Tarot Card for the Day ~ February 28

Three of Cups

The Dressing of the Sacred Spring

Fortune Cookie: Own your power.  Help empower others.  Seek others whose goodness and LIGHT is empowering to you.  And do it in a joyful, celebratory way.  Today! 

Always grateful to see this card.  It’s such a breath of fresh air, hope and goodness. 

A good card to savor and contemplate, and keep in mind as we move begin to contemplate moving out of the dreamy, chilly, hibernating energy of February.

First off, 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 offer counsel such as

~ 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 all of

   what you are and who you can be

Simple, really.  [And I should know, being pretty simple m’self.]

The Three of Cups is a card of blessing.  It’s very positive in the potential it bespeaks.  

Some readers find it to be a card of plenty, merriment or solace.  Others see it speaking of victory or celebration with friends.

Anna-Marie Ferguson, creator of the Legend deck, writes of the Three of Cups as acknowledging blessings, the realization of a dream, or festivities and bounty.

I see it as a card of empowerment, fruitful completion and healing.  How are these things to be fostered and achieved?    By engaging in heartfelt, beautiful and joyful sacred celebration with those of like mind and soul. 

Please, today, take some time, even if just a moment, to connect with those in your circle who are positive, supportive and helpful − who inspire hope and joy and all good things in your life – even if it’s just by phone, even if it’s only for a minute. 

Share something or share about something you can celebrate together. 

Don’t forget to include your Spirit Guides, guardian angels, absent gurus, loving friends or even family members who have passed from this realm as you open to sharing and celebration.  And let yourself be empowered by what transpires.

Remember that the Celts believed (and still believe) the Divine is present in every place, everything  and everyone – including you and what you are doing now, and everywhere you will go and everything you will do today.  So GIVE YOURSELF THAT!

Own your power.  Help empower others.  Seek others whose goodness and LIGHT is empowering to you.  And do it in a joyful, celebratory way.  Today!  (Perfect excuse for celebration with good people!)

Bright blessings, joy and CELEBRATION!

Quote for the Day:  Millionaires don’t have astrologers.  Billionaires do.  ~ J. P. Morgan

Today’s Weather:  Curdled snurlis; wear a braised banana as a pocket square to prevent distopia.

On This Date: 1935 – DuPont scientist Wallace Carothers invents Nylon.  [Say.  No.  More! 🙂]

Tarot Card for the Day ~ February 27

Knight of Swords

Gawain

Fortune Cookie: Go after it. Go! Go! Go! But go after it smart, careful, clear and clean! 

No, he does NOT look like Uma Thurman, thank you!

 

Last saw this guy the day after Christmas.  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:  Ting. Tang. Walla-walla-hot-damn! ‘Ware ye of minor mystical ravellings on other dimensions or in them.   

On This Date:  1812 – Poet Lord Byron gives his first address as a member of the House of Lords.

Tarot Card for the Day ~ February 26

The Fool

  Percivale

Fortune Cookie:   Follow your bliss!  Follow your bliss!  Know what your bliss is!!!  Follow your bliss! 

[With apologies to those of you who have read this, one of the longest of my interpretations, before.]  [Spirit Helper whispers in ear, “You think they gonna remember!  Boy, YOU GOT BIG EGO!“]  Sigh.

I’m always grateful this card has come around again, for prolly more reasons than I can count.  Sometimes I think this may be the most important card in the deck, for us and for the world in this time.  It is in fact the FIRST card in the deck, which should give you some idea of the weight it carries.

 Just as significant, it’s the antithesis to that state I see so often: folks lassoing their own private storm clouds, knotting them in place just above their heads and walking around beating themselves with a stick [or a riding crop, if budget permits] while chanting that ever-so-helpful mantra, “Life sucks.  The world is doomed.  Life sucks.  The world is doomed. Life sucks. The world is doomed, and I’ll probably be first in line to get whacked.” 

 If these are in fact transformational times [and they are], then that is ZACKLY the wrong thing to immerse yourself in!  Eh?

 So, back to the card. 

Da Ful: this card does not mean that you are a fool or are inevitably going to be foolish today ~ at least not in the way our culture perceives foolishness. 

 I call this The Joseph Campbell card.  It’s the card that says, “You.  You.  Yeah, you.  FOLLOW YOUR BLISS.  NOW!  With joy, hope, excitement and expectation.  NOW!”

It’s therefore the card that offers you permission to go off on your personal quest, just like Percivale did. (And he became one of the three greatest knights of all, y’all!)

 The important aspect (and for some of us, the hard work) is:

 to actually KNOW what our bliss is (or would be). 

