Jenny Heston

The First Harvest: A Lughnasadh Tarot Spread.

Lughnasadh—celebrated on August 1st in the Northern Hemisphere and February 1st in the Southern Hemisphere—is the first of the year’s three harvest festivals. Also known as Lammas, it is traditionally a time to celebrate the earliest fruits and grains of the season.

Whether you grow your own food, buy it from a farmer down the road or simply revel in the bread, corn, tomatoes, peaches and squash this time of year offers, you are benefiting from an entire cycle of tending, patience and hard work finally coming to fruition.

And that is really what Lughnasadh is about: pausing long enough to notice what is ripening in your life—both literally and energetically.

Every celebration on the Wheel of the Year carries its own psychological and spiritual themes. At Lughnasadh, we are invited into gratitude, abundance, growth and reflection.

This simple four-card tarot spread will help you connect with those energies and explore how you can honour and nurture them in a way that is uniquely suited to where you are right now.

You can do this spread on Lughnasadh itself or anytime during the fortnight before or after it. The Wheel of the Year is generous like that—it does not slam the door at midnight because you were busy, tired or had other things to do.

What You Will Need

You only truly need:

A tarot deck
A notebook or journal
Something to write with

You may also wish to light a candle, burn some incense or sit beside your Lughnasadh altar—if you are feeling fancy and want to bring on the full harvest shenanigans.

Begin With The Empress

Find The Empress in your tarot deck and place her face up in the centre of your reading, as shown in the image.

She will act as your significator, representing your fertile creativity, embodied wisdom and ability to receive and enjoy the abundance you have helped create. She is a reminder that you do not have to keep striving every blinking moment. Sometimes your sacred work is to recognise what is already here.

Now settle yourself. Take a few slow breaths, relax your shoulders and allow your mind to grow quiet.

Invoke the Divine, Spirit or whatever sacred presence you work with in the way that feels most natural to you.

Set the intention to connect deeply with the ancient energies of Lughnasadh. Ask to be shown what would most benefit you to know about your own first harvest.

You might also ask:

What is already ripening in my life?
Where am I being invited to recognise my growth?
What accomplishment or change deserves to be celebrated?
How can I become more open to receiving?
What will help me create a healthier, more abundant relationship with life?

Conjure the feelings of confidence, gratitude and abundance that you long to experience. Try them on like a glorious hat. Imagine that these qualities are already fully present within you.

Breathe deeply.

Let yourself smile.

Then shuffle your cards, stopping when you feel intuitively guided to stop. Cut the deck once or twice, if you wish.

Take the top four cards and lay them face up around The Empress, following the image:

Reflect — to the left
Celebrate — above
Savour — to the right
Manifest — below

Card One: Reflect

Gaze at the first card and allow yourself time to really see it.

This card offers insight into how you have evolved since Lughnasadh last turned on the Wheel. Perhaps you moved through heartbreak, transformation or wild success. Perhaps you experienced all three before breakfast.

Your growth may have been gloriously obvious, or it may have happened so quietly that you barely noticed it at all.

With kindness and self-compassion, allow this card to illuminate something significant about your journey.

Using the card as your lens, write about how you have changed, what you have learned and how your values or priorities have shifted over the past year.

If you become stuck, begin writing without a plan and continue for one full page without stopping or editing. This is a glorious way of reaching the wisdom you carry but didn’t realise you knew.

Card Two: Celebrate

The second card asks you to acknowledge your triumphs.

It may represent a challenge you overcame, a victory you experienced or something you finally dared to begin. Your success might be practical, emotional, creative or spiritual—and it does not need to look impressive to anyone else to be worthy of celebration.

In your journal, list every success you can remember from the past year, both large and small.

Include the visible accomplishments, but don’t forget the quiet ones: a boundary held, a truth spoken, a difficult day survived, a new skill learned or a moment when you chose yourself.

Then brainstorm a few delicious ways to honour what you have achieved. Celebration does not have to be extravagant. It simply has to feel meaningful to you.

Card Three: Savour

As the first harvest festival, Lughnasadh asks us to stop working for one blessed moment and enjoy the sweet fruits of living.

