Hello and welcome to July’s newsletter about protection! Protection is always on my mind, but the last few months of news alerts, executive orders, wars, and political assassinations has kept it a priority.

I’m still donating all profits from my tarot readings to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). I think they do amazing work to protect Americans from threats against our rights.

I’ve been thinking a lot about how to maintain our integrity, connections, and wise minds through it all. In this newsletter, I share a personal spell, a tarot spread to help you balance vulnerability and personal protection, and a no-sew poppet pattern.

On a personal note, activity in my shops and on socials will slow down for July and August as I prepare for my first pop-up shop. I’m going to be sewing up a storm so my table is full of witchy goodies. If you’re near the Twin Cities (MN) on August 23-24, 2025, stop by Moonstone MPLS! You can see my pocket altars, pin charms, poppets, and zines in person.

August and September will be smaller newsletters. Smaller newsletters include:

• Inner Artist reading

• Personal and shop updates

• Coupons to both of my shops

• “In case you missed it” links to things I’ve shared online

This newsletter contains:

• Inner Artist Reading

• Tarot Thoughts and Spreads

• Witch Crafting

• Your Monthly Freebies

• Coupons to both of my shops

• In Case You Missed It

What is an Inner Artist?

Do you have to be an artist to use this reading? Nope! Every single one of us has an Inner Artist. It’s the creative part inside all of us.

Creativity shows up in our lives outside of making arts & crafts. You might be creative in the way you teach, creative in the way you lead, creative in the way you decorate your home, etc.

How can your Inner Artist be creative this month?

For this month, I pulled the Five of Swords.

This card embodies a need to win no matter what the price might be. There are stark shadow and light aspects of this card. This month, balance the shadow and light with your Inner Artist.

Light

The aspects of this card with a positive impact help your Inner Artist to be creatively free and authentic. The light side of selfishness is that you aren’t coming from a place of people-pleasing, or hyperfocus the expectations of others. You are only meeting your own expectations.

In light, this card encourages you to prioritize your Inner Artist and your creative projects. It reminds you that “winning” is about authenticity, not trying to meet other people’s expectations. It’s about fulfilling your own desires instead of comparing yourself to others.

A win for the Five of Swords (in light) might look like a weekend afternoon at a museum to gather inspiration, a day off work spent on a creative project, taking a class to improve your skills, or applying to that craft fair you’ve been scared to reach for.

Shadow

In shadow, this card encourages you to be an “art monster". You set aside everything else to spend time on your creative pursuits. Your life revolves around your Inner Artist and giving them everything they need and want.

When you’re in this mode, you might lose track of time to the point you aren’t nurturing yourself, your home, or your relationships anymore. Everything feels less important than engaging in your creative projects.

When you’re in the shadow side of this card, you’re full of ego and entitlement. Your unchecked ambition steamrolls everything in its path.

Journal Prompts:

Use these journal prompts to dive deep into this reading. If you read tarot, you can also ask your cards these questions!

• How can I prioritize my Inner Artist to reach my goals?

• How can I shed my need to meet the expectations of others?

• What does a creative “win” look like to me?

• In what ways am I feeling entitled to creative success?

• In what ways am I giving up (losing) my creative life?

Words of Power:

• I prioritize my Inner Artist.

• The only expectations I need to meet are my own.

• Every creative act is successful.

• My Inner Artist wants to be seen.

Witchy Ritual:

• Before you sit down to create something, center yourself. Use selenite, smoke, or visualization to cleanse yourself of expectations and limits placed on you and your artistry.

There are many cards in tarot that could be associated with protection - The Emperor, Ten of Pentacles, and Queen of Swords come to mind. But one card, the Nine of Wands, shows us the shadow side of protection.

The Nine of Wands is a card about self-protection, but it’s also about fear. It’s about self-defense and protection to the point we shut people and opportunities out.

When we’re in Nine of Wands moments, we are totally on edge. Everything seems like a possible attack. Everything seems like something we need to protect ourselves from.

To remain open to life, there must be a balance between self-protection and vulnerability. We cannot remain in this hypervigilant state.

This card represents a desire to disconnect, but we’ve shut ourselves off from the outside world. In this state, we think everything is trying to hurt us. We assume the worst: the worst in others, the worst outcome in every situation, even the worst in ourselves. And we worry that we can’t handle what might come our way. Instead of enjoying moments when we’re not under attack, we stay on high alert through it all.

The Nine of Wands is also a reminder that we are resilient. We have gone through a lot, but it hasn’t beaten us down. Use this spread to stay in balance between self-protection and vulnerability.

This month, I’m sharing a protection spell I’ve done for years. This spell, like many of my favorite spells, involves the use of poppets (spell dolls).

I developed this spell because I didn’t want other people’s “spells” to reach me. I cannot control the expectations, desires, jealousies, stories, prayers, and assumptions they have about me. But I also don’t have to accept them. I don’t even have to be available to absorb them.

I initially considered using a Return to Sender spell, but that didn’t feel right. I didn’t want my loved ones or strangers to experience those expectations, jealousies, and assumptions either.

And so, I developed my Reflect and Deflect spell. This spell works as an “invisibility cloak” of sorts. The prayers, spells, expectations, and disappointments might be sent to you, but you, their target, cannot be found. Their intentions cannot land.

It’s protection via obfuscation.

In this spell, you’ll use a poppet. Poppets work through sympathetic magic. In this spell, the poppet represents the person who will be hidden from the intentions of others.

The spell and a free no-sew poppet pattern are available in this month’s freebies (see link below).

Subscribers get access to monthly freebies (including all the freebies from past newsletters).

Subscribers get 20% off both my shops for July 2025. I’m donating all the profits from my tarot readings to the ACLU.

• I shared instructions on how to make a poppet from knitted i-cord on YouTube.

• I shared instructions for making a poppet from tissues on YouTube.

• I shared instructions for using a paper poppet on YouTube.

• I shared another protection spell using a poppet on TikTok.

• I shared a protection spell using art techniques on YouTube.