Tarot Card for the Day ~ December 7

Ace of Cups 

The Holy Grail

Okay!  Okay!!!  That’s Aces three days out of the last four! 

Do you think maybe The Universe is suggesting, oh, maybe

A New Beginning?

Or maybe

A NEW Beginning?

Or maybe

A Beginning That’s New?

Huh?

Aces in any Tarot deck (as you may really be rather tired of hearing of late) are cards of a new beginning.  So, that being the case, how can you (how would you like to or how do you need to) begin your life anew, today, right now?  What changes can you begin, even in small ways?  What potentials can you believe in, hope for, reach for and remember?  (And you can expect The Universe will keep asking that question until you all remember to ask it alla tyme by yourself!)

In any Tarot deck, the Ace of Cups is interpreted as a card of abundance, joy and even divine inspiration.  Some readers speak of this as a card of tremendously uplifting energy.

My own intuitive interpretation is based on the beautiful illustration of the Ace of Cups/Holy Grail in the Legend deck created by Anna Marie Ferguson.  

There have been many visions of what the Grail may really be. 

~ Some have seen it as the vessel from which Jesus drank at the Last Supper. 

~ Some perceive it as one of the Great Magical Cauldrons of Celtic spirituality. 

~ Others have thought it a huge jewel broken from the crown of Lucifer when he was cast out of heaven.  [Me, I've laways thought Lucifer got a bad rap.  What if he really WAS a light-bringer, and religious bigotry and opposition simply worked to dog him down?] 

~ It has even been written that the Grail is a great crystal at the juncture between the shamanic upper, lower and middle worlds, and that our ordinary reality world balances upon its tip. 

I see this card as being about regeneration − which makes sense, as so many of the objects mentioned here are mystical, magical, regenerative tools. 

The Ace of Cups asks that we be open to rebirth, perhaps a spiritual rebirth, and that we begin to seek it today. 

Most importantly for me, our culture has come to see the Grail as a symbol of purity and perfection.  So when I work with clients and this card comes up, I say,

What is your Holy Grail?  What is the highest, most perfect ideal you can strive for?   What is the purest, most positive thing you can aspire to do?  Who or what is the best, most brilliant, most caring version of yourself you can seek to become? 

Now, starting today, this minute, how can you honor THAT knowing, THAT aspect, THAT vision of yourself and your life?

Well? 

It may take a little work, sure, but you’re certainly worth it!

Bright blessings!

Quote for the Day:  The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult and left untried. ~ G.K. Chesterton

Today’s Waethyr: Cabbage-butt crow whackers escalating well into the morning.  This is not a day to detune your stoats. 

On This Date: 1732 – The Royal Opera House opens at Covent Garden, London. 

  

WIN A TAROT READING BY NEAL

We’ll be raffling two gift certificates for up-to-one-hour telephone Tarot readings by yours truly at  this Saturday’s reading of Allie the Christmas Imp.

If you’re not able to be there, but would like to be eligible to win, just mail a donation (with the words Donation, 12/12 in the memo section of the check) to Liberation United Church of Christ.  For every $10 of your donation, we will put in a ticket for the Readings raffle.)  

The donation must be received by NOON on FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11 to be eligible for the drawing.

Mail it to 

Allie Raffle

Liberation United Church of Christ

13714 Madison Avenue

Lakewood, Ohio 44107

Thanks!

Tarot Card for the Day ~ December 6

Knight of Cups

Galahad

This here knight here is back after exactly eight days.  And before that, he was back again after only nine days.  Do ya suppose this card might be attempting to remind us once again of what’s REALLY important at this sacred and magical time of year?  [Did I hear gift certificates from Saks and Barney's?  Really you guys.] 

The Knight of Cups is always a good energy & good advice card.  I think of this as the card of the sacred quest. 

[Barney's my asparagus!]