Look at the third card as you take stock of the delightful and precious things already present in your life. It may point directly towards one of your blessings, or it may reveal a pattern preventing you from receiving or enjoying that blessing fully.

You have worked hard in so many areas of your life. What sweet rewards have you earned? What goodness is available to you right now? And are you actually letting yourself enjoy any of it—or are you already charging towards the next thing?

Consider how you can savour life’s sweetness more consciously, not only at Lughnasadh but throughout the year.

Card Four: Manifest

Lughnasadh is a lush and fertile season of natural abundance, making it a potent time to consider what you wish to cultivate next.

The fourth card offers insight into how you can welcome greater prosperity into your life. It may reveal a practical step to take, an obstacle to address, a belief ready to change or a blessing waiting to be received.

As you contemplate its message, remember to consider both sides of the golden coin: the inner and the outer, the spiritual and the practical.

Abundance is not only about money. It can appear as time, energy, friendship, creativity, opportunity, support or a deeper sense of enoughness. But money matters too, so there is no need to become terribly spiritual and pretend otherwise.

Ask yourself:

What is this card inviting me to believe, receive or do so that greater abundance can take root?

Gathering the Reading

When you have explored all four cards, sit back and look at the reading as a whole.

What story do the cards tell together? Is there a repeated symbol, suit, number or feeling? Which card feels affirming? Which one makes you wriggle slightly in your chair?

Finish by writing one clear intention for the coming season:

I recognise what has grown, I celebrate what I have created, and I welcome the harvest still to come.

Then thank your cards, your sacred allies and yourself for showing up.

And please—before racing towards the next seed, goal or glorious idea—take a moment to enjoy what is already in your basket.

Three Glorious Ways to Celebrate Lughnasadh.

Jenny Heston · 3:35 pm ·

Lughnasadh does not require an elaborate altar, a field of rippling wheat or three uninterrupted hours in which nobody needs anything from you.

It can be celebrated through the ordinary, meaningful things that already connect you to the season: practising your craft, gathering with your community and eating food grown close to home.

These three simple practices honour the heart of Lughnasadh—skill, gratitude, community and the quiet work behind every harvest.

A Candle Ritual for Your Craft

Lugh is remembered by the Old Irish title Samildánach, meaning skilled in many arts. He was not celebrated for possessing one perfect talent, but for his willingness to learn, create and continually develop his abilities.

This ritual honours that same creative spirit.

You will need

A candle in a colour that reminds you of the harvest or reflects your intention
A safe candleholder
The materials or tools used for your chosen craft
One uninterrupted hour—or whatever time is realistically available

Choose something you enjoy doing or a skill you would like to develop. You might write a page of your novel, paint outdoors, bake bread, tend your garden, sit at a pottery wheel, knit, carve, practise an instrument or begin learning something completely new.

Light your candle and say:

With this flame, I honour the work no one sees.
With these hands, I practise, learn and grow.
May every small act become part of a harvest
that ripens in its own time.

Then spend the next hour practising your craft.

This is not a test of your talent, and you do not have to create anything dazzling. The magic lives in showing up.

As the candle burns, let it represent all the small and ordinary moments that often go unnoticed. No one applauds the gardener for watering the seeds in May, yet that faithful tending makes the August harvest possible.

Your skills grow in much the same way. Every stitch you sew, every paragraph you write and every lesson you learn becomes part of a future harvest.

When you finish, thank the flame, acknowledge the time and attention you offered your craft, and extinguish the candle safely. Never leave a burning candle unattended.

Visit a Fair or Harvest Festival

If you stepped into an ancient Lughnasadh gathering, you might have encountered competitions, musicians, storytellers, craftspeople, merchants, farmers and neighbours coming together to celebrate the first harvest.

Our modern fairs and harvest festivals may look rather different, but many still carry those same threads: community, craftsmanship, food, play and appreciation for the work that brings the harvest to life.

If you visit one this season, look beyond the rides and food stalls. Cheer for the competitors. Watch local artisans demonstrate their skills. Listen to live music. Admire the prize vegetables—because anyone who manages to grow a courgette the size of a small pony deserves recognition.

