Tarot Card for the Day ~ May 31

Eight of Shields

Wayland

This one showed up near the top of the month. 

So consider this a pop quiz about whether you paid any attention at all, ’kay?

I always tell my clients that Eight of Shields is the card of magical work.  And you can interpret that as magical WORK or MAGICAL work! 

(Or both, of course.  But feel it through for a minute and see if one doesn’t resonate more strongly, at least for today.)

So, let’s assume you focus on the first interpretation, magical WORK. 

Well then, you need to be engaged in, or actively seeking, employment that is so perfect for you it isn’t like work, it’s like magic.  It’s such a joy to be doing what you’re doing in the way you’re doing it with the people you’re doing it with, you can hardly wait to roll out of bed to get at it next Monday morning.  Or every morning, for that matter. 

Believe it or not, those kind of careers and positions do actually exist.  I’ve had that experience, even in the corporate world, and it’s wonderful!  If that’s not what you have in your life now:

a.)  It’s likely in part because you don’t KNOW what you’d really love to do, or

b.)  You’re unwilling to admit to yourself what it is that you’d really love to do, and/or

c.)  You won’t let yourself believe that you could actually, successfully, happily have that in your life without starving, and so

d.)  You’re not letting yourself hold out for what you’d really love to do, or even

e.)  Letting yourself figure out what baby steps would help take you in that direction!

[God.  I feel SO organized just this minute!]

Who cares if you’re too old to be a Mouseketeer? 

If that’s what would really light up the universe for you, at least start down the path and see what the job placement elves put at your feet. 

But you’ve gotta be honest with yourself about your career ideals first!

Ah, but let’s assume it was the MAGICAL work interpretation that rung your chimes. 

Well then, what kind of regular, ongoing personal ritual, or ceremony, or magic are you working in your life to bring about what you want in the world?

To which you might ask, “Such as?” 

Well, such as burning the right color candles in the right phases of the moon with the right kind of prayer for financial abundance. 

Or getting the Feng Shui of your house in line with your desire to have romance in your life. 

Or even making the time every day to use guided meditation/guided imagery CDs to help boost your immune system and help increase your energy. 

Your magical work is exactly that: YOUR magical work.  For you it may be prayer, or shamanic journeys, or herbal-infused spellwork, or whatever floats your magical/spiritual boat.  But do it.  DO IT!

And think about really working with both interpretations together. 

Move toward your magical WORK, and let your MAGICAL work help get you there more quickly, and keep you happier, more connected, more fulfilled while you work on getting there.  It’ll make the world better for you, and everyone and everything.

Bright blessings and magical blissings!

Quote for the Day:  “Remember:  You must be PRESENT to win!” ~ Lama Surya Das, from Tibetan Dream Yoga

             Today’s Weather: Frogses bedecked; dandelion cider

Tarot Card for the Day ~ May 30

Eight Of Spears

The White Hart

 We saw this one just 20 days ago. 

 So this time through, indulge me and pretend you’re paying attention, okay?

 As I have said before [and I now realize I say with conspicuous regularity], “Ahhhhhh, yes.  Yepper, yepper, yep, yessirino!  Another card where my interpretation veers semi-wildly off in a direction of its own.” 

 My offering about this card is based on a Shamanic Journey I once did asking about its meaning.  (To find out more about Journeying, see the Category of Shamanism in my blog.) 

Other readers give this card meanings like speed, action, movement toward opportunity, a test of skill, and an adventure.  It’s considered a good omen.  So if any of those are what you need today, by all means grab ’em and run! 

I see the Eight of Spears as the card of utter, total complete liberation.  It’s an indicator that it is time for you to explore for yourself:

how it is that you may give yourself

more freedom to

go where you want to go

when you want to go there

by the means and

at the speed of your own choosing.

 Given that, you KNOW my questions if you were my client would start with something like,

 SO!  Bubbla!  [Or Dude!− as the case may be] How are you keeping yourself confined? 

 How are you confining yourself in ways that are no longer appropriate for who you have become and what you may give to the world? 