Therefore, if you have been feeling that your life really isn’t going in the direction you and God (Spirit, The Universe, the Universal Life Force, the Big Enchilada, Diddy, The Voice of John Cleese, Brangelina – whoever) agreed to before you accepted birth this time around:

HEY!  YOU! 

Don’t you think it’s time to reconnect and GET GOING?

Some readers might interpret the Knight of Cups as the coming of a messenger, advancement in the world, or a graceful but not warlike person of great masculine energy [think Baryshnikov, I guess. Or George Clooney.  Or Madonna?].  Others could say it indicates someone (maybe you?) ingenious, full of original ideas.

Anna-Marie Ferguson, creator of the Legend deck I use, feels this card betokens a tempting proposal which deserves serious consideration. [Avoid snakes in apple trees and guys playing fiddle at crossreoads.  Things rarely work out.]  Also, an approaching opportunity for advancement.  Or an unexpected gift.  So if something like that crosses your path today, assume you deserve it, accept it fully and gratefully, and run with it! 

I still like my intuitive interpretation best. [And I say that with no modesty whatsoever.]

Think upon the commitments for this lifetime

              that you made before you came into being. 

 Determine the next few steps

                        to keep you moving along that path –

 or the first steps that will be necessary

                                to move you back onto that path. 

And GET GOING!

Bright blessings and remembrance of your sacred self!  

Quote for the Day: So long as we have failed to eliminate any of the causes of human despair, we do not have the right to try to eliminate those means by which man tries to cleanse himself of despair.  ~ Antonin Artaud  

Today’s Weather:  Presterjohns discomfitting snowflake bombardiers.  Rude (but kindly) mechanicals.  Yup!  

On This Date: 1865 – The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, banning slavery.  

And: Day of Saint Nicholas.  [Yeah.  I'm a tad confused, too.]

Tarot Card for the day ~ December 5

Ace of Shields

Avalach’s Shield

Hmmm… Aces two days in a row (yesterday was the Ace of Swords, ‘member?).   So even though we haven’t seen this card since late September, back-to-back Aces really do push the idea that it’s time to make a new beginning. Therefore,  pay attention, even though it is a Saturday morning for most of you. 

As those of you who were actually awake during the last paragraph will remember, Aces in any Tarot deck  are cards of a new beginning.  So, that being the case,

~ How can you − how do you need to − begin your life anew, today, this moment?

~ What changes can you begin, even in small ways? 

~ What potentials can you believe in, hope for, reach for and remember?

And you can expect The Universe will keep giving you situations that ask that kinda question until you all remember to ask it alla tyme by yerownseff!

And now, back to the Ace of Shields.

According to legend, Avalach was a “heathen” king, befriended and converted to Christianity by Joseph of Arimathea, carrier of the Holy Grail into Britain.

Avalach’s shield was known to have miraculous powers of protection and healing.  For hundreds of years it stayed in an abbey waiting for Galahad, the world’s greatest and purest knight − its ultimate  and final bearer, to come and take it up.

 

Most readers would likely indicate that this card signifies things like PERFECT contentment, felicity, even ecstasy, and perhaps gold.  Not bad, I says! Not bad!

Anna-Marie Ferguson, creator of the Legend deck, finds the Ace of Shields to be a card of treasures, prosperity, making great gains, but also of enrichment of the spirit.  Yes!  Yes! Yes! 

 When I work with a client and this card comes up, I look deep into the card, which is beautifully illustrated, depicting a mask of The Green Man above a Camelottish Knight’s shield upon which is worked a large golden cross.  The mask and shield are mounted on a wall; below them, incense, or perhaps oak leaves, burn on a brazier, with all enfolded by an otherworldly light.  It’s a wonderfully mystical depiction.   

 I find that the card directs us to look for healing, growth and progress via mystical or spiritual means.  It suggests that we should be comfortable blending seemingly diverse spiritual paths in our process, just as the good sisters in Ireland pray to the Christian Saints, but leave tidbits and goodies in the garden to feed and engage the Leprechauns and other Fair Folk, finding no contradiction in this custom.

