Tinashe: Aligning With Intuition
Sometimes we listen to others so much that we forget to listen to ourselves. In this episode, popstar Tinashe joins Michelle Tea for a conversation about the beauty of worshiping yourself and letting your intuition guide you. Then, Michelle gives listeners a deep dive into what angel numbers are, where to find them, and what they mean.
Tinashe: I think it's really been that guiding and driving force, and I give it a lot of credit to my intuition, just by following that and being aligned with that. That's really when all of the magical things have kind of come into my life.
[Music]
Michelle Tea: Welcome to Your Magic, I’m Michelle Tea and today my special guest is the Aquarian pop phenomenon Tinashe. We’ll talk about intuition, tarot, and angel numbers which I got so intrigued by that I organized a little explanation of what it’s all about for those of you who are curious as to why certain numbers keep popping up for you.
Stay tuned.
[Music]
Michelle Tea: I was thinking about how many of us have legit psychic experiences on the regular. By which I mean, intuition. That feeling you get in your gut — and it really so often does feel located there, doesn’t it? — that gives us information about what we want, or believe. It helps us know things, even if we shouldn’t, or can’t prove it. It’s powerful, and mysterious, felt knowledge.
Intuition is getting a little less baffling thanks to magic’s dear friend, science. Perhaps you’ve gotten the memo, but sources from the National Library of Medicine to the American Psychological Association are reporting that, yeah, our literal guts are loaded with these information-rich cells, and they travel to our brain via the vagus nerve. These cells pass messages about the state of your digestion, but they’re also transmitting emotions, feelings, instincts and intuitions up to command central. Those of us with bodies are not surprised by this; we have felt the force of this strange knowledge landing, giving us chills or a stomach ache, a feeling of urgency, excitement, or fight-or-flight.
Those of us with bodies that have been assigned female also know how commonly dismissed this intelligence is, leaving us vulnerable to gaslighting, self-doubt, and a corrosive confusion. I wish it didn’t take the beloved — but, lets face it — patriarchal institution of science to validate what so many of us have known all along — that sometimes you just know things, and that knowing can range from a mundane hunch to full-fledged psychic abilities.
For many years I had a pretty battered intuition, the result of knowing that something creepy was going on at home but not wanting it to be true, and then having it denied. A lousy intuition sets you up for lousy relationships; unable to validate your own psychic, emotional knowledge, you’re more likely to believe some chump’s rationale than the sirens going off in your guts. I built my intuition back up, slowly, first by realizing that I have intuition, and that it’s strong, and it needs to be listened to. Sometimes just that focus and support is all it needs. Reading tarot cards definitely helps a lot, since it traffics in images and symbols, a language the intuitive system seems to speak. Keeping a dream journal, meditating, praying or performing devotional rituals also helps your intuition wake up and take more space inside your body.
Though I really like that science has been investigating and proving the existence of our gut knowing, I also like how we still don’t really understand the hows and whys of it. Even if these cells in our guts are perking up and sending an alert to our brain, how do they — how do we — know what we know? I’m sure science will figure it out, eventually. Until then, it will be nurtured by magic.
Here’s Tinashe.
[Music]
Michelle Tea: Tinashe. Thank you so much for being on Your Magic.
Tinashe: Thank you so much for having me.
Michelle Tea: I have been so excited about you guesting on this show because I know that you are into angel numbers. This is true?
Tinashe: Very much so. So much that I named my last album 333. So I'm definitely excited to talk about them today.
Michelle Tea: Would you be able to sort of give a primer to listeners of what they are?
Tinashe: Well, angel numbers are just numbers that you kind of see in the world that basically affirm that you're on the right path or that different things are kind of happening in your life. You can kind of use them as these gentle reminders that your, your guides or your angels or everything is kind of leading you on the right path, especially 333 for me really resonated. And so I just kind of really embody that every time I see those numbers, I'm like, “Oh, there it is again, 333.” And that's always just a really lovely reminder for me.
Michelle Tea: That's so great. So do they have different — do different numbers sets mean different things?