How can you open yourself to a liberation − in your thinking, your behavior, your belief in what is possible and your understanding of how you may go about achieving that possibility?

Please remember that one way in which you may need to, um, try something different is to just freakin’ go for it.  It may be a little uncomfortable, but at least it’s owning who you are and freeing yourself up so you can move along YOUR path.   

 So:

 How can you liberate yourself, your creativity, your spirit today? 

 What do you need to JUST GO FOR!!!?

 Bright, free, inspiring blessings!

 

Quote for the day:    “Be careful what you water your dreams with. Water them with worry and fear and you will produce weeds that choke the life from your dream. Water them with optimism and solutions and you will cultivate success. Always be on the lookout for ways to turn a problem into an opportunity for success. Always be on the lookout for ways to nurture your dream.” ~ Lao Tzu

Today’s Weather:    Crusty; morphogenetic partridge  

                                    waves

 

Please share this card with a friend if it seems right.  [And maybe suggest that they visit my blog and sign up for the daily card at http://www.shamanspath.wordpress.com] 

Tarot Card for the Day ~ May 29

Three of Shields

The Homespun Tunic

Haven’t seen this card since waaayyy back in November!

As I noted earlier this week, I find that a Three in any Tarot deck indicates that the question being explored has to do with issues of power:

~ power games

~ power struggles

~ owning your power

~ refusing to submit to ploys that would

    deny power you have earned

~ having a care against disempowerment

    in any area of your life

~ resisting tendencies toward

     disempowerment of your self

 And stuff like that.

 

Remember?

[C’mon.  Make an effort.  I know it’s Friday, but Jeezely!]

My interpretation of the Three of Shields goes way off the beam from any other source you’re likely to experience.  That’s because of my take on the part of the story illustrated by Anna-Marie Ferguson in her Legend deck.  (More on that in a bit.)

Anyway, I see the Three of Shields as warning us not to disempower ourselves, (or not to open ourselves to being manipulated by others) by getting lost in nostalgia when we ought to be grabbing life by the wings RIGHT NOW!  and flying toward our highest and best. 

When this card comes up for a client, I affirm that it’s appropriate to honor the good things that have been − in a situation, a relationship, a business, a job, a home, a time in life. 

BUT it is deadly important to not just get stuck there, in the past, drooling over what had been and quivering in fear because things must change. 

As I said to one client whose eldest child was about to go off to college,

“Look, I know ya wanna grab him, roll him up in a rug and shove him under the bed where he’ll be safe and sound.  But if you do that, he’ll NEVER be the brilliant, amazing human being he can become.  And that would be because of your choices.”  She got the message, though she didn’t like hearing it much just then. 

Which leads me to the short version of the story in the card.

The homespun tunic was a garment made − by hand − by Percivale’s mother for him to wear as he set off on his quest to seek a place for himself in Camelot.

[The back story is that her husband, a minor king, was killed while off on a chivalric quest.  She then promised herself that her son would know nothing of knights, of chivalry, or even that he was a prince. 

She and her retinue went off to a small castle in the wilds of Wales, far from the ways of Court and King.  Despite her efforts, at age fifteen Percivale spied what he thought were three shining angels travelling through the wood.  He told his mother, she asked him what he saw, and she knew the jig was up.

She told him of his heritage, and that by his birth he was entitled to aspire to knighthood. 

She asked him to hold off on following his bliss just until she completed a beautiful tunic for him to wear on his quest.  She made the garment, sent him off on his quest, and shortly thereafter died of a broken heart at his leaving.]

That’s the part of the story that gives me my interpretation of the Three of Shields. 

Percivale, you see, went on to be one of the greatest champions of Camelot, and one of only three knights holy enough to achieve the Grail. 

But because his mother became stuck, and then distraught at the loss of her expected way of being, and the life she wanted Percivale to have, she lost the gift of being around to see him achieve the brave, brilliant, shining,  astonishing, world-shaking things he did.  NOT NECESSARY!  NO!  NO!  NO!

[Do you get the impression I feel a bit strongly about this?]

