Sunday the 21st of June marks the longest night and the quiet turning point of the year. Winter Solstice reminds us that darkness is not the opposite of light — it is the place where light is born. This is the season of slower mornings, soup pots, wool socks, candlelight, and allowing yourself to rest without needing to earn it. Nature is not disappearing; she is dreaming.
If you can:
• Meditate
• Light a candle at sunset
• Wrap yourself in something warm
• Pull a few tarot cards (spread below)
• Write down one thing you are ready to release
• Write down one tiny spark you want to carry into the returning light
May this season soften what has been hard and strengthen what has been quietly growing.
Winter Solstice Tarot Spread — Returning to the Light
Lay the cards in a star or lantern shape.
1. The Ember - What inner light is still glowing within me?
2. The Long Night - What am I being invited to rest, release, or stop carrying?
3. The Hidden Gift - What wisdom has this season been quietly offering?
4. The Lantern - What will guide me through winter?
5. The Returning Sun - What is beginning to awaken for me?
6. The Hearth - How can I nourish myself in the coming weeks?
7. The Blessing - What message does winter want me to leave with?
Take a few moments afterwards and notice which card feels warmest, brightest, or most comforting.
Winter Solstice Craft — White Star Lantern Ritual
Create a simple white star lantern to hang in a window or place on your altar.
You’ll need:
• White tissue paper or rice paper
• Thin sticks, bamboo, florist wire, or card
• Glue
• String
• A battery LED tea light (avoid real flames in paper lanterns)
Create a five-point star frame, cover it with white paper, and place your LED light inside. As you make it, you might whisper:
"I honour the darkness. I welcome the returning light. May this lantern remind me that even the smallest glow changes the night."
For inspiration and step-by-step ideas, I found these beautiful tutorials:
Winter Blessing
May your winter be gentle.
May your home feel safe.
May your body remember rest.
May your spirit remember wonder.
May what is leaving go easily.
May what is arriving come softly.
And may the returning sun find you ready.
Blessed Solstice.
Books on My Table Right Now
And for cards
Way back in 2019, I put together a list of YouTube tarot people I loved and shared it with the beautiful wāhine in my workshop. Seven years later, here’s my fresh 2026 edition!
A lot has changed in the tarot YouTube world since then. Some channels have gone quiet, some creators have moved over to Substack or Patreon, and a whole new wave of wonderful voices has emerged. I’ve kept the names I know are still going strong, added some newer favourites, and split things into the same two groups — Tarot Readers and Tarot Lovers.
One thing I always say to my students: YouTube is a wonderful place to explore the tarot world, but remember that a lot of what you’ll find there is people reading for an audience.
The real magic happens when you start reading for yourself and others — intuitively, curiously, and with a real deck in your own hands.
Use these channels to learn, to be inspired, and to see how many different ways there are to love the cards. Then put the phone down, pick up your deck, and trust what comes through you.
Want to learn tarot in person? I run workshops here in Whanganui — check the Events page for upcoming dates.
As always, these are in no particular order. Click the names to visit their channels. Let me know if any links don't work!
Subscribe to my YouTube channel: The Woo-Woo Shop
Tarot Teachers
These are the ones I'd send a brand new student to first — people who actively teach the cards.
Biddy Tarot
Founded by Australian-raised Brigit Esselmont, Biddy Tarot is probably the biggest tarot education platform in the world. Brilliant for learning card meanings and building confidence as a beginner. Very Rider-Waite focused, which is a great foundation.
Ethony
Author, professional tarot reader, teacher, and modern witch with over 25 years of practice. She's the headmistress of the Tarot Readers Academy and has created multiple tarot and oracle decks. Great for beginners through to advanced readers. Her book Your Tarot Court is a favourite of mine.
Benebell Wen
If you want to go deep, Benebell is your person. Author of Holistic Tarot and creator of the Spirit Keeper's Tarot. Scholarly, thorough, and beautifully grounded in esoteric tradition.
Colette Baron-Reid Colette Baron-Reid is a leader in the field of personal transformation. She is an intuition and Oracle expert, and a bestselling author of 19 Oracle Card decks and 8 books.
Minnow Pond Tarot
One of the consistently recommended channels for solid, grounded tarot teaching. Good community energy and great for building your skills step by step.