So… look for and define YOUR new beginning.  Know that great gains and treasures are not beyond your reach.  And let a beautiful swirling and blending of spiritual paths guide you toward and support you in your wonderful new life!

 Brightest blessings!

Quote for the Day:  In the garden of gentle sanity, may you be bombarded by the coconuts of wakefulness. ~   Chogyam Trungpa, Rinpoche

Today’s Weather:  Riddles, middles, paradiddles.  [Give that a try as a power chant to take you into some new beginnings.]

On This Date:  1492 – Christopher Columbus becomes the first European to set foot on the island of Hispaniola, now Haiti.  Sigh.

And: 1958 – Subscriber Trunk Dialling (STD) is inaugurated in the UK by Queen Elizabeth II when she speaks to the Lord Provost in a call from Bristol to Edinburgh. [Obviously, STD had a different meaning back then.]

Tarot Card for the Day ~ December 4

Ace of Swords

Sword of Strange Hangings 

This is the fourth day in a row we’ve pulled Swords for this blog.  Are we finding each other just a mite SHARPER than we need to be?  Eh?

 All right, boys and girls, ALL TOGETHER NOW:

 Aces in any Tarot deck are cards of a new beginning.

 Therefore:

~ How can you (how do you need to) begin your life anew, today, right now?

~ What changes can you begin, even in ways that may seem small? 

~ What potentials can you believe in, hope for, reach for and remember?

When the Ace of Swords comes up in a reading, I say something like:

Your new beginning has to do with going on an adventure, of giving yourself permission to go after something that really sets your heart and soul on fire. 

Please understand, if you undertake this quest, it very well may involve the release of some element of your life that no longer serves you. 

Should you find that to be the case, strive to let the release be as quick and clean as possible, a very skillful surgery.”

I’ll stand by that. 

But as I’ve worked with clients who have had this card come up, I’ve also come to perceive that the adventure, the new beginning and the release tend to have an aspect of destiny to them: we often find that the person has reached a point where they must make some choices to move forward in order to evolve as their life offers them the potential to do. 

And what I often see is, in doing so, they do very well to remember that even big changes can be initiated and made without creating negative karma. 

By the way, I have also found that this card betokens a positive outcome for skillfully undertaken literal surgery. 

(And for some people, the adventure they decide to go on, and the “surgery” of the release they decide to make, can lead to a profound healing of the romantic side of life as well.)

What is your new beginning?  What adventure does your destiny call you to − beginning today?   What may you be called to release? 

Undertake your quest in a way that is firm yet considerate of the law:

 WHAT GOES AROUND

 COMES AROUND  

 Bright blessings and joyous adventures!

Quote for the Day:   So you set out to travel to Rome… and end up in Istanbul. You set off for Japan… and you end up on a train across Siberia. The journey, not the destination, becomes a source of wonder. ~ Loreena McKennitt 

Today’s Weather:  Metamorphosed pucklings. Flurries of spinning Spaniels among the trees. 

On This Date:  1872 – The crewless American ship Mary Celeste is found by the British brig Dei Gratia (the ship had been abandoned for 9 days but was only slightly damaged). 

Tarot Card for the Day ~ December 3

 

Ten of Swords

Camlann 

Sigh. 

Why do I keep pulling cards that make me say, Oy!  [By the way, did you know that Oy! spelled backwards is Yo!  Work with THAT during the holiday season!]

Last saw this card toward the end of October. And it tends to be a toughie in pretty much any deck, for pretty much any reader.  So of course I have my own divergent take on it.  It can be pretty groovy, in its own way.

Camlann, the image within this card, is the place and thus name of the final battle fought by Arthur and his knights.  It’s the battle at which Arthur took his fatal wounds − or rather, the wounds that caused him to be spirited away to Avalon. 

In any case, it’s the battle that saw the demise of the Round Table, the end of the Pendragon kings and the fall of Camelot.

Most readers see the Ten of Swords as a card of sadness, pain, affliction and desolation.  [And a Happy Thursday, guys!]

