In today’s episode, I’m talking about a moment that doesn’t get named enough—the space between the Fool and the Magician. We talk a lot about the Fool leaping. We talk a lot about the Magician having tools.
But we don’t talk enough about what happens in between. That moment right after the leap, when the excitement settles and you realize: Oh… I actually need to know how to hold this.
That heart-drop feeling. That brief panic. That “wait—am I ready?” moment.
That’s the space I’ve been living in.
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I was benched from the workforce in July of 2025, like many Black women were. And during that pause, Spirit spent time refining me—clarifying my purpose, forcing me to practice boundaries, slowing me down enough to actually hear myself think.
At the time, it didn’t feel like preparation. It just felt like being stopped.
But looking back, I can see that I was being handed tools—even if I didn’t know what they were for yet. What made it click for me was the timing.
I was laid off on the Capricorn Full Moon—a moment tied to endings, work, structure, and legacy. And now I’m starting a new chapter during the Capricorn New Moon.
Same sign. Different phase.
That’s when it hit me: the pause wasn’t a punishment. It was a clearing.
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This episode is about what it looks like to come back into structure without losing yourself.
About the fear that shows up when you’re tapped back in—not because you can’t do the work, but because you don’t want to betray the version of you that was born in the pause.
About realizing that the Magician doesn’t bring anything new—he just points to what’s already on the table.
And the work now isn’t asking for more tools. It’s learning how to use the ones you already have.
Over the next few weeks, the writing here on Substack is going to expand on this in real time.
I’ll be sharing pieces on:
* the grief that comes with realizing who you actually are
* how language gets used to dodge responsibility and how it should really be a tool
* why not everything uncomfortable needs to be labeled and run from
There’s also a live conversation coming up on January 19th with Lakeisha, High Priestess of The Story Temple to help close out this Magician phase before we move into what’s next.
Toward the end of this run, we’ll also start bringing Chiron into the mix.
xoxo,
Empress Theadora
