Daily Tarot ~ November 30

Four of Cups

The Fading Fellowship

Fortune Cookie: Be honest with yourself about elements of disillusionment or burnout in life. Be even more honest about any places where either your ego or your fears may be overriding your truer, better nature.

Look toward YOUR Holy Grail, whatever that means to you. Then begin to do what you need to stay grounded and true to your higher ideals. And move toward them today.

 

 

 

We last saw this card WAAAAYYY back in August. And it really makes sense that it would show up right ’round tail end of autumn as a reminder of some important things. It’s one of those burnout ~ vs. ~ idealism kinda attention-getters. And please note: this IS one of those

BE CAREFUL cards.

When this card turns up for a client, I usually say something like: Look. There are a couple of possibilities you need to watch out for here. One is that you’re nearing a point of disillusionment in your life or real burnout, or both.

 

So you really need to look hard at how you’re living so you will start taking much better care of yourself on that score. [Anybody unclear about WHAT THAT MEANS???]

“The second possibility is that words like

imaginary vexations (watch out for THAT one!),

drunk,

sloppy,

disorderly,

foolish,

blind,

ego-driven

blowhard

may apply with real impact somewhere in your life − although they may not necessarily be about you personally. [I hope. I REALLY REALLY really hope.]

So what do you do in response to a card like this?

In the Legend deck I use, the image on the card gives a suggestion. It shows the Knights of the Round Table during the period when they had conquered their initial passels of bad guys and had nothing much to do but sit around drinking, thumping their chests and generally being swine.

 

But…

In the picture, there is one upright and stalwart fellow looking out a palace window. What he is seeing is The Holy Grail, floating in over the castle walls.

He sounds the call, the knights all run down to the great hall, The Grail casts its holy and magical spell over all present, and the lot of them clean up their act, pull themselves together and go on one of the great spiritual quests of all time.

[And, I’ll tell ya: The world could really use a VALID great spiritual quest right now. We might even be able to have it, if we didn’t automatically start by spending most of our time and energy hacking each other to bits about who knows God/Goddess by the right name {Poseidon? Mithra? Chaz?} in the right color {Green? White? Bronze? Ebony? Black leather? Blue pinstripe? Khaki cargo shorts?} with the right kind of feet {One eagle claw/One old Nike Air Huarache? One Electric blue Manolo Blahnik/One ballet slipper?} and on and on. And on .]

What this card implies is that, for your benefit and happiness,YOU CAN [and would do well to] be that one knight looking out onto a greater vista and being open to great miracles.

Stay grounded. Hold to your ideals. Refuse to demean yourself or anyone else by succumbing to a get-along by going-along philosophy. Don’t even agree with me if you don’t feel like it. [But have another cuppa and think it over at least, willya?]

If you perceive that this card talks about the quality of your personal life:

!!!!!!!!!!!!!STOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Spend at least a little time taking stock of what is really important.

REALLY important.

REALLLLLYYYYY important.

Figure out how you can pursue that!!!

If this is a card about your workplace or a relationship − and you find it’s a situation worth working on − let yourself say:

“Hold on. IS this the right direction? I think we need to look at changing. What are the ways we can do so and move together, toward and for the highest and best?”

So, I repeat: Be honest with yourself about elements of disillusionment or burnout in life. Be even more honest about any places where either your ego or your fears may be overriding your truer, better nature.

Look toward YOUR Holy Grail, whatever that means to you. Then begin to do what you need to stay grounded and true to your higher ideals. And move toward them today.

Bright Blessings, joy, renewal and a real and beautiful spiritual quest!

Quote for the Day: What goes around may come around, but it never ends up exactly the same place, you ever notice? ~ Thomas Pynchon, from Inherent Vice

Today’s Weather: Smatterings of satori with intermittent prickly heat. And really prickly coworkers. Break the code on a Hermes scarf.

On This Date: 1886 – The Folies Bergère stages its first revue.

Daily Tarot ~ November 29

 

 

Page of Shields

The Badger

Fortune Cookie: Get down to what’s REALLY important; dig in to push that effort along. Pay very close attention to defining healthy boundaries as YOU perceive and need them. Then maintain and defend those boundaries fully.

