Thecrowsnestpgh

One of the values of The Crow’s Nest is community, and part of what that means is to give back to the community in ways that are meaningful and represent who we are. This year we are so excited to be hosting our first annual fundraising event to raise money for The Trevor Project, a non-profit dedicated to su***de prevention for the lgbtq+ community. All of our readers will be marathoning their services, 20% of all sales plus 100% of sales from our limited edition unholy trinity spell kit will all be donated to the foundation. We will also be accepting donations from anyone who would like to contribute but may not be able to attend. Visit www.thecrowsnestpgh.com for more information.

We want this to be a joyful and fun occasion, with an emphasis on community and relationship building. If you feel inspired to come in drag, we’ll give you a free gift!

No appointment necessary, just come in and we’ll set you up with the first available reader!

For more information on participating Dormont businesses, please contact us!

New calendar is up! We’re hosting our first annual fundraising event to support lgbtq youth so don’t miss it! We’ll have marathon readings, 20% of all sales will go to the Trevor Project as well as 100% of our limited edition unholy trinity spell kit plus free gifts for anyone who comes in drag (while supplies last!). Water activation ritual is here for Mabon as well as an exciting new tarot court cards class. We’re even having a tarot game night for community and relationship building! To register or for more information visit www.thecrowsnestpgh.com. Can’t wait to see you there!
Ps. Mark your calendar for the dumb supper Oct 27th!

Guys this Grape Agate is so juicy I can’t even stand it. This is not a common mineral and is considered quite rare. Energetically, she holds the capacity to make both the dreaming and waking world more vivid, enhancing the simple beauty of life, improving focus and assisting in the ability to feel less dissociated and more present. The best part is, I got them for a great price and that means so do you 💕.

This week there are a couple significant astrological events to be aware of and this works in context with the cards today. We can expect to be affected by not only the Mercury retrograde but also the Lion’s Gate Portal as it peaks on the 8th.
We start with a pointed focus on endings which although painful, immediately shift to a sense of relief and new direction. This is not the kind of ending which surprises us, but one which has been a long time coming, one which has been foreshadowed and feels familiar. Our energy is best spent on the new direction and not on the ending itself. What is done is done.
With Mercury in retrograde, we often only think of the challenging and chaotic aspects but these are not new issues. Whatever goes sideways has needed to be addressed for some time. These inconveniences and misunderstandings serve to bring unresolved issues back to the surface so that we are forced to deal with them in such a way that we can truly move on. Remember, Mercury is an alchemist and we have resources and skills at our disposal and it is imperative that we use them.
This sets us up for the Lion’s Gate Portal which allows us to manifest. Here’s the thing, whether you are manifesting intentionally or just living your life as normal, there is no escaping an outcome. Every word we say is a spell, every action we repeat is a ritual and every experience we live is a manifestation. When a portal opens, we will all manifest something. Better that we have some agency over what that will be. It is entirely in our best interest to ensure that our words and actions facilitate the outcome we most need. Be mindful of what you cast and careful of what you conjure. (Continued in comments)

Don’t miss the Lion’s Gate portal workshop Tuesday the 6th. We’ll get in touch with our most dearly held desires, discuss the Lion’s Gate portal and then get straight to work making sure each person has a plan and all the crystals they need for their very own crystal grid to activate on the 8th at home. Each person will leave with a full set of crystals for their grid as well as a plan for patterns and all the other information necessary to harness this powerful astrological event. Register at www.thecrowsnestpgh.com. See you there!

Get ready for the Lion’s Gate portal with these super sexy carnelian druzy towers. If you want to bring action, power, passion, movement into your manifestations or if you just really like pretty things, you gotta come see these beauties in person.

These boxes are full of crystals! Join us tomorrow at 4 for a live sale and get everything at a discount! By Wednesday they’ll all be on the shelves!

If you haven’t tried our new reiki charged candles, let me tell you, they don’t just get the job done, they also burn forever. We’re talking 100 hours under normal conditions. With essential oils to make your home smell amazing in a natural and soothing way. If you’re sensitive to synthetic smells, these are for you!

Guess who’s finally living in 2024 with tap to pay? Give us like a day or two to get it charged and set up, ya girls not exactly tech savvy but by the weekend we’re gonna be in business. We’re giving the people what they want!