Even Anna-Marie Ferguson, writing of her Legend deck, sees it as betokening troubles, conflict, a showdown, or perhaps the climax and end of a chapter.

When this card turns up for a client, I begin by reminding them of what tens mean to me:

Tens in any Tarot deck betoken the end of one cycle and the beginning of another, or even the end of one way of life and the beginning of another.  So, if I were reading for you today and this card came up, I’d ask:

How do the things you have been experiencing – and more importantly, how do the things you have begun to long for in life just now – represent a strong message to you that you must allow yourself to

acknowledge the end of a cycle

and own the great potential for you to

move into something wonderful and powerful and new? 

How can you keep that in front of you not only today, but for some time to come?

Then I’d say:

Beyond that general information about cycles, I believe the Ten of Swords says in no uncertain terms,

“You!  You!  You!  Yes.  You. 

“At this moment, I require of you some courage and faith.

“It is time to allow the old world − the world as you know it, your typical, day to day world− to die, in order that a beautiful new world may be born from it.” 

Yeah, it requires some courage, all right. 

But remember the promise: “a beautiful new world.”  This is in fact a hopeful card.

In following up with clients for whom this card is prominent in a reading, my sense has become that the changes they will need to make usually begin with a kind of ego death: a realization that the direction they have been firmly, even fanatically committed to really no longer serves them. 

That doesn’t mean they are required to throw everything up in the air and rush off in a direction wholly opposite to that which they have known, or in no intelligible direction at all. 

It does mean that they must begin by asking themselves – “What if?” 

What if this path HAS taken me as far as it was meant to go?  And what if that’s a good thing?  What if it’s a perfectly natural evolution?

What if I stand at the birthing place of beautiful new opportunities, beautiful new worlds?  What if I let myself fantasize about what I would wish them to be?

What would I wish them to be?  How would I wish to pursue them?  What would I do to begin? What are the baby steps I can take to begin that today?

What is the cycle that is completed?  What is the world that should be allowed to fall away?  What is the beautiful new world to be born from it?  How do I begin to create that world, for myself and those I love − for the highest and best of all − today?

Bright blessings, courage, hope and beautiful dreams! 

Quote for the Day: The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide that you are not going to stay where you are.  ~ Anon

Today’s Whether:  The return of the dreaded bongweasels; Trocadero souffle rampant.  Grease your geese. 

On This Date: Lotsa crummy stuff. Really. Don’t look, you’ll only get depressed. 

But!!:  1968 – Elvis’ Comeback Special airs nationwide on NBC.

 

Tarot Card for the Day ~ December 2

Eight of Swords

Guenevere at the Stake

Back again?  Probably a pretty good card to take us into the last weeks of Autumn, though.  So let yourself go back to this card from time to time between now and the Winter Solstice, just to help you remember what this period has been about.

As I said the last couple of times this card showed up, this is really one of those cards that a client only has to see for about a second before they start whining and puling.  Can’t say I blame them, based on how the Eight of Swords is usually depicted.

Even in my Legend deck, the largest elements are Guenevere tied to the stake, wood piled about her, the executioner (looking very much like Lurch from the original Adams family) ready to set the pyre alight.  Charmin’ all ’round, ’tis.

So when intuitive consultants (Tarot readers) typically offer interpretations along the lines of bad news, conflict, slander, crisis, regret and being held at a disadvantage − I suppose I can see why a client might whimper some.

However − as most of you have already begun to say under your breath – Nealio don’t see it THAT way. 

Let’s think about something for a second.  [Yes, we have to.  Have another coffee for pity’s sake.] 

Why do people come to guys like me for a reading? 

Be nice. 

It should NOT just be to hear what’s gonna happen.  It SHOULD be to learn what THEY need to know that will help THEM maximize success and optimize outcomes!  BIIIIIIIG difference! 

I like a phrase my wife shared with me.  “Some American Indians think of prophecy as that which can be changed.”