Talk with farmers about what they are growing. If it fits your budget, purchase something handmade or locally produced.

Every conversation, word of appreciation and small purchase helps sustain the people whose knowledge, labour and creativity keep local traditions and agriculture alive.

That is a beautiful—and deliciously fun—way to honour the communal spirit of Lughnasadh.

Let the Season Choose Your Meal

For this practice, resist the temptation to plan everything in advance. Instead, visit a farmers’ market, local farm stand or community garden and ask:

What is growing where I live right now?

Wander slowly and notice what late summer has to offer. You might discover fresh blackberries, sweet corn, tomatoes, herbs, peaches, squash or a peculiar-looking vegetable you have never cooked in your life.

Choose one seasonal ingredient that catches your attention and build a meal around it.

Ask the grower how they like to prepare it. Find out where and how it was grown. Try a recipe you have never made before—or simply prepare it in a way that allows its natural flavour to shine.

Before eating, pause and acknowledge everything that brought the food to your table: seed, soil, rain, sunlight, pollinators, human hands, patience and time.

You might say:

With gratitude, I receive this harvest.
May it nourish my body, honour the land
and remind me of the many hands and lives
woven into everything I receive.

Then eat slowly enough to actually taste it.

Eating with the seasons reminds us that food does not simply appear on a grocery-store shelf by magic—although grocery stores are peculiar places of abundance when you really stop to think about them.

Food is planted, tended, protected, ripened and gathered after months of care. By learning what grows where we live, supporting local growers and savouring what the land is offering now, an ordinary meal becomes a small act of seasonal reverence.

That is the heart of Lughnasadh: pausing amid all the striving to recognise the work, receive the harvest and say, with genuine gratitude, Look what has grown.

Coming Home

Jenny Heston · 1:11 pm ·

Gorgeous Soul,

Have you ever had one of those weeks where life seems to keep whispering the very same message, but through completely different voices?

One moment it’s a musical.

The next it’s a football match.

Then it’s a parade.

Then you look up into the night sky and realise the Moon has been whispering it all along.

That was this week for me.

It started with a trip to see Kinky Boots, and oh my giddy aunt… what an extraordinary evening! The music was infectious, the performances were phenomenal and the energy in the theatre had everyone grinning from ear to ear.

Yet underneath all the sequins, sass and spectacular boots lay something much deeper.

The show is inspired by the true story of Steve Pateman, whose family shoe factory was on the brink of bankruptcy. Rather than closing the doors on four generations of family history, he found an unexpected path forward by creating fabulous thigh-high boots for drag artists and transgender women under the wonderfully named “Divine Footwear.“

Who would have thought that a struggling shoe factory could become a story about belonging?

One lyric has stayed with me ever since.

“Accept yourself and you’ll accept others too.”

Such simple words.

Yet perhaps they are some of the bravest words any of us will ever live.

How much of our lives have we spent trying to fit into shoes that were never made for us?

How often have we squeezed ourselves into other people’s expectations, softened our edges, dimmed our light or apologised for the very qualities that make us beautifully unique?

Then Sunday arrived with our glorious Pride Parade.

The streets became awash with colour, music, feathers, laughter and love. People danced without embarrassment. Families cheered from the sidelines. Friends hugged complete strangers. Creativity flowed through every costume and every smile.

What struck me most wasn’t simply the celebration.

It was the feeling.

For a few precious hours, people weren’t trying to become someone acceptable.

They were simply allowing themselves to be seen.

And isn’t that what every human heart longs for?

Not approval.

Belonging.

The freedom to stand in our own skin and know we are enough.

Then came Saturday’s FIFA quarter-final between Norway and the UK.

What a match!

Ninety minutes wasn’t enough. Then came another thirty minutes of extra time before the UK finally prevailed.

But strangely, the score isn’t what I’ll remember.

Before a single ball was kicked, both teams stood together in silence to honour a 25-year-old South African footballer who had recently passed away.

For one quiet moment, competition dissolved. There was only shared humanity.

