Read more

Well, what can I say… it’s Sunday. We may be feeling emotionally content, but the two latter cards here are saying that our skills of leadership could be better and we may be cutting corners on an important project (tut tut). Slow, steady and methodical wins the race on this day.

Read more

Read more

Read more

Wow, it looks like the gates of heaven are opening for you and you are being thrown little gifts to help in your healing process. Or … for living in general. This is meant to be a magical moment indicating perhaps the repair of ancient sorrows, aka intergenerational healing. You could be healing the relationship of yourself and a parent. A gift could be the coming of a new baby, or the revelation of a secret that will bring you great relief (I bet you sensed something was going on but no one would tell you!). The main message of these cards is to wake up to the reality of the spirit - that we are spirits having a human moment, not

Read more

Looks like you have avoided a major disaster, probably by facing the issue before it exploded. You may also have delayed an inevitable collapse, which should give you some time to strategize and influence future events, to the degree that you can. However, ruin can be great, revitalizing. Try not to hold on to things that were meant to breakdown, as part of life’s trajectory. Sometime things have to be destroyed so that newness can take their place. Or, perhaps the chaotic feeling rests inside you, rather than taking the form of structural collapse in the outside world.

The Tower reversed can also represent picking up the pieces after a massive storm has already passed. Today, I am also choosing a card from Avebury (or Glastonbury?) England. These ones bring a more galactic message. This one, 01, is The Sun - “Ra”. The Sun comes with the message “From a

shielded place of eternal safety - you grow! So congratulations on the growth you are experiencing. It’s not always easy, which is why someone created the term “growing pains.” Growth can come out of accepting some hard realizations. One of the hard ones for me was “my parents and grandparents adore me and think I’m magnificent!…. why doesn’t the rest of the world?” Oh well, we find ways of coping. Even if we show up here on earth with warts, pimples, neuroses (if that’s even a thing) and fears, our spirit self is radiant and divine… always. Earth is a perfect planet upon which to learn and grow… it’s like a cosmic university for everyone. There’s no escaping those lessons, but we can sometimes put them off for a while. This is what the Tower in Reverse signifies at any rate. Take a breath, try to find beauty in the day and then reconvene tomorrow with a plan! And, remember, you don’t have to go through things alone. Call your mates and have fun while getting some support and back-up!

All my relations!

Cathy

Good day! Yes, it’s bound to be a good one. I can always tell by the first cup of coffee and, of course, the cards. The Lovers is one of the most loveable cards in the deck. It an indicate newness, such as a new collaboration, or the rekindling of what was once something stale, into a vibrant, love-filled, perhaps passionate interaction. You see little Cupid in the clouds aiming their arrow at Eve in this picture. Will Cupid just enchant Eve or does Adam get an arrow as well? It’s hard to balance feminism with the traditional relationship. It can make the guys a bit nervous but we’re long past the 60s now. And, we can raise our hands to our non-binary kin who exemplify ways of creating new types of relationships with non-traditional power-sharing and equitable interaction, right?

Read more

Read more

Good day! In this reading we have a line for recent past, present and near future. In the recent past you have moved from pain to clarity. The grief of the past is subsiding as you are no longer distracted by illusions or trickery. Sometimes, when trying to figure out what is actually going on, we can get confused…. especially if we are being gaslit or subjected to someone’s dubious interpretation of events. The upright Wheel of Fortune shows that things are going your way now and you are making clear-headed decisions. The Wands in this reading have helped you get to safety and to protect that new voluptuous space. Now you can sit and chill!

Read more

Read more

Read more

Read more

Read more

Read more

Tansí! Hope you are having a good start to the week. The card that showed up this morning is the Page of Cups in reverse. This card indicates that you (or I) might have made some decisions recently that demonstrated emotional immaturity or the doubting of one’s intuition. Have we been trying to escape reality through fantasy? Have we been trying to process feelings in an unhealthy way?

