If you’re in the DMV/Loudoun County/West Virginia area, I’m launching in-person NEW MOON JOURNAL CIRCLES this September! Come join me for the first one at Studio 101 in Leesburg on Thursday, September 10th, $22. Tarot, journaling, sharing and intention setting in community.

Loved this reading? I do these every Sunday for the week ahead for paid subscribers. Don’t forget, I have a paid subscriber sale going on now through September 22, for 20% off a lifetime subscription, at $5.60 a month or $61.60 a year.

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Welcome to September’s Tarot reading! The theme for September is Open Your Mind to the Truth Around You. With three swords cards, we will definitely be investigating our mind’s desperate attempts to protect us with fear-based thinking or catastrophizing, and we’ll be asked: Can we leave that old way behind? Can we choose new truths, that we’re capable, that we’re surrounded by abundance and care, that everything might just be working out for us? Doing this may feel challenging because this kind of fear-based protective thinking has deep ancestral roots for many of us, but the invitation is here in September: Open your eyes. Don’t let your mind’s automatic thoughts run the show. Choose to see your gifts, light, and worth, all around you.

• Main card for September: Two of Swords (giving yourself time to see and process your thoughts)

• What do our highest selves, guides and the universe want us to most learn during September?: Nine of Swords (working with fear-based thoughts more productively)

• How will September most feel? Nine of Pentacles (self-worth, abundance, our birthrights)

• What is the most aligned action we can be taking in September for our highest good? Judgement (breaking ancestral trauma/curses/patterns)

• A message of support from our highest selves and spirit guides for September: Six of Swords (you can navigate this transition with care)

• September’s animal support card (from Colette Baron Reid’s Animal Spirit Oracle): Turtle spirit (slow and steady wins the race)

PS: If you’re in the DMV/Loudoun County/West Virginia area, I’m launching in-person NEW MOON JOURNAL CIRCLES this September! Come join me for the first one at Studio 101 in Leesburg on Thursday, September 10th, $22. Tarot, journaling, sharing and intention setting in community.

PPS: I’m dreaming and mulling over a brand-new year-long community offering starting in January…my first live course in ages… all about going after one big, hairy, audacious, it’s never-too-late sort of goal. A big old mix of ritual, community, co-working, spirituality, working with the seasons of the year… Stay tuned - I’m going to be sharing more in October about this!

I’m Catherine, author and host of The New Sensitive, a newsletter and podcast where we reclaim our sensitivity as a strength and where I share tips to enhance the spiritual, mental, emotional and physical health of sensitive people. I’m a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, certified life coach, Tarot reader & Feng Shui consultant, and messy human who tries to find the magic in everyday life. If you buy something through my links, I may earn an affiliate commission or have a sponsored relationship with the brand, at no cost to you. I recommend only products I genuinely like and use. This website is intended for educational and entertainment purposes, and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician. You can find me on my website catherinedandrews.com, or @catherineandrews on Instagram. 🧿

I’ve never done this before - never written a book proposal, never written a book, and now, never been through the editing and marketing process with a publisher. Each step is a fascinating experience, a gift of learning each time. I’m grateful for it.

I like to remind folks of a few things, because I identify as a late bloomer, and I always am inspired to hear stories from folks doing things later in life. Maybe you do, too. To wit: I have been writing in one way or another my whole life, but I got my first book deal when I was 45. I wrote my first book when I was 46. My first book will be published when I’m 47. And, universe willing, many other books and projects and experiences to come after that in my 50s and beyond.

I really do believe it’s never too late. It sounds trite, but what else are we meant to do in this lifetime? Believe opportunity and magic have abandoned us by the time we’re 40, 50, or beyond? That the universe has given up on us and our potential? That only 20-and-30-something are allowed entrance into the Club of Dreams Realized? No. I think the invitation is to keep believing in our own becoming. There are still doors to open, ideas to follow, people to meet, wild little plot twists ahead of us that we cannot possibly see from where we are standing now.

We are not late. We are not past our prime. We are not disqualified from wanting more. There is still time to surprise ourselves with what this life can become.

I hope this fervently for all of you, that you are able to realize and live this in the way that feels right and best for you.

Now that this stage of the book process is done and I have a little space, I have been dreaming my next projects or offerings, and I think I may have something around this, co-creating and dreaming and big, beautiful goals, in 2027. I’m thinking pairing manifestation, co-creation, and practical goal taking, with community, accountability, co-working, nature, the wheel of the year, Tarot and Feng Shui, duh, and more….stay tuned…

Anyhoodles… on to 5 on a Friday! Just some random things I’ve been enjoying and using lately. Feel free to leave yours in the comments, too.

• My friend and excellent life coach Katie Seaver talked recently on her podcast about her ‘do nothing’ method of meditation. Essentially she just lies on her floor for 10 minutes and tries to feel into her breath and body. This is also my preferred method of ‘meditation’ except I never thought to call it that. I have struggled with meditation my whole life; I know it’s good for me, it does make me feel better when I can really do it. But, my brain just does not enjoy it, there’s so much resistance, and often the whole process becomes really tortuous. But bolstered by Katie’s take on this on meditation, I’m recommitting to my floor-laying, haha. I tend to put a foam roller or pillows under my knees to elevate them just a bit (I find this relaxes your nervous system even more deeply) and I play this song that I just love, and drift off to la-la land. I don’t sleep, exactly, but if I can do this for 15-20 minutes, I definitely get to that non-rest-deep-sleep/yoga nidra sort of place, which feels amazing.

• My morning routine consists of me, after making a variety of herbal tonics or warm waters, going outside to journal in my yard, and as the weather turns, I’m gonna start doing it in and then living 50% of my days in this robe I have had FOREVER. For some reason it is from Restoration HARDWARE? of all places? I have no idea where I got it from, maybe a gift from my parents? It is soft and plush and cozy and basically is my wardrobe during winter.

• This little $8 gua sha tool has been so useful for me. I use it to massage my scalp but also as a little acupressure tool for spots on my legs I like to massage at night.

• I’m gonna try to make Souptember a thing in September. It’s a thing, right? I think so. Basically make and eat as much soup as possible. I am gonna try this recipe that Emily Henderson touted a while back next week. Also, in the realm of recipes, every summer we go to Lafayette, Indiana, near where my husband grew up, and we stop by Scones & Doilies, this amazing bakery. We’re both gluten free and while most of their stuff is not GF, they do have these UNBELIEVABLE GF buckwheat chocolate chip cookies that we binge on every time. I’m gonna try this recipe to recreate them this weekend, wish me luck. Anyways, if you have fave soup recipes, drop them in the comments! I’d love to do a roundup.

• I got ’s American Fantasy from the library last week and really just enjoyed it. It’s about a recently divorced 50-year-old woman who sort of mistakenly ends up alone on a cruise for a famous boy band from the 90s, and talks about what both she and one of the boy band members are going through. Lots of remembrance of that sort of intense fandom that so many of us had when we were teens, but then gets beaten out of us, plus plenty of reflections on parasocial relationships, fame, aging, and more. Great read. I read it a few years ago but I also remember enjoying her book This Time Tomorrow, a time-travel novel where a 40-year-old woman wakes up back in 1996 on her 16th birthday.

• Lastly, as we get into the cooler weather I’ll be hauling out my PEMF mat from under the couch, turning on the heating function, and laying on this every evening. It is THE most relaxing thing I own and in the winter I guaranteed fall asleep on it every single night while reading and then snort myself awake and drag myself to the bedroom.

And don’t forget, I have a paid subscriber sale going on now through September 22, for 20% off a lifetime subscription, at $5.60 a month or $61.60 a year.

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Here are some essays paid subscribers have recently received…

• 6 nourishing drinks I make on repeat for energy, immunity, and beauty

• The bedtime ritual I do instead of scrolling my phone that helps me fall asleep *and* manifest

• How I travel when I’m in luteal and want to remain a person

• My step-by-step Feng Shui process for every life uplevel

Coming up? Posts on how to ward and protect your home; how to do the Bean Protocol; the archetype identity process I use for change; and much more. Plus, Tarot forecasts every weekend! ALL THIS FOR LESS THAN A MATCHA, FOLKS!

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Here’s to a lovely weekend, and hopefully a big sigh of relief as we move past this wild eclipse season!

xo

Catherine

PS: If you’re in the DMV/Loudoun County/West Virginia area, I’m launching in-person NEW MOON JOURNAL CIRCLES this September! Come join me for the first one at Studio 101 in Leesburg on Thursday, September 10th, $22. Tarot, journaling, sharing and intention setting in community.

I’m Catherine, author and host of The New Sensitive, a newsletter and podcast where we reclaim our sensitivity as a strength and where I share tips to enhance the spiritual, mental, emotional and physical health of sensitive people. I’m a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, certified life coach, Tarot reader & Feng Shui consultant, and messy human who tries to find the magic in everyday life. If you buy something through my links, I may earn an affiliate commission or have a sponsored relationship with the brand, at no cost to you. I recommend only products I genuinely like and use. This website is intended for educational and entertainment purposes, and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician. You can find me on my website catherinedandrews.com, or @catherineandrews on Instagram. 🧿

Don’t forget, I have a paid subscriber sale going on now through September 22, for 20% off a lifetime subscription, at $5.60 a month or $61.60 a year.

