Alex Golden Thread Collage

Golden Thread: Alex N Bernat | Divined April 2026

Cards: Ten of Wands, Eight of Knives (Black Tarot); Touchy (Elemental Alchemist Oracle); Nine of Cups (Agatha All Along Tarot); Axe (Southern Gothic Oracle); Black Snakeroot (Southern Botanical Oracle); Copper (Wild Unknown Alchemy Oracle).

A watercolor wash of yellow, teal, and green moves across the upper field, warm yellow in the upper left and deep teal across the upper right and center. A large copper and turquoise oxidized orb sits at the center behind the central figure, its aged surface patched with turquoise. A vintage figure sits at the heart of the piece, back to the viewer, head tilted slightly upward, striped light and shadows falling across their entire body. The snake is in the act of shedding across the full width of the piece, old skin visible in textured brown and tan scales on the left, the snake emerging in its new skin on the right with a white feathered or scaled wing and bright green spiky elements shooting outward. The figure sits at the exact center of that transformation, held between what is being shed and what is being born. A botanical plant with small dark leaves grows in the lower left. At the very bottom, a bold ornate blue and white decorative border runs the full width of the piece in deep cobalt blue scrollwork, a small tassel hanging from its center.

The reading relayed that weight is being carried that is not entirely theirs to carry, and the cards asked for setting that down, cutting what needs to be cut. Being in trust that the wish being called in will arrive in the form that is exactly right, even if it does not look as expected. Touchy asked for slowing down before emotional surge drives the words or the decisions. Black Snakeroot asked for creating a strong vision and setting boundaries that protect it. And Copper arrived as a loving confirmation that the heart is opening, that sensuality and pleasure are being called back in, and that Aphrodite smiles upon this becoming. The figure sits inside the shedding.