving mystical answers from the universe. But for me, oracle cards work best as reflective tools.

A card can act like a gentle mirror — showing you something you already know deep down but perhaps haven’t admitted to yourself yet.

You pull a card about rest… just as you’ve been pushing yourself too hard.

You pull a card about boundaries… right after saying yes to something you didn’t want to do.

You pull a card about trust… during a moment when fear is trying to run the show.

Today I pulled a card about Purpose – something I'm really feeling right now, asking the question ‘what is my purpose’?

Coincidence? Probably. But what I focus on more is the pause it creates.

Oracle cards encourage intuition. They help us move out of overthinking and back into feeling. And as you must know by now, I'm all about the feels. They create space for curiosity instead of control. Sometimes all we really need is to give ourselves the permission to stop for five minutes and notice.

Using Moon Cycles (isn’t as crazy as you might think)

Considering the moon cycles takes this process to another level.

Naturally, the moon has rhythms and phases — and so do we. The way I explain this to my clients who are ‘doubters’.. the moon has impact on the tidal waves – huge expanses of water, and when you remember the average human body is made up of 60% water (!) it feels like it would be more of a surprise if we weren’t affected by the moon than if we are. 

When we begin paying attention to moon cycles, we often start noticing our own emotional and energetic patterns too. Try it for a few months and see.  You might be surprised at what you see and feel.

The art of reading moon cycles goes back hundreds (thousands) of years.  Used by civilisations in farming, to predict good and bad times, for navigation over sea and land. Today biodynamic gardening is returning as a ‘thing’, a real sense of working with nature.

And another thing, I don’t think its any coincidence that a female menstrual cycle is 28 days, just the same as a moon cycle.

Below I have given you a simple version to start looking into moon cycles. If you want to have the new and full moon reading from my treatment room notice board register here https://bit.ly/OracleMoonGuidance and it will pop into your emails.

New Moon Energy

We consider the new moon to feel quieter, inward, reflective.

It’s a beautiful time for:

• Setting intentions

• Journaling

• Beginning new habits

• Asking yourself what you truly want

• Planting emotional “seeds”

Not in a “new moon manifestation checklist” kind of way.

More in a:

• What am I ready for now?

• What do I want more of in my life?

• What needs to change?

kind of way.

Full Moon Energy

The full moon often illuminates things.

Emotions can feel heightened. Sleep can feel different. Feelings we’ve pushed down sometimes rise to the surface asking to be acknowledged.

Full moons can be powerful for:

• Reflection

• Releasing

• Emotional honesty

• Celebrating progress

• Letting go of what no longer fits

Sometimes a full moon simply shines a light on what we’ve been trying not to see.

And while that can feel challenging and uncomfortable, and it can also be incredibly healing.

Turning to astrology – not the monthly magazine type.

Astrology to Understand Your Natural Wiring

Astrology, at its heart, is a language of patterns and energy.

It’s less about the magazine horoscope saying, “Today you will meet a tall dark stranger,” and more about understanding your natural tendencies, strengths, challenges, and emotional landscape.

Your birth chart can reveal:

• How you process emotions

• What helps you feel safe

• How you respond to stress

• Where you naturally shine

• Why certain patterns keep repeating

• What your soul may be trying to learn

For many women — especially in midlife — astrology can feel validating. It seems to be the time that we search for more meaning in life, questioning why things have happened to us and a search to understand what is to come.

You suddenly realise:

• You’re not “too sensitive”

• You’re not lazy for needing rest

• You’re not failing because your energy fluctuates

• You’re not broken for craving deeper meaning

You’re human. Yeah! Thank goodness for that.

And perhaps you were never meant to fit into rigid systems that ignore natural cycles altogether.

Why These Practices Matter for Wellbeing

In my treatment room, I often see women who are exhausted from constantly overriding themselves.

They’ve become disconnected from:

• their bodies

• their intuition

• their emotions

• their natural rhythms

Practices like oracle cards, moon reflections, journaling, astrology, meditation, and seasonal living gently reconnect us. It’s why the workshops resonate so well as I bring many of these aspects to the events. (You can find the details of the workshops and events here: https://www.radiancetherapy.co.uk/events

Or sign up for all my regular emails where Ill keep you informed as new dates arrive: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/616605/100471662729758256/share )

Not because they solve every problem overnight, but that they help us become more aware.

And awareness is powerful! It’s the first step to knowing your inner self. When you understand your patterns, you can support yourself differently.

You begin noticing:

• when you need rest instead of discipline

• when anxiety is masking intuition

• when you’re emotionally overloaded

• when you’re trying to force instead of flow

• when your nervous system simply needs softness

That’s where healing often begins.

The best bit….You Don’t Have to “Believe” in It Perfectly

One of the biggest misconceptions is that you have to be deeply spiritual or fully immersed in astrology to explore these tools. You really don’t. I pushed against this for a long time. But then I was curious (and probably a bit bored during lockdowns).

The best way to start is keep it simple.

Pull an oracle card and reflect on what it brings up. If it resonates, or make you think, journal your thoughts.

Next, notice how you feel around a full moon.

Read about your birth chart and see what resonates. (I like https://astro.cafeastrology.com/natal.php as it provides a free chart reading and a great starting point)

Journal during the new moon. (if it helps return to the new moon questions above)

Pay attention to your energy through the seasons.

A Final Thought

Perhaps the real beauty of oracle cards, moon cycles, and astrology is this:

They remind us that life is cyclical.

There are seasons for action.

• Seasons for rest.

• Seasons for growth.

• Seasons for release.

And just like the moon, we are allowed to change phase too.

Maybe wellbeing isn’t about becoming perfectly balanced all the time.

Maybe it’s about learning how to honour ourselves through every cycle we move through.

I guess this was why I started working on Seasonal Archetypes (more of that another time).

One of my cards today - asking the question 'what is my purpose?'