In the childhood memories of every chef or foodie, there's always a busy kitchen, a warm stove, a simmering pot, and mom— all scenes from the Kitchen Tarot deck. For the first time in history, the ancient tarot has been sent to the kitchen: the heart of the home. Artist-creator Susan Shie's brilliant wedding of classic quilting with contemporary mixed-media modalities combined with her love of the forecasting, food, and family has cooked up a nourishing new oracle that concerns itself with keeping your heart and home happy and holy.

A healthy meal is all about what you put into it, as well as what you leave out—like life. Our bodies change with the seasons, and so, too, should what we eat. The Kitchen Tarot, when blended with the philosophy of numerology provides timely and tasty food-for-thought for everyone in the home who's hungry for happiness. To tarot, May brings with it the energies of the number Nine for all to dine—the reduced single-digit for May=month #5, when added to the year 2011 becomes 5+2+0+1+1, whose sum total is 9.

May's 9-number makes this a month for introspection, squeaky-clean self-exploration. A time of convalescence, contemplation, and rest. To not be lonely when alone. The Kitchen Tarot's card 9-Dish Soap is ready to help you come clean. It is a gentle reminder that it's just as important to know when to leave people alone as it is to know when you should talk to them. Everyone needs some solo time to mull over problems that bubble up, or time-out to indulge in comforting quiet—quite difficult to do when everybody in the kitchen is yakking at the same time, isn't it?

The Dish Soap and Pluto, the astrological planet of transformation, has much in common with number 9's connection to transition and endings.  Normally, Pluto is found in the darkest of shadows on the back roads of our psyches. In the Kitchen Tarot, he resides under the sink, coaching you to remove the grime and groans from your home—urging you to clean up your act, and see yourself exactly as you are. The Kitchen Tarot's Dish Soap card says it's time to put on the rubber gloves and scrub away doubt and worry!

Card 9 gives a tip of the chef's hat for tweaking unfinished projects, and reviewing contracts as well as notes from old classes, meetings, or brainstorming sessions. Fill in the framework you created back in spring 2002, when things were moving along at a different rate in your household and family life. Now is not the time to stop everything and write a new chapter; the Dish Soap favors editing the ones you have.

Work- and romance-wise, be tolerant of others' inexperience. If you must act, do so independently, rather than in tandem. Give audience to your inner voice. Come clean with yourself.

May's Kitchen Tarot numbers urge you to turn down the noise. Feed the soul. The Dish Soap favors listening, rather than acting. In quiet we find our sanity when the world around us dangerously sputters like a hot unguarded skillet. Prayer, meditation, and house-caring go together this month. When we clean and order our kitchen and home, we are cleaning and ordering ourselves.

May's Kitchen Tarot Affirmation: I learn from quality quiet time with myself. Silence is golden and yummy.

For more insights, click here to watch Dennis’ video.