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Recently I was hanging out with a group of people who were about 10-15 years younger than I am. This is a relatively common experience for me these past few years, as my boyfriend is 12 years younger than I am and I’m often around his (wonderful) group of friends.

As he and his friends round 30, I’ve noticed an uptick in their conversations and laments about aging, and it was something I saw very strongly in this most recent hang. These folks didn’t know me that well and I suspect they didn’t realize my age (42) because there was a lot of bemoaning about your 40s being so old (lol) and how they were dreading getting to that age because being nearly 30 was already so hard and awful.

I don’t pass judgment on these sorts of comments because I remember very clearly being there myself, particularly in the late 20s/early 30s part of my life. There really is something about entering your 30s that can have you questioning a lot of where you’re going in your life and if things are unfolding in the direction you desire. It’s hard not to compare yourself to others at this age juncture, personally and professionally (everybody is either getting married or having kids or buying homes or getting promotions and if you find yourself without those mile markers it can make you feel even more adrift and insecure).

There was also something about being that age that felt like, logically, I knew I would eventually one day be in my 40s, 50s, and beyond, but I couldn’t totally comprehend it or picture myself being those ages.

These days, that’s gone. I can fully see (universe willing) what I will be like in my 50s, 60s and beyond, which feels good. Solid. Grounded. I know where I am, and where I am going.

This recent experience with these late 20-somethings, plus all the responses I received on writing about aging shifts from this past Sunday Soother, had me pondering aging a bit more thoughtfully as a concept. I really couldn’t stop thinking about it as I looked at these incredible, smart, kind, beautiful people (mostly women) who were berating themselves harshly for the ways in which they already perceived themselves to be aging (mostly looks and body wise) and remembering myself doing the same at that time of my life.

As it usually does, nature provided insight and the proper metaphor for me as I was walking around thinking on this topic. I came across an incredible grove of mature trees, and this thought popped into my head:

The grown oak tree doesn’t spend its days wishing it were an acorn.

(At least I assume it doesn’t. I suppose it’s presumptuous for me to assume what trees are thinking, since it is clear by now that they have their own consciousness, but let’s just roll with this.)

The grown oak tree doesn’t spend its days wishing it were an acorn or a young sapling. And yet, here we are in a society where we are all aging into being incredible oak trees, with wisdom, substance, growth, roots, and yet all we can do is wish we were this smaller thing with its potential yet unrealized because it has a smoother surface and takes up less space.

It’s frustrating, and it’s quite clear to me what the costs of living in a society where we literally wish we were more immature are:

• We dismiss the wisdom and the value of our elders.

• We forget we are cyclical and lean into the myth of only linear progress.

• We see the next generations coming up behind as threats to our being, instead of part of the natural cycle of the world and humanity and instead of nurturing and supporting them as they grow beyond where we could have dreamed or reached, we resent or throttle them.

• The bloom of beauty is prioritized over the deepening and the strength of the root, but the root is what is more important to our health.

• We ignore other waning and waxing natural cycles (moon, nature, seasons, our periods) and dismiss them as irrelevant and try to stay in one season forever, suffering the consequences instead of accepting our cyclical reality.

• We extract endlessly because we forget about regeneration and natural cycles of birth, growth, death and rebirth.

• We actively stunt ourselves. We are always trying to grow backwards, leading not only to attempts to physically stunt ourselves but emotionally, too.

The emotional stunting, especially for women, is one I’ve been thinking a lot about lately especially as I wind down my mastermind for highly sensitive women, Soothe. I’ve started to see that program (and my own growth at the same time) as a transition for the women in it to go from the immature feminine to the mature feminine.

The immature feminine is the one I see many of us women stuck in, most often unconsciously and not due to any fault of our own, but due to the interest of the patriarchy in trapping us there. The immature feminine is, essentially, timid little girl energy: uncertainty, anxiety, low self-worth, second guessing, not owning decisions, judging others and gossiping, giving away our power to external sources. The mature feminine, on the other hand, is groundedness, wisdom, personal agency, ownership, responsibility, joy, a solidness in who we are and our choices.

Another way of thinking of this is the progress marked in many neo-pagan traditions as the progress of Maiden to Mother to Crone. Maiden is the immature feminine; the youth; the young girl, youthfulness, enthusiasm, new ideas. Mother energy is that of fertility, fulfillment, abundance, growth, maturity, steadiness, knowledge. Mother energy is not necessarily about having children, but more about this passage into maturity from the Maiden. Finally, there is the Crone, the keeper of wisdom and ritual and tradition and death.

When we spend our days wishing we were still the acorn, that’s when we can know we are stuck in a Maiden stage emotionally well past when we have biologically and physically shifted into Mother or Crone.

I know how hard it is to age, especially as a woman, in this society, under patriarchy and capitalism, systems so deeply invested in having us believe it is better to be the tiny acorn rather than the enormous, massive, gnarled, life-giving, powerful oak tree.

But today, I invite you to ponder: Where in your life are you wishing you were the acorn or the sapling instead of loving the oak tree you have become, are becoming?

Instead of looking in the mirror and bemoaning your grooves, wishing they would revert to a hard and shiny surface, where can you count each as wisdom one from the years, earned life lessons and holders of infinite energy?

Instead of trying to take up as little physical space as possible, where can you stretch bigger, larger, higher into the sky?

Instead of timidly apologizing, where can you deepen your roots unapologetically into who you are and what you believe?

Instead of taking actions to stunt and trap yourself in your season of youth or immaturity, where can you steady yourself as you grow into a deepening season of age and wisdom?

We all like to pay lip service to the fact that aging is a privilege, but so very few of us treat it like the honor it truly is. I am not there yet, myself; I still spend a large percentage of my days wishing I was my acorn self, and I don’t judge anybody who does the same.

But like the oak tree, I am shifting. I am growing. I am deepening my roots and I am beginning to embrace my expansion upwards into the sky, outwards into my environment, and downwards into the roots of my land and community and body.

And little by little, day by day, leaf by leaf, branch by branch, groove by groove, and season by season, I will continue to grow.

And this time, I won’t wish for what is happening and unfolding to be any different from what is.

Join me, won’t you?

xo

Catherine

PS: If you’re in the DMV/Loudoun County/West Virginia area, I’m launching in-person NEW MOON JOURNAL CIRCLES this September! Come join me for the first one at Studio 101 in Leesburg on Thursday, September 10th, $22. Tarot, journaling, sharing and intention setting in community.

I’m Catherine, author and host of The New Sensitive, a newsletter and podcast where we reclaim our sensitivity as a strength and where I share tips to enhance the spiritual, mental, emotional and physical health of sensitive people. I’m a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, certified life coach, Tarot reader & Feng Shui consultant, and messy human who tries to find the magic in everyday life. If you buy something through my links, I may earn an affiliate commission or have a sponsored relationship with the brand, at no cost to you. I recommend only products I genuinely like and use. This website is intended for educational and entertainment purposes, and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician. You can find me on my website catherinedandrews.com, or @catherineandrews on Instagram. 🧿

Hey there, beautiful sensitive ones! I have a big big post brewing — an exhaustive, comprehensive list and guide to all the holistic and nutrition-based health and beauty hacks I use as a woman rounding 47 in perimenopause and become my best crone self. I do hate the word ‘hacks’ but it kind of best encompasses the energy of the tips and guide I’ll be sharing. And it won’t be standard basic stuff like “DRINK MOAR WATER and stay hydrated, ladies!!!” or “Get better sleep!!! And 10k steps!” Like, no shit. My tips are way more granular and, dare I say, rather unique to the space. I can’t wait to write this one up, I think it will be really fun and useful.

That said, this week is the last before the first draft of Tarot for People-Pleasers and Perfectionists: How to Use the Cards to Make Better Decisions, Set Boundaries, and Finally Trust Yourself is due to my editor. So the energy is all going into final edits, re-reads, scans, etc, whatnot to finish that. If all goes well, I’ll turn it in on the partial lunar eclipse and full moon this Friday, which really feels like a release and a culmination, an ending, and a moving on into the next chapter of whatever this wild life ride has for me. (Especially because I turned in the proposal of the book to the contest I’d end up winning on a Virgo new Moon in 2025.)

But I don’t want to leave you hanging without a fresh new post this week, especially since we have so many new paid subscribers thanks to the Virgo season sale that’s going on here for 20% off. This is a paid subscriber sale going on now through September 22, for 20% off a lifetime subscription, at $5.60 a month or $61.60 a year.

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So I’m going to take out a section of what I was going to write in my crone’s beauty hack guide and share it today instead: the nourishing health and beauty tonics I make every week and drink instead of coffee.

As a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner and wellness junkie who has a very sensitive nervous system and tends to run super high stress already, who continually is trying to escape the grasp of caffeine and coffee (10 days into my latest full caffeine detox…) I found one of the keys to not drinking caffeine is to have a bevy of other interesting drinks to focus on, be making, and always have in your hands.

