Tarot Card for the Day ~ January 1

King of Swords

Mordred

Fortune Cookie: What are your highest ideals?  What are your deepest passions?  Where do they intersect and support each other?  What are the specific, definable, practical steps that will carry you to living them?  How can you begin those steps TODAY?  And how can you keep to them EVERY day?

Uh….  Ummm….  O…kay.  It’s not like I necessarily needed the card for New Year’s Day, and therefore The Card for 2010, to be rainbows and moonbeams and foofoo dust.  But Jeeeeezaleee!

Okay.  I have to admit this is a card that makes a tremendous amount of sense in times like these.  So let’s get to it, for the highest and best of all.

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!

So here are some of the interpretations I’ve gotten from others:

~ the bloody bastard who never knows when to stop fighting

~ a 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

~ a revolutionary   

So if any of those interpretations mesh with how it seems you need to be in your life just now and in the year to come (or represent the energy that’s intersecting/interfering with your life), then pay attention and act accordingly – i.e., if the interpretation accurately describes 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 black 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.

[And 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.]

So, for this year:  What are your highest ideals?  What are your deepest passions?  Where do they intersect and support each other?  What are the specific, definable, practical steps that will carry you to living them?  How can you begin those steps TODAY?  And how can you keep to them EVERY day?

Bright blessings, high ideals, passion and success!

And a beautiful, joyous, healthy, prosperous, light-filled New Year!

Quote for the Day: 

The Eight Commandments

1.  Truly love one another.

2.  Treat each other like you truly love one another.

3.  Truly love yourself.

4.  Treat yourself like you truly love yourself.

5.  Truly love your life.

6.  Treat your life like you truly love your life.

7.  Truly love the world and all its creatures.

8.  Treat the world and all its creatures as though you truly love all of them.

                                                                           ~ NS

  

[I guess there really only needs to be one commandment.  It’s number 7.  But human beings truly love lists.] 

Today’s Waethyr: Resolution whomping about the firmament, desperately needing a leash.  Impish giggles, faerie fire and mild elvish snorts. Look out for the ruby slippers!    

On This Date:  

In England, January 1 was celebrated as the New Year festival, but from the 12th century to 1752 the year in England began on March 25 (Lady Day).

Most western European countries changed the start of the year to January 1 before they adopted the Gregorian calendar. For example, Scotland changed the start of the Scottish New Year to January 1 in 1600.

In 1700 Russia began using the Anno Domini era and no longer used the old slovian era. According to the old slovian era it happened in year 7209.  [Who knew?]

 

 

Tarot Card for the Day ~ December 31

Two of Cups

Tristram & Isolt

Fortune Cookie: Be there! Be open!  Reach out for the ☼☼☼NEW☼☼☼ that is coming into your life!  Let yourself be available to receive and pursue it.  RIGHT NOW!!!!

Yipes! Good card for a last day of the year. [Thank you, Spirit!] So pay attention and take advantage of it fer the luvva Janus.

And, once again, my interpretation of the card varies some from the norm. This should no longer surprise anybody.

Many readers would respond to this card by suggesting things like friendship, affinity, concord, union, even love.   Some might say it bespeaks a complementary match, or a solid relationship.

Even Anna-Marie Ferguson, creator of the Legend deck, finds things like the beginning of a trusted partnership, rapport and the forming of strong emotional bonds.

Not even I would be idiot enough to fight with that, or to want to. So especially if any of those interpretations resonate with you – in terms of what you’re seeking lately or in terms of what the Universe seems to be offering today – honor it.  Seek it.  Go after it full tilt. 

But when this card has turned up for many clients, the intuitive information that almost always pops out of my mouth is,

“Look:

Some amazing (or beautiful or tremendously healing or whatever) NEW ENERGY(or opportunity or person or position or vision) is trying to come into your life.

It will, if you let it, sweep you off in a wonderful, beautiful, incredibly positive NEW DIRECTION. 

LET IT! ” 

So:

Be there! Be open!  Reach out for the ☼☼☼NEW☼☼☼ that is coming into your life!  Let yourself be available to receive and pursue it.  RIGHT NOW!!!! 

Bright blessings and beautiful new directions!