Tinashe: Yeah, absolutely. Different numbers have different meanings. 333 specifically means that like you are guided by the angels, your specific guides are kind of leading you on the right path. And that one, I felt like really resonated with me where I am in my life because I made a lot of big decisions in my career and in which way I wanted to go into the future and, you know, at the time feeling like I was on the right path and then I was making the right choices with something that I really kind of gravitated towards.
Michelle Tea: That's so fantastic. It's so helpful to get these sort of other worldly-seeming just like pats on the back from like the universe. Do you believe in angels and guides? Like do you feel like you have a relationship with that concept?
Tinashe: Absolutely. I think that for me, even my name means “God is with us.” And so it's always been something that I felt I've been very connected to the spiritual, I guess, realm and side of things for for a really long time since I was young and just kind of always remembering that there's these kind of other beings, other forces, other energies, I guess, that have always kind of propelled me forward in my life or kind of kept me really safe throughout my journey. And I think that that's something that I continuously reflect on and kind of hold it - hold dear to my heart.
Michelle Tea: Were you raised in a spiritual family?
Tinashe: It was really interesting, my household was really, I think, open spiritually. We weren't super dogmatic by any means, like we didn't go to church when we were young. But my - my mom, for example, was always really into spiritual themes and kind of allowed me to explore my spirituality at a really early age. I remember I was really interested in Buddhism and Buddhist concepts when I was about like 13 years old and I really got into that. So I feel like that was when I kind of took my spiritual journey into my own hands, I guess, and started making decisions about like what I thought about things and what I thought about the world and the nature of reality and spirituality in general.
Honestly, for me, one of the things that I love about spirituality is that you can find such similar themes and similar lessons across so many different belief systems. And I think that that's really interesting and that's really beautiful. So for me to find kind of those comparisons and to explore just different ways that people have over the years, I guess, guided their lives or kind of fostered their communities through their own individual teachings. I think it's really beautiful, too.
Michelle Tea: How did quarantine and pandemic affect your spiritual practice?
Tinashe: For one thing, I just had way more time than I ever kind of had in the previous years. I was doing a lot of traveling, a lot of, you know, playing different shows in different cities and different places and constantly on the move and going through the motions. And so I did always have a spiritual practice, but it wasn't to the extent and also in the type of regularity that I was able to practice over the course of the quarantine. So just being every single day, able to kind of check in with myself and kind of make that my priority was something that was really, I think, crucial in both my development of this album and also just kind of like the development of myself and my character over the past year and a half, 18 months.
Michelle Tea: Are there any, like, rituals or anything that you actually did that you can share that was new or that you got a lot of comfort from?
Tinashe: I’m not exactly sure that it was one thing in particular. A lot of it was just kind of like my routines and like the things that I was constantly doing throughout my days, whether that was just having like a really nice sleep schedule, waking up in the morning and being in the sun and meditating in the sun and being able to water my plants and like, walk around my house and, you know, just like have gratitude practice in the morning, first thing. I think that was probably the biggest thing that I was able to do consistently every day that I never really did before to kind of just really have a lot of self care practice, like light candles and have aromatherapy and give myself, like a little bit of like... You know, a face mask or just kind of go above and beyond in terms of like self care and like making sure that I felt really centralized in my, I guess, in my - in my universe.
Michelle Tea: I love, like elevating self care to the level of like a spiritual practice.
Tinashe: Spirituality. [laughs]
Michelle Tea: Witchcraft. You know, it's so great. It's like I'm just worshiping myself here. I'm like, you know, I'm the goddess. I'm the goddess.
Tinashe: Yeah. It's so true. I think there's overlap in that. In that sense, I think that by treating ourselves with that kind of respect, it is spiritual. It is a spiritual practice. I think that that kind of enriches your your spirit and your love for yourself.
Michelle Tea: I also love the third eye that you have in that photo of yourself on the — that's the cover photo? Of 333?
Tinashe: Yeah, the cover of my album.
Michelle Tea: It made me want to talk to you about, like, intuition. To me, it's such a, you know, symbol, of course right, for our third eye and our - our - our psychic abilities or, you know, as they manifest maybe more more humbly as intuition. What is intuition to you?