So, you come to me for a reading.  The Eight of Swords turns up.  You start looking for a place to hide.  You find you don’t fit under the table and you can’t jump from the window because we’re in a basement.

So I say,

Wait a minute! Wait!  Wait!  Wait!

[Wait!] 

Don’t leap (or claw your way up) to conclusions.  The first thing this card is telling you is that, if you’ve been feeling bound, trapped, concerned that there’s some negativity trying to bring you down, you’ve been right.  You’re not just being a wuss.

But!  BUT!!!!!  Look carefully at the card, Watson.  The Queen is tied to the stake and about to become an order of crispy-crunchy, dipping sauce upon request, no vegans please.  However, peer more closely [I'm exerting peer pressure] and you’ll see there are knights coming over the hill, riding to her rescue.  And, if you remember your old Richard Harris movies, they will succeed.

This card is a gift to you, warning you in advance of possible crisis and other down-side realities.  And sure, if you freeze like a deer in the headlights, you will become Highway Delight.      

How should you deal with this card?  Do what Guenevere did. 

Reach out. 

Ask for help.  

Let yourself receive help − help of all kinds from all appropriate levels. 

Especially seek assistance from those who are extremely capable of helping you understand, take on and overcome the difficulties [or go after the new goals] that may be trying to creep up [or emerging]. 

That will lead you to the most positive outcome possible, and even to a successful turnaround of the situation.

This card offers an end to adversity and a new beginning.

Let me repeat that for greater effect:

This card offers

an end to adversity

and a new beginning.  

But you have to reach out for it and grab the help when it’s there.  (After all, don’t you owe it to all the rest of us to make your life, and thus the greater vibration, better?)

Feeling tied down?  DON’T try to handle it alone.  Reach out.  Get general support from all those who care about you.  Engage those who have the strength, skill and wisdom to help you free yourself and move on to new, bright possibilities.  And make it a habit not to go solo any more.  Reach out.  Ask for help − of the highest and best kind.

Bright blessings, hope, peace and joy!

Quote for the Day:  Do not fear mistakes.  You will know failure.  Continue to reach out.  ~ Benjamin Franklin  

Today’s Weather: Onomatopoetic porgys ganged together with misshapen runcibles right in the face of old El Niňo.  Drizzle your grizbies. 

On This Date: 1970 – The United States Environmental Protection Agency begins operations.

And: 1859 – Georges Seurat, French painter is born.

Tarot Card for the Day ~ December 1

 

King of Swords

Mordred

Haven’t seen this feller since back in February. Guess we’d better pay some attention here.

The King of Swords is one of those cards where each Tarot deck, each author writing about Tarot, and each reader has his or her own unique spin on what meanings are most truly representative and therefore accurate.

And then, to assign Mordred (more about him toward the end) to the card.  Man!

Okay, so here are some of the interpretations I’ve gotten from others:

~ the bloody bastard who never knows when to stop fighting

~ the ruthless and daring person (likely male)

~ one (usually a man or someone of strong masculine energy) who sits in judgement

~ the innovative but probably unpredictable leader

~ the revolutionary   

So if any of those interpretations mesh with how it seems you need to be in your life just now, (or represent the energy that’s intersecting/interfering with your life), then pay attention and act accordingly – i.e., if it’s about someone else, accept that your perceptions about the person are TRUE!  Then figure out what to do from there.

I did a shamanic journey to determine how I should generally interpret this card for my clients.  A spirit guide in the form of a great back and silver dragon came by.   It said, “This is what you need to know about the King of Swords. 

 ”The King of Swords has three major characteristics:

 “First, he is so idealistic he often lets his head drift away into the clouds and he becomes flakey, which will often cause him to fail.

 “Second, he is so passionate he often loses track of what’s sensible, appropriate − or even legal − and he blows his own ass up by getting crazy-emotional about what he wants or hopes for, which will often cause him to fail.