And when we get kinda down or times are a little tough, that’s often the first knowing or believing that goes RIGHT out the window.

So, as I have written before, this is the somewhat rambling response I’ve given to a few clients when they’ve asked,

Follow my bliss?

What the hell does that mean?

You start by knowing what your heart’s true desire is [provided it’s moral, of course.  And pretty close to legal.] If necessary, take some time to hone your understanding of what that means to you, for today, anyway.  Do it over an extra cuppa if that’s all the time you have.  But do it.

Then, no matter how impossible or illogical it may seem, like −

I’m gonna write a children’s story about an orphan boy who goes to a school for wizards, and it’s going to be so beautifully done it’s going to earn me enough to support myself and my family for the rest of my life.  It’s going to make me the first person to ever earn a billion dollars from writing fiction − like that could ever happen!

 − take your first single small step on the path that follows your bliss. 

And see what that leads to. 

 Then take the next step. 

And see what that leads to.  And so on.

The difference between The Fool and some other Tarot cards that offer permission to follow your own unique path is that The Fool in particular says,

 “Stay connected to your heart, moment by moment. 

Know that your heart may change, and so your direction may change, moment by moment.  But DO NOT allow yourself to think less of yourself, your efforts or your path because of that.  Go where your heart tells you and you will achieve more than most will ever even hope for.”

This is the card of the Sacred Fool, the Holy Fool.  The one who is open to divine inspiration and honors it by following his or her bliss, harm to none and love for all, always.

Let me remind you [perhaps for the umpteenth time] of how The Fool’s gift once applied to me. 

I was watching one of the shows in the second season of “Torchwood” [if you still haven’t picked up on that BBC series, I think you’re missing something. Especially now that season 3 is out on DVD. But start with the first season.]  One of the characters made the point, in a way that hit me harder than I remember any TV show ever doing, that humans on Earth are almost always at war. We tell ourselves that we are fighting “the war to end war for all time.”  Over and over and over.  

And I was really shaken.  Because, for just a moment, I had a glimpse of humans, with our nearly angelic powers and potentials, side by side with the reality of how we ignore them, or maybe even worse, use them in ways that are just plain selfish, demeaning destructive and stupid, moment by moment.

And I got the very clear message that a big chunk of the problem is that we are following old habits, old programming. NOT following our bliss. Not honoring that which is angelic in us.  Not reaching for that which is for our Highest and Best. 

But we can.

And then I came into the office and drew The Fool card and found great blessing in the message that that there is ALWAYS the possibility of doing it all differently

IF we know our hearts truly truly;

IF we honor that which truly resonates for the Highest and Best,

 which is always one with OUR Highest and Best;  

 IF   we

 follow

 our

 bliss.

 Wishing you a day of magic, and the sacred, and your true path.

 Brightest Blissings!

 Quote for the Day: 

 In a small town in the Old Country, the Rabbi died. His widow, the Rebbetzin, was so disconsolate that the people of the town decided that she ought to get married again.

 But the town was so small that the only eligible bachelor was the town butcher.

 The poor Rebbetzin was somewhat dismayed because she had been wed to a scholar, and the butcher had no great formal education. However, she was lonely, so she agreed, and they were married.

 After the marriage, Friday came. She went to the mikvah (a Jewish ritual bath to get rid of impurities). Then, she went home to prepare to light the candles.

 The butcher leaned over to her and said, “My mother, Hana, told me that after the mikvah and before lighting the candles, it’s good to have sex.” So they did.

 She lit the candles. He leaned over again and said, “My father,Shmuel, told me that after lighting the candles it’s good to have sex.” So they did.

 They went to bed after saying their prayers. When they awoke, he said to her, “My grandmother, Rivka, said that before you go to the synagogue it’s good to have sex.” So they did.

 After praying all morning, they came home to rest. Again he whispers in her ear, “My grandfather, Moishe, says after praying it’s good to have sex.” So they did.

 On Sunday she went out to shop for food and met a friend who asked, “So how is the new husband?”

 She replied, “Well, a scholar he isn’t, but he comes from a wonderful family.”

 [That’s Following Your Bliss!]  [Thanks, Herb!]

Today’s Weather:  Faeriefire across the skies for all those with eyes to see. 

On This Date: 1815 – Napoleon Bonaparte escapes from Elba. [Dude followed his bliss!  Of course, there is that MORAL part…]

And: 1917 – The Original Dixieland Jass Band records the first ever jazz record for the Victor Talking Machine Company in New York. [Bliss!  Bliss!] 