New calendar is up! Check the date for tarot club, it’s moved down a week to accommodate to last week of boot camp 103 which starts tonight, sign ups are still available! We’re also really excited about the Lions Gate Portal ritual on the 6th! Check out details at www.thecrowsnestpgh.com.

Okay this week it looks like we have a LOT on our plates and not nearly enough drive to get it done. When the Knight of Pentacles is in his detriment, not only do we have work to do that is not inspiring us, work that we are loath to do but there may even be a touch of laziness getting in the way. The burden is heavy, there is no denying that we are burned out and barely able to take it at a crawl and that means we have no choice but to take the appropriate amount of rest and self care. It means we have to prioritize our list and be discerning about what can be put down and what needs immediate attention but we are going to have to watch the temptation to put off what we don’t feel like doing rather than the things that are not urgent.
Responsibility requires self management, it requires strength of will, it will sometimes involve allowing others to help but more importantly it requires the ability to mitigate the internal temptation of putting more on other people than is fair. We have partners (of many kinds) in this life for a reason, to lighten the load, just remember there is a difference between sharing a burden and doing the bare minimum in the knowledge that the person on the other side will take it on if you let it slip.
Our egos do not like some of the responsibilities which belong to us, they don’t always align with what we want to think about ourselves and the positions we want to have in life. If we have a healthy relationship with our ego, we can laugh at the absurdity of it’s inflated sense of self without letting the difference between our actual position in the world and the position we want to have become an excuse for letting avoidance, bad behavior, excessive indulgence and maladaptive coping mechanisms get in the way of what we have to do. Our task this week is to be diligent in our responsibilities and keep our bruised egos in check. If we can do that, we’ll shift into next week with far less consequence.
Love,
Aimee

New incense and backflow burners are on the shelves! There’s a lot more where this came from too so come pay us a visit on this beautiful Saturday!

Beautiful, locally handmade, iron jewelry is in the house! It is said that malevolent spirits cannot touch iron, making it extremely protective. The feathers were made with the intention of honoring The Morrigan, the goddess the store is named for and to whom all our magic is dedicated. If you are curious about The Morrigan or you’d like to leave something on her altar, come by and see us!

Portals are the doorways which allow us access into other realms, into places beyond the material world which we often get so caught up in.
Sandstone is made up of millions of tiny grains of sand all impacted together over time. This makes sandstone energetically attuned to the idea of community and knowing our place within the collective ultimately helping us to feel more like we belong and are necessary.
That means that a sandstone portal is able to help us feel tangibly connected to the collective unconscious, the energetic and spiritual ways we are tied to, connected and intrinsically necessary to all that is, ever has been and ever will be.

This week both the mother and the father, the royal caretakers, the emperor and empress are present in their benevolence, between them a whirlwind of chaos and quick moving parts. The tornado may not be wholly reassuring, but flanked by the nurturer and the provider, the creator and the protector, the compassionate mother and the strict but loving father, we do have reassurance.
Chaos is not in and of itself destructive. In fact, it just as often brings progress, quick returns, answers and outcomes as anything else. The issue with chaos is that we often try to intervene in the middle of the storm, putting ourselves in harm’s way and making ourselves open targets to fast moving objects. We are only human, we will feel dysregulated when things are happening too fast and all at once. The noise and the movement and the mess are likely to cause us to feel stressed but if we have the compassion we need to feel safe and the structure we need to feel secure, we can find the presence of mind to stay still, to wait for everything up in the air to land before making choices about what is next, what had a good outcome and what needs cleaning up.
At the end of the day, we are all just children, we never outgrow the need for love and discipline. When a child acts out, they need to be corrected in stern but loving ways, redirected in a manner that reinforces their sense of safety and security. Sometimes that will come from external sources and sometimes it must come from within. In this case, it may be both. Be open to accepting (without getting defensive) limitations set in safe and loving environments but don’t forget to be your own mother and your own father in the ways you have always needed but may not have always been given. From there the ability to know when to act and when to wait will come as a happy byproduct.
Love,
Aimee

Community member appreciation post! Meet Ashley or as she is lovingly known by us, the guy. Ashley had been an integral part of The Crow’s Nest since before it’s conception. She was there when the shop name was chosen, there when we were playing with logos, there when we started painting and every time I need a day off, she’s still there. Ashley is artistic and expressive in everything she does. She’s passionate about each and every tool, knows their uses and shares her knowledge with everyone who comes into the store. She is hilarious and insightful and perseverant, having faced many challenges and coming out the other side more determined and more self aware, but even with all of that she’s still just a guy.
We love her so much and we are so lucky to have her as part of our beautiful community. She’ll be at the store all day so I can have a day of play with my partner so go visit Ashley and keep her company.
For more information about The Crow’s Nest community, what it means and what it provides check out our website at www.thecrowsnestpgh.com or get ahold of me with your questions.