So, honor what you honor. 

 Desire what you will, harm to none, with love, for the highest and best of all. 

 But don’t let the goodness of things past hold you back from the beauty and power and healing of what can come.   

 Bright blessings and a beautiful, fulfilling future!

 

          Quote for the Day:  The one charm of the past is that it is the

          past.  ~Oscar Wilde, from The Picture of Dorian Gray

           Today’s Weather:  Marsupial; egregious gurgles      

 

 ~~ A Joke for a Friday ~~

[Thanks, Kathy!]

 

A New Jersey Police Officer stops a driver for running a red light. 
  
The driver is a real yoyo and comes running back to the officer demanding to know why he is being harassed by the Gestapo ! 
  
The officer calmly tells him of the red light violation.   “Motorist” instantly goes on a tirade, questioning the officer’s ancestry, sexual orientation, etc., in rather explicit terms. 
 
The tirade goes on without the officer saying anything.  When he gets done with writing the ticket he puts an “AH” in the lower right corner of the narrative portion of the ticket. 
 
He then hands it to “Violator” for his signature. 
 
The guy signs the ticket angrily, and when presented with his copy points to the “AH” and demands to know what it stands for. 
 
The Officer says, “That’s so when we go to court, I’ll remember you’re an Asshole!” 
 
Two months later they’re in court.   “Violator” has such a bad driving record 
he is about to lose his license and has hired a lawyer to represent him.  
  
On the stand the officer testifies to seeing the man run the red light. 
 
Under cross examination the defense attorney asks;   “Officer, is this a reasonable facsimile of the ticket you issued my client?” 
 
Officer responds, “Yes sir, that is the defendant’s copy, his signature and mine, same number at the top.” 
 
Lawyer: “Officer, is there any particular marking or notation on this ticket you don’t normally make?” 
 
Officer: “Yes sir, in the lower right corner of the narrative there is an AH, underlined.” 
 
Lawyer: “What does the AH stand for, officer?” 
 
Officer: “Aggressive and Hostile, sir.” 
 
Lawyer: “Aggressive and Hostile?” 
 
Officer: “Yes, sir.  Aggressive and Hostile, sir.” 
 
Lawyer: “Officer, are you sure it doesn’t stand for Asshole?” 
 
Officer: “Well sir, you know your client better than I do!” 
 
                                                 CASE CLOSED!

Tarot Card for the Day ~ May 28

Queen of Cups

Britannia

What a great card!  Really, really, truly.  And one that has never turned up for this blog, by the way.

ABOUT FREAKIN’TIME, THANKYEW!

[I’m such a class act.]

Most readers respond to this card with info like happiness, pleasure, a good, fair, honest and devoted woman who will serve the querent − the person having the reading.  So if those things fit in with your needs, or if you encounter such a person, by all means engage her on your behalf. Even if she does sound a tad like a Labradoodle.

Anna-Marie Ferguson, creator of the Legend deck, sees the Queen of Cups as many beautiful and wonderful things, including an Otherworldly woman with a wealth of artistic ability who trusts her psychic abilities.  Also a poetic person of vision and intelligence.  [Oh well. Two out of three isn’t bad.   Right?] So, by all means, EMBODY THOSE THINGS in yourself and your life.  

Britannia is the Spirit of the Land of Great Britain, and (in my interpretation of this card) reminds us that we bear an obligation of loyalty to our land, to our environment and all the creatures who continue to live among us, as well as to those we have displaced in our creation of “civilization.”

In working with clients over the years, I have also come to know the Queen of Cups as a card of compassion – especially compassion for the self.  

One of the most persistent pop psychology tenets of the 70s went something like, “You can’t reeeeelly love anyone else unless you love yourself first.” 

Well, I’ve found that this card says something like that. 

When it turns up for a client, I remind them that, whatever may be going on in their life, it would be well if the whole magilla were seen and understood through the perspective of compassionate contemplation. 

 And that, just as important, it is necessary to be compassionate toward the self during times of stress or turmoil.  That way, we’ll be more likely to take care of ourselves well enough to be an appropriately compassionate helper to others if/when we are called to.