 

Tarot Card for the Day ~ February 25

Knight of Shields

Bors

Fortune Cookie:  Know your goal, believe in yourself and in your ability to attain it. Don’t jump through hoops for anyone; move at your own pace.  But be sure you do move and keep moving.

 

This card last showed up at the in mid-December.  I’m glad he’s back.

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 or the times to come, keep an eye out for them or, better yet, embody them:  BE 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.”  But 8 years of Cheney took all the amusement out of even thinking that.   

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, once again:

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, surely, constantly!

Quote for the Day: Anybody can observe the Sabbath, but making it holy surely takes the rest of the week.  ~ Alice Walker 

Today’s Weather:   Yoiks and gollywillikers!  More of that jolly white slippery sh… uh, um, stuff whizzing all around like an ocean of demented little….  Aw, frickit! 

On This Date:  1797 – Colonel William Tate and his force of 1000-1500 soldiers surrender after the Last Invasion of Britain. [What were they THINKIN’?]

Tarot Card for the Day ~ February 24

Queen of Cups

Britannia

Fortune Cookie:  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.

We last saw this card just before the Winter Solstice.  And, as ever, it’s one of those, “Yo!  Will you PLEASE just TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF FOR A CHANGE?” kinda cards.  Makes sense for most of us as we slog on through the end of February toward spring. 

Most readers respond to this card by predicting things like happiness, pleasure, or 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, reach out for them; let yourself receive them.  And if you encounter such a person, by all means engage her on your behalf. 

One reader finds this card embodies the nature of St. Clare − the founder of the Poor Clares –  the feminine counterpart of St. Francis who embraced poverty, simplicity and service with great love and compassion for all.

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.  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, i.e.,  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 cautions 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, 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 beautiful, gentle day!

Quote for the Day: Help me love myself.  Help me love my life.  Help me treat life lovingly. ~ NS [A prayer & power chant.]   

And:  “I know what’s best for me, after all I have been in the Claudette Colbert business longer than anybody.”  ~ Claudette Colbert

Today’s Weather:  Leedle wee tiny mentschadelic madmen.  Wear a small reuben around your neck as a talisman.

On This Date:  1942 – Battle of Los Angeles: a UFO flying over wartime Los Angeles causes a blackout order at 2:25 a.m. and attracts a barrage of anti-aircraft fire.

Tarot Card for the Day ~ February 23

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 dead-of-winter 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 wild 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: I was the kid next door’s imaginary friend. ~ Emo Philips

Today’s Weather: Szechuan bratwurst.  Baritone kabobs and short, drooling, ghoulish newbies.  Note: No double anchovy pizza so damn late at night!

On This Date: 1455 – Traditional date for the publication of the Gutenberg Bible, the first Western book printed from movable type.

Tarot Card for the Day ~ February 22

Justice

Lady of the Lake

Fortune Cookie: Know what is just, equitable, honorable, hopeful and balanced.  Use that as your guide. Work firmly, calmly, directly but in a balanced way toward that today.

I always begin my intepretation of this card with Richard Pryor’s famous quote, “You go down there looking for Justice; that’s what you find: just us.” 

And follow it with Lenny Bruce’s, “In the halls of justice, the only justice is in the halls.”   

But you must be getting bored with those little tweaks.  So, today only (so far) I’m offering a picture of the Code Of Hammurabi.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Code-de-Hammurabi-1.jpg

   along with one of my favorite laws from the code, verbatim in translation:

If anyone brings an accusation against a man, and the accused goes to the river and leaps into the river, if he sinks in the river his accuser shall take possession of his house. But if the river proves that the accused is not guilty, and he escapes unhurt, then he who had brought the accusation shall be put to death, while he who leaped into the river shall take possession of the house that had belonged to his accuser.

Simple, really.  

Okay.  So.  For those of you who actually NEED an explanation about a card entitled Justice , let’s just take a little look together, ‘kay?

Many readers would say something to the effect that Justice betokens equity, “rightness,” and justice in the consequences of past actions.

However, as Hamlet noted, “Use every man after his desert, and who should ’scape whipping?”  Fortunately, most of my clients STILL don’t own whips.  I’ve asked.

Other readers would say the card portends that a fair decision will be made in your favor.  Or they might encourage us to remember that justice is intended to foster peace and order, not revenge. [Not an easy concept to keep in front of us these days.  Let’s all head for that river!]

Anna-Marie Ferguson, creator of the Legend deck I use, writes of the card bespeaks total honesty, just rewards, equal partnership and coming to agreement, among other things.

Me? When Justice turns up for a client, I usually say something like,

Regarding the situation, first of all, be sure you treat all justly – including and especially yourself. 