Read more

I bid you good day! This morning cards have shown up with a message that goes something like this…. “You can turn raw creative potential and active manifestation (The Magician) into a practical, structured reality by learning from established traditions (The Hierophant), mentors or from an establized education systems.” This trifecta indicates mastering a new skill, or new career activity, into the structure of your life.

The Magician brings the power, resources, agency, and yes, the magic, to make this happen. The Hierophant indicates formal teaching, institutions or time-honoured wisdoms. The young Page means a fresh start, a student or grounded steps to success.

I think this reading makes sense since so many people are soon going back to school or an institution of higher learning. Congratulations to you if you are starting your studies, or returning to them, in a more structured way! I too am starting a new course. As indicated by the cards, I already know the content but am formalizing it by getting credentialed. This is what the Hierophant is talking about!!

Overall, the cards are saying this is a great time to start an apprentiship or to entroll in a formal program. Or, perhaps you are bringing your personal talents into a structured work environment. The Magician also reminds us of the magic of your creative spark. When combined with the Hierophant, these two are powerful Major Arcana cards sent to show you that things are happening in the educational realm. The Page can invigorate these two with the energy needed for success.

Phew, what a relief to get past ‘the secret’ and the realigning that was in the cards earlier this week. We’re finally getting somewhere… turning over a new gold leaf.

When I think back on childhood, one of the best parts of this time of year was getting new school clothes. Second to that were those clean-page “Laurentian” school books that would soon be filled with HB pencil markings and important notes, the building blocks of my intellectual future.

Maybe you have a few good memories of going back to school. I hope so!

All my relations!

Cathy

Happy Saturday! It’s the day of Saturn, in western, Roman-origined traditions. Saturday is named after the ancient Roman god of agriculture, time and harvest. This day was named by (who Hannah Gadsby would call…) the men who named all things!

Read more

Read more

-check our banks and investments in relation to where their money goes

-divest our savings and pension plans from terror nations

-protest in the streets or pray quietly in the privacy of our own home

-refuse to mutualize, to use terms like ‘war’ when we mean invasion or genocide

-love

-look others in the eye and acknowledge their pain and suffering, as well as the injustice.

We don’t have to do all these things, but it is good to love. A few weeks ago three children died in the “care” of a Montreal child welfare agency, two of these were suicides. If we look seven generations into the future, seven months or even seven days, how can we create a world where that children would like to stay. There are many paths to disconnection, many of them forced onto young people. There are also many paths back to reconnection and to safety.

We can start by asking children what they want and need. We can create a space for their voices. We can apply the research ethos “Nothing about us without us” to the young ones. If not, aren’t we just colonizing another generation of humans?

All my relations and a heartfelt thank you to Dr. Zeina and to all her work!

Cathy

And here is a link to the Arabic version of the paper “From Lebanon to Canada”. The English pdf is coming soon. https://daraj.media/%D9%85%D9%86-%D9%84%D8%A8%D9%86%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A5%D9%84%D9%89-%D9%83%D9%86%D8%AF%D8%A7-%D9%82%D8%B5%D8%A9-%D8%B7%D9%81%D9%84%D8%A9-%D9%85%D8%AA%D8%A8%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%A9/

A List of Dr. Ismail Allouche’s Publications

Murphy A, England D, Elbarazi I, Horen N, Long T, Ismail-Allouche Z and Arafat C (2024) The long shadow of accumulating adverse childhood experiences on mental health in the United Arab Emirates: implications for policy and practice. Front. Public Health 12:1397012.

doi: 0.3389/fpubh.2024.1397012

Long, T., Murphy, A., Elbarazi, I., Ismail-Allouche, Z., Horen, N., Masuadi, E., Trevithick, C., & Arafat, C. (2024). Prevalence of adverse childhood experiences and their cumulative impact associated lifetime health outcomes in the Emirate of Abu-Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Child Abuse & Neglect, 151, 106734. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2024.106734

Allouche, Z. (2023, February 20). Safe Passage to Salvation: Ethical Principles for Believing Survivors of Sexual Harassment and Assault. Retrieved from https://en.sharikawalaken.media/safe-passage-to-salvation-ethical-principles-for-believing-survivors-of-sexual-harassment-and-assault/

Allouche, Z. (2022). “Child-mothers and illegal adoption; The silenced voices of continuous wars.” In Arab Girls in the Midst of Wars and Conflicts.Bahithat.