So:

Keep an eye out for a wise, fair, caring woman who may be able to give you a hand.  Own your artistic and intuitive nature.  Honor and care for The Land, its creatures and its Spirit.  And have compassion – for others, yes, but especially for yourself.

 Bright blessings and a gentle day!

Quote for the day:  Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.  ~ Mark Twain

           Today’s Weather:  Tortellini; minor dachshunds

 

Tarot Card for the Day ~ May 27

Three of Spears

The Horse Fair 

I’m tempted to declare this another OhBugger! card. 

But I think I’ll simply present it as a card of very special inspiration.  

[Thinks:  “Let ’em chew on THAT for a while!  Nyah-ah-ahhhh!]

Ahem.

Once again, please remember that threes in any Tarot deck are power cards, or rather, that the issue the card is addressing is one of power, even if it doesn’t seem so on the surface.  Typically, a three would counsel things like

~ beware of power games,

~ be prepared for power struggles,

~ watch out for failure to own your power  −

   or, better,

~ OWN

          YOUR

               POWER

                    FULLY

                         NOW!

~ have a care against disempowerment

   in any area of life, whether by the action

   of others,  or by your own action

   or inaction 

~ empower yourself

~ empower those you love and believe in

~ accept the challenge of owning ALLof

   what you are and who you can be

Simple, really.  [I keep telling myself that.  Over.  And over.  And over.]

The Three of Spears is a card of mentoring and giving very specific direction, as it were.  It says:

“Be ruthlessly practical in pursuit of a MUCH higher ideal.” 

The Tarot deck I use is Legend, the Arthurian Tarot. 

In my story of the card, which depicts The Horse Fair, I see a young King Arthur having the brilliant insight that, to finally take the throne, and then to more effectively secure his kingdom, he needs to resurrect a strong cavalry wing and make it the centerpiece of his armed forces. 

Having decided so, he would then have to go to Britain’s great horse fair and be ruthlessly objective in his examination of each animal, knowing that the future of Camelot might well rest on that creature’s shoulders.   

So:

envision your most exalted possibilities,

your highest potential achievement

for the Highest and Best. 

 

Set your goal.  

 

Then literally, practically, ruthlessly,

holding your nose to the necessary grindstone(s),

do the things required to achieve your will –

if you’re clear that your will is truly for the Highest and Best! 

 

Own your most amazing and idealistic dreams.  Exert the power YOU possess to pursue them through practical means.  (One horse at a time, if necessary.)  

Bright blessings and amazing achievements!

Quote for the Day:   “People say I am ruthless. I am not ruthless. And if I find the man who is calling me ruthless, I shall destroy him.”  ~ Robert F. Kennedy

          Today’s Weather:  Gizzie dinners; bourbon balls & coffee

Tarot Card for the Day ~ May 26

The Lovers

Gareth & Lyones

 You know it’s been one of those days when the card that comes up is The Lovers and the only thing that comes into your mind is:

  Morticia & Gomez?

Anyway, as I said when this card last turned up around the end of February, if you REALLY need to know what The Lovers portends as a daily card, you more ’n likely need greater help than I can provide.   

Yes, it is at the very least the card of a good, solid, balanced, loving relationship − one that is comfortable, open and committed, if not necessarily intimate.  Platonic will, in fact, do. 

When I work with clients and this card comes up, I tell them they are being guided to look for perfect partnerships in whatever areas of life they may be asking about.  I remind them to bear in mind that partnerships are not just about people. 

 A perfect partnership can be the right romantic partner at the right time, certainly.

 But it can also be

~ the right working relationship (boss or assistant) or

~ the right work,

~ the right client(s),

~ the right doctor,

~ the right book,

~ the right business location,

~ the right prayer,

~ the right meditative practice,

~ the right sacred space,

~ the right Springer spaniel puppy or even

~ the right Tarot reader 

So when you have choices to make today, and even in the foreseeable future, look for PERFECT partnership.  You deserve it, and you should not settle for less.