“As a result of the first and second issues, he has actually learned from the example of the Queen of Swords and he has FORCED himself to develop the will to become strategic about what he wants.

“He asks himself what he would need to do in order to be true to his highest ideals AND his deepest passions.  He determines how they would best blend together. He refines his goals, and then develops a specific, detailed plan that incorporates every major step necessary to take him from where he is to where his ideals and passions would have him be.

“And then he exerts the will to hold himself to that plan, day by day, until higher ideals or deeper passions cause him to rethink his goals and start the whole process over again.”

Hard work, but worth the effort.  

Would your life be different if you had done that, and held yourself to it, twenty years ago?  It’s never too late to start.

[About Mordred:  pretty much everyone knows him as the 'illegitimate" son and only child of Arthur. According to most legends, Mordred, out of evil or just out of spite, plotted and schemed to displace The King and, in the process, brought down Camelot.  Maybe that is how it was.  There are a number of variations on that theme throughout the tales.  But in one version of the legends, Arthur and Mordred were reconciled in the end; they died fighting side by side against foreign invaders.  Maybe so.]

What are your highest ideals?  What are your deepest passions?  Where do they intersect and support each other?  What are the steps that will carry you to them?  How can you begin those steps TODAY?

 

Bright blessings, high ideals, passion and success!

Quote for the Day:   In Japan, employees occasionally work themselves to death. It’s called Karoshi. I don’t want that to happen to anybody in my department. The trick is to take a break as soon as you see a bright light and hear dead relatives beckon. ~ Scott Adams

 

Today’s Waethyr:  Bongo loco. Prune lovatos skittering sloppily across the firmament.  And softament.  Floss before striking.

On This Date: 1955 – American Civil Rights Movement: In Montgomery, Alabama, seamstress Rosa Parks refuses to give her bus seat to a white man and is arrested for violating the city’s racial segregation laws, an incident which leads to the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Tarot Card for the day ~ November 30

The Tower

Vortigern’s Fortress

Uh-GAIN? 

This is the third time this card has shown up in November. 

That would lead me to believe some of us really do need to go back to the shop and hammer out a few of the most basic details about who we are, what we believe, what is the capital of Abyssinia [Sorry! Wrong movie!], what we want to build and why.  Or maybe we all need to do so, especially as we move into the emotional maelstrom that is the holidays.  Because the Tower has come to tweak our karma uh-gain! 

As I’ve written before, it’s such a valuable card.

So here we go.  I hope.  Pretty please.

This is definitely one of those OhBugger! kinda cards, [and we seem to be seeing them regularly of late, eh?] at least from its appearance. 

It’s one of those cards for which − by my interpretation, which veers a good piece from the norm − I’m supposed to tell you, “Ah, yes, yes, yes.  Don’t jump to conclusions.  Don’t leap before you look.  Really significant opportunities for growth here.” 

Remember the teachers (from High School Math types to your skating coach to Ram Dass to Sai Baba to Miss Laura on Romper Room to even President Obama) who have said that?  It always really means, “Get ready for some work!”  Even I admit that, and I have the honesty quotient of a watermelon.  In winter. 

Well, so, maybe that hard work thing IS the case here.  Maybe.  But with this card, it’s also a matter of IMPORTANT work that will be worth your time and attention for sure.   Hard work, maybe, but SO VERY meaningful.

Now, The Tower isn’t a dire card, at least not as I’ve been given to understand it – intuitively and through my experience with clients. 

But when my clients see it as it’s depicted in the Legend deck − a huge red dragon fighting a ginormous white one, completely destroying a massive royal fortress in the process – it sort of makes them go, “Eeep,” if not  “Holy St. Swithin,” suck in their breath,  swallow hard and say, “WTF!”  [That's Westminster Tiramisu Foundation.]

So what’s different about my understanding of the card and what it offers?  I usually say something like:

“Okay, I know it looks scary, dragons fighting, castles blown to bits.  But really, it’s positive.

“No, REALLY!