Then, after giving absolutely everything they had, players from opposing teams embraced one another with genuine warmth and respect. There were hugs. Smiles. Encouragement. No bitterness. No grandstanding. Simply an acknowledgement that someone else’s success never diminishes our own.

As I reflected on the week, all these seemingly separate moments began weaving themselves together.

Authenticity. Compassion. Courage. Belonging. Home.

Then I realised why.

The Cancer New Moon arrives on Tuesday.

She doesn’t come crashing in with fireworks or fanfare. She arrives like the tide—quietly, steadily, almost unnoticed until you realise the shoreline has changed.

Cancer is the Moon’s own sign. She is water, memory, ancestry and belonging.

She is the keeper of the hearth, the guardian of home, the Divine Mother who reminds us that there is extraordinary strength in tenderness.

She is also the shape of you that existed before you became so very good at accommodating everyone else.

Before you learned to make yourself smaller so others would feel more comfortable.

Before you apologised for your sensitivity.

Before you convinced yourself that your intuition wasn’t to be trusted.

Before you forgot what your own heart sounded like.

This New Moon doesn’t ask you to become someone new.

She simply invites you to remember.

To remember the parts of yourself that have always been there, patiently waiting beneath the layers of expectation, responsibility and survival.

Like water, memory has a remarkable way of finding its own path home.

Perhaps that’s why Cancer is such a powerful moon for tending the heart. She encourages us to slow down long enough to hear our intuition whispering beneath all the noise.

She invites us to bless our homes, create sacred spaces, honour our ancestors, work with our dreams, strengthen our emotional boundaries and nourish the people—and the parts of ourselves—that have quietly been asking for a little more love.

This isn’t a moon of striving. It’s a moon of returning.

Returning to your own wisdom. Returning to your own rhythms.

Returning to the version of yourself that existed before the world convinced you that you had to earn your place by accommodating everyone else.

As I look back over this past week, I can’t help but smile.

The theatre reminded me.

Pride reminded me.

Football reminded me.

And now the Moon is reminding me too.

Perhaps the greatest act of courage isn’t becoming someone extraordinary.

Perhaps it’s remembering who you have always been.

So when Tuesday’s New Moon rises, light a candle.

Bless your home. Pull a card. Sit quietly with a cup of tea. Listen to the silence between your thoughts.

Ask yourself, “Where have I abandoned myself in order to belong?”

Then ask an even gentler question.

“What would it feel like to come home?”

Have a beautiful Cancer New Moon, delicious lovely. I highly suggest you try this glorious ritual called The Untying (it’s easy, you have everything you need and it’s power is woosah!)

May your home be filled with peace, your heart with compassion and your spirit with the quiet certainty that you have always belonged—exactly as you are.

The Untying

Jenny Heston · 3:03 pm ·

A Ritual for Releasing What No Longer Needs Your Grip

There comes a moment when we realise we have been holding on for so long that our hands have forgotten what it feels like to rest.

Perhaps you’ve been gripping a relationship long after it changed. A schedule that leaves no room to breathe. Expectations that were never truly yours. Or perhaps you’ve been holding tightly to an older version of yourself simply because she’s familiar.

We clutch because we love. Because we hope. Because we fear what happens if we let go.

But what if letting go isn’t an ending?

What if it’s simply making space for something truer?

This is a ritual of gentle release. There is nothing dramatic here. No grand declarations. No need to force forgiveness or have all the answers.

Just one knot at a time.

You Will Need

A length of natural thread, cord or ribbon
A candle (white for clarity, or any colour that calls to you)
Matches or a lighter
A quiet place where you won’t be disturbed
A small bowl of water (optional, to represent flow and renewal)

The Ritual

Light your candle and take a few slow, easy breaths.

Feel your feet upon the earth. Notice the weight of your body being held.

Take your length of thread or cord and begin tying knots into it.

One knot for each thing you know you’re gripping just a little too tightly.

A person.

A worry.

A plan.

A disappointment.

A version of yourself you’ve been carrying out of habit rather than desire.

There is no right number. Trust your hands.