Nicholas Ashbaugh
Blends esoteric knowledge with tarot in a way that's genuinely educational. Passionate about raising consciousness through the cards, and his community interaction is wonderful.
Truly Teach Me Tarot
A wonderful resource for those who want to go deep into holistic tarot reading. Video tutorials and masterclasses with a practical, grounded approach — blending traditional, analytical, academic, and intuitive methods. Particularly strong on elemental and archetypal energies.
Tarot Readers
Spot On Psychic Readings by Tammy
Jane International Tarot & Astrology
Moon Magic Weekly TarotMoon Magic Weekly Tarot
Tarot Lovers
Dear Beautiful Souls,
I wanted to sit down and write a little update from my heart.
Over the last few years, things have slowly shifted with the shop. Sales have become fewer and farther between, and over the past year I’ve had to really slow things down behind the scenes. Many of the items currently on the website won’t be restocked once they’re gone, unless they are staple pieces. And to be honest, the days of being able to bring in specialised collections of magical treasures just aren’t what they once were.
Costs have risen dramatically over recent years, especially these past few months, and it’s becoming harder to sustain things in the same way.
I find myself being drawn more towards sourcing pre-loved decks and books. There’s something really special about giving these treasures a second life and helping them find their way into new hands and homes to continue their journey.
To those of you who have continued to support my little business ever since I started on that blessed day of the 8th of February 2018 — thank you. Truly.
Every order, every kind message (I actually have a folder where I save these messages), every share, every workshop booking… it all means more than you probably realise. You’ve helped me keep this dream alive for far longer than I ever thought possible.
There have been many moments where I’ve sat down to write a goodbye letter and close the website completely. But each time, I just couldn’t do it. I genuinely love this work, and I’m not quite ready to let it go.
So instead of walking away entirely, I’m allowing things to evolve.
I’ve been returning to my artist’s path — painting, pottery, and creating with my hands again. I’m also about to begin creating my own deck, something I’ve dreamed about doing since 2006. It feels both terrifying and deeply exciting.
If you’d like to follow along with this more personal creative journey, I’ve started sharing over on Instagram at @gumboots_and_herbal_tea.
I also have two beautiful in-person gatherings coming up here in Whanganui, because connecting face-to-face and sharing magick together is still one of my favourite things to do.
Introduction to Tarot Workshop
A day where I get to share all the things I wish I had known when I was first gifted a tarot deck nearly 30 years ago.
Saturday 13th June | 9:30am – 3:30pm
An intimate group of 10 only
$170 — includes an RWS deck, book, and journal
Payment plans are available — just get in touch and we can arrange something that works for you.
Click here to book your seat
Winter Solstice Gathering
Together we will journey through an evening of ritual, magick, and rekindling your inner flame.
Sunday 21st June | 4:00pm – 6:00pm
An intimate group of 10 only
$33 — including a lantern you’ll create and take home
Click here to book your seat
And perhaps, beautifully timed with all of this, we also have the rare Blue Moon in Sagittarius arriving on Sunday 31st May — a moon of reflection, truth, release, and new vision.
A Blue Moon reminds us that some things don’t come around often. It asks us to pause and really look at what matters, what is sustainable, and what still holds meaning in our lives. Sagittarius brings honesty, wisdom, and the courage to follow what feels true in the heart.
In many ways, this moon feels deeply aligned with where the shop is sitting right now — changing, simplifying, letting go of what no longer works, while still holding onto the spark and love at the centre of it all.
So if you’ve been meaning to grab something special that has been calling to you, this may be the time. Once many of these pieces are gone, they likely won’t return.
And for those of you who continue to support this little magical space, please know how deeply grateful I am.
Thank you for being here through all the changing seasons of this journey.
With love,
Denita x
P.S. I’ve attached a Blue Moon in Sagittarius tarot spread you might like to do this weekend
There’s something so sweet about this little creature, pausing in wonder at something so small—a flower, a ladybird, a quiet moment of magic. It reminds us that not all blessings arrive loudly. Some are gentle, easily missed, and yet carry the exact energy we’ve been needing.
Today is about noticing. The tiniest moment, the softest beauty, the simple presence of something that makes you pause… this is where your blessing lives. And in allowing yourself to truly see it, you open the doorway for more.