Quote for the Day:  When you see the Earth from space, you don’t see any divisions of nation-states there. This may be the symbol of the new mythology to come; this is the country we will celebrate, and these are the people we are one with. ~ Joseph Campbell

Today’s Weather: Tiddly pom, tiddly pom. Carry a crock of honey, two bottles of Bushmills in case of snakebite. And a box of snakes.

On This Date: 1759 – Arthur Guinness signs a 9,000 year lease at £45 per annum and starts brewing Guinness. [Dude knew how to bargain even then!]

And: 1879 – Thomas Edison demonstrates incandescent lighting to the public for the first time.

 Another Quote for the Day:  I stayed up all night playing poker with tarot cards.   I got a full house and four people died.  ~ Steven Wright

 And a favorite phrase for the day: political weasleocity 

Tarot Card for the Day ~ December 30

Eight of Cups

Chapel Perilous

Fortune Cookie: refuse to be confined, repressed, dimmed by anything or anyone – especially yourself!

This is an absolutely GREAT card to guide us during our cogitations, ruminations and  exitations about what we would have next year be. 

It’s a card that has rarely popped up for the blog, and one that has a lot of helpful direction to it.  It is, however, another one of those cards that sets clients awhimpering just from the visuals.  [Except for those who are superGoth.  They just ask for directions so they can find the place.]

The card, you see, (at least in the deck I use) portrays a wayfaring knight who has ridden into a lonely chapel to protect himself and his steed from a furious storm. He notices that the altar is without any adornment, save for a large, brightly flaming  golden candle. As he waits, and drips, he sees a giant, clawed, monstrous hand reach in through the window high above the altar and make to extinguish the light.

Charmeeeeeng, yezno?

So, anyway, some readers believe the Eight of Cups conveys either turning away from felicity and celebration, or the exact opposite [I guess it depends which side of bed the reader fell out of].  Others believe this is a card that calls for the querent (questioner) to look for a deeper meaning in life; it is a time for soul searching. 

Anna-Marie Ferguson, creator of the Legend deck, finds this card to be about abandoning a path, a change of plans, and escaping an unhealthy situation, among other things.

Of course, I have my own particular take on the card.  When it turns up for a client,  once I have gotten them to calm back down from the impact of the visual, I usually say things like

~ Do not let anyone or anything – especially yourself − put a bushel basket over your light.

  

~ Do not allow anyone or anything – especially yourself or your perception of your self − hold you under its thumb.

 

If necessary:

Leave. 

Move. 

Go elsewhere. Hastily.

Try something else.

Reach out for other options. 

Rework your priorities and take life from there.

SET YOURSELF FREE!!!

So:

Today, refuse to be confined, repressed, dimmed by anyone or anything – especially yourself!

Bright blessings and an open path to your true self!

Thought for the Day: By Aladdin’s lamplit scrotum, man!  Everything is a story.  What is there but stories?  Stories are the only truth.  ~ Christopher Moore, from Practical Demonkeeping

Today’s Weather: Cumulonimbus praecox (snow early), leading to extravagant metaphors.  Polish up your dalgleish.  

On This Date: 1853 – A dinner party is held inside a life-size model of an Iguanodon created by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins and Sir Richard Owen in south London. [Couldn’t make this stuff up.  Couldn’t! Couldn’t! Couldn’t!] 

And: 1924 – Edwin Hubble announces the existence of other galaxies.

Tarot Card for the Day ~ December 29

Knight of Spears

Bedivere

Fortune Cookie: Today − and as you begin to line things up for a spectacular New Year − know your goal and know what you believe to be your best path to achieve it.  Be completely unsurprised if NOBODY else gets it.  Be true to your unique gifts and hopes – to your eccentricity, if you like.  But get going. 

On the one hand, I feel as though I need to apologize a bit to those of you who read the daily card faithfully, and therefore have to reread some of the longer posts, like this one, from time to time. 

On the other hand, DEAL WITH IT.  Thenkyew.

I can’t rewrite the entire storyline just because the card showed up before. Fortunately, we haven’t seen this fellow since September or so.  [Who just said, “A REAL autor would?”  May your belly button lint turn into the feathers of an endangered raptor and be discovered by a State Trooper of Cherokee ancestry. Ha!] 

On the OTHER other hand, if everyone was actually paying attention to the ruddy thing, maybe it wouldn’t come up again.  Right?  Right? Right!