Tinashe: When I look back on my life, my career, and how I've navigated through it, how I've manifested a lot of things for myself and how just different things in my life I've had different intuition about them at different points in my life that were very strong and felt like very visceral at the time. I think it's really been that guiding and driving force, and I give it a lot of credit to my intuition, to how I've kind of got everything that I've got just by following that and being aligned with that. That's really when all of the magical things have kind of come into my life. But for better or for worse as well, you know, I think I've learned a lot of lessons, things that I intuitively probably knew were meant for me to learn as well. And - and it's kind of crazy to me, thinking back how many times just a very strong sense of what the answer was. You can kind of feel it in your gut, in your stomach, like right at the top. So for me, I was always very connected with that and - and tapped into that as much as I could.
Michelle Tea: Do you think it's especially important for artists to be able to trust their, their intuition?
Tinashe: For me, I think my career, if I ever took any kind of quote unquote wrong turn or any type of negative period in my career, it was always when I wasn't trusting that intuition. It was when I was letting outside forces kind of be the guide in the decisions I was making, the art I was producing, the energy I was just putting into the universe. I think it was getting back in alignment with that inside of me, especially my creative intuition and knowing that the things that I was making and and the ideas that I was having were the best ones to offer. And - and really trusting in that and having confidence in that, I think is what gave me a very fresh start when I went independent. I left my record label. I made this big decision to go independent and be my own boss, the captain of my ship and that was a very intuitive move for me.
It just felt like this is what I need to do. This is how I'm going to be able to best express what I need to express and if I don't do this, I'll potentially lose that magic, that spark, that is the beauty of being an artist, that creativity and that confidence in myself. I'm happier. I feel more fulfilled. It's crazy how everything just feels so much more at peace and so much more calm when you're not trusting that feeling inside of you and you're kind of fighting it and you're in resistance to that, that I think that that's a big, big lesson for me in terms of like when my career's been really great and when it's not.
[Music]
Michelle Tea: Well, I would love to pick some tarot cards for you. Would you - do have a relationship with tarot cards?
Tinashe: I do. I have some tarot cards that were gifted to me by somebody very special. So I always... I think when I feel very much so like I need some guidance, I'll always kind of pull one and just see - see where my head is at. But it's definitely not like a daily practice or anything like that. It's kind of a once in a while when I'm feeling really just uncertain. It can kind of give me a little bit of certainty. But yeah, it’s also kind of a newer practice in my life. I haven’t really been into tarot for too long.
Michelle Tea: What would you like to know? You're absolutely right. You know, like some people do have daily practices. I go in and out of having that. But I love pulling cards for clarity just to be like, is this the right path or is that the right path? Like what's open, what's closed? Like, those are great, great things to use the tarot for if you have anything like that going on in your life.
Tinashe: Well, I think the first thing that I obviously want to know is - is based with this album career-wise is... this... I have a tour coming up as well, so I'm just like looking to see how this is all going to go for me, I'm assuming that this is all kind of the right path. It feels right. I'm very excited about it and my intuition tells me that it's going to be a great rest of my year. But I'm also — I haven't been on the road in a long time. There's a lot of things that potentially, I guess, could go awry. So I don't know, maybe some clarity as to - as to what the rest of this year looks like for me?
Michelle Tea: Yeah, let me pull some cards on. Like, what is - what does the energy look around your tour, around your touring look like? Yes, I'm going to do a couple of different things. So right now I'm shuffling the Thoth deck and I'm going to just pull three cards to get an idea of like, what does the energy look like? Because you're right. I mean, it's - it's like going from zero to 100, right?
Tinashe: Yeah.
Michelle Tea: Like from this isolation to whoa back on the road being on the road is is so exhilarating and exhausting. It's like all the things, right? OK, now I just pulled out another deck of cards here. It's an Oracle deck called Vessel and I'm going to pull this for some extra just guidance for you. Like, OK, like, you know, tour is going to have ups and downs. We know that without even picking the cards, right? Because that’s just life. So, so what, what is there for you to think about? What is helpful energies for you to kind of conjure and helpful concepts for you to have in mind.
Oh, this card just flipped out. That's called Begin. It's like enough already. Just go. Go on your tour.