When you’ve finished, sit quietly with the cord resting in your palms.

Then begin.

Untie one knot.

Slowly.

Without rushing.

You don’t have to name what each knot represents—not even to yourself. You don’t have to explain it. You don’t have to understand what comes next or what will fill the space it leaves behind.

Simply allow your fingers to loosen what your heart has carried.

One knot.

One breath.

One release.

Notice how different the cord feels as each knot disappears.

Notice how different you feel.

When every knot has been untied, hold the now-smooth thread in your hands for a moment.

Whisper softly:

“I release what no longer belongs in my hands. I trust what is finding its way to my heart.”

Sit with the candle for another minute or two.

Allow yourself to simply be.

When you are ready, extinguish the flame with gratitude, knowing that letting go isn’t about losing.

It is about creating room.

Room for peace. Room for possibility.

Room for the woman you are becoming.

Sometimes the hand already knows how to let go.

It has simply been waiting for your permission.

FIFA, Football, Fans & the Full Moon… When the Final Whistle Signals Change.

Jenny Heston · 2:12 pm ·

Isn’t it fascinating how football can take over the whole world?

People who have never met suddenly become united by a colour, a chant, a flag, a team, a hope. Living rooms become stadiums. Snacks become sacred offerings.

Complete strangers hug in celebration, while others dramatically question every referee’s decision as though they themselves have been officiating the beautiful game for decades.

And honestly?

I love it.

Because underneath all the noise, the cheering, the collective holding of breath and the occasional theatrical dive (I’ll let you decide whether I’m talking about football or life), there is something beautifully human happening.

Everyone is waiting for that one moment when everything changes.

One pass.

One decision.

One goal.

One unexpected twist. In the blink of an eye, the entire game shifts.

Life isn’t all that different.

We make plans, settle into our routines and convince ourselves we know where we’re heading. Then, just like that, the whistle blows, the energy changes, and we’re invited to see the field from a completely different perspective.

Which feels wonderfully fitting as we come to the final reading of June.

Can you believe we’re already here?

June has been full of light, Summer Solstice fire, moments of celebration, unexpected lessons and, for many of us, quiet invitations to grow in ways we weren’t expecting. Now the Full Moon rises to cast her silver light across everything we’ve experienced, asking us to pause before we charge headlong into July.

Because that’s what Full Moons do so beautifully.

They illuminate.

They reveal.

They celebrate what has come to fruition while gently asking, “Is there anything you’re still carrying that no longer belongs in your story?“

Sometimes the answer arrives like a bolt of lightning.

Sometimes it arrives as a whisper.

And sometimes it simply settles into your heart with the quiet knowing that something has run its course.

That’s how this reading feels to me.

Not simply because it’s the last reading of June, but because it also marks the end of this chapter of our weekly readings.

If you’ve been journeying with me for a while, you’ll know how much I’ve loved these moments we’ve shared together. Sitting with the cards each week, listening to Spirit, laughing at how astonishingly accurate they can be, and watching so many of you find exactly the message you needed.

But life, much like football, isn’t meant to be played with the same formation forever.

Sometimes the coach changes the strategy.

Sometimes the players move into new positions.

And sometimes the biggest win comes because someone had the courage to trust that change was needed.

That’s where I find myself.

The work is calling me deeper.

There are new ideas quietly waiting in the wings, new ways of serving, teaching and creating that need space to breathe. Rather than continuing simply because it’s familiar, I’m choosing to honour what Spirit has been gently whispering for quite some time now.

It’s time.

Not an ending. An evolution.

So this week’s reading feels like a beautiful threshold.

It carries the excitement of football fans who know that one brilliant moment can change everything, and the ancient wisdom of the Full Moon, reminding us that every ending creates space for something new to be born.

Perhaps that’s your invitation too.

Where in your life are you still playing yesterday’s game?

Where have you outgrown the strategy that once served you so well?

And what might become possible if you trusted yourself enough to step into a new season?

So pour yourself a cuppa, settle into your favourite chair, and join me for this final reading of June.

Let’s honour everything this month has gifted us.