Let us just assume it’s really a matter of Spirit being kind toward the end of the year and reminding us all of something universally important during an interesting  and transformational time.

I wonder if I’ll become less long winded after the New Year’s Eve full moon?  Prob’ly not.

Anyway, as I have said before:

I’m always grateful when the Knight of Spears shows up.  He makes me feel like I can mostly just indulge my natural weirdness(es). 

If you’re the type to read a Daily Tarot post, it’s always good to keep this particular card’s message somewhere nearby [Ah HA!], ’cos it’s a good card for unique, unusual, self-directed folks. 

Yes, I mean You! [Dear, sweet Wotanonabicycle help me.]    

 As I’ve said, this is one of those cards for which my interpretation deviates some from the pack −which fits perfectly with the card, as we always see. 

 Typical readings declare the Knight of Spears to betoken departure, a change of residence, etc.  So if those things are on your mind, take advantage of that energy and move along, whether you’re wild and free or dull as dust. 

[But remember that Mercury is in retrograde, and will be – effectively, anyway – till about the 4th of February the end of the month.  So try to avoid signing contracts, making BIG decisions, or starting new relationships if you can.  If you must sign, check and check and triple-check every detail.  This is a great time for planning and quiet healing, rather than major sweeping actions.]

Anna-Marie Ferguson, creator of the Legend deck I use sees this Knight as sociable, committed to fully developing abilities and acting on intuition − all interpretations I’d agree with, of course. 

So if you’re feeling a need to be among others of a positive bent, go! go!!!  And if you find an opportunity to enhance who you are and what you do − and it doesn’t involve buying a tubby Ukrainian Tarot reader a small but immaculate Mercedes as a fee – go for it! 

I see the Knight of Spears as the card of The Eccentric.  It represents the individual who knows what her or his goal is and what the best path will be to get there − even though it may seem the least likely path, and even though it probably will seem like the least useful goal to almost everyone else in her/his life. 

The Knight of Spears will therefore have to put up with a great deal of sage (and mostly useless) advice from everyone else about what to aim for, where to go, and how to get there.  So don’t be surprised when that happens to you.  It really does come with the territory. 

The Knight will perforce take all that in with grace and “goode humour” − to a point.  So take a deep breath, smile and do the best with that you can.

Once that point is passed, she or he will simply start down her or his own path anyway.  And if that doesn’t work, she/he will begin nudging the well-meaning obstacle (alleged human, probably an in-law) out of the way. 

And if that doesn’t work, she/he will walk her noble steed right over the blockage, human or otherwise.

And if THAT don’t do it, she/he will jolly well take out a lousy-great spear and put it right through the chest of the stupid bugg…

Ah, such an image to go along with your morning coffee!  Or Miso.  Or Bushmills.  Bushmills?   Whatever.   Sorry.

So, today − and as you begin to line things up for a spectacular New Year − know your goal and know what you believe to be your best path to achieve it.  Be completely unsurprised if NOBODY else gets it.  Be true to your unique gifts and hopes – to your eccentricity, if you like.  But get going. 

If necessary, carry a spear.  Or two.  Sharp ones.  And a disarming smile.

Bright blessings and bliss at the uniqueteria!

Quote for the Day:  A civilized society is one which tolerates eccentricity to the point of doubtful sanity. ~ Robert Frost 

Today’s Weather:  Gruzzlewinktons screeching in over the plains.  Wear warm sockies and carry a prophylactic fried duck.

On This Date:  1170 – Thomas Becket: Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, is assassinated inside Canterbury Cathedral by followers of King Henry II; he subsequently becomes a saint and martyr in the Anglican Church and the Roman Catholic Church. 

Tarot Card for the Day ~ December 28

Strength

Percivale’s Vision

Fortune Cookie: Trust in your strength and draw on it.  Manage it well when you must, but draw on it.  Believe in your success.  And let your vision of WHAT CAN BE guide you higher and higher beyond the norm of what has been.

We last saw this card about a month ago.  It’s always a fortunate card to turn up — it usually shows up not a moment too soon!  And it’s a great card to consider during our last-week-of-the-year cogitations.