Allouche, Z. (2021). The trial of Mansour Labaki; So that our bodies do not be desecrated. Sharika wa Laken.

Retrieved from: https://www.sharikawalaken.media/2021/11/08/

Ismail-Allouche, Zeina (2021). Child Protection Policy in Media. UNICEF and Kafa (Stop Violence Against Women). Beirut, Lebanon.

Retrieved from: https://kafa.org.lb/sites/default/files/2021-12/children_handout_8_artwork.pdf

Richardson, C. K., Aviles-Betel, K., Ismail-Allouche, Z., & Picard, V. (2021). Healing and Rebalancing in the Aftermath of Colonial Violence: An Indigenous-Informed, Response-Based Approach. Genealogy, 5(3), 69. MDPI AG.

Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/genealogy5030069

Boldo, V., Kephart, E., & Allouche, Z. (2021). Vicky Boldo/kisêwâtisiwinyôtin:iskwew (Gentle Wind Woman): From Individual to Intergenerational Healing. Genealogy, 5(2), 37. MDPI AG.

Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/genealogy5020037

Clark, M., Aviles-Betel, K., Richardson, C., & Allouche, Z. (2021). Miskâsowin—Returning to the Body, Remembering What Keeps Us Alive. Genealogy, 5(2), 34. MDPI AG.

Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/genealogy5020034

Allouche, Z. (2020). Rev. of La Couleur de l’Adoption [The Color of Adoption] MANUELLE ALIX-SURPRENANT AND RENAUD VINET-HOULE. Édition Alias, 2018, 163 pp. (Paperback) ISBN: 9782924787373.

Allouche, Z. (April 7, 2020). Warak Enab. Historians Cooking the Past.

Retrieved from: https://sites.google.com/view/cookingthepast/warak-enab

Allouche, Z. (2020). Forced separation and intercountry adoption: The invisible narrative of the war in Lebanon. Confluences Méditerranée, 112(1), 125-139. doi:10.3917/come.112.0125.

Allouche, Z. Similarities between child trafficking and the risks of adoption. The Peace Building in Lebanon News Supplement. (20), 2018.

Retrieved from: https://www.peacebuildingsupplement.org/Articles/lebanon-and-the-repercussions-of-the-syrian-crisis/65/similarities-between-child-trafficking-and-the-ris/en

Fast E, Allouche Z, Boldo V, Drouin-Gagne, M. (2017). “Indigenous youth leaving care in Canada: lessons from our past and present.” In Leaving Care in Emerging Adulthood: International Contributions to Theory, Research and Practice. Oxford Press.

Fast, E. Bertrand, N., Bertrand, S., Mitchell, J., Ismail-Allouche, Z. (2017. Incorporating diverse understandings of Indigenous identity: Towards a broader definition of cultural safety for urban Indigenous youth. AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples. 2017.

Allouche, Z. (2016). The colonialism of care: A critical approach to the Lebanese experience. Legal Agenda.

Retrieved from: http://legal-agenda.com/en/article.php?id=797&folder=articles&lang=en

Allouche, Z. (2015). Illegal adoption in Lebanon: Mechanisms and consequences. Legal Agenda.

Retrieved from http://legal-agenda.com/en/article.php?id=678&folder=articles&lang=en

Allouche, Z. (2014). Betraying Tarek Mallah and children of alternative care: Time for state and care institutions to act. Legal Agenda.

Retrieved from: http://legal-agenda.com/en/article.php?id=3038

Allouche, Z. (2014). No place to call home: Stories of abuse at celebrated Lebanese orphanage. Legal Agenda.

Read more