Full Strawberry Moon
BRIGHT BLESSINGS OF the FULL moon to you
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JUNE 11, 2025
Indulge in Pleasure
Throughout the year, I have many favorite moons. I can’t stand how darling beavers are, and so the Beaver Moon is my favorite. But then the Wolf Moon comes along and I remember how inspiring wolves are and how I wish I were one. But the Strawberry Moon - truly, what could be better? A most perfect treat, ushering in the summer season, unapologetic in its sweetness.
I’ve gotten mixed messages about pleasure in my life, even today. On the one hand, pleasure is presented as frivolous, unserious, and not to be prioritized. Labor and striving - what Tricia Hersey calls grind culture - are Mature and Correct pursuits. On the other hand, as I scroll through Instagram, I see messages that say that consumption is pleasure. Treat yourself. Buy things! You’re worth it. Just go for it. In fact, here’s a loan so you don’t have to wait even until your next paycheck to have the thing that will make you happy (and make someone else money).
Both of these messages make me so tired. I want to build a life where my community and I center pleasure over labor (and also find pleasure in our labor). I also want us to experience true pleasures that are sustainable - emotionally, economically, and ecologically. But to get there, I still have some deprogramming to do. For me, that means peeling back the layers of messages I’ve internalized to find out what genuinely feels good to me, not just what’s been suggested to me by the messages I’m getting from media and the people around me.
In addition to indulging in some fat, juicy berries this Strawberry Moon, I’ll be gathering with the Wild Maven community in Baltimore to pull some tarot cards and be curious about my relationship with pleasure. Read on for a practice you can do on your own, or with your people. And if you’re in Baltimore, I’d love to do it with you! Wherever you are, I hope this practice brings you pleasure, and helps you reorient yourself toward daily pleasures. Enjoy!
A Tarot Practice for Pleasure
This tarot practice is very open-ended, so you can play, explore and make it your own without too many guardrails in place. Use a tarot or oracle deck. As always, if you don’t have a deck of your own, the Labyrinthos app has a free version, and in it you can draw cards digitally.
For this three-card spread, assign a meaning to each of the three card positions. These are just some suggestions:
Past, present, future
Mind, body, spirit
Home, work, play
Myself, a loved one, our relationship
Or you could leave the card positions unassigned and ask a very open-ended question like, what are the three most accessible sources of pleasure in my life right now? Or what are the three biggest barriers to enjoying pleasure that I’m facing?
Questions you might ask as you explore this topic could be:
What is my relationship with pleasure in mind, body, and spirit?
What practices have brought me the most pleasure in the past and present? And what’s a practice could I enjoy in the future?
How can I infuse more pleasure in my home life, work life, and play time?
Once you have your question in mind and the card positions assigned, shuffle your deck and then draw three cards off the top. Use your intuition, conversation with others, the guidebook that came with your deck, or the internet to help you interpret the cards.
Reflect & Share
After engaging in this practice, spend some time reflecting on the experience. As always, I encourage you to not only reflect within yourself, but to take this opportunity to nurture your relationships by sharing with others.
What messages have you gotten about pleasure, from individuals, culture, media?
What beliefs do you currently hold about the role pleasure should play in your life?
Who are the people in your life who support you in pursuing what feels good to you? What would you like to say to them?
What is something you can do today to bring a bit more pleasure into your day?
Join me
Want to join others in Baltimore and do this tarot practice together? You can! We’ll meet at 7pm on Wednesday, June 11, 2025.
Or work with me one-on-one. I offer virtual spiritual counseling sessions where you can process your spiritual or religious experiences, explore your beliefs, and/or discover new practices - which could include things like engaging with nature in new and different ways - or anything else you’re curious about!
Photo by Ave Calvar Martinez on Pexels.