 

 

Okay. No side (or snide) remarks about haranguing the Tarot reader, or badgering the old badger, please. As I said before, this is MY blog, and that kind of lame drivel is… MINE! And I own it. Especially on a Tuesday. So don’t press my luck. Don’t… Umm… Oh well.

We last saw this guy almost exactly a month ago. And I was just thinking, based on what I’ve been seeing with clients, it was time for him to turn up again.

Typical readers might say something along the line that this card implies focused application, study or reflection. They’d say, umm… if you really concentrate on what’s important to you, right about now you’re in a position to achieve extraordinary results. The implication is that you MUST put something extra in if you wish to get out what you really want. So figure out what that’s about for you and go after it!

Anna-Marie Ferguson, creator of the Legend deck, finds the card betokens such things as a tenacious, reliable person and a hunger for knowledge, among other interpretations.

In working with my clients, [and having encountered a badger just once in a meadow, and he was a MOODY little blighter] this is what I usually say when this card turns up:

I truly love badger. Badger really gets down to it and digs in to get things done. Badger prefers to be peaceable, a homebody of sorts who attends to the things that are necessary, the things that are important within the bounds of his or her own little kingdom.

And if you ever cross into badger’s territory without his or her express permission, there is no anger, no fuss. Badger will simply tear off your leg, leave you in a heap and go on about business, easy-peasy-comfy-cozy.

So I suggest that my clients understand badger as a pretty useful role model where defining and holding boundaries may be concerned, especially in our culture. I haven’t ever had anyone NOT understand the importance of that. Nor comment that boundaries really weren’t an issue in their life, thanks.

 So, for today:

 ~ Focus and study well, if you perceive that’s what’s in order.

~ Get down to what’s REALLY important; dig in to push that effort along.

~ Pay very close attention to defining healthy boundaries as YOU perceive and need them. 

Then maintain and defend those boundaries fully for the highest and best of all.

 Bright blessings!

 

Quote for the Day: Are you always a smartass? /\ Nope. Sometimes I’m asleep. ~ Jim Butcher

 

Today’s Weather: A couple wiggles, bobs and bazoonies to keep us limber. Somewhere between Dom Perignon and a mouthful of wheat grass. Gack!

 

On This Date: 1972 – Atari announces the release of Pong, the first commercially successful video game.

 

Daily Tarot Card ~ November 28

Nine of Spears

Wind Harps of War

Fortune Cookie: Own and honor your intuition. It’s one of the finest gifts Spirit offers humans. And let yourself explore whether there isn’t someplace better for you to reside ~ physically or philosophically.

 

 

Hmmm… A card we last saw in mid-May. Which means nothing in particular, but I should probably try to at least make SOMETHING of it, anyway. I won’t, though, this time. Really. Let’s keep plodding through, then…

Traditional interpretations of this card run along the lines of strength in preparedness for battle or strength in the opposition you will be able to mount if you choose to, delays, things like that.

In Legend, the Arthurian Tarot, Anna-Marie Ferguson finds such meanings as anticipating hostility, preparing for upheaval, outwitting an adversary, and foresight – the last two of course being my favorites.

 

For those of you of an historical bent, the objects depicted in this card were giant wind harps erected on the cliffs above Britain’s shores in anticipation of invasion. These great instruments, when “played” by the sea winds would give forth the shrieks and howling of the guardian spirits of the land. They would break the courage and disrupt the magic of invading forces. I’m thinking of setting a few up around the outskirts of the liberal suburb in which I reside. Or maybe just some old Vox SuperBeatle amps playing George Carlin at full volume.

 

Yesssssss!

The Nine of Spears as I perceive it has two principal meanings to guide you.

First, this card indicates

You have a very capable, solid

intuitive early warning system.

It gives you good, actionable information in advance that there might be, for example, problems over the horizon on a particular project, or that a person is other than what he is presenting himself to be — in a way that ain’t good.