I also see (and have experienced) that highly sensitive people really overall struggle with digestion and low stomach acid, due to stress and regularly being in fight-or-flight. It can be harder for us to absorb nutrients from food since we’re not the best digestors, and so one of the ways we can get better nourishment is through thoughtful, mineral-rich drinks. (We usually have tanked and fried adrenals too, due to stress as well. And do you know what organ starts to take over for the ovaries in perimenopause? The adrenals. So they need to be in pretty good shape, so a lot of these drinks are geared towards that.)

So! Below I’ll give you SIX recipes (and how/where to source the ingredients) for…

• My daily vitamin C immune and beauty tonic tea

• My homemade electrolyte recipe

• My fall warming latte that acts as a coffee replacement

• My nourishing nighttime tonic for better sleep

• My better-than-bone-broth drink

• My fave adrenal cocktail

None of these are super complicated and the ingredients should be available in local stores, local health stores, or easily online (and I’ll share where I source, too).

So ready to have a slew of fun new drinks in your hand this late summer and early fall? Let’s go!

PS: If you’re in the DMV/Loudoun County/West Virginia area, I’m launching in-person NEW MOON JOURNAL CIRCLES this September! Come join me for the first one at Studio 101 in Leesburg on Thursday, September 10th, $22. Tarot, journaling, sharing and intention setting in community.

Read more

What I can do? Pull you a couple of Tarot cards. I’m returning and recovering from hosting my first-ever Tarot retreat in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Maryland this weekend. I love love love hosting and teaching but the space holding required to do a multi-day retreat (not to mention have your eyes and mind on food, group dynamics, etc, all the space holding stuff - though I had the BEST helper in Megan, and truly, the best group of women, as always) meant that by the time I got home Sunday afternoon I just didn’t have the energy to record a Tarot reading.

I’m not gonna leave you hanging during the last week of this eclipse season, though! I asked the cards, what card is most important to focus on, learn from, and understand this eclipse season, and I pulled two that came out together (this often happens; I get it, Tarot is like, you want me to try to tell you EVERYTHING I have to know in ONE CARD?)

Below, I’ll share my take and intuitive reading on the two cards I pulled, and while they are two cards of very different energies, they share a similar message: How can you use your mind, words and thoughts to celebrate yourself, rather than cut yourself down?

Don’t forget, I have a big sale going on right now to become a paid subscriber! You can get weekly Tarot readings and essays around intuition, spirituality and wellness for the highly sensitive person like this for $5.60 right now if you become a monthly paid subscriber right here (cancel anytime) or $61 for a whole year. The sale ends Sept 22.

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Later this week I’ll also have a post all about my favorite nourishing beauty and health tonics and recipes that I make and drink almost daily instead of coffee, so if that’s your jam, sign on up!

Below I’ll share the intuitive message from these cards; share a variety of journal prompts you can use; and one exercise that always makes my clients cringe that I love recommending because if you do do it, it can really change things around for you.

PS: If you’re in the DMV/Loudoun County/West Virginia area, I’m launching in-person NEW MOON JOURNAL CIRCLES this September! Come join me for the first one at Studio 101 in Leesburg on Thursday, September 10th, $22. Tarot, journaling, sharing and intention setting in community.

Read more

Don’t forget, I have a paid subscriber sale going on now through September 22, for 20% off a lifetime subscription, at $5.60 a month or $61.60 a year.

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Happy Sunday, Soothers. August and early September are kind of... weird months. Is anybody else feeling it? I sometimes call this period of late summer/before fall the “Persephone Months”; I think of it as the exhale after the summer solstice, all the light in the evenings, and the turn towards the inner, as we (in the Northern Hemisphere right now, anyways) point our inner compasses down into the steps leading us to winter, as Persephone did after spending her six months above the underworld in the blooms and harvest of earth.

There’s an in-betweenness, a liminality; are we to try to grasp the last shreds of summer light, or start lighting our pumpkin candles? Are we to begin pining for summer festivities or get excited about all the hygge coming our way? Are we to try to embody a carefree summer attitude or get all of our notebooks out and get into full back-to-school mode?

I was gratified to learn recently from one of my favorite writers, , that there is an official name for this time of year in the Chinese calendar:

The fifth season. Long Summer.

Suler writes,

“In the Chinese calendar there is an extra season that blooms between the spaces of late summer and autumn. Long Summer, as it’s called, is a liminal season— one that lasts the small handspan of time between the ending of August and the equinox arrival of fall. A time marked by the fire of late-blooming pineapple sage and copper-headed sunflowers. Fuchsias, gold and grain coming into their ripeness. Traditionally, Long Summer was a time of embracing lush stillness, that quiet that comes with the last breath of heat, the calm that precedes the filling cool of Fall.

Within every big movement is a more subtle cycle, and in this transitional season we enter into the Earth element. A time of butter-light and the bone deep need for rest, this short season of in-between asks us to re-root in our foundations before the sweep of fall. It is a sacred pause for integration. An invitation to come back into a state of balance after the hubbub of summer, and find a place of peaceful neutrality before the waning of autumn begins.”

Ahh. This naming landed with a deep resonance in my bones of understanding. That’s why this season can feel so complex, so bittersweet, so liminal. It is in the in between. A pause. A time for reflection and integration.

Luckily, if you’re feeling this in-betweenness of the fifth season, of Late Summer, as well, you’re in the right place. Because creating rituals and moments of reflection for the in between spaces is kind of my jam.

So, below, consider these suggestions for how to mark this time of the fifth season, before we go officially into the colder months.

• Create a summer to fall nature altar: One of my favorite activities of late has been to go around collecting fallen nature items (seeds, acorns, leaves, petals) and putting them into a pretty little arrangement on my altar. One way you can ritualize this more officially is to create a summer to fall altar display, or even a nature summer to fall mandala, if you have the space and time (instructions on that here). Can you trim some flowers or branches from your yard? Can you begin to find those leaves that are turning golden and falling already? And can you arrange it all as a testament to the natural shift of nature that is taking place so beautifully in this time, no matter where you are?

• Write a goodbye to summer, hello to fall letter. I am a huge proponent of letter writing as ritual and for personal growth. Take this time to say goodbye and thank you to summer. What happened, what are you grateful for, what growth occurred for you in that season? Then turn your eyes towards autumn and say hello. What are you looking forward to about fall, about this season? What do you hope to do or accomplish?

• Journal using this prompt: What have you harvested in summer, and what are you prepared to shed for fall?

• Pick a tree best friend and give it a fall offering. I do this with so many trees; I visit my favorites seasonally. In summer, spring, fall and winter, I watch how they shift and unfold and that reminds me of all the cyclical events taking place within me, too. Find a tree or two in your neighborhood you really love and commit to visiting it this week; visit it again on the fall equinox (September 22); and then again on the winter solstice — and maybe even once a week. Consider preparing an offering for the tree. It could really be just a single flower, a piece of fruit, a pretty rock, a letter written on biodegradable paper that you can bury by the tree. Tobacco is a traditional indigenous offering, even beer or spirits (just poured out a little) can work, as long as you do it with reverence and intention.

• Ask yourself, what are you digesting? What are 10 things, lessons, topics, ideas, experiences, you might still be digesting from summer? Borrowing from a ritual created by writer and coach Rachael Maddox, start each line with, “I am digesting….” And go from there. Afterwards, you may want to lie down for 5-10 minutes or do child’s pose, or a physical pose that might literally help you digest, as if you had just had a big meal, or take a nap. This will help you emotionally digest, too!

We were talking about this topic in my Slack community, and here are a few ideas from me and other community members on this topic that you could use for your own inspiration...

• I wrote: I wanted to share a little ritual I did to make the transition and leaving of our cottage in Indiana easier... 1. The night before we left we stood on the dock and told the house and the land/river 3 things each we were grateful for it. 2. I gathered a bunch of nature items and made a little nature mandala on the shore 3. I left an offering for the house too (a bunch of coins we had been gathering, tucked in a secret place) 4. cried a lot lol

• Anne Marie shared: I love the idea of a ritual at the end of a vacation. Thanks for that inspiration @Catherine Andrews (she/her) ! This time of year is always really hard for me. August and September make me itchy in my soul. It’s a highly uncomfortable transition season for me. And I used to just endure and suffer through it but in the past couple of years I’ve been doing little things to soften it. This year I’m trying to be more intentional about morning altars (https://www.instagram.com/morningaltars/) and it’s been soothing to see that as August wanes my little collection of offerings looks more autumnal. The Cherry Blossom trees (my emotional support tree) have already gone yellow and it definitely soothed some of the soul itch over the past weekend.

• Andrea wrote: Wow — this is so helpful for me. I’ve been confused as to why I’ve been in a funk this week, and I assumed it has to do with everything being all “summer’s over!” Living in Minnesota, summer is EVERYTHING. I’m not ready for it to be over. My soul is definitely feeling itchy — you nailed it, Anne Marie . I just might start an altar to collect summer things — spent dahlia blooms and other flowers, a cicada shell if I can find one (I love their constant song this time of year), and other nature things. Maybe I’ll tell my garden everything I love about it the next time I’m out there harvesting tomatoes and peppers. Maybe I’ll savor mowing the lawn instead of thinking of it as a chore…

So beautiful. So, may these ritual ideas inspire you in these Persephone months, this fifth season, this Long Summer, or use them in a mish-mash to intuitively make your own.