“The card is asking you examine yourself, your dreams and your being. 

“It’s saying, ‘Hey.  Stop for a minute.  Look at your life.  Think about it for a minute.  

“If you take your life down to its foundation, down to what’s REALLY important, what’s really essential to the you that is really you, then WHAT IS THAT TRUE FOUNDATION?  Who are you?  What are you?  What is it that you really have to build upon, and wish to build upon, this time around?  And, by the way, what will you build upon it?’”

This evaluation should be applied to every area of significance in your life, particularly those in which you’re experiencing some transition.  [Transition.  What a weenie word.  How about stress.  Or wobble.  Or outright caving in.  Better?)

What is the true foundation – for YOU:

What is the true foundation of career?

What is the true foundation of family?

What is the true foundation of relationships – of each and every kind, from the most intimate and powerful to minor friendships to the bagger at the grocery store?

What is the true foundation of joy?

What is the true foundation of spiritual connectedness?

What is the true foundation of physical health?

What is the true foundation of emotional health?

What is the true foundation of creativity?

What is the true foundation of home?

What is the true foundation of beauty?

And so on, all through the entire list: everything on your own personal list of areas of your life that are important to you. 

What IS the true foundation for YOU?

Once you know what your various true foundations are, then you can determine what you’d like to build upon them, how you want to do it, and what the best way is to go about it. 

And it’s perfectly okay if what you wish to build changes.  It can be a villa one week, a pagoda the next, a log cabin sometime next month and a fairy castle sometime after that.  So long as you know what your foundations are, and honor them, then what you are about building is and will be perfect.

What are your foundations in each area of your being?  How can you be mindful of them?  How can you stay mindful of them?  What do you wish to build upon them?  How can you begin today?  

Bright blessings and a deep, happy, helpful knowing of yourself!

Quote for the Day: Christmas crept into Pine Cove like a creeping Christmas thing: dragging garland, ribbon, and sleigh bells, oozing eggnog, reeking of pine, and threatening festive doom like a cold sore under the mistletoe.  ~ Christopher Moore from The Supidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror 

Today’s Weather:  Wampeters.  Miscognition. Paralapsed woomics.  You might as well just start the day with a jelly donut.  

On This Date: 1786 – Peter Leopold Joseph of Habsburg-Lorraine, Grand Duke of Tuscany, promulgates a penal reform making his country the first state to abolish the death penalty. For this, November 30 is commemorated by 300 cities around the world as Cities for Life Day.

And: 1954 – In Sylacauga, Alabama, United States, the Hodges Meteorite crashes through a roof and hits a woman taking an afternoon nap in the only documented case of a human being hit by a rock from space. [So keep a low profile.]

Tarot Card for The Day ~ November 29

Ace of Spears

The Grail Lance

We last saw this card just before Labor day.

As those of you who have read this blog for even only a few days will likely remember, Aces in any Tarot deck are cards of a new beginning.  So, let’s ask again (and again and again, from time to time as the Universe recommends it):

~ How can you − how do you need to − begin your life anew, today, this moment?

~ What changes can you begin, even in small ways? 

~ What potentials can you believe in, hope for, reach for and remember?

Expect The Universe will keep asking that question until you (yes, you!  Don’t try to weenie out of it this time!) truly remember to ask it over and over again as a part of who you are!

Some readers feel the Ace of Spears has to do with invention or creation, and perhaps with an inheritance.  Anna-Marie Ferguson, creator of the Legend deck, finds mental activity, revelation and beginning anew to be elements of the card’s meaning.  

[So ’scuse me while I have a revelation.  Humteedum Deedum.  Humtedee Deedum.  Humtedeedeeedeeeeeee Deeedum.  Ahummmm.  Thank you.]

I believe the Ace of Spears asks for two things when it appears. 

~ First, it reminds you to become very clear within yourself about something you want or some goal you would achieve.  It is, therefore, important that you know specifically what you want to go after – perhaps some major wish in life, or perhaps just a current, interim, in-the-moment thing that will be helpful or fulfilling for a short time, or serve as a useful next step. 