BUT, this card also says,

you’re most likely to second-guess yourself out of

honoring and thus using the very fine and helpful guidance you have received.

Stop that! Right now. Right. NOW.

If you’re going to take the trouble to read a Tarot posting, I’d guess it’s because you find intuition to be a valid tool that can help in your daily affairs. Well, if MY intuition is good enough, so is yours ~ or it can be, once you stop second-guessing yourself out of what you’ve been given and start trusting and working with your inner guidance. So there!

Second, this card says

“Don’t get too comfortable where you are ‘living;’ you may choose to move.”

I put living in quotation marks because Nine of Spears doesn’t just mean that you may sell your cottage in Chagrin Falls and move to a condo overlooking Erie in Lakewood − although you might.

This card can also indicate a significant change or evolution in your personal philosophy, your spirituality, your career path or your understanding about what physical health means to you and what you must do to maintain or enhance it.

So, based on the two meanings of this card, keep an intuitive eye peeled for glimmerings of those kinds of insights and possible changes as they come your way beginning today. And they will.

Own and honor your intuition. It’s one of the finest gifts Spirit offers humans.

And let yourself explore whether there isn’t someplace better for you to reside ~ physically or philosophically.

Bright blessings and blissings and all good things!

Quote for the Day: All power is the same. Magic. Physical strength. Economic strength. Political strength. It all serves a single purpose – it gives its possessor a broader spectrum of choices. It creates alternative courses of action. ~ Jim Butcher

Today’s Weather: Chop wood. Carry water. Eat butter.

On This Date: 1582 – In Stratford-upon-Avon, William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway pay a £40 bond for their marriage license.

Daily Tarot Card ~ November 27

Two of Swords

The Knight of Two Swords

Fortune Cookie: Know your goal. [Let me repeat that: KNOW YOUR GOAL!] Keep your courage up. Ground. Center. Become as clear as possible about what needs to be done, and why. Move forward with strength and go after what you believe to be for the highest and best!

A card that hasn’t turned up since late August. And, as I said then, it’s a card that is given vastly different meanings depending on the reader and the circumstances of the reading.

Some readers would say this card indicates something like courage or balance in the face of adversity. Others might suggest that a solution to a problem is available to the questioner, but he or she is blinded or distracted and can’t see it. [I HATE it when that happens!] Or, a reader may insist that the querent (a person who questions an oracle) be careful about being stubborn. [I’m not real fond of hearing THAT one either.]

Anna-Marie Ferguson, creator of the Legend deck, finds in the Two of Swords such things as having to make a choice without benefit of foresight, a moment of indecision, and a clouded perception of options.

That last phrase is the one that comes closest to my experience of what the card offers.

When the Two of Swords turns up for a client, I’m most likely to say something like, “Someone, I think maybe Khalil Gibran, wrote that the strength of the enemy is in our hearts, not in the enemy’s hand.”

So if there is something you would achieve, and there seems to be great opposition arrayed against you, don’t let yourself be discouraged or dismayed. Take a moment to become very clear about your goal –at least as clear as you can be. Take a deep breath or two. Square your shoulders. And wade into whatever you need to to move forward.

That which seemed to be arrayed against you may simply turn to mist or smoke and allow you to pass through it like beams of pure light through a hologram.

So:

Know your goal. Keep your courage up. Ground. Center. Become as clear as possible about what needs to be done, and why. Move forward with strength and a go after what you believe to be for the highest and best!

Bright blessings, clarity and progress!

Today’s Quote: So. You get handed a holy sword by an archangel, told to go fight the forces of evil, and you somehow remain an atheist. Is that what you’re saying? ~ Jim Butcher

Today’s Weather: Wufflegoo scruffluffagous; sometimes oftenly not, although.

On This Date: 2001 – A hydrogenatmosphere is discovered on the extrasolar planetOsiris by the Hubble Space Telescope, the first atmosphere detected on an extrasolar planet. [Yeah. I don’t really care, either.]