Most of all, let yourself feel the liminality of this season, which can feel a bit unsettling, a bit floaty, a bit strange. Then turn to ways to ground yourself, anchor your soul, and turn away from the sun light, into the candle light of fall.

xo

Catherine

PS: If you’re in the DMV/Loudoun County/West Virginia area, I’m launching in-person NEW MOON JOURNAL CIRCLES this September! Come join me for the first one at Studio 101 in Leesburg on Thursday, September 10th, $22. Tarot, journaling, sharing and intention setting in community.

I’m Catherine, author and host of The New Sensitive, a newsletter and podcast where we reclaim our sensitivity as a strength and where I share tips to enhance the spiritual, mental, emotional and physical health of sensitive people. I’m a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, certified life coach, Tarot reader & Feng Shui consultant, and messy human who tries to find the magic in everyday life. If you buy something through my links, I may earn an affiliate commission or have a sponsored relationship with the brand, at no cost to you. I recommend only products I genuinely like and use. This website is intended for educational and entertainment purposes, and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician. You can find me on my website catherinedandrews.com, or @catherineandrews on Instagram. 🧿

Hello dear sensitive ones! A little bit ago, I jumped into the New Sensitive paid subscriber chat (are you there yet? I often do free mini Tarot readings there…and more).

And I asked readers what they most wanted to hear from me next, from a laundry list of nearly 10 ideas I have had floating around.

The one that got the most vote? This very post you’re reading here. And I understand why.

We’re all exhausted of having our phones in our beds, scrolling ourselves to sleep, we know it’s bad for us, and we want out, but we’re not sure how to stop and change to something else. It seems impossible. At least, it did for me.

Since I’ve had an iPhone in my grubby little hands (ugh, like FIFTEEN YEARS AGO), I’ve used it as a soothing visual pacifier/turn brain off plz tool of sorts to help me fall asleep. There’ve been years where my phone has come into the bedroom with me every single night, despite all the accumulating science of just how very bad it is for both your physical and mental health.

But it’s not just your physical and mental health that your phone is stealing from you. When I started to understand the power of the subconscious especially for manifesting things you want to happen in your life, and how the moments you drift off to sleep are a powerful portal for using your subconscious for manifestation, that I really started to question my phone use, and decide to try to shift to something else.

To be totally honest, I’ve never been great at sticking to something simply because I know it is “good for me.” But if you tell me I should do something because it will improve my ability to manifest/co-create… my ears perk up.

Anyways, overall, between my increased understanding of circadian science, blue light’s impact on your health, how scrolling (even seemingly passive, silly, low-stakes scrolling) keeps you stuck in fight-or-flight and disrupts your nervous system and the moments-before-sleep-manifestation potential, these days, my phone is OUT of my bedroom, 99% of the time. (Sometimes, when I’ve been super overstimulated, socializing late, up late, or returning home late from travel, I will still scroll myself to sleep and I accept that as my pacifier that I need every once in a while.)

So. If you don’t have a phone to scroll yourself to sleep… what do you do then??

This post is about what I do.

I have a particular routine I work on, in my mind, that both helps me fall asleep and do manifestation and energy clearing practices.

First. In order to understand why this period before falling asleep is so important to manifestation, you need to know a bit about the hypnagogic state.

The hypnagogic state is that kinda dreamy window between waking and sleep. I think it’s one of the most interesting and best times to practice manifestation. As you fall asleep, your brain is moving away from the alert, analytical activity of waking consciousness and into slower rhythms associated with sleep, with alpha activity giving way to increasingly slower activity as you enter the first stages of sleep.

You might have experienced this time before because it’s that fleeting space when people can experience vivid imagery, strange associations, fleeting scenes, sounds, thoughts, etc that feel as though they’re coming from somewhere other than the conscious mind. Have you ever felt you’ve heard voices whispering or seen images during this time? That’s the hypnagogic state. In other words, you’re not quite in your everyday thinking mind anymore. You’re in this liminal space where imagination and unconscious material can become much more prominent.

That’s part of why this state has such an interesting connection to manifestation: rather than sitting there trying to intellectually convince yourself that something will happen, you can use those few minutes to imagine it, feel it, and experience it internally before allowing yourself to drift off.

Old timey manifestation/self-help teacher Napoleon Hill (his book, Outwitting the Devil: The Secret to Freedom and Success, while kind of cheesy, is still I think is a must-read around mindset) was essentially talking about a version of this when he wrote about autosuggestion: deliberately feeding a thought, desire, or mental image into the subconscious through repetition and feeling. He believed that the subconscious was particularly responsive to thoughts that were emotionally charged, and that what you repeatedly impressed upon it could influence the way you moved through the world.

We now obviously have much more nuanced ways of understanding the brain than Hill did, but I love the basic idea: what you give your attention to in those final moments before sleep matters. So instead of filling that liminal space with the endless novelty of your phone, you can give your mind a ritual to focus on for manifestation and co-creation.

We’ll talk about that below.

I’ll also talk about…

• My exact circadian rhythm to help set the stage for better sleep

• My best, most potent Feng Shui tips for a truly restful bedroom that helps with quality sleep

• The energy clearing routine I start off with

• What I do to manifest in the moments right before I fall asleep

• Other tools and specific resources I’ve used while sleeping/overnight to help with manifestation that have been extremely effective

This post is for you if you’re into manifestation, energy work, Feng Shui, better sleep, or any combination of the above. And it’s especially for you if you’re tired of getting into bed with every intention of going to sleep and somehow finding yourself 47 minutes deep into someone else’s TikTok.

If you’re a little spiritually curious, a little science-curious, and interested in using your everyday routines to create a life that feels better, I think you’ll like this one.

Don’t forget, I have a big sale going on right now to become a paid subscriber! You can get all this for $5.60 right now if you become a monthly paid subscriber right here (cancel anytime) or $61 for a whole year. The sale ends Sept 22.

Get 20% off the New Sensitive forever

Paid subscribers get round-ups, how-to guides and behind-the-scenes stories of my life, health and biz, every week, as well as weekly Tarot forecasts, regular chat Q&A features, mini-Tarot and Feng Shui readings, community, and lots more.

If you’re a highly sensitive person who is spiritually curious, science-and-health-minded, and interested in tools, tips and real stories to help improve your overall life… come on in, the water’s fine.

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Alright, let’s get into it! If you want to sleep better and you like the idea of using your subconscious mind to help create what you want, get ready to dive in. I’m going to walk you through the exact ritual I use in those few minutes before sleep, including the sleep, Feng Shui, energy clearing, and manifestation practices I’ve folded into it….

PS - I’m hosting an in-person New Moon Journal Circle in Leesburg, VA, Thursday, Sept 10 at 7pmET! I’ll be doing a Tarot reading and leading you through journal prompts, intention setting and community sharing. $22, tix here.

Read more

Hi friends! Happy Friday! I hope you are hanging in there for eclipse season. I have a ton of resources on my Instagram to help you through. Here they are:

• A Tarot reading about the Leo solar eclipse

• 22 journal prompts to help you navigate eclipse season

• Your guide to using Feng Shui to navigate eclipse season

• A Tarot spread to help your nervous system during eclipse season

I also have gone through a TOTAL health rollercoaster this summer, that I talk about in this reel. Anybody else??

Also, before we dive in, I want to flag that there is a giveaway at the end of this post for all subscribers (free and paid)!! So read on to enter. All you gotta do is leave a comment.

So first, the most fun news is that the draft of my book, Tarot for People-Pleasers and Perfectionists: How to Use the Cards to Make Decisions, Set Better Boundaries, and Finally Trust Yourself, has been in the hands a few beta readers (THANK YOU!!!) this past couple of weeks. And the feedback has been really, REALLY nice:

• The book is truly incredible, Catherine. It’s everything I hoped it would be after learning from you for the last year and so much more. I’ve never seen anything like it and I think it’s going to rock the whole Tarot and people pleaser population. I have a huge email draft going with all my thoughts and notes and will be sure to answer your questions below directly. I’ve also been using the book as a tarot reference for daily pulls and some spreads I’ve done and it’s awesome, so I’ll include notes from those as well.

• I just wanted to jump on here and tell you as I was doing my first read through of your book I read it as someone who would use it and I am having such fun. I had let my Tarot practice go by the wayside the last few months and this brought the joy back into it for me.

• This book is SO, SO good. I had to refrain from commenting on everything I loved, all the things I related to, and insights I thought were brilliant; otherwise I would have weighed down the whole comments section with my enthusiasm. I love the way you combine client and personal stories to make everything so relatable and relevant to our modern lives. Especially during the first part of the book through the major arcana, everything just flowed. I often forgot that I was supposed to be reviewing and making critiques because it was all so well written and FUNNY. I love the humor throughout. I can’t wait to get the published book in my hands. I already know this will become my most dog-eared tarot reference of all time. Thanks for entrusting me to read it in this beta form.

When we were driving back from Indiana my husband AJ (who’s also a writer) somehow got some AI voice program to read the text of my book and he listened to a couple of hours of it with me and even HE said he enjoyed it! He doesn’t read or use or “believe in” Tarot but he still said it completely captured his attention.