Work toward a truly equitable solution or situation. Don’t discount your needs and hopes, but neither may you let your goals be overbearing, overweening or overwhelming. 

Remember the ancient symbol of Justice is a scale weighing the balance of things. 

So this is one of those cards that counsels:

 

Do what is necessary to keep yourself in balance, physically, emotionally, financially, etc.  And seek outcomes that are balanced, harmonious, bringing peace of mind to all.  Be confident such is possible, because it is.

Know what is just, equitable, honorable, hopeful and balanced.  Use that as your guide. Work firmly, calmly, directly but in a balanced way toward that today.

Bright, happy and balanced blessings!  

Quote for the Day: 

A woman in a hot air balloon realized she was lost. She lowered her altitude and spotted a man in a boat below. She shouted to him, “Can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don’t know where I am.”

The man consulted his portable GPS and replied, “You’re in a hot air balloon, approximately 30 feet above ground elevation of 2,346 feet above sea level. You are at 31 degrees, 14.97 minutes north latitude and 100 degrees, 49.09 minutes west longitude.”
 
She rolled her eyes and said, “You must be an Obama Democrat.”
 
“I am,” replied the man. “How did you know?”
 
“Well,” answered the balloonist, “everything you told me is technically correct. But I have no idea what to do with your information, and I’m still lost. Frankly, you’ve not been much help to me.”
 
The man smiled delightedly and responded, “You must be a Republican.”
 
“I am,” replied the balloonist. “How did you know?”
 
“Well,” said the man, “you don’t know where you are or where you are going. You’ve risen to where you are due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise you have no idea how to keep, and you expect me to solve your problem. You’re in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but somehow, now it’s my fault.”  [Thanks. Rosalie!]

Today’s Weather:  Withering clouds of antediluvian b-button fuzz going hither, thither and whither.  I’ll have a karmic marmot, please. 

On This Date: 1983 – The notorious Broadway flop Moose Murders opens and closes on the same night at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre.  

And: 1732 – George Washington, First President of the United States is born.

Tarot Card for the Day ~ February 21

Three of Swords

Palomides

Fortune Cookie: Release the old stuff as you would cleanse the poison from a wound, and move on to beauty, hope, joy, creativity and healing.  MOVE ON TO LIFE!

This is another one of those cards (in almost any deck) where clients see the illustration, gasp, blanch and look at me as if to implore, “Say it ain’t so.” 

Okay. Right outta the box. IT AIN’T SO.  Now pay attention here.  And note that, as often occurs, this is a card where my interpretation veers a tad from what may be typical. 

[To see the card from the Legend deck, which my blog is refusing to pick up, go to http://strangerealms.multiply.com/photos/album/65/Legend_The_Arthurian_Tarot#photo=54  

So, for starts, dealing with some power issues are we, my pretty?

As I’ve noted here before, a lot, I believe that a three in any Tarot deck indicates that the question being explored has to do with issues of power:

 ~ 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  [This is the fourth element. You’ll need to know that later.]

~ refuse to submit to ploys that would

   deny power you have earned

~ empower yourself

~ empower those you love and believe in

~ accept the challenge of owning all of

   what you are and who you can be

It’s the fourth element of that list that I perceive to be most important in the Three of Swords.  When this card comes up for a client, regardless of the subject matter we are exploring, I usually say something like:

Look, it’s tremendously important that you not get stuck in old emotions about this situation.  Let go of the old stuff.  Get grounded.  Stay in the moment, stay in the now. Get focused, hold your head up, and move into your future without whatever wet, heavy, ancient baggage is trying to sink you at the moment. 

That’s not always an easy thing to hear, let alone to do.  For most of us, the current choices we would like to make as we move forward most likely seem absolutely valid and maybe even perfectly right. 

But each of those transformations can be torpedoed by old emotional clottage like, “Oh, everyone will think I’m a complete flake,” or, “It’s crummy all right but at least it’s secure,” or “He was crummy all right but at least he was there,” or just plain, “I’m miserable. I’m miserable.  I’m miserable.  By the way, did I tell you I’m miserable?  Oh. Well did I tell you how miserable I am?”

The Three of Swords says

Don’t get stuck in the disappointment, don’t get caught in the heartbreak!

Release the old stuff as you would cleanse the poison from a wound, and move on to beauty, hope, joy, creativity and healing.  MOVE ON TO LIFE!

Know that there are beautiful things to come, and that releasing − really releasing the emotions of the past and moving on − will bring the wonderfulness to you more quickly.

Bright blessings, peace, hope and release!

Quote for the Day:  The trick is in what one emphasizes.  We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves happy.  The amount of work is the same. ~ Carlos Castaneda [Worth repeating.]