Celestite is the stone of divine guidance and with Saturn in retrograde we could all use a little more guidance from the divine while we navigate the realignment of our purpose. During times when we feel lost or uncertain, when we question our place in the world and the life we have chosen for ourselves we can feel utterly alone. Celestite can aid in tangible awareness of how we are never alone, how source is always with us, how deeply connected we are to the collective and in feeling the guidance which is always there but sometimes hard to notice. Having Celestite near your bed can assist in restful sleep and facilitate dream messages when our unconscious mind is best able to process information. Just the color itself is so soothing.

Tarot boot camp 103 is finally dropping and honestly guys, this is the one I am most excited about. Let me tell you why. About 4 years ago, when the world shut down, I suddenly had a lot of time on my hands and one of the things I did with this time was a 12 week course on creativity. Because the 103 class focuses on learning through The Empress, the mother, the one who holds and creates life through her very body this process became the inspiration. I had no idea at the time I began that course how impactful it would be for me. Through addressing my creative blocks and allowing myself to be experimental I found a deeper connection to my own divinity, I became braver, I found deep healing and I began seeing my world through lenses that showed me deeper truths and empowering clarity. I can honestly say that I would not have been able to change my vocation, create classes or even bring The Crow’s nest into reality had I not undergone the process. Now of course, I cannot say for certain how this 4 week course will manifest for those who participate, I only know how impactful it was for me but I am excited to share even the smallest amount of that impact with all of you. This will of course be different as it focuses on Tarot as the inspiration for each assignment but Tarot among all else is also a creative tool. In changing the lens from reader to creator, we look for and find stunning new realizations and deeper truths which might otherwise go unnoticed.
This class will ask for a lot of vulnerability, it will ask you to try things you may not feel wholly comfortable doing, things you may not think you can do but if you participate to the fullness of your ability the capacity for growth, change and learning is profound.
To get more info about dates and registration visit our website at www.thecrowsnestpgh.com. I can’t wait to see you all there!

July calendar is up and all our classes and meetups are back in play! Most excitingly, we are finally dropping the boot camp 103 workshop! If you’re not familiar, our boot camp classes are 4 weeks of focus on tarot each time through a new lens. This time, we’re looking through the lens of The Empress, using creative mediums to allow us to see deeper into the cards and their meanings. Check out the website for more info or to register for class or book a reading!

The theme this week is a bit debaucherous, and I love it. With the summer months upon us the energy is finally turned towards pleasure, indulgence and the juicier parts of life. This in and of itself is not a problem at all but rather a reward. We work hard and tirelessly day in and day out and the purpose of this work is to facilitate our ability to play and be merry. The problem here is that we often find it hard to call the party, to know when we have had our fill without depleting ourselves or letting it go too far.
Expect invitations for social events to come from many directions but don’t say yes to everything. In fact, one of the most important tasks of the week will be to practice discernment in knowing when to say no and when to participate. There are people and places which saturate, fill up and recharge us and then there are the people and places that leave us dried up. One would think this would be a simple choice, however, the former often provides something too tasty for our ego to pass up, something that provides instant gratification or the kind of intensity which removes us fully (for a brief moment) from the existential crisis of the human condition. It’s yummy but when it’s over it only serves to multiply our troubles.
Don’t forget that the purpose of community and companionship is to provide meaningful support and true happiness. It is not about constant intensity that burns us up and leaves us empty but about dependability, security and the kind of happiness that lingers long after the party is over. Regardless, even in those spaces, we can tend to go too hard, stay too long and destabilize the structures in our lives that keep it going and facilitate the safety that allowed us to indulge in the first place. Choose your plans wisely this week and wherever you go, stay for a good time and know when it is time to go.
Love,
Aimee

I can’t believe it’s been a year! We are so grateful to be serving the community and we are ready to celebrate with all of you! We’ll have all of our trusted readers here to do mini readings and even an astrologer and reiki practitioner at special prices. If you’ve been curious this is the perfect time to really experience the benefit of our gifted and compassionate community of seers and healers.
Everything in the store (with the exception of consignment, we don’t want to shortchange our local artists) will be 20% off and your in house witch will be here to help you create custom spells at the price point of your choosing! Contact us today to make your appointment. Can’t wait to see you all there!