Obviously, this card betokens its own name: Strength, as well as courage and vitality.  Plus magnanimity − both toward you and emanating from you – [so feel free to send your favorite Tarot reader a beautiful and rare Italian silk almost-anything.  Thank you.] [This smarmy message brought to you be the committee to help Neal dress more like a grownup.] The card can also indicate perhaps the most perfect light touch of luck.  Yesssss!

Really pretty good stuff, then.   So TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THAT!  ALL OF IT!!  [Otherwise what are you reading this for?]

Where was I?  [Come to that, Who was I?  Oh yeh…]

The Strength card is one of the most utterly positive cards in the deck.  And it does offer a few useful, specific recommendations.

It is very important that you do not underestimate your physical and emotional strength at this time, or doubt the power and durability of your connection to Universal Life Force – God, Spirit, The Big G, Mr. Dylan, der Cheney-Fuhrer or Whatever-You-Name-It. 

In other words, don’t down yourself out or assume less of yourself than you may actually be able to handle.  If opportunities come, REACH!  If challenges come, PUSH BACK!  Don’t just crawl under the bed and hide.

Believe in your ability to succeed and to attain that which you most desire, particularly in areas of physical healing and achievement and/or emotional connection and healing. 

Draw on your inner strength, which is truly far greater than you give yourself credit for.  So haul that butt up from under the bed.  Right now! I mean it. We’re all waiting.  Come on… Now!

Like many of us, you may need to begin investing some ongoing effort toward actually identifying and functionalizing your connection to your inner strength.  Our culture ain’t so good about that, unless you have forced yourself to march to the same “inner drummer” as everybody else.  Get to know your OWN connection to Source, and work with it.  

We have in us the brilliant, beautiful and eternal power of stars.  It’s up to us to find and focus it.

Anna-Marie Ferguson, creator of the Legend deck, feels this card indicates having the strength and vitality to realize one’s goals, and also ambition tempered with serenity – a gentle strength. 

When I work with clients, I advise them about an additional level of meaning to this card in this particular deck.  I find this to be the card of the visionary – the individual who can see higher, farther, and deeper than others can. 

Sometimes, even more important, this is the person who can see (distinguish clearly) the trees for the forest and the forest for the trees.  So give yourself credit for being able to see things more clearly, and define things more accurately and truly, than the madding crowd around you. 

Own your ability to be the visionary who can, as Robert F. Kennedy so beautifully put it, “…dream things as they never were, and say why not?”  Or see things as they really are, and say, “Nuh-unh sucker!  We don’t play that way NO MORE!”

Trust in your strength and draw on it.  Manage it well when you must, but draw on it.  Believe in your success.  And let your vision of WHAT CAN BE guide you higher and higher beyond the norm of what has been.

Bright blessings, light, clarity and joy!

Quote for The Day: The smallest feline is a masterpiece. ~ Leonardo

Today’s Whether:  Brusseled stoats.  Low-flying madrigalinous tintinnabulations.  Weed your lemur.  But do not get your lemur weed.  

On This Date:  1065 – Westminster Abbey is consecrated.  

And:  1934 – Dame Maggie Smith, English film, stage, and television actress is born.

Tarot Card for the Day ~ December 27

The Chariot

Battle of Mount Badon

Fortune Cookie: Go after what you really want – aggressively.  But don’t let yourself get pulled out of balance (physically, emotionally or spiritually), or lose your cool at a critical moment.

This is a great card for enny time o’ year, because the insights it offers are strong, clear and very important. 

And, I might add, it’s a superb card for incorporating into a year-end review, no matter what path you walk.

Traditional readings for this card include things like succor, providence and triumph.  Or something along the lines of make a choice, stand by it and carry it through. Or maybe even willpower, and recognizing that you have the ability to focus your will to accomplish amazing things.

Anna-Marie Ferguson’s Legend Tarot deck has The Chariot indicating victory, leadership and controlling a situation of conflicting sentiments, among other things.

I tend to interpret this card based on the counsel that has seemed most positive for and helpful to my clients when it has shown up.

When The Chariot appears, I say, “Okay.  Regarding what you’re asking about, what you want, or whatever the case may be:

“Go after it.  Go after it aggressively.  Not even assertively.  Aggressively!  Full tilt, run ’em over if they won’t surrender or get out of your way aggressively.  But…

“Make very, very sure that in going after what you want, you do not let yourself become pulled off balance or pushed out of balance – or otherwise become out of balance – physically, emotionally, financially, spiritually, or any-other-ly.” 