The book is due to my editor at the end of August and it won’t be out published in the world until December 2027 which truly feels too far away. I can’t wait for you all to have it in your grubby little hands!

That said, at my Tarot retreat August 21-23 in Maryland, I am going to be reading lots of excerpts from the book, so if you want to join us… head here! 3 spots left!

Ready to deepen into Tarot as a tool to help clarity, boundaries, and decision making in your life? Plus, learn to read for others?! All in a like-minded community where you can share and explore your spirituality in a safe and non-judgmental space? Then come join Catherine for a weekend Tarot & journaling retreat in the Blue Ridge Mountains this August! All details here, just a few spots left.

Giveaway details

As I have studied and read Tarot for the past ten years, and of course as I’ve been writing my book, I’ve been grateful for the many other books and authors and scholars that I’ve learned from and been inspired by. I have so many fave Tarot books, maybe one day I’ll put together a full list, but a great book I do love is Tarot for Change: Using the Cards for Self-Care, Acceptance, and Growth, by . It’s a very helpful framing of the cards through psychological framework for mindfulness and a therapeutic and personal growth lens.

I gave away a copy of the book I had a couple of years ago, and recently was like, I need to re-order! So I did. And then, oops, I forgot I re-ordered it. So when I was in Castle Brooks Spiritual Supply in Lafayette last week, I bought ANOTHER copy. Then the online copy I had ordered arrived. Ack! Now I have two copies!

Well, what better opportunity for a giveaway? And I decided to add on a few things… So, for five readers, I’ll be giving you one of the below…

• A copy of Tarot for Change

• A fancy crystal I have lying around (I have too many crystals, and need to give away some)

• And for three readers, I’ll give away 3 YEAR-LONG paid subscriptions to the New Sensitive

To enter to win one of these, just leave a comment below! If you are already a paid subscriber but want to win the crystal or book, just leave a note that you’re already a paid subscriber and I’ll enter you for just those.

I’ll pick winners at random by Monday, August 17 and mail or give you your gifts by the end of the month.

Don’t forget, I have a big 20% lifetime off deal going on for paid subscribers now anyways, too!

Get 20% off forever

Okay, let’s get into the 5 on a Friday… a mishmash of things I am enjoying, consuming, and want to recommend….

1. CLOTHING! We have our Italy retreat coming up SO soon. When Missy and I hosted our retreat last year in Bali, I turned up wearing all of my old yoga clothes and she turned up, wearing lovely, thoughtful clothes and looking like an actual retreat leader (beautiful, classy, gorgeous, like the wonderful soul she is). I was like… hrrm, oh. Maybe I could dress up a little bit for the Italy retreat? I really rarely buy new clothes. This is part because I prefer to thrift; part I just don’t buy that many clothes; part because I mostly exclusively operate in Troll Mode these days; and a lot because I have been in a 7-year-clothing-identity-black-hole where I just wear sweats at home and if I need to dress up for a call I’ll wear one of my old office blouses on top. But I have felt like I’ve lost a sense of style for sure since COVID. Anyways I decided, for the first time ever, I ordered a few pieces from Quince. I got this linen skirt & top (in the white & blue floral) set, these barrel jeans, and this long-line vest. I also went to Old Navy and got a few things; this fit and flare dress; this peplum tank top; this cute matching PJ set; and this linen maxi dress. Mixed with a few other thrifted items and some older stuff from my closet (and a few shoes, including these Old Navy fisherman sandals I already own), I am feeling much more ready and polished to host this retreat! (I have tried on and really like all these pieces I linked. I am about 5’9, 150 pounds, and tend to wear anywhere between a 4 and a 12, because sizing numbers are made up.)

2. Travel cosmetic bag: I also wanted to up my packing and airplane travel game just a bit. I am a big believer that dressing the way you want to be perceived, or the way your future ideal self would dress, is a top tier manifestation technique. Also, I am aiming to pack in a carry-on for this trip because I have a nightmare of none of my nice retreat clothes showing up to Italy and I have to teach repeatedly in a set of Walmart sweats that smell like plane. (Also when we went to Italy for our honeymoon I packed a big bag and dragging it around on the trains was a huge pain.) So first off, I got this travel cosmetics bag that I saw Helene in Between recommend. I used it in Indiana and I can confirm, it weirdly fits a lot! I also decided I wanted a somewhat chic but extremely comfortable plane outfit, so I got these sleektech athleisure pants from Old Navy, and this half-zip bounce fleece pullover. In terms of packing - I’m torn between getting packing cubes, or using the roll method (or both??). I’ll also try to incorporate this Cup of Jo packing tip. If you have any packing genius methods, do leave them in the comments. I’m a person who gets HUGELY overstimulated and overwhelmed when trying to pack (and then I end up grossly overpacking), so if you have found any ADHD calming packing methods, let me know!!

3. For my face: I’ve really been enjoying this cheap drugstore moisturizer. That’s it, that’s the whole rec.

4. Stew: I posted this on Instagram but I recently made the chickpea tumeric coconut stew that was so incredibly popular like 10 years ago and it’s still really good!

5. Morning drink: I am ONCE AGAIN detoxing from caffeine (ugh) and I needed to make myself a little mug of something special to replace the coffee. It’s hard to quit coffee unless you make up a drink you look forward to just as much. I heat up blend goat’s milk, a little bit of cacao, some raw honey, some collagen (lately I’m just using whatever Trader Joe’s sells), and one of the many powder coffee alternatives from local-to-me and awesome herbalist Cree Catlett. She has a ton of great stuff on that page, I can endorse all of it. I’ve been getting served IG ads for Sips Herbal, too; haven’t tried it yet but hope to soon!

Oh, and a bonus 6th thing! I’m hosting IN PERSON NEW MOON JOURNAL CIRCLES for the rest of the year in Leesburg, VA! Come for community, a Tarot reading from me, custom journal prompts and reflection, and teachings about the new moon and sharing with other women. Just $22, the first one is Thursday, Sept. 10 at 7pmET, get tix here.

PS, for paid subscribers, I recently posted all of my upcoming content ideas and am asking you to weigh in on what you want to see me write about next in the Substack chat!

Don’t forget to enter the giveaway below, all you have to do is leave a comment! You could leave me a comment on a recipe you love to make in the fall (I’m looking for soups and stews); your fave packing methods; any good books you’ve devoured recently; how your eclipse season is going, or anything else. I’d love to hear from you. I hope you are well.

xo

Catherine

PS! Ready to deepen into Tarot as a tool to help clarity, boundaries, and decision making in your life? Plus, learn to read for others?! All in a like-minded community where you can share and explore your spirituality in a safe and non-judgmental space? Then come join me for a weekend Tarot & journaling retreat in the Blue Ridge Mountains August 21-23! All details here, just a few spots left.

I’m Catherine, author and host of The New Sensitive, a newsletter and podcast where we reclaim our sensitivity as a strength and where I share tips to enhance the spiritual, mental, emotional and physical health of sensitive people. I’m a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, certified life coach, Tarot reader & Feng Shui consultant, and messy human who tries to find the magic in everyday life. If you buy something through my links, I may earn an affiliate commission or have a sponsored relationship with the brand, at no cost to you. I recommend only products I genuinely like and use. This website is intended for educational and entertainment purposes, and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician. You can find me on my website catherinedandrews.com, or @catherineandrews on Instagram. 🧿

Don’t forget, I have a paid subscriber sale going on now through September 22, for 20% off a lifetime subscription, at $5.60 a month or $61.60 a year.

Get 20% off forever

Happy Sunday, friends. Four months ago I wrote a blog post about creating a list of 16 magical things to do this summer. How am I doing on that list? Let’s take a look.

“Make ice cream from fresh fruit”: Check. I picked up a lovely boatload of strawberries from the farmers market, churned them away with cream and sugar, and had some delightful ice cream. That same evening, though, I left my apartment with my friend to go to a party and... left the ice cream on the counter and DIDN’T REALIZE IT TIL THE NEXT MORNING. Adios, strawberry ice cream, we barely knew ye.

“Swim in a body of water that’s not a pool”: Check. During my five-day silent retreat, I snuck away during one of the scheduled meditation sessions and wound my way down to the Rapidan River, where the center provided tubes for you to float on. I tubed my way down to a flat rock, dipped myself in the water, and set out to dry. Five minutes later, I heard rustling on the banks and the large dark movements of... something large and dark. “BEAR!” my mind flashed, not really understanding that we don’t get like, grizzlies or anything in Virginia, and there was no need to panic. So I launched my body, like an Orca aiming after a seal, on to the tube and paddled frantically away. As I looked back at my predator-to-be, I saw on the bank a small black cow chewing cud and staring confusedly at my thrashing.

“Catch fireflies with my niece and nephew”: Let’s give this one a semi-check. Halfway through the summer, it dawned on me that they’re not quite old enough to stay up past when it actually gets dusky in the summer, so, therefore, no fireflies. Instead, I took my two-person tent, brought it to the basement of my parents’ home, and told them we were going “camping.” I insisted on making them s’mores that night too, in my parents’ firepit, the use of which my mom is apparently convinced is going to start the Great Eastern Seaboard Wildfire. While I roasted marshmallows on sticks and my niece and nephew screamed at me that I was getting it wrong by letting them catch on fire, my mother nervously stood by with a hose and a bucket and put out the fire 10 minutes after it started. I ended the night getting them to go to bed by watching YouTube videos in the tent. Sigh.