 

Daily Tarot Card ~ November 26

Eight of Swords

Guenevere at the Stake

Fortune Cookie: Reach out. Ask for help. Let yourself receive help − help of all kinds from all appropriate levels. Especially seek assistance from those who are extremely capable of helping you understand, take on and overcome the difficulties [or go after the new goals] that may be trying to creep up [or that are emerging].

 

 

Okay. For those of you who weren’t focusing so swell when this card showed up way back on the last day of May:

Yo! Yo! Ovah Heeeyah! Yeyah. Heeeyah! I’m tawking to you!

PAY ATTENTION!

[And by the way, what DIDN’T you ask for help with back then that you might have. Eh?]

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

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

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

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

Let’s think about something for a second. [Yes, you have to. Have another coffee or a strawberry cough pancake for pity’s sake.]

Why do people come to guys like me for a reading? [Be nice. Remember, I STILL know your email address.] [And besides, I need the answer to that question for a holiday marketing blitz.]

People should NOT NOT NOT come to a Tarot reader just to hear what’s gonna happen. They SHOULD work with people of my ilk to learn what THEY need to know that will help THEM maximize success and optimize outcomes! BIIIIIIIG difference!

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

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

So I say,

Wait a minute! Wait! Wait! Wait!

[Wait!] Don’t leap (or claw your way up) to conclusions!

The first thing this card is telling you is that, if you’ve been feeling bound, trapped, concerned that there’s some negativity trying to bring you down, you’ve been right. You’re not just being a wuss.

But! BUT!!!!! Look carefully at the card, Watson.

 

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

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

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

Reach out.

Ask for help.

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

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

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

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

Let me repeat that for greater effect:

This card offers

an end to adversity

and a new beginning.

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

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

Bright blessings, hope, peace and joy!

Quote for the Day: Let a joy keep you. Reach out your hands and take it when it runs by. ~ Carl Sandburg

Today’s Weather: Scruffy muffins. Silly whiskers. Pomegranate calculations. La vie en Bozos.

On This Date: 1977 – ‘Vrillon‘, claiming to be the representative of the ‘Ashtar Galactic Command’, takes over Britain’s Southern Television for six minutes at 5:12 pm.

This is the 330th day of the year.

 

Daily Tarot Card ~ November 25

Three of Swords

Palomides

Fortune Cookie: Release 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!

 

 

Hmmm… We last saw this card almost exactly four months ago. But it’s certainly an apt card for this particular point in the deep autumn season.

 So:

This is another one of those cards (in almost any deck) where clients see the illustration, gasp, blanch and look around for another Tarot reader. Then they 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.

 

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

We can STILL haz ruby slippers?

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, squishy 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 I wasn’t alone,” 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 bad it sucks to be me?”

 

The Three of Swords says

 

Don’t get stuck in the disappointment; don’t get caught in the heartbreak or emotional blackmail games! [And for pity’s sake, be aware of whether YOU’RE the one doing the blackmailing, especially if you’re balckmailing yourself!]

 

Release the old stuff as you would to 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 & stuff of the past and moving on − will bring the hoped-for wonderfulness to you more quickly.

 

Bright blessings, peace, hope and release!

 

Quote for the Day: When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.~ Lao Tzu

 

Today’s Weather: Walrus tuscadero. Rajmutus. Detailed pontrhydyfens and Dylan Thomas poetry.

 

 

On This Date: 1999 – The United Nations establishes the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

 

Daily Tarot Card ~ November 24

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.

Hmmmm… REALLY interesting card for Thanksgiving Day in the US, I’d say. So try to stay sober long enough to walk yer way through this card then, eh?

We last saw this card in the first week of October. Glad it came around again. In fact, there have been numerous times lately when I think it might have been useful to just tattoo this card to the left palm of some clients’ hands, so they’d be more likely to remember the Five of Shield’s good counsel, moment by moment.

Perpend:

As I’ve said before, some days I feel about as creative as kibbles. Like just now, in fact. Fortunately, the VERY card that has some things to teach me about that feeling has once again leapt out to instruct me. Or you. Us. Somebody. Apparently. Right? So here we go.