And keep a cool head.

Here’s the analogy:  When you’re driving a war chariot into battle, once you’re committed to the fight you’ve gotta push, drive, plunge.  But, if you lose your balance, you’ll get bounced out of the chariot and right onto the point of a spear.

And when you go into battle, you must fight hard but remain cool and focused.  If you give over to emotion, you may lose sufficient awareness of what’s really going on around you, and become raven kibble.  

So, today: Go after what you really want – aggressively.  But don’t let yourself get pulled out of balance, or lose your cool at a critical moment.

Bright Blessings, balance, focus and Charge!

Thought for the Day: The most important human endeavor is the striving for morality in our actions. Our inner balance and even our very existence depend on it. Only morality in our actions can give beauty and dignity to life.  ~ Albert Einstein

Today’s Weather: No green beans.  Pouting baritones puling in the mist.

On This Date: 1932 – Radio City Music Hall opened in New York City.  

Note: I recently told a friend that one way to use my Daily Tarot Card was to think of it as a fortune cookie at lunch — albeit a REALLY long one.  So I’ve decided that Fortune Cookie is a much better tag for the first couple lines than Focus for the Day.  And there it is.  Thanks, David O.!  

‘Nother Note:  I had the funniest gift for St. Stephen’s Day/Boxing Day. I brought in a few potted plants from the garden when the weather turned freezy.  This morning, one of the pots with rosemary and borage also produced a HUGE yellow dandelion flower.  [Talk about Sol Invictus!] Can spring be far away? 

Tarot Card for the Day ~ December 26

Knight of Swords

Gawain

Focus for the Day: Go after it. Go! Go! Go! But go after it smart, careful, clear and clean! 

Last saw this guy a bit over a month ago.  It’s one of those cards I have a trouble integrating into my life.  Maybe I need a thyroid supplement.

It’s a card that says,

Okay, okay, okay!  You over there!  And you.  You, too!  Everybody! Hey! 

Everyone! Up’nat’em!!! 

The Knight of Swords is a card of action.  Fiery, passionate action.  So if there’s something you’ve been putting off, or something you have wanted to do but always delay, today is the day to get started.  With!  Gusto!

However, I will also share that this Knight has occasionally (actually ruddy well frequently) been known to leap before he looks, to the ultimate dismay of himself − and pretty much everybody then involved with cleansing him of the huge, deep pile of country Frisbees [bull puckey] he has landed himself in. 

And, he has from time to time gone so far as to find himself moving with such great passion that, all unknowing, he oversteps appropriate bounds, doesn’t check out the situation and its implications thoroughly, and blows his rosy red Orkney rump to smithereens in the process − occasionally taking a pile of other good folk down with him in the mess. If he thinks of them at all, he thinks of them as collateral damage.

Other readers see the Knight of Swords as representing skill and bravery, or wrath and war. [A wee tad of distinction there, don’t you think, friends?  Eh?] 

Anna-Marie Ferguson, creator of the Legend deck, sees him as a determined, intelligent young man [uh… person] – so keep an eye out – but also as someone who may be overeager to display heroics which can cause him to misjudge. [Thus, the country Frisbees.  Or meadow muffins.  Or whatever.]

SO: 

Get moving.  But take a few moments or a few steps back to calmly, objectively check out the terrain pretty thoroughly first. 

And double-check that you are acting with integrity, and doing something that is in fact desired by all parties who have a vote. (You might even wanna go so far as to further explore whether you are about to do something that IS in fact for the highest and best.) 

As I’ve said before:

That way you won’t paint your foyer in record time, but paint it the lavender shade that was discussed while tippling on New Year’s Eve rather than a pale ice gray − you know, the color that matches the paint chip that was left under your wallet before you headed to the hardware store.  Doofus.

Go after it, but go after it smart, careful, clear and clean!    

Bright Blessings and a soft landing!

Quote for the Day: I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do. ~ Leonardo

Today’s Weather:  Ding dongs moggily real high.  Minor unravelings near  entrances to transformational tunnels.  You might as well just watch cartoons, or draw them.