“Get a tattoo”: I’ve false-started this one about 17 times. I’m nervous. It hasn’t been helped that I had a dream a few weeks ago that I went to the most prominent tattoo artist in the country, who started tattooing me without talking to me, but because she was so proficient in her field I assumed she had my design and she knew what she was doing. When she stopped, I sat up to find she had tattooed onto and around the whole of my left calf, the American flag. There was much dream screaming to be had.

All this to say, the list is going... okay.

And as imperfect as the items above have been, I certainly wouldn’t trade them.

I got a couple great bowls of strawberry ice cream that I made with my own hands.

I won’t soon forget the peace and silence of floating entirely alone on a river with the bend of trees up ahead.

My niece and nephew were eventually enraptured with their first s’mores, and the tent may as well have been a magical castle to them.

My tattoo? Well, we’ll see about that one. I’m working on it.

And I’ve also managed to kayak, camp under the stars, eat softserve ice cream, go berry picking, seen some blockbuster movies on opening night, and more.

It hasn’t been a perfect summer of wonder, but it’s been more than good enough.

May yours be, too.

xo

Catherine

PS! Ready to deepen into Tarot as a tool to help clarity, boundaries, and decision making in your life? Plus, learn to read for others?! All in a like-minded community where you can share and explore your spirituality in a safe and non-judgmental space? Then come join me for a weekend Tarot & journaling retreat in the Blue Ridge Mountains August 21-23! All details here, just a few spots left.

I’m Catherine, author and host of The New Sensitive, a newsletter and podcast where we reclaim our sensitivity as a strength and where I share tips to enhance the spiritual, mental, emotional and physical health of sensitive people. I’m a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, certified life coach, Tarot reader & Feng Shui consultant, and messy human who tries to find the magic in everyday life. If you buy something through my links, I may earn an affiliate commission or have a sponsored relationship with the brand, at no cost to you. I recommend only products I genuinely like and use. This website is intended for educational and entertainment purposes, and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician. You can find me on my website catherinedandrews.com, or @catherineandrews on Instagram. 🧿

Hello dear sensitive ones! As I noted in my post about how to use Feng Shui to uplevel your life and welcome in your next identity, we’ve been traveling in Indiana. We actually first camped for three days in our pop-up camper in central Pennsylvania with some friends, then drove to northwest Indiana. We’re on our way back as I write this. Phew. Gonna need a hard reset on my health and habits when we make it back home, as I do every year.

I like to travel, but it is also very, very hard on me, my body and my nervous system. I am not somebody that finds a lot of calm in travel, and it can be really dysregulating and super disruptive to my habits.

For some reason, in particular, I always struggle with this disruption most when we come to Indiana. (I think she is always trying to teach me lessons of better devotion to my health through the excess that happens here; she did inspire me to get sober from alcohol years ago after all… but the spiral lessons continue.) Whatever the reason: all my rituals and ways of nourishing myself fly out the window (except my sobriety, which is just about at the 3-year mark! I hope to write more about that soon). The combination of lots of socialization, later nights, the eating and drinking culture here, stress from long drives and more makes it a place where I just… do not stick to the routines that support me. I find myself pounding caffeine, eating tons of sugar, eating fried foods, out late, not sleeping well, etc etc.

I also almost always seem to be in Indiana when I’m in the late luteal cycle of my period, which exacerbates everything. I’ve struggled with PMDD (Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder, an intense version of PMS - frankly the word intense doesn’t really encompass it - it’s quite bad, and you have my sympathy if you also struggle with it) my whole cycling life, with it significantly worsening in my mid-to-late-30s before I realized I was in perimenopause. This caused me to overhaul so much of my life so that these days, when I’m on point, at age 46, I barely experience any physical or mental health symptoms (from PMDD/PMS or perimenopause - it can be done).

(Psst - I’m going to write a post soon called My lifelong poor mental health and mood swings were significantly affected by my body and diet. Here’s how I changed it all - make sure you’re a paid subscriber to get it when it comes out, and enjoy this 20% off sale - especially if you’ve ever struggled with the awful PMDD mood swings that threaten to blow up your life every month the 7-14 days before your period, which is what was happening with me. I overhauled my life, health and diet because it was either THAT, or be in a cycle of burning down my life and every relationship in it once a month.)

Get 20% off the New Sensitive forever

You can get the subscription monthly, or annually. Monthly, the discount makes this $5.60/month (LESS THAN A MATCHA THESE DAYS!!!) or $61.60 for a full year.

However, my mental and physical health - well, did you ever watch Parks and Rec? Do you remember the episode when everyone is getting the flu, and Chris Traeger (Rob Lowe) freaks out, because while he’s a total health nut, he says his body is like a microchip?

That’s kind of like me and my mental/physical health. When it’s good, it’s very very good, but when a grain of sand (stress from long travel, caffeine, one night of poor sleep, one sugary breakfast, too much socializing…) gets in…

…it’s bad. It is a VERY delicate balance. And in Indiana, often… the balance ain’t there.

This is just life to a certain extent. I’ve never felt that wellness or my health is a level of perfection to be achieved and rigidly stuck to forever and ever. Sometimes, shit is gonna suck and I’m going to revert to old coping habits and I’ll have a temporary struggle. But these days I know and I trust I can find my way back.

That said, these days, after 7 years of experiencing this struggle in Indiana, these days I come a teensy bit more prepared with hacks — easy things that are simple to stay on top that really help, particularly when I’m in luteal and PMDD is rearing its head. I’ve accepted that things aren’t going to be perfect while we’re here; I’ll likely have caffeine, sugar, be exhausted from the travel/socialization - but it doesn’t have to be all or nothing. I don’t have to go into total dysregulated collapse, and I also don’t have to stick perfectly to every single thing that supports me. I can take a middle road and still support myself somewhat in easier ways.

Below, I’ll share…

• The supplements I extra rely on when traveling in late luteal

• The over-the-counter medicine that is a godsend when traveling in luteal

• The ‘bare minimum’ self care rituals I stick to when traveling

• The things I will NEVER do while traveling

• The short meditation I try to listen to every night before bed that helps clear my energy

• How exactly I get back on track after travel disruptions to my routine

• The one rule I always stick to in luteal that has honestly saved me more times than I can count (a true lifesaver)

• And more

(Oh wait! First! Interested in retreating with me? I have a weekend Tarot retreat coming up in August in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Maryland, about an hour outside of DC, Aug 21-23, a few spaces left!)

This post is for you if you struggle with collapse, stress and dysregulation while traveling and you need a compassionate, middle-of-the-road approach that’s not black or white that can help you some, while still accepting and acknowledging things won’t be “perfect” while traveling and life is gonna life.

You can get all this for $5.60 right now if you become a monthly paid subscriber right here (cancel anytime). The sale ends Sept 22.

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I’ll have lots more posts coming up since I’m close to done with the first draft of my Tarot book and can devote myself back to writing here much more frequently. I’m going to write on the exact processes I used to call in deeper female friendships; exactly how you can use Feng Shui to find love (platonic or romantic); everything I do to navigate (so far) perimenopause; and lots more. I also have a few community challenges (where we go deep into a particular topic with homework and accountability) planned for this fall.

In short, we’re about to get really lit around here, so if you’re into practical spirituality and accessible, grounded wellness and mindset practices from a certified life coach and Nutritional Therapy Practitioner that work, get on in and take advantage of this 20% off sale until Sept. 22:

Get 20% off the New Sensitive forever

Okay, so first things first:

#1: These few things are the *only * things I MAKE myself stick to when traveling, NO MATTER WHAT:

Read more

Hi dear sensitive ones! We have so many new subscribers, and new paid subscribers here as well, thanks to my New Sensitive 20% off lifetime sale that’s going on!

Get 20% off forever

I also created a powerful ritual guide to the Lion’s Gate Portal (I really think you can do this at any time in August… or whenever, really) and my guide to using Feng Shui for massive identity up levels and growth.

One benefit that paid subscribers get every week is a Tarot forecast for the week ahead. Each Sunday, I do a Tarot reading that tells you the most potent energies of the week ahead, how to take advantage of them, an aligned action to best take for your highest good, and a mini Tarot reading for your personal Q, too. (I also often do mini Tarot readings for paid subscribers’ individual questions in the Substack chat feature, as well as mini Feng Shui consultations.)

I don’t meant to toot my own horn, but I work HARD to provide good value for paid subscribers. Tons of practical, grounded, guides to using spirituality in your life, as well as wellness (I actually will have one out this week called Everything I travel with when I’m in luteal and need to retain some basic level of non-insanity — all about things I travel with and how I stay semi-regulated while traveling, and how I recover afterwards).