Bright and perfect blessings!

Quote for the day:  In the second scroll of Wen the Eternally Surprised a story is written concerning one day when the apprentice Clodpool, in a rebellious mood, approached Wen and spake thusly: “Master, what is the difference between a humanistic, monastic system of belief in which wisdom is sought by means of an apparently nonsensical system of questions and answers, and a lot of mystic gibberish made up on the spur of the moment?” Wen considered this for some time, and at last said: “A fish!” And Clodpool went away, satisfied.   ~ Terry Pratchett, from Thief of Time

          Today’s Weather:  New Hampshire; garlic spears

Tarot Card for the Day ~ May 25

The Tower

Vortigern’s Fortress

Well, well. 

OhBugger! cards two days in a row. 

I must be on a roll.  Or is it you?

Okay-swell.   [Sigh.] 

This is 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, or off bridges.  Really significant opportunities for growth here.” 

Remember the teachers (from High School Math types to your skating coach to Ram Das to Sai Baba) who say or said that? 

It always really means, “Get ready for some work.” 

Well, maybe that’s the case here.  Maybe.  But it’s also a matter of IMPORTANT work that will be worth your time and attention for sure.   Hard work, maybe, but SO valuable.

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 depicted in the Legend deck − a huge red dragon fighting a ginormous white one, completely destroying a huge fortress in the process – it sort of makes them go, “Eeep,” if not “Holy St. Francis,” or Holy something, suck in their breath,  swallow hard and say, “I give up.”

So what’s 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 ISTHAT TRUE FOUNDATION?  What is it that you really have to build upon, and want to build upon, this time around?  And 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.  (Or wobble.  Or outright caving in.)

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 chateau one week, a pagoda the next, and a log cabin sometime next month.  So long as you know what your foundations are, and honor them, then what you build 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, helpful knowing of yourself!

Quote for the Day:  ‘Families is where our nation finds hope, where wings take dream.’ ~ George W. Bush

 

                   Today’s Weather:  Prunes.  Smallish dolphins.

 

 

Thank you to all those who serve.  Thank you to all those who have served.

Our prayers are with you, and with those you love.

 

Tarot Card for the Day ~ May 24

 

Four of Shields

King Mark

 

 

Oh. 

 Bugger. 

Hell of a card for a Sunday.  Especially a Sunday of a long holiday weekend. 

 

I suppose I say that because it’s a card that always gives me hives and hiccups.  Which is really no attitude to have, despite the fact that this card leads me to say rude things and argue with God when it turns up for me.  So I suppose I better pay [even more] attention [than normal] here.  And if I must, you must.  I’m not taking this hit all by myself, so there!

 

I feel MUCH better now.  Thanks!

Where were we?

The Four of shields is, in part, a card about strategic planning with really honest, true objectivity.  I’m an Aquarian.  Need I say more?  [See first two words above.  The ones in red.]

As I said once before, I can come up with a brilliant, elegant project planning and tracking system for you if you like.  Just don’t expect me to use the [bleep] thing. 

That scenario literally happened in an organization I worked for. 

I can set the system up to help you meet your needs.  But it would take an amazing act of will to get myself to use it.  That’s why I worked for years as a consultant.

Anyway, as I say pretty much every time the Four of Shields turns up:

this is one of those cards that clients, particularly intuitive, artistic clients,

find incredibly less than charming! when it shows in a reading. 

It IS, after all a very Be grounded in ordinary reality as you work to take the next steps on your path until you are soaring so eventually you CAN soar kind of messenger.

But remember, O artistes, intuitivoes and others of our ilk (and I use the term ilk with the greatest of affection), there are times grounded behavior can be beneficial. 

And hardly painful at all. 

Mostly. 

I’ve heard. 

Wouldn’t know meself, then, would I?  Apparently not, or I’d be doing all this for Neil Gaiman, Oprah and Arthur O. Sulzberger, Jr., who runs the New York Times.