Let’s listen to what the Full Moon wants us to release.

And together, let’s stand on the threshold of July with open hearts, curious souls and the quiet excitement that perhaps the best chapters are still waiting to be written.

After all, Gorgeous Soul…

Sometimes the final whistle isn’t the end of the story. It’s simply the beginning of the next match.

Enough chuntering, let’s crack on with the reading.

Take a moment and pause, ask your wise inner self what is it you need to hear as we close out June. Take a breath and then when you are ready pick the card or cards that resonate.

Did you remember to pick?

Let’s go have a look, shall we?

HEALING

Healing can take many forms, even just through listening – when we feel we’re being heard it can make us feel better, so people who have the ability to listen with love and without judgement are already healers.

Sometimes just being in the presence of someone who is receptive to our thoughts and feelings can help us to feel uplifted and healed.

Do you feel you are able and willing to give this healing?

Hands-on healing is a technique many feel drawn to, and perhaps this is something you, too, wish to explore. Are you in need of healing yourself? Is there something that you are pushing through “because it’s expected?”

It’s important to listen to your body, mind and soul and take time out so it can heal naturally. Make sure you’re getting all of the correct vitamins and nutrients. And remember sleep can also be an amazing healer.

Explore healing therapies that may be new to you, such as aromatherapy, flower essences, hands on healing, art therapy, colour therapy – whatever piques your interest.

Believe and trust that you have the capacity to heal yourself and others. Explore and embrace that piece of yourself and allow it to flow.

HOPE

Hope is the key to the door that can lead you away from any predicament you are in.

No matter how hopeless things may seem, if you look deep inside your heart your spiritual heart wisdom will reveal a glimmer of hope, and this can lead you to a brighter future.

This gorgeous faery reminds us to always tap into hope, because looking for hope and joy and changing your beliefs can literally change your future.

As you can see on the card a rainbow and a dove of peace are shown and they often come together reminding us that anything is possible. Sometimes we just need an extra boost, so the faeries fly in on the wings of a dove to let us know that they’re with you with any difficulties you are experiencing.

Remaining hopeful while those around you are full of doubt and negativity can be extra challenging, but remember that hope comes from deep within our hearts and is an excellent habit to cultivate.

Heart wisdom and hope will see you through whatever is going on for you and those around you right now, so have courage and trust as the Faery of Hope walks hand in hand with peace and miracles.

NATURE’S SIGNS

The faeries love to leave hints and clues for us in nature. It’s one of the many creative ways in which they initiate communication with us.

For example, faeries often leave feathers or release floating dandelion seeds to let us know they’re nearby. The appearance of a friendly bird, such as a robin, is another message that they are close by.

Faeries and other creatures often work together as they’re all in harmony with the Earth, whose wisdom can come in many forms. Just allow yourself to be receptive and use your intuition to decipher any signs that you see.

If possible, sit next to a flowing stream and visualise your cares being resolved and any concerns flowing away. Alternatively, imagine your hopes and wishes flowing towards you, looking out for any significant signs from nature as you do so.

You could also leave your own sign for the faeries next time you’re out in nature, letting them know you wish to connect with them. Leaving a tiny wooden fairy door next to a tree is a sure sign to the fey that you’re a faery friend.

The faeries will pick up on your intentions and help to manifest them. If you don’t have access to a stream, it can be just as effective to visualise the process.

Those are some gorgeous, delicious messages! I’d love to know which card chose you and how it landed in your heart. Did Spirit score the winning goal? Did the Full Moon shine a light on something you’d been quietly avoiding? Or perhaps it simply reminded you that it’s time to change your game plan.

As we blow the final whistle on June and step onto the field of a brand-new month, remember that every ending carries the seed of a new beginning. Celebrate how far you’ve come, be gentle with yourself where you’re still growing, and trust that Spirit is already cheering you on from the sidelines.

Have a stupendous week, delicious lovely. Breathe deeply, celebrate your glorious, gorgeous self, and above all… have fun! Life is infinitely sweeter when we remember to play.

Big hugs, squeezes, moonbeams and bubbles galore!

⚽🌕✨