When you become a paid subscriber here, you’re also not just paying for extra personal essays (which are awesome; I subscribe and pay for plenty of Substacks that have excellent personal essays and writing that I’m happy to pay for). But it’s different ‘round here. What I mostly create are comprehensive HOW-TO GUIDES to improve your life, from a certified life coach, Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, Tarot reader, certified Feng Shui consultant, and somebody who’s been working with highly sensitive people for nearly a decade (and living in a highly sensitive body, mind and soul her whole life).

When you sign up it’s like getting access to all of that in your pocket, as well as regular accountability challenges, conversations and community. See: my exact guide to the exact new moon rituals I do every month; how I turn my home into a vision board using Feng Shui every single year; a very personal biz take, I had my worst business year ever in 2025. Here’s what I learned. Etc and so forth. I spill all the tea and we get precise. No gatekeeping. I share it all, the good, the bad, the rituals, my exact processes.

So, get on into the sale! It’s $5.60 a month for all this good content, or $61 for an entire year.

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Let’s dive on in to this week’s Tarot forecast. It’s a potent mix of swords and pentacles — meaning, we’re really being called to pay attention to our automatic thoughts, and how we take care of our bodies so we can HAVE more supportive thoughts.

(That also reminds me, I have at least two community challenges planned for this fall that relate to this topic. One is my signature approach to mindset work for sensitive nervous systems [no it’s not JournalSpeak!] and the second… I think I’m gonna go there… a 14-day challenge to QUIT CAFFEINE!! These relate because I find caffeine really fucks up your thoughts because it’s so activating to sensitive nervous systems, and I have a procedure I rely on when I’m getting it out of my life.)

Want in on those types of community challenges and accountability? You know the drill, become a paid subscriber.

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Now onto the Tarot…it’s a juicy one this week (but honestly, is it ever not?)

Also, I share FIVE brand-new excerpts from my upcoming Tarot book in this week’s reading, Tarot for People-Pleasers: How to Use the Cards to Make Better Decisions, Set Boundaries, and Finally Trust Yourself.

(Oh wait! First! Interested in retreating with me? I have a weekend Tarot retreat coming up in August in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Maryland, about an hour outside of DC, Aug 21-23, just three spots left!)

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Happy Friday, dear ones! If you’re at all even a little terminally online in spiritual spaces like I am, you can’t escape mention of the 8/8 Lion’s Gate Portal. This is apparently a powerful astrological time that runs from late July to mid-August every year, peaking on August 8 (8/8, the numerology is strong in this one - and that date is this Saturday, aka tomorrow).

I am NOT an astrologer and I really don’t know much about the details of this particular moment in time. I’ve read that it describes when the sun is in Leo and the star Sirius (known to some as the ‘spiritual sun’) aligns with Earth.

What exactly does this mean? Why exactly is it potent and powerful?

Pffft if I know.

What I DO know, is that when a belief starts to collectively shape around a date, whether or not that date is truly actually astrologically potent or otherwise, the energy of millions of people BELIEVING it is, is its own kind of strength.

Yes, I’m essentially saying that there exists a sort of astrological placebo effect. And so I do believe in taking advantage of these events to do rituals or vision-setting for ways you want to change your life for the better, for more alignment.

Why not supercharge those things with this astrological placebo affect? Your subconscious will be extra on board, and I bet a lot of it - well, it might shift things in beautiful ways for you.

I really believe in ritual and being intentional. When you choose to act in a ritual manner, you are essentially giving yourself permission to actually make your desired changes and intentions more serious, with more weight. Research on rituals has found that they can help reduce anxiety, increase feelings of control, even improve performance (yay?). There’s something about taking an internal desire and giving it a physical action, a container, that can make it feel more real to us. You’re not just thinking, “I want my life to change.” You’re lighting the candle, writing the intention, clearing the space, saying the words out loud.

You’re giving your brain a very clear signal: this matters to me. I am choosing this.

And I love that for us.

And while I am super woo, I am also super grounded and practical. I don’t believe in fluff ritual that you never follow up on with action. Yes, I believe in the power of the universe to meet you with your desires. But I believe that energy is ten-fold when you step forward to meet the universe halfway with bold, brave action you take in the real world.

So below for paid subscribers, I created an effective, practical, and actually doable Lion’s Gate ritual for you to do this weekend (or, really, anytime in August. Don’t stress about getting it exactly right on August 8. No perfectionism here!).

It includes…

• A revealing Lion’s Gate Portal Tarot spread

• A short, easy reflection exercise that will help you realize and decide what you actually do want to change in your life during this time

• The journaling prompt I use anytime I want to uplevel and change my life in big ways

• A homework assignment to do in August in real life

• And a fun little ritual to make this all feel a little more doable and a little less stressful, like you have to DO so many things to change your life all by yourself!

This post is for you if you’ve been feeling like something in your life is ready to change, but you’re not quite sure what, or where to start. You want a little structure, a little magic, and some practical steps to help you actually move toward the version of your life you’ve been wanting.

You can get all this for $5.60 right now if you become a monthly paid subscriber right here (cancel anytime). The sale ends Sept 22.

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I’ll have lots more posts coming up since I’m close to done with the first draft of my Tarot book and can devote myself back to writing here much more frequently. I’m going to write on the exact processes I used to call in deeper female friendships; exactly how you can use Feng Shui to find love (platonic or romantic); everything I do to navigate (a so-far-HRT-free) perimenopause; and lots more. I also have a few community challenges (where we go deep into a particular topic with homework and accountability) planned for this fall.

In short, we’re about to get really lit around here, so if you’re into practical spirituality and accessible, grounded wellness and mindset practices from a certified life coach and Nutritional Therapy Practitioner that work, get on in and take advantage of this 20% off sale:

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A powerful, doable and fun Lion’s Gate ritual for about $5? Yes please.

Okay, so first things first… this Tarot spread! I just did it to test it out and I LOVED IT. It was freaking bonkers and a hugely important message for my change and evolution. And very sassy, as it always is. I’ll share what I got below….

And PS - the most important part of this ritual is the one at the end.

(Oh wait! First! Interested in retreating with me? I have a weekend Tarot retreat coming up in August in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Maryland, about an hour outside of DC, Aug 21-23, a few spaces left!)

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Hi everybody! I write to you from one of my favorite places on earth in… northwest Indiana? Yup, every year for the past seven years (since 2020 COVID summer) we’ve made an annual pilgrimage of sorts to a little cottage on the banks of the Tippecanoe River. This is the part of Indiana where my husband grew up, and I’m so glad the random vicissitudes of life have brought me here.

My plans aren’t grand; just wake up every morning to see sunrise and the river and the herons and eagles; take long walks; see AJ’s family; grill food; go to the Lafayette farmer’s market, which I really love; maybe float in a tube down the river, etc etc, enjoy life and the sweetness of summer as it starts to turn towards fall. I “make” AJ pull cards (he actually enjoys) it at the start of each of our trips, and for this one we pulled the Ace of Pentacles as well as Hummingbird from the Medicine Cards deck (a long-time fave). The Ace of Pentacles featured prominently in my Tarot forecast for August; it’s about planting seeds for a new vision of life, of work, of habits, and the Hummingbird meaning was all about joy and beauty. Sounds good to me.

I’ve got a bit of time to ease into this energy too; my first draft of my book, Tarot for People-Pleasers and Perfectionists: How to Use the Cards to Make Better Decisions, Set Boundaries, and Finally Trust Yourself is in the hands of a few beta readers until late next week. While I’ve been working hard on the draft the past couple of months, I’ve generally been ignoring this Substack, and I apologize. I had grand, GRAND plans for writing here in 2026, and like so much year of the Fire Horse energy that just seems to have fizzled out… I just… didn’t. Of course, much of my writing energy had to go to the book, so it’s all well and good, that’s life, you have to direct your energy towards specific priorities. But now that the first draft of the book is done (and of course there will be plenty more edits to come) I feel that I have more spaciousness and want to really re-commit to writing weekly here.

And I have lots of ideas! I’ve made a return to daily JournalSpeak the past couple of months and one thing I feel it’s doing for me is really allowing creative ideas to flow in, fast and furious. I’ve also been doing Morning Pages, too (yes, I am journaling twice a day most days, for about 40 minutes total) and so the idea flow feels really unstoppable. Some of the posts you can look forward to this fall:

• My weirdest manifesting tips that work

• How to ward and protect your home from negative people and energy

• The exact crone beauty and wellness hacks that are getting me into my late 40s

• Everything I do to try to prevent breast cancer as somebody who has a 60% chance of getting it

• The bedtime ritual I do instead of scrolling my phone that clears my energy and helps me manifest

• My lifelong poor mental health was significantly affected by my body and diet. Here’s how I changed it

• Using archetypes to change behavior (and figuring out which archetype phase you are in)

And lots more! You can expect my signature mix of practical wellness and spirituality, grounded and accessible, but tuned into the energetic world to really help you create the life of your dreams. All explained clearly, step by step, using real examples from my own life and showing you exactly the HOW of how I do it all. (I hate spiritual posts that are like, “Do a new moon ritual!” and I’m like… “BUT HOW?” And so my posts are always geared towards really full, specific explainers; see this one that has performed really popularly:)

Also, I really love this time of year, this Leo into Virgo season. It’s what TCM calls the fifth season, the time of year that spans from mid-August to the autumn Equinox in late September. It has its own distinct energy:

Late Summer is considered a separate season in traditional Chinese medicine. In the middle of the Chinese calendar, Late Summer is a transition time when we return to the middle, between the expansive growth of spring and summer (yang energy) and the more inward energy of fall and winter (yin energy). It has been said that it’s almost as if time stops for a moment much like the instant when a pendulum reverses its swing.