This is 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 very possible – and you are now, more than ever 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, maybe, hunh, kinda, couldja?” isn’t really sufficient for the Universe to home in on. It just isn’t. Trust me. And in my case, “something that would make Bill Gates’ place look like a squatter’s hovel,” 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? [Grumble. Grumble.]

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 get 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, hooooooooey.

That certainly is still in the news all over the place this month as we all breathlesly wait a new wave of foreclosures, protests, indictments and revolutions. 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 with everybody else?

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 who became the most famous were NEWLY MINTED gazillionaires. 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!

Yes, that means you!

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 completely to hell and we all go up in smoke and I have to incarnate on a planet where all humanoid beings have da-glo yellow fur like a shag rug that Fluffy has baptized, smell like one of Mick Jagger’s 1969 jumpsuits after a concert, sound like W. on double 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: Under certain circumstances, profanity provides a relief denied even to prayer. ~ Mark Twain

Today’s Weather: Jangling down the gizzards of infinite dimensions, occasionally whomping up against walls of now. Or now. Or now. JUMP!

On This Date: 1950 – The “Storm of the Century“, a violent snowstorm, paralyzes the northeastern US/Appalachians, bringing winds up to 100 mph and sub-zero temperatures.

 

Or now!

 

Daily Tarot Card ~ November 23

Nine of Cups

The Healing of the Maimed King

Fortune Cookie: Let the old wounds heal. Open to a beautiful new beginning. Believe in generosity and kindness as your just desert. Give likewise to others in their hope and healing.

 

 

 

Last saw this card back on 9/11. It’s a wonderful and healing card for anytime. Anytime at all.

This is, by the way, another one of my LOOOOONG posts. So eat a hearty breakfast (or have another Old Bushmill’s, or whatever) and dig in, ‘cos it’s such a GREAT and terribly important card!

This is one of those cards that reminds me that, whenever I encounter a card I consider particularly powerful or personally important, I have to actually

hold the spirit of the card for a while,

remember what it directs me to do, and

get to work on doing it, NOW!

Sometimes the old chestnuts are old chestnuts because they actually have something valuable to say, like “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.”

[Unless you’re an author. Then, according to Stephen King, “The road to hell is paved with adverbs.”]

The ORIGINAL version of the quotation brings up a situation I sometimes experience with clients and certainly within myself − I expect almost all of us get caught in this, at one time or another:

It’s a wonderful thing to get a reading

~ that validates your most positive beliefs about yourself,

~ that indicates your dearest hopes and dreams are worthy of pursuing

~ and are in fact achievable by you,

~ and maybe even gives you some direction to follow to help make it happen.

But what then?

So often, I see clients

~ receive that kind of validation, hope and direction

~ walk out of our session on a cloud

~ and then dive back into their lives

~ in the same old way with the same old focus

~ as though the reading had never occurred.

Then in a few months or a year, they come back for another reading, wondering what happened?

So, you see, the point is to

~ get the information and then

~ to reconnect with it CONSCIOUSLY

~ to attend to it regularly

~ because it is trying to offer you

~ a path to begin to change your life FOR THE BETTER

~ which you probably won’t do

~ if you start out by saying

~ “Great stuff. Great stuff! I’ll get to it later!”

[Are these colors making you woozy yet? You should have seen the original choices!]

So, as you read the information about the card, please take a moment to remember that you actually FREAKIN’ WELL DO need to begin to do something with it. Now!!

Or VERY soon, you ask?

So think I do not!

Okay. Okay. The card. The card. Drink your coffee. Or brewski. It’s comin’.

I’ve blogged about this card various times before, and what I said then is − it’s an absolutely positive card in every way.

For me, the nines in any Tarot deck indicate a very near completion of a cycle and/or the first stirrings of moving into a new cycle, a new great opportunity, a new realm.

When I turn the Nine of Cups for a client, I find that it promises a clear and profound opportunity for the full and final healing of old, poisonous wounds, provided the person will believe in it, reach out for and be open to it.

The card betokens kindness, generosity, hope and wisdom. It is a card of achievement, success, emotional well-being.

And it is important to remember that your achievement, success and emotional well-being will derive from your kindness, generosity, hope and wisdom.