It is equally important that you be clear about why you want it.  What are your true motivations, and are they really for the highest and best? So this card is also about being conscious of what you would do and have, and of your impact on the world.  I think we could all spend a little more time on this one.

~ Then, once that first, more internal step is completed, the Ace of Spears directs you to use strong, clean, clear, non-repressive and non-repressed masculine energy as your model − think Dalai Lama, maybe? – and simply go after your wish or goal confidently, firmly and directly.  (So it’s assertive rather than aggressive.)  Know what you want for a new beginning.  Pursue it.  Yourself.  Today!

What is your new beginning?  Be clear in what you want.  Be clear about the why of it.  Go after it directly, the way anyone with a strong, positive masculine drive would.  Do something concrete about it today. 

Bright blessings and blissings and beautiful, knowing beginnings!

Quote for the Day: At least one way of measuring the freedom of any society is the amount of comedy that is permitted, and clearly a healthy society permits more satirical comment than a repressive, so that if comedy is to function in some way as a safety release then it must obviously deal with these taboo areas. This is part of the responsibility we accord our licensed jesters, that nothing be excused the searching light of comedy. If anything can survive the probe of humour it is clearly of value, and conversely all groups who claim immunity from laughter are claiming special privileges which should not be granted.

                                                                         ~ Eric Idle 

Today’s Weather: Poconos framboises with occasional rootstalk determinism.  Turtle sideburns.

On This Date: 1877 – Thomas Edison demonstrates his phonograph for the first time.

 

 

Tarot Card for the Day ~ November 28

Knight of Cups

Galahad

This fellow is back again after only nine days.  Do ya suppose it might be attempting to remind us of what’s REALLY important at this sacred and magical time of year? [WHO said a Razor Pocket Rocket mini electric bike? Jeeeeeeeeeeeeeze.  Why don't you just go watch that smarmy blonde doofus on Fox so I can talk to serious people here?]

The Knight of Cups is always a good energy & good advice card.  I think of this as the card of the sacred quest. 

[Razor Pocket Rocket my astilbe!]

Therefore, if you have been feeling that your life really isn’t going in the direction you and God (or The Universe, the Universal Life Force, the Big Enchilada, Beyonce, The Voice of John Cleese, Brangelina – whoever) agreed to before you accepted birth this time around:

HEY!  YOU! 

Don’t you think it’s time to reconnect and GET GOING?

Some readers might interpret the Knight of Cups as the coming of a messenger, advancement in the world, or a graceful but not warlike person of great masculine energy [think Baryshnikov, I guess. Or George Clooney.  Or Madonna?].  Others could say it indicates someone (maybe you?) ingenious, full of original ideas.

Anna-Marie Ferguson, creator of the Legend deck I use, feels this card betokens a tempting proposal which deserves serious consideration. [Avoid snakes in apple trees.  Things rarely work out.]  Also, an approaching opportunity for advancement.  Or an unexpected gift.  So if something like that crosses your path today, assume you deserve it, accept it fully and gratefully, and run with it! 

I still like my intuitive interpretation best.

Think upon the commitments for this lifetime

              that you made before you came into being. 

 Determine the next few steps

                        to keep you moving along that path –

 or the first steps that will be necessary

                                to move you back onto that path. 

And GET GOING!

Bright blessings and remembrance of your sacred self!  

Quote for the Day: Works of art make rules; rules do not make works of art. ~ Claude Debussy  

Today’s Weather:  Swooping fotheringays jolting up against post-holiday primal precognitions.  I have no idea what that means.  

On This Date: 1582 – In Stratford-upon-Avon, William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway pay a £40 bond for their marriage license.  [Do you have any idea how much that is in 21st century bucks?  Like... a lot!]

And: 1893 – Women vote in a national election for the first time: the New Zealand general election.

  Goodbye, Ko-Z.  You dance free among the stars!