Yes! Anyways, to celebrate Fifth Season, end of summer, upcoming Virgo season (where my Virgos at, I know there are a TON of you), I’m going to run a sale for paid subscribers starting today until the end of Virgo season on September 22.

Get 20% off the New Sensitive forever

You can get the subscription monthly, or annually. Monthly, the discount makes this $5.60/month (LESS THAN A MATCHA THESE DAYS!!!) or $61.60 for a full year.

In addition to full posts like the above list that I’ll be writing this summer and fall, you get weekly Tarot forecasts to help you understand and best utilize the energy of each week ahead, as well as monthly Tarot horoscopes too. One comment from a recent Tarot forecast:

I may or may not be over here crying. Wow, so much parental love and care for my inner child and body. It genuinely feels like I’m being flanked by parents who are teaching me that radical self care isn’t radical at all. Beautiful, thank you for this gift, Catherine! 🥰💯💕🫶🏻

Okay, ANYWAYS. This was all a catch up and a bit of a massive lead up to today’s post that’s been on my mind to write you all about how I use Feng Shui to call in uplevels and identity shifts. We were actually camping in our pop-up last weekend and a thunderstorm came through around 3am and woke me up, and as I was trying to fall back asleep, this entire post came through as a bullet point list (so very Capricorn of me, that’s how my channeling tends to happen) so I grabbed a notebook and wrote it all down.

If you follow me on Instagram you know I’ve been yapping how I just feel it is ASAP incredibly important that I do a full house deep clean and declutter this September. My first book draft is due to my editor at the end of August, and I go to Italy to host our retreat the third week of September, so I actually arranged my schedule so I would have those three weeks mostly free to just go to town on my house. Yes, this is my idea of fun. Look, I’m a little Virgo freak (I’m a Capricorn sun, but my Saturn, Mars, Jupiter and North Node are all in Virgo, so I super resonate with that sign) and I love a good clean and declutter.

Why do I intuitively feel called to doing this now? Well, what I can really sense is that a huge new version of myself is coming through.

People say that kind of stuff and I’m like… but what do you MEAN, uplevel and identity shift? A new version of you? For me, what this means is:

• My career feels like it wants to change to fully identify as a full-time writer and author, after seven years of life coaching

• I’m starting to feel like my self-worth is increasing a lot (I think this is due to JournalSpeak primarily and the nervous system regulation it creates). I think more abundance and worth want to come through, and bigger opportunities

• I’m feeling ready to be more visible and seen by new audiences

• I’m ready for life to be easier. Not that my life is HARD, of course, I’m incredibly privileged and lucky, but I definitely subscribe to a lot of beliefs around needing to struggle and burnout and feel guilt in order to achieve any success

In order to have these things actually come into my life, I have to become the kind of person who can receive them. Think about the leap between a person like me and say, Beyonce. Haha, the differences are numerous, obviously, but I mean, like for her to hold her talent, abundance, to be one of the most famous musicians and pop stars in the planet… like, me, now, could not do that (minus of course I do not have that kind of talent). I would be too scared, too shy, too fearful of being seen as “too much,” etc. I would have to change my perception of myself, and the daily actions I take, to hold even a fraction of what she can hold.

Now, I don’t want to be Beyonce, and not everybody is here to try to be like Beyonce or even to be famous or seen in that way. But I do believe we are all here to hold and grow into continually expanding versions of our authentic selves to keep experiencing the bigness and richness of life, as our particular soul wants it. If I’m going to be a famous author, spiritual teacher, grow more on Instagram, move past visibility wounds… a different kind of Catherine has to move into my body and identity and subconscious to accept that as normal.

And that’s where Feng Shui comes in for me.

Feng Shui is one of the BEST tools you can use to call in new opportunities and new versions of yourself. Why? Your home is simply, in my eyes, an energetic protection of your subconscious beliefs and worth. Subconscious beliefs and self-worth levels are REALLY hard to change consciously. You can repeat affirmations til you’re blue in the face or whatever you wanna do, but that kind of change doesn’t come easy.

HOWEVER. If your home and space is an extension of your subconscious, I believe it follows that if you change your home to reflect the kind of beliefs and ideals you WISH you had… your home will start to influence and change your subconscious beliefs from the external inwards, and things will really start to change.

So that’s what I am going to show you exactly how to do, step-by-step, today.

Below, for paid subscribers…

• I’m going to give you a quiz to help you identify where in your home you would most benefit from some Feng Shui tweaks

• I’ll walk you through my 8-step Feng Shui process for identity uplevels and calling in more of what you desire

• I share my Audit process, the exact questions I am asking myself as I walk through a client’s space or my own, and show you how you can do your own Audit

• I’ll detail exactly what I’m personally doing in my home to call in this next uplevel and identity shift I feel is ready to emerge

• And, I’ll also be happy to take and answer your own questions in the comments, if you want to share any examples from your own home or how to best call in what’s currently on your heart but need some mentorship and ideas

What this is not, because this is not how I teach Feng Shui:

• A call to invest in expensive new furniture or brand-new items (the things you usually need are so often already in your home)

• Interior design advice

• About creating a “perfect” home. Homes are meant to be lived in. Mine certainly is. This work is about making your home feel more supportive, more aligned, more like the life you’re trying to create

• Rules for the sake of rules. I don’t believe Feng Shui is about fear, superstition, or obsessing over whether your couch is exactly three inches too far to the left. I use Feng Shui as a practical tool for helping your environment support your nervous system, your habits, and your subconscious beliefs

You can get all this for $5.60 right now if you become a monthly paid subscriber right here (cancel anytime):

Feng Shui uplevel guide for $5.60

If you’ve been feeling that strange sensation lately that your life is ready to expand, but you can’t quite explain why exactly, you are who I wrote this for. Maybe you’re ready for a new career. More abundance. A healthier relationship. Greater visibility, like me. More creativity.

Or maybe you can’t even name what’s changing yet; you just know that the version of you who got you here isn’t the one who’s meant to take you where you’re going next.

That’s the work we’re doing below. So! This isn’t just a post about Feng Shui. It’s about HOW to create an environment that makes it easier to become the person you’re trying to grow into.

Let’s go!

(Oh wait! First! Interested in retreating with me? I have a weekend Tarot retreat coming up in August in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Maryland, about an hour outside of DC, Aug 21-23, a few spaces left!)

Read more

But first…

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

• Ready to deepen into Tarot as a tool to help clarity, boundaries, and decision making in your life? Plus, learn to read for others?! All in a like-minded community where you can share and explore your spirituality in a safe and non-judgmental space? Then come join Catherine for a weekend Tarot & journaling retreat in the Blue Ridge Mountains August 21-23! All details here, just a few spots left.

• I’ll be starting in-person NEW MOON JOURNAL CIRCLES! In Leesburg at Studio 101, monthly beginning Thursday, September 10th at 7pmET. Link to come - stay tuned!

On to the cards!

In this month's Tarot reading, August invites us to tend to the garden that is ourselves. While the energy of the Three of Wands encourages expansion and looking toward new horizons, the deeper message is that sustainable growth begins with self-nourishment. Spirit reminds us to care for our bodies, honor our emotional needs, trust the timing of what's unfolding, and plant intentional seeds that will flourish in the months ahead. With Buffalo as our animal guide, we're reminded that when we nurture ourselves with patience and purpose, the abundant universe will provide.

• Main card for August: Three of Wands (expansion, travel)

• What do our highest selves, guides and the universe want us to most learn during August? Queen of Pentacles (self-nourishment)

• How will August most feel? (some impatience, but take care of our garden and trust the process)

• What is the most aligned action we can be taking in August for our highest good? Ace of Cups (be vulnerable, nurture your emotional needs)

• A message of support from our highest selves and spirit guides for August: Ace of Pentacles (plant seeds of purpose and self-care habits)

• August’s animal support card (from Colette Baron Reid’s Animal Spirit Oracle): Buffalo (”The abundant universe will provide”)

xo

Catherine

PS: Do come join me for my intuitive Tarot & journaling retreat in the Blue Ridge Mountains this August!

PPS: Paid subscribers, get your Tarotscopes for August below! I also include journal prompts and action ideas/homework assignments for you!

Subscribe now

I’m Catherine, author and host of The New Sensitive, a newsletter and podcast where we reclaim our sensitivity as a strength and where I share tips to enhance the spiritual, mental, emotional and physical health of sensitive people. I’m a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, certified life coach, Tarot reader & Feng Shui consultant, and messy human who tries to find the magic in everyday life. If you buy something through my links, I may earn an affiliate commission or have a sponsored relationship with the brand, at no cost to you. I recommend only products I genuinely like and use. This website is intended for educational and entertainment purposes, and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician. You can find me on my website catherinedandrews.com, or @catherineandrews on Instagram. 🧿

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