[But that grounded until you get soaring thing: if, as you’ll see below, a key element of this card is to get yourself a wonderful mentor, why do we sometimes have trouble with wanting to do that or following through on it? 

Is it because we’re not clear enough about who we really are and what our goal actually is?  Hmmmmm…? 

Because, you know, part of the REASON to hook up with a mentor is so that you can take an honest look at what some realistic goals might be, for the next part of your path, anyway.  And sometimes we’re afraid those goals won’t seem good enough, to us or to others.

Well… Phooey that patootie!!!!  {Cleaned that one up just in time!}

And perhaps help you get a handle on who you really are/who you’re trying to become as well.]   

Where was I?

For me the Four of Shields basically says:

~ Be prepared to become concrete in your planning,

    at least for the moment

    [and don’t beat up on yourself if it ain’t easy]

~ Do this in the following way:

~ Find someone who is an acknowledged expert in

   what you seek to achieve, and/or who is a

  respected (especially by you) wizard in the successful

   laying out of the kind of path you seek to walk

~ Work together closely, over some time to develop

   YOUR plan

~ Follow that plan.  And follow it carefully,

  at least for some time into the foreseeable future 

  until you will naturally and inevitably soar  

Once upon a time, this whole process was called, simply, Get yourself an amazing and powerful Mentor!  And listen to that mentor’s guidance!  AND FOLLOW THROUGH ON IT!!!! And that can still apply here.

In this blog, if you’re a regular, you know that I’ve used John Lennon and the Beatles as illustrations of following your bliss despite predictions of failure.  (And if you’ve already read this story at least three times, READ IT AGAIN!  Otherwise it’s back to hustling pay as you go cell phones for you.  Right?) 

Well, aside from the fact that the Beatles were brilliant to the point of magical, they also were able to make some of their first huge leaps because of Brian Epstein.  He was a superb businessman and their manager.  He married his ordinary-reality-based magic to his aspirations to be a player on the music scene and to their incomparable artistry and passion.  And the world was changed.

Now, maybe you don’t have a Brian-the-Wizard to pull out of your hat. Yet.  But who and what DO you have?  How can you access him/her/them?  Give it some thought today, and take that concrete and valuable baby step along the path by actually accessing them!

Believe in yourself.  Believe in your dreams.  Help give them focus in ordinary reality by working closely and deeply with insights from someone who can help be an architect of their creation. 

Bright blessings and tremendous success! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!   

Quote for the Day: God does not play dice with the universe: He plays an ineffable game of His own devising, which might be compared, from the perspective of any of the other players [i.e. everybody], to being involved in an obscure and complex variant of poker in a pitch-dark room, with blank cards, for infinite stakes, with a Dealer who won’t tell you the rules, and who smiles all the time. ~ Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman, from Good Omens

Today’s Weather:  Hoarse; shamrock tapenade

Tarot Card for the Day ~ May 23

Knight of Shields

Bors

Dude showed up less than two weeks ago.  So I guess he’s cycling back with a reminder.  I’m glad he’s doing it on a weekend, when we can perhaps pay a tad more attention.

Right?

I thought so.

Typical readers would find in this card such things as rectitude [which one of my spirit-guides calls “retch-itude”], utility, responsibility.  So see how that might fit into your day. 

Anna-Marie Ferguson, creator of the Legend deck I use, writes of an honest hard-working man, a supporter of tradition and order, and solid, steadfast progress.  If any of those describe what you need for the day, keep an eye out for them or, better yet, embody them.  Don’t get caught up in any whirlwinds blowing through, and fergawdsake, don’t create ’em ! 

I used to call this “The Card of the Young Republican.”  

In this card I see [and you should take as a role model]

one who considers himself just about the most powerful knight in the forest,

with NO doubt whatsoever that he will meet his goal,

no doubt he will achieve his quest,

no doubt he will do whatever he has set out to do. 

 None!

Therefore, he is calm. 

He is in no hurry. 

He feels no need to impress anyone for any reason,

no need− ever − to leap over a tall building in a single bound just because somebody else might like it. 

He goes slowly, perhaps almost plodding at times, just putting one foot in front of the other to get where he needs to go. 