Today’s Weather:   Petulant porpoises wielding bad Manga versions of King Lear.  Be prepared to gangster-smack yer blues.   

On This Date: 1925 – The New Yorker publishes its first issue. [So I’m an effete snob.  What can I tell ya?]

Tarot Card for the Day ~ February 20

The Universe

The Giants’ Dance

Fortune Cookie: The Universe is your oyster.  It will give you back your fondest wishes, if you will be clear within yourself about those wishes, be true to those wishes, hold them close moment by moment, and honor them.

Saw this one in mid-November or so.  And it’s absolutely one of the most glorious, hope-filled positive cards in the deck, so PLEASE know that such energy is available to and for you today.  Don’t waste the vibe by talking yourself out of what may be! 

The card in the Legend deck pictures a Goddess/dancer moving ecstatic and free under the stars within Stonehenge (the Giants’ Dance, as it was once known).  Anna-Marie Ferguson, creator of the deck, finds this card to be a harbinger of liberation, the attainment of a long-sought goal, and the culmination of events, efforts and experiences from the past.  [Wouldn’t you know this is the day I’m scheduled to clean and change.the cat boxes.  Ohwell.]

Some readers find assured success, emigration and a change of place in this card.  Others see a promise that the querent – the person having the reading done − will become all that she or he can IF he or she is only confident enough.  

[Need me to repeat that for ya?] 

You will become all you can

if you are confident enough!

As I sometimes say in my readings, remember:  you’re never too old to become a Mouseketeer.] 

When this card comes up, I ask clients:

What would dancing free under the stars be for you? 

What would give you that sense of

freedom,  

security,

elation,  

ecstasy,

connection to beautiful and eternal and renewing Source and its most healing , empowering rhythms? 

Now:

what can you do

and

what will you do

to begin to give that to yourself?  NOW! 

The Universe is your oyster.  It will give you back your fondest wishes, if you will be clear within yourself about those wishes, be true to those wishes, hold them close moment by moment, and honor them.

In our daily lives, we very often become wrapped up in the seeming necessities of the moment.  We lose track of our more profound, more eternal and inspiring hopes, wishes, beliefs − and powers. 

So, starting today, reconnect with that higher, more hopeful vision of yourself and your life.

KNOW that you have all that is necessary to bring it into being. 

This is a card of successful completion, harmony and lasting happiness. 

Believe!

Bright blessings!

 [And please share this card with someone who needs a little boost today.]

Quote for the Day: You get ideas from daydreaming. You get ideas from being bored. You get ideas all the time. The only difference between writers and other people is we notice when we’re doing it.  ~ Neil Gaiman

Today’s Weather:  Hobgobbling odoes interspersed among the drifts and drafts the length and longth of the landth.   ҉

On This Date:  1872 – In New York City the Metropolitan Museum of Art opens.

And: 1902 – Ansel Adams, American photographer is born. 

 

Tarot Card for the Day ~ February 19

Five of Shields

The Wasteland

Fortune Cookie:  Know that you can move from The Wasteland you may feel yourself to be in. Know the direction to the High Green Land for you.  Make the choices and take the steps, one by one, that will take you there.

As I’ve said before, some days I feel about as creative as kibbles.  Like today.  Fortunately, a card that has some things to teach me about that has once again leapt out as the card for the day.  So here we go. 

 

Last saw this one back in early November, and as I said then:

A card for which 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!”  [Some of us need to hear that more than others.]

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 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, maybe, kinda, couldja” isn’t really sufficient for the Universe to home in on.  It just isn’t.  And in my case, “something that would make Bill Gates’ place look like the Clampetts’ original digs” 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 liddla giftee, eh?

Know 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, so 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 is still in the news all over the place this month as we all breathlesly wait a new ave of foreclosures.  Or some such.  So, as metaphysicians, or at least as people who read a Daily Tarot Card:

How do we not give in to such pandemic energy [Ooh! 25 cent word!] 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 to Buckingham Palace and back.  And some of those most famous were NEWLY MINTED millionaires.  And some of  them were very creative, compassionate, charitable people.  [Like you.] They simply 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 like a shag rug, smell like one of Mick Jagger’s 1969 jumpsuits after a concert, sound like W. on Ativan 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: If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one. ~ Mother Teresa  

Today’s Weather:  Ricketybunker guitar solos echoing down the seamy walls of time.  You want fries, beans or absolution with that?   

On This Date:  1600 – The Peruvian stratovolcano Huaynaputina explodes in the most violent eruption in the recorded history of South America.  Its mud flows reach the Pacific Ocean 75 miles away.