Blessed Beltane! Come see us for all of your magical needs on this beautiful day!

This week there seems to be an overarching energy that feels confining, as though external forces are controlling our emotions and consequently our choices. This will create heightened anxiety and cause us to feel suffocated by the pressures around us. Although this is challenging, it can also be an opportunity to observe the parts of ourselves that are more easily persuaded by outside forces, the parts of ourselves that feel the need to prove something. Often the pressures we feel are amplified by an unconscious belief that we must live up to certain expectations in order to have value, but this of course is a false premise.
Our lives are not measured by the expectations we can live up to, or by our ability to achieve at the cost of all else. We do not gain or lose value based on our ability to bend to the pressures of work or relationships. Our value is intrinsic in the fact that we exist, that we are here and that very fact makes us intrinsic to the well being of all things. In being authentic we automatically benefit everything and everyone around us. In the attempt to fulfill every influence around us, we lose ourselves, we become bogged down, never reaching any satisfying result because there is always the next thing, the next obligation, the next form of validation, the next level of accomplishment.
This week, ask yourself what actions, what pursuits are a reflection of who you want to be, of what you believe to have value. Inquire internally of the things being asked of you, which cause enthusiasm and which cause dread. We cannot bring our best to things we feel forced to do, things which make us feel captive and helpless. Yes, we have responsibilities we must meet but even those must be a reflection of what gives us greater freedom and fulfillment. We often get so caught up in how the world at large is impacting us that we forget to ask ourselves what sort of impact we wish to have on the world. We have the right to stand up for ourselves, to say no and to make the choices which reflect who we are and what we want for ourselves. Anything else is self destruction.
Love,
Aimee

When I look back on my life, choices, sacrifices and even mistakes, I can clearly see that my highest priority has always been to attain and maintain my own freedom. Freedom to live how I want, to love how I want, to connect to source in the ways that felt right to me. Freedom from the expectations of others and the obligations which were attached to things that might have made life easier but came at too high a price.
Purpurite is known as “the stone of freedom” and through greater freedom we are better able to connect with spirit and understand our own intuition so when I say this is me in rock form, I don’t just mean because she’s shiny and purple.

Tape Boot camp 102 is 4 weeks of tarot expansion through the lens of the high priestess and everything she represents. Rather than focusing on definitions, formulas and structure as we do in 101, 102 is about developing our intuition through tarot. This class starts Thursday the 8th at 7 and repeats every Thursday through the 29th. To register go to www.thecrowsnestpgh.com.

Hey guys! I’m just dropping in to let you all know that I’ll be away from the store starting tomorrow through the 1st. Don’t panic, Rachel, Tearen and Gina will all be here making sure the store is open to take care of her beloved community. So stop by, keep them company, get the goods and I’ll see you all in a week 💕.

New original paintings by local artist Joy Spencer just hit the shelves. I almost hate to sell them, they are stunning and unique and one of a kind and look amazing in the store but, this is the kind of thing that has to be shared. Come by and check out her other stunning original paintings and prints.

Community member appreciation post! Meet Sora, a soul member from before The Crow’s Nest even existed and a good friend.
Sora is a generational tarot reader, with a long standing family tradition who specializes in past life readings and has finally found the space to start making her services available here at the store!
Sora is a bad bitch who could kill a man with her bare hands (seriously she’s trained to do it) but is also gentle and comforting and can hold space for whatever is being brought to the table. She is fun and funny and always a lovely presence in the store or anywhere else you come across her.
Sora also recently collaborated on a tarot deck based on Appalachian ghost stories and folklore which will be available soon to purchase!
She’s so gifted and such a blessing to the community and we are so fortunate to count her as a part of our space. When you become a member of The Crow’s Nest, this is the caliber of human you are aligning yourself with.
For more information about membership, check out our website at www.thecrowsnestpgh.com or get ahold of me with your questions.