On This Date:  1966 – The first Kwanzaa is celebrated by Maulana Karenga, the chair of Black Studies at California State University, Long Beach.

Tarot Card for the Day ~ December 25

Two of Spears

Bedivere and Kay

Focus for the Day: Know what YOUR family of spirit would be like.  Seek them.  Find them.  Let them help you change the world.

This card last turned for us less than two weeks ago.  And it’s a really good card to work with on a day that is celebrated as a very family-focused holiday by so many in our culture.  Especially when –how to say — familial connections may not be all one might hope.  You’ll see what I mean when we get to my personal intuitive interpretation of the card. 

The Two of Spears is, in fact, one of those cards where my intuitive guidance has me going off in a different direction than the standard interpretation.  [Yep. Again.]

Many readers say this card bespeaks things like riches, fortune, magnificence. Others might suggest you spend some time alone considering the advice of others in order to help make up your own mind about an important decision that NEEDS to be made.  [Yeah.  That’d be REAL easy to pull off today.]

Anna-Marie Ferguson, creator of the Legend deck, writes of proving one’s capability to manage a large project [pulling together a holiday meal?  preventing a familial holiday brouhaha?]; planning for the future; exerting authority; riches and success, using all one’s talents to achieve a communal vision.

So if any of those issues are on your mind today, accept this info as an indication that you’re IN TUNE and placing your energy in the right place at the right time.  [And if you’re not up for riches and success, FortheLuvvaGod, Goddess, The Universe, Anybody, CALL ME.  Soon.  We gotta talk!  216-371-3433.]

  However…

When this card turns up for a client, I find myself telling them this:

I don’t know what your family life is like.  It could be great.  It could suck pond ice in winter.  Regardless, I find the Two of Spears to say

~ ~ It’s time for you to create a family of spirit that is even closer to you than family of blood or marriage. 

[That is, in fact, something some clients have a LOT of trouble with. 

They cannot envision EVER being closer to someone than to their blood family.  All their blood family.  However bizarre, weird, twisted, hurtful, etc. the family, or some of them, might be. 

All I can say is, it’s not impossible, and it’s often healthy to have others in your life who are closer to you than the Amazin’ Flyin’ Fussin’ Burrito Krazees God decided to lay upon you for some of your initial life lessons. 

So at least promise you’ll think about it.  Okay?] 

~ ~ You need to begin seeking and finding, perhaps one by one, a group of people who − because of the commonality of intentions, goals, hopes, spiritual path, etc. − will be as close to you as anyone could possibly be. As you, too will be to them.

So spend some time thinking about what it would be like to have a circle of people in your life who

~ would always have your back,

~ would always be able to hear your darkest secrets

    and continue to see the Light in you,

    as you would do for them

~ would seek to remind you of the highest and

    best in yourself, lovingly and always

Then go about creating that circle.  Slowly.  Intentionally.  With discretion.  But get going.

Know what YOUR family of spirit would be like.  Seek them.  Find them.  Let them help you change the world.

Bright blessings and joyful meetings!

[And Happy Christmas to all my Christian friends!]

Quote for the Day:  For everything that lives is holy, life delights in life. ~ William Blake

Today’s Weather: Boggly waddlers.  Meringue pilfering, macaroon dragooning pixies and other in-laws. You may avoid the wurst of the storm by wearing a HazMat breathing mask. I promise.  

On This Date: 1066 – William the Conqueror is crowned as king of England, at Westminster Abbey, London.

And: 1223 – St. Francis of Assisi assembles the first Nativity scene.

 

Another Quote: Nobody’s perfect. Well, there was this one guy, but we killed him…. ~ Christopher Moore, from Lamb, the Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal 

Tarot Card for the Day ~ December 24

Knight of Cups

Galahad

Focus for the Day: 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!

Well…. This is the fourth time this card has turned for us since November 19. It’s a card of sacred questing.  And on Yule (the Winter Solstice) we were given the Queen of Spears, card of the feminine sacred quest.  

So, for those who celebrate Christmas, this is a pretty perfect card for Christmas Eve. And for all of us, whatever our spiritual path, it’s a good reminder of what’s REALLY important at this sacred and magical time of year.  [Again I ask: Did I hear gift certificates from Saks and Nordstrom’s and Abercrombie?  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. 