HOWEVER, he is always conscious of his goal,

aware of what will be necessary to get there,

and always in motion toward his target, until his mission is accomplished.    

 So know your goal,

believe in yourself

and your ability to attain it,

don’t jump through hoops for anyone,

and move at your own pace. 

But be sure to move and keep moving.

 

Bright blessings, slowly but surely!

Quote for the Day: “This is a work of fiction. All the characters in it, human and otherwise, are imaginary, excepting only certain of the fairy folk, whom it might be unwise to offend by casting doubts on their existence. Or lack thereof.” ~ Neil Gaiman

                           

          Today’s Weather:   Rectilinear.  Possibly possum.

Tarot Card for the Day ~ May 22

Five of Shields

The Wasteland

We last saw this card exactly six months ago.  Given all that’s been happening in the world, I’m surprised it hasn’t turned up more often.

As I said then, more or less:

Hmmmm….  Another card wherein my reading is based more on my intuitive response to the Anna-Marie Ferguson illustration than on the traditional interpretation.

When I see the Five of Shields in a reading, I usually say something like, “Hey!  Good news!  If you feel like you’ve been wandering in the wasteland, YOU REALLY HAVE BEEN.  You’re not just whining!”

 Even more important, this card indicates that it is now possible – and you are now ready – to move from the wasteland to the High Green Land.  But you must be conscious and make the choices, moment by moment, that will carry you there. 

Of course, that would imply you have a pretty good idea WHAT the High Green Land would be for you compared to what you might have now.

“Something at least a touch better” isn’t really sufficient for the Universe to home in on, savvy?  And in my case, “something that would make Buckingham Palace look like a trailer park,” while swell, is a bit more nebulous and maybe a tad too much of a jump for the Universe to help me with. 

After all, if I can’t believe in it, why should I expect the Universe to bring it as a nice liddle giftee, eh?

Know that you can move from The Wasteland.  Know the direction to the High Green Land.  Make the choices and take the steps, one by one, that will take you there.

Okay, maybe it’s important that I share some of the more traditional meanings that readers and scholars have given to this card.  They are things like exhaustion of resources, temporary hardship, material difficulties, blah, blah, blah, blah, hooey.

That certainly seems to be in the news all over the place this year.  So, as metaphysicians, or at least as people who read a daily Tarot card, how do we not give in to such surrounding energy and get sucked down the tube?

First of all, we remember that what may be typical, even what may seem absolutely inescapable for the majority, is not necessarily true for any single individual, especially us! 

After all, during the worst of the Great Depression there were folks calling, “Drive on, Rodolfo!” as they tooled around in limousines from mansion to club to ocean liner.  And some of those most famous were NEWLY MINTED millionaires.  They refused to doubt themselves or give over their dreams to hopelessness and distress – or to the norm.  

Second, we affirm to ourselves exactly how much potential there is in us, and there is in life FOR us and for us to share with those we love.  Remember that in ultimate truth THERE IS NO LACK, and we have the capacity to experience that!

Third, we stay strongly enough connected to spiritual truth and to Light to remember that whatever may happen to the entire world, we are okay and we will be okay. 

[I know.  Even I have days where I say to myself, “Man!  What if the world goes up in smoke and I have to incarnate on a planet where all humanoid beings have khaki fur, smell of mothballs, sound like W. Bush and accept sniffing gasoline fumes as THE religion?”]  See?  It could be worse, right? 

So, once again:

Know that you can move from The Wasteland.  Know the direction to the High Green Land.  Make the choices and take the steps, one by one, that will take you there.

 Bright blessings and incredible, miraculous deliriously happy progress! 

Quote for the Day:  A long time ago a bunch of people reached a general consensus as to what’s real and what’s not and most of us have been going along with it ever since. ~ Charles de Lint

Also: As far as I’m concerned, the only difference between fact and what most people call fiction is about fifteen pages in the dictionary. ~ Charles de Lint

Today’s Weather:  Corpulent harlequin bridge mix.  Dayum!