Click on the sound bowl and allow yourself to receive the energy of the Universal Mother.
https://hayhouse.com/crystal-cadence-oracle-19
Let the vibration move through your body, softening your heart, expanding your breath, and gently holding you in a field of nurturing and support. This is an energy of unconditional love—steady, kind, and always available.
Affirm: I am fully nurtured by the Universal Mother and bathed in her unconditional love. She supports me in all that I am and all that I am becoming. Her love holds me steady. I belong. She shows me, showers me with kindness and compassion.
Today is gentle. Notice the small things. Let them land. Let yourself be nurtured by what is already here. You are supported. You are held. You belong.
After endings, there comes a quiet turning. Sometimes we do not notice at first that the heaviness has begun to lift — only that something in us starts to soften. What once felt dense and uncertain makes room for sweetness, and the path ahead becomes lighter beneath our feet.
Yesterday’s card, When All Things Ended, spoke of closure and surrender. Today, the next messages arrive as a gentle continuation: And Yet, The Path Grows Lighter and Divine Light Embodied. Together, they feel like a sacred reminder that after every ending comes renewal, and after every release comes the invitation to remember who we truly are.
Even in times of transition, we are never walking alone. Wise company travels beside us, quietly encouraging us to trust that the lightness of life is worth returning to. The heaviness we have cast away has created space for hidden treasures to rise within us — resilience, tenderness, wonder, and renewed trust in the unfolding path.
The world awakens differently after sorrow. It can feel as though we are seeing beauty for the first time. Drink it in as the bee gathers nectar from the blossom — slowly, reverently, receiving sweetness as medicine. Let yourself develop a taste for joy again. You have travelled far in this life, and there is still so much more ahead. You have the strength, the stamina, and the wisdom for the road before you. Blessings await along the once-untravelled path.
And beneath this returning sweetness comes a deeper remembrance: the light we seek is not outside us. It is already alive within.
Divine Light Embodied reminds us that we are made of vibration, breath, sound, energy, and sacred radiance. We are not separate from divine light — we are carriers of it. When we choose love as our vibration, when we allow joy, wonder, and innocence to return, we become living expressions of that sacred light.
This card is paired with a crystal singing bowl meditation from Jeralyn Glass’s Crystal Sound Healing Oracle, offering a beautiful way to receive the message not only through words, but through vibration and sound. If you would like to experience the sound healing connected to this card, you can listen here: https://hayhouse.com/crystal-cadence-oracle-01
Close your eyes. Let them roll gently upward, then soften downward into stillness. Feel your breath moving through the central channel of your body — inhale from the root, exhale through the crown.
Now imagine breathing in light from two feet above your head, drawing it down into every cell of your being, and affirm:
I am divine light embodied.
I am radiant inside and out.
I am grounded in wonder and delight.
My mind is clear.
I am strong, anchored in earth and connected through my breath to Spirit.
This is the invitation now: Walk the higher path. Choose love as your vibration. Anchor your radiant light. Trust the sweetness ahead.
You are loved. You are pure. You are divine.
from Into the Loney Woods Oracle deck by Lucy Cavendish
When all things end, we realise how carefully we have sculpted our lives into familiar shapes. Over time, we create patterns, stories, and rituals around these forms, each one built from the beautiful moments that make up our days. These shapes become the architecture of our lives, giving us meaning, comfort, and a sense of belonging in the world we have made.
Yet sometimes, through no choice or decision of our own, that world comes to an end. What once felt solid and enduring begins to dissolve, and we find ourselves standing at the threshold of change. This may be such a moment for you—a moment when all that once was is quietly becoming the past.
What is no longer becomes memory, and the kingdom that once stood so firmly is no more. Even so, you remain, still standing in truth. There is something profound in that: the recognition that while circumstances, relationships, and identities may fall away, the essence of who you are continues.
Every living being exists in a constant state of flux. Beneath the visible surface, life is always moving through cycles of birth, growth, decay, and renewal. To live is to change; there is no life without transformation. Though endings can feel disorienting, they are part of the natural rhythm of existence.
Take a moment to look upon what once was. Honour it for what it gave you. Allow yourself to grieve it, to thank it, and to say goodbye. Endings deserve witness, just as beginnings do.
Then, when you are ready, begin to step—however uncertainly—into the mysterious unknown. Though the path ahead may feel unclear, it is also the place where new shapes will form, where new stories will emerge, and where the beautiful future waiting for you will slowly begin to reveal itself.