The cards that have come up for your tour! Oh, my God, I have to be really honest with you, OK? When you're like, what's this tour going to look like? I'm like, I don't love picking cards for things that are set in stone, right? If you were like, “Should I go on tour?” I love those questions. Like, here's what it looks like if you do, here is if you don't and then I'm just pulling these cards going, “Oh, God, what if they're terrible?” I'm going to have to be like it looks like it looks like your tour is going to be super hard. But I'm so happy to say that your tour is going to be a success. You literally got the Success card, OK?
Tinashe: Yeah!
Michelle Tea: That's amazing. This is the card that you want to have for a big undertaking in the material world. And is there any bigger undertaking than a tour?
Tinashe: No.
Michelle Tea: I mean, the staff, you got your equipment, you got your wheels, you got, you know, your body, you got to keep healthy while you're on the road. I mean, it's like it's so earthy. It's so discs. So this is beautiful. I have chills. I'm really happy for you.
Tinashe: That’s amazing.
Michelle Tea: Oh, it gets better. It gets better. Just hold on a second, because your next card is Fortune. OK? So like destiny, this is a big I mean, like, oh, I feel like everything that you've been talking about, how you're coming out of this period of like having to super trust your intuition, you know, trust your creative inspiration, let that guide you. Go out on your own. This is the tour that's going to back that up. And you are really going to feel it's going to be like such a - a tangible proof that like, “Yes, this was the right thing to do. This is the album I needed to make. I'm bringing it out to the people who need to receive it.” Oh, it's going to be so good for you. Fortune is just like it's one of the most positive cards in the deck. And I feel like it's a destiny card. It's like, yeah, you're going to be on top because it's your destiny to be on top.
Now all of that said, you also have Adjustment. So this is a Libra card. This is like, OK, OK, this is a lot. Right? Going from kind of, I know, I mean, again, like, I don't know exactly what your pandemic was like. It sounds like it's very chill, a lot of self care, a lot, you know, big decisions and a lot of creativity. But whoa, man, you're going to be out in the world, in front of the world. And that might I'm really glad I picked these little helper cards for you, because the Adjustment card is just saying it might be hard to keep that balance, you know? It's going to be challenging. So, you know, I don't know. I would just say make make reasonable goals. Like, you're not going to probably be able to keep your self care at the same level. But at the same time, it's going to be so important for you to have good self care, right?
Tinashe: Totally.
Michelle Tea: So rigorous. All right. Let's see what we got here. Remember I said that card called Begin jumped out of the deck while I was shuffling? It's the center card for this pull that I just did. Begin — and, you know, folks listening, it's a giant star with all of these hearts and rays just exploding out of it — and it's like, “Yes, like it's time to go. It's time to do this.”
And then next to it is Spirit. So this is really wonderful. It's like a hand and it's like the pointer finger is like touching a star and there's wings coming off the star and you have a spiritual practice. You feel that you're guided by angels and by spirit and that you have guides. So it's like, yes, keep close to that. Let that be something that you check in with regularly. If you do hit a place that feels bumpy, like this Adjustment card here where you feel like you need an adjustment, turn to that spiritual source, right?
Whatever that is for you, that's going to really help you out, because then in the next card is It Gets Better which is a bunch of hands reaching a heart. So, yeah, I mean, it looks like it's mostly going to be electric and exciting and fantastic and successful in any of the, you know, any issues with personal balance as displayed in the Adjustment card. Looks like you can totally work with that by just like trusting with It Gets Better card trust that you know how to take care of yourself, reach out to spirit, bring in that spiritual practice and like, just do it, do the work, do the fun, amazing work that you get to do in this world with the Begin card.
Tinashe: Wow, that is like the perfect thing that I needed to hear, obviously, those are all things that I hope for with this tour. That's all you can hope for, is to be able to connect with people and, and have that successful, I guess, just experience. But I think the one thing that I'm personally really looking forward to and hoping to receive from this tour, I guess, is some sense of, yeah, it's been a long time since I've had any type of like real tangible validation from my fans that the music that I've made is meaningful to them because I haven't been in the same room with them. It's like one thing to read comments online. It's like a totally other thing to see them and experience them and hug them. And I'm just really looking forward to that. So that makes me very, very, very excited.
Michelle Tea: Oh, yeah. You're going to get all that, like, validation, that real world confirmation of like being on the right path and having done something that touches people. Is there any other things that you'd like some cards on?