[Saks my aspidistra!]

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, Usher, The Voice of John Cleese, Matt Damon – 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 Angelina Jolie?].  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 crossroads. Things rarely work out.]  Also, an approaching opportunity for advancement.  Or an unexpected gift. [Duh!] 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, and the sacred in us all and everywhere!  

Quote for the Day: People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don’t even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child — our own two eyes. All is a miracle.  ~ Thich Nhat Hanh 

Today’s Weather:  Three wise men and Virginia.  Hold the myrrh. 

On This Date: 563 – The Byzantine church Hagia Sophia in Constantinople is dedicated for the second time after being destroyed by earthquakes.

And: Here’s a link to a (longish but) fascinating article about the haunted history of Christmas Eve.  Strange Horizons Articles: “Do No Harm to Me or Mine”: The Haunted History of Christmas Eve, by Marian Kensler

Tarot Card for the Day ~ December 23

The Priestess

Nimue

Focus for Today: Know your magic. (Know you’re magic!) Own your magic.  (Own you’re magic!) Do what’s necessary for you to be and feel inspired.  Then use your magic consciously to benefit yourself and others.

Hmmmmm… The Priestess hasn’t appeared for us since June 22.  And as I see it, it’s a wonderful holiday-season-magic-kinda-card. So pay attention here.  Or there.  Or wherever.

In general, The Priestess is seen as a keeper of secrets, of ancient or arcane wisdom.

She is also known as a wielder of strong intuitive powers.  So, this would be a good time to let your intuition guide you − try not to get in its way!

[Or, I suppose, this would be a good day to get a reading.  Or schedule one, anyhow.  HINT!] 

Or, if it wasn’t a weekday, this would be a superb day to go to the Art Museum and just hang out among the unsurpassably beautiful power objects from other times, places and dimensions.  Basking in their amazing vibrations can be spiritually empowering, and just sitting with them can alter your state of consciousness as profoundly as purposeful meditation.  Try it.  You’ll see!

Anna-Marie Ferguson, creator of the Legend deck, sees The Priestess as indicating inspiration and a powerful connection with the collective unconscious or world soul.  Also, astute psychic ability.  A good time for it, as the wimter solstice brings a period where the realms of magic open for us!  There can also be elements of a need for solitude today, so honor that if you feel it and if you can.

Finally, the Priestess is recognized as one who can walk fully and successfully in two worlds – that of ordinary reality and its people, and that the of the higher realms and the Fay.  [Time to read old books about Findhorn again, maybe?  Or get to know Perelandra (http://www.perelandra-ltd.com/)?]

When this card turns up for a client, I usually offer something like,

The Priestess is an important role model.  She owns her magic and uses it for her benefit and for the good of those she loves. 

So, one of the critical questions that I often finding myself working through with clients is, “What IS your magic?”  You can’t own it if you haven’t even identified it and been willing to stake a claim to it. 

And don’t try to weenie out of the discussion by assuming I’m ONLY talking about Dumbledore-caliber ceremonial high magic.

So what IS your magic? 

Is it a gift for healing from your hands or in your soothing voice? 

Is it a long-developed ability to coax amazing music from even the most beat-up old piano (or guitar, or flute, or djembe)? 

Is it a capacity to write clearly and with passion about things that normally be a complete yawn? 

Is it the knack to lighten the mood of a tense meeting with a smile and an off-the-wall analogy? 

Is it a love for numbers that helps a not-for-profit manage its razor thin margin? 

Is it a talent for teaching and inspiring? 

Is it an ability to grow moss in the desert or sell refrigerators to an Inuit?

What is your magic?  It’s what you love to do, and what lifts people around you when you do it, or what allows them some hope and healing because you do it − even if you’re stuffed away in a cubbyhole somewhere.   

Know your magic. 

(Know you’re magic!) 

Own your magic. 

(Own you’re magic!) 

Do what’s necessary for you to be and feel inspired.  Then use your magic consciously to benefit yourself and others.

Today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bright blessings, light and magic!          

Quote for the Day:  For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream.  ~ Vincent van Gogh

Today’s Weather: Sometimes, oftenly not, although.  Dust with rose pollen.  

On This Date: 1893 – The opera Hänsel und Gretel by Engelbert Humperdinck is first performed.