Solstice blessings, friends! Occurring on Sunday June 20 at 11:31 pm eastern, the Summer Solstice marks the beginning of a new season and is the longest day of the year. In celebration of this day, I am thrilled to share a new feature in my Tending the Hedge series.
For newer readers, I began the interview series in 2020 as a way to highlight inspiring individuals I know who engage in a practice of “magical stewardship,” living and working with intention, exploring themes of mutual aid and rejecting a mindset of competition and scarcity culture. I was so inspired by the myriad ways in which folks are tending the hedges of their own communities, so to speak— we talked about things like sustainability and stewardship, body positivity and social activism, spirituality and disability awareness, and staying true to oneself in a world that is full of “should’s.” I am really in awe of the community and conversation that developed through this series, and recommend all new readers take a peek at the earlier features.
Today’s magic-maker is Davis Carr, the brilliant soul behind Meridian Tarot & Astrology. I deeply admire Davis’s work, and have been lucky enough to experience her magic firsthand through a tarot reading and in her absolutely brilliant 2020 course, Practical Astrology for Modern Witches, the latter of which was deeply formative to my understanding of astrology and its impact in my life. From her website:
Davis’ approach to tarot is deeply rooted in themes of social justice and intersectional feminism, and she strives to create a safe(r) space and a supportive, non-judgmental container to do healing work. Davis is a traditional astrologer, which means she primarily works with the seven visible planets. As a traditional astrologer, Davis views the birth chart as a map of the individual’s entire life, not just their personality or character. As a result, her readings are so much more than descriptions of your personality. They are opportunities for you to connect to your divine soul, and feel the spark of the magic that lives inside you.
Here Davis shares a peek into her practice, and how we might use magic to live with greater empathy and connection to the world around us.
What are your pronouns and what is your sign?
My pronouns are she/her, and I am a Libra Sun, Gemini Moon, Gemini Rising.
Are you a witch? If so, what does that word mean to you?
I absolutely meet the modern definition of a witch — I cast spells, I work with energy, I read tarot and I interpret the movements of planets through their symbolic meaning. But I’ve never felt quite comfortable with the title of “witch.” To me, “witch” is a word that has been used to describe people who work outside of the Western empirical framework of scientific rationalism. And while I love the word and think it’s a very powerful reclamation of a more holistic and empathetic way of seeing the world, I don’t personally use it as a title or an epithet (although that might change!).
Right now, I think of myself as a person who uses magic to help me live with more empathy and connection to the world around me. I’m a magician — but only because I practice magic. It’s not a title, it’s a description of what I do in the world.
What drew you to your work? Why is it important?
The work that I engage in is much more than my chosen profession or the paid work I have done. I began my professional career in psychology, and went on to being a
I fell in love with tarot and astrology because of the patterns and symbolism. Seeing the connections between elements, signs, planets, archetypes — how they layered within one another, how they built upon each other to tell a complex story… Something just clicked in my brain.
I grew up in an atheist, secular household that had very little in the way of spirituality. Instead of church, we talked about politics at the dinner table. And although I was a very creative kid and inclined towards the magical, I never felt quite connected to something larger than myself until I found tarot and astrology. These tools gave me a framework, a language, to access my intuition and my inner magic — to understand that I have always been creative, have always been intuitive, I just didn’t have the words for it.
Divination is a language that thrives when it happens in dialogue. I started my consultation practice because I knew I could only go so far on my own. I knew that if I wanted to fully understand and connect to these systems, I needed to get out of my own head. I needed to be vulnerable enough to share with others, to attempt to be the translator between them and whatever messages the Oracle has for them.
How can others engage with this work and tend the hedge in their own communities?
We can each engage with our own craft by giving time and attention to what matters to us. Living intentionally, taking time to live with all of our senses (not just the standard senses of taste, touch, sound, sight, and smell, but those of intuition, sense of time and belonging, the sense of interplay with the natural world), and especially through ritual. Ritual can be anything from the specific actions of spell work to the smallest acts of choosing how to set a table, or what ornamentation we choose to wear. I believe ritual exists at every level, whether we are aware of it as ritual or not. Practicing art is ritual, gardening, cooking, how we process information- it’s all wrapped in ritual. Conscious ritual is full of respect, and it seems to me that applying that respect to the world is what is at the heart of being a witch. Actively engaging with the world, trying to live in a
We can engage with this work simply by looking up in the sky at night. By noticing the phase of the moon — and then noticing how we feel. By pulling a tarot card each morning. By whispering a prayer to the Moon on Monday mornings. Simple practices, daily practices, are the things that ultimately add up to more spiritual life.
And the first place to start is simply reflecting and noticing. I suggest folks keep an “astrology journal” where they simply write down the phase and sign of the moon (maybe other transits happening, if they feel comfortable) and just journal about how they feel and what is coming up for them. Just the act of sitting down daily and reflecting is going to open you up to so many more messages, so much more noticing of the energy around you.
When we honour our energy and understand our needs, we can show up for others in more compassionate and empathic ways. Tending to your hedge will ripple out into your community.
Did you enjoy this feature? Check out other magic-makers in the Tending the Hedge series!
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