Tinashe: You know what, I do think that probably outside of the career, outside of touring, I think I do have a lot of unfinished business in my personal life, I have a couple of friends that I have kind of cut out of my life in the past year and a half that I'm not really exactly sure how to move forward with that, so maybe that - I could - maybe I could have some clarity as to what I should do in that situation. Should I continue to kind of cut these people out or should... I don't know if I should kind of... I think my last year was a lot of learning how to set boundaries and walls and build those around myself to kind of build myself back up. And that's been something that I've been really proud of myself for doing. So now I'm kind of wondering if I need to keep these boundaries, if this is a lesson that I need to continue moving forward with, or if this is something that maybe I can... that I've grown past, I don't know.
Michelle Tea: All right, let's look at it. So first I'm going to shuffle saying, what does it look like for you just to keep these boundaries up for right now? You know, like what does it look like for you just to keep your guard up, keep those boundaries? Alright I'm pulling three cards. And now I'm going to shuffle and say, what does it look like for you to maybe peek over the fence? Maybe we hit a reset button of sorts. So staying away. Hmm. And now...
OK, this is interesting, the cards are mixed in both of them, which made me think — I was aware that this could be possible and I was thinking, you're talking about multiple people. Is it possible that there's maybe like some people or one person that you should kind of keep away from and one that you can maybe let in? Do you think that that's possible?
Tinashe: For sure that's possible.
Michelle Tea: How many people are we talking about here?
Tinashe: Two people, two specific people.
Michelle Tea: OK, think about the first one. Think about the — I'm going to, I'm going to pull some cards here — think about the first person. OK, so you'll know who that is. I don't know who it is, but you're going to know who this person is. I'm going to pick one clarifying card for this person. And now think of the other person. Think of the second person. And again, you'll know who this person is. Person number two. OK. Let’s see what that person is, all right?
Huh. I think person number one is a better... if there's somebody you're going to interact with, it's that first person. Let me - let me get into the cards here. So for keeping your boundary, you got really good cards, but it's a little mixed. You've got the Hanged Man, which is showing that like, all right, this is - this is a sacrifice for you. You know, you did something. You pushed your comfort zone like, I don't know, it doesn't sound like you're in the business of firing friends. And now you did something that you felt like you had to and it didn't feel great. But - but the next card here is Love. And so you did it out of self love, right? You did it out of love for yourself and maybe even love for these people, because sometimes that's how people learn, is when the people around them stop tolerating their bullshit, right? So sometimes it's a loving thing to say, like, “No, I'm going to take some space from this.”
But then here's this other thing, and it's the Seven of Disks and it's a Failure card. But it doesn't necessarily mean that the thing is a Failure. It does make me wonder of like, OK, what you know, what - what is it talking about? The seven is an emotional number and the disks are the material world and so it ends up being a card that's about like fear, really, fear of failure. So I don't know if you're worried that you were too harsh or something like that. It looks like it looks like going back in and letting these folks in the very first card is Strife. It's like problems right away. Do they get kind of cleared up right away? It's like a lot of energy. Look at all these wands. Five of Wands, Eight of Wands, Knight of Wands. It's like fire. These people are just like on fire. So you can't control them, you know? And I mean, of course, you don't want to, but it's like... it feels so out of control that it makes me wonder how you keep your - you keep your grounding in the midst of it all.
So now that I just worked it through, I would say like... I would - I would definitely err on keeping those boundaries up. That person number one is being, they're the Peace card, it's the Two of Swords so they might have a little bit — they might be more chill and be able to actually communicate. That's a good communication card. It could be a little waffly also, though, a little like ugh.
The other person got the Power, Sun in Capricorn, and in this scenario, I'm seeing this as like power trippy, power hungry, not somebody who's going to be able to let themselves be vulnerable enough to start anew. I would say stick with your boundaries. They're made out of self-love. And this, this failure card just looks like fear to me at the end of the day.
Tinashe: Well. I think that was what I was planning on doing, that was what I was erring on. So that - that gives me a little bit of clarity there because, yeah, like I feel like I was getting a little bit bamboozled. Boundaries is helpful.
Michelle Tea: Thank you so much for like being on this show. It's - it's been so cool to get to talk about angel numbers with you and learn about your practice and I just hope you have such a great time on your tour and really get to experience the success of your new album.
Tinashe: Thank you so much. Thank you for having me.
[Music]
Michelle Tea: So, talking to Tinashe inspired me to look deeper into the phenomena of angel numbers — the belief that noticing a repeating series of numbers showing up in your life means that angelic beings are trying to communicate with you. Now, I love an angelic being, and this is one of these beliefs that are very witchy and woo, but even god-fearing Christian folks can get into, because... angels. Are they the messengers of a Judeo-Christian monotheasitic God, or are they high-vibrating light beings from the spirit realm? Who knows? But, if you like the idea of benevolent entities looking out for you, or if you’ve had the uncanny experience of, like, noticing the clock every time it says 5:55, and then your grocery bill comes out to $55.55, and then you get a robo call on your cell from a number ending in 555 — I mean, that’s odd. Let’s see what these numbers might mean.
One are said to be about something fresh happening in your life, that you’ve got a new beginning going on.
The vibe of two is other people, partnerships, but twos can be about balance also like maybe your life is a little out of sync and you need to bring it back into balance.
Threes speak to the power of own creativity and the possibility that, through creativity, we can leave our mark on our culture.
Now I’ve found contrasting meanings for number four. Some people believe it is a warning about work, something’s going wrong in your career. Others say it’s the angels letting you know you’re actually headed in the right direction. So that’s very unhelpful.
Fives have a real astrological fifth-house vibe. They signify fun times and shaking you out of any ruts you might be in. Five is like a party number.
Six is really associated with your home and also about keeping a positive attitude.
Sevens have Big Spiritual Energy and communicate that you have the ability to connect with the divine right now.
Eight is the number of abundance, prosperity, and your good karma coming through in the form of resources.
And nine. Nine is about your soul’s true purpose on earth, that you’re doing it. You’re in it and you’re going to see some results.
Angel numbers aren’t just one through nine — there are meanings to all sorts of different numerical combos. 1212 is telling you you have to work a little harder if you want to make changes in your life. Sixes and threes together mean the universe is blessing your efforts. Zeros encourage you to keep doing just what you’re doing. Combinations of fours and sixes say you’re paying too much attention to material things. You gotta get more spiritual. It goes on and on and on. I mean numbers are infinite.
I’m torn about these angel numbers. Sometimes, noticing such synchronicities do help me to feel like I’m sort of on the right track. They can remind me that there is a spiritual dimension to everything, if I’ve gotten a little distracted. On the other hand, it can also feel obsessive. And wringing a meaning from every number on a receipt or a screen can make me feel like I’m sliding into some magical thinking.
But, who’s to say magical thinking is that bad? Sometimes it’s just what the goddexx ordered. As for me, I’m going to use these numerical meanings when I’m doing spells and rituals at my altar, maybe carving a three on a candle I’m using to dedicate to a writing project, or working the number six into a home-centric spell. As always, the best part of magic is you can tweak it. You can take it or leave it. You can check in with yourself and let what feels good and comforting and inspiring be your guide.
[Music]
Michelle Tea: Sometimes it feels like the universe is really communicating with us, sending uncanny signs and symbols our way. Other times, it’s like that cosmic vibe seems harder to grasp. Whether we’re meditating or playing with tarot to strengthen our intuition, or deciding that that recurring 777 is in fact the Goddexx winking at us, I like that there are always things to do and mindsets to adopt that help our lives feel a bit more infused with magic. Here’s hoping your own week is filled with lots of mystical messages tailored just for you.
[Music]
Michelle Tea: Thanks for tuning into Your Magic. Make sure you follow us on Twitter and Instagram @thisisyourmagic. You can subscribe to us right here on Spotify — do what you need to to never miss an episode. And sign up for our newsletter at thisisyourmagic.com and get more musings from our team of spiritual seekers. And you can email us at hello@thisisyourmagic.com, we would love to hear from you.
This episode was produced and edited by Molly Elizalde, Tony Gannon, and Vera Blossom. We got production support from Raven Yamamoto. Our executive producers are Ben Cooley, myself, and Molly Elizalde. Our original theme music is by John Kimbrough.
Tune in next week for a recording of our live show with Perfume Genius, Rachel True, and more. Thanks for listening!