Always.

This card portends the dawn of beautiful dreams. And so make them dreams worthy of sharing with those you love, and with those who are in need of the light of a better dream to guide them.

Because the Arthurian story of the Healing of the Maimed King involves a sacred healing and ceremony performed by Galahad, Percivale and Bors, three of the greatest, purest knights, this card can also speak of an effective team working well toward a common and perhaps even sacred goal.

Seek that. Find it. If necessary, create it.

So GO FOR IT! Even better, LET YOURSELF RECEIVE IT!

One last thing. I have written this about the Nine of Cups:

I’m reminded of a recorded talk I heard by the spiritual teacher Bo Lozoff. At one point he said something like, “There are two things that are true. We’re all going to die. And we’re all saved.”

It’s the “We’re all saved” part of the Nine of Cups that I’d like you to focus on right now – especially at the beginning of what could be a magnificently hopeful and healing time, if we all will it so, every day.

In our true, ultimate spiritual reality, everything is forgiven. Everything is healed. Everything is blessed. Everything is perfect. Already.

So if that’s the case, why not give yourself permission to know yourself as the beloved, complete, perfect vessel of Light you are? Then operate from the goodness inherent in the nature of THAT being.

Can you imagine what our world would be if YOU did? Try it for a while. I think you’ll really like it. I bet you’ll see it’s who you REALLY are!

Let the old wounds heal. Open to a beautiful new beginning. Believe in generosity and kindness as your just desert. Give likewise to others in their hope and healing. And know yourself and give of and from yourself as the beautiful being of LIGHT you have always been.

Bright blessings, light, hope and healing!!

Quote for the Day: As long as war is regarded as wicked, it will always have its fascination. When it is looked upon as vulgar, it will cease to be popular. ~ Oscar Wilde

Today’s Weather: Soggy-foot weather whomping around Ohio & much of the planet for no good reason. Carry a Yoda lunch box.

 

 

On This Date: 534 BC – Thespis of Icaria becomes the first recorded actor to portray a character onstage.

 

 

Daily Tarot Card ~ November 22

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. 

This card last turned for us in very early August.

 And, as I said then, can we all take a moment to honor the “Yo! Will you PLEASE just TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF FOR A CHANGE?” message here? Made sense then and makes sense for most of us now as we slog on through a very challenging autumn and the interesting times to come.

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 now on your own 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. Always an  ideal worth espousing.

 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” and ecocatastrophes [which, on this planet, may well have become redundant]. So put out some goodies for the birds and squirrels for a change.

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 reee-eee-eeeelly 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: For those who may not find happiness to exercise religious faith, it’s okay to remain a radical atheist, it’s absolutely an individual right, but the important thing is with a compassionate heart — then no problem.  ~ Dalai Lama

Today’s Weather: An ancient faience Thoth walks into a bar…

On This Date: 1954 – The Humane Society of the United States is founded. [Very Queen of Cups.]

I repeat: Let’s all take a moment to honor the “Yo! Will you PLEASE just TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF FOR A CHANGE?” message here.

 

And a sweet little scene including Clare:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyMr6VEJQzU

 

Daily Tarot Card ~ November 4

Nine of Swords

Lily Maid of Astolat

 

Fortune Cookie: Be careful today not to overextend yourself in unfair –especially to yourself — or unhealthy ways. And hold solid, healthy boundaries!

 

 

Okay! Okay! I admit it. It’s another looooooong post.

 

And, interestingly [to me, anyway], this card last came up toward the end of April. Directly after yesterday’s card. I don’t believe that has ever happened on this blog before. Shazaaaayim!

 

anyway… as I have said before, in our codependent, enmeshed and embalmed (embombed?) culture, it’s always good to be reminded of what this card has to say.

 

And to read it. And print it out. And post it next to your bathroom mirror. And every mirror you own. Including mayhaps the rear view mirror of your vehicle. And send it to yourself as a text message three times a day. And stuff.

 

[Finishes pontificating. Wipes sweat off of jowls. Or at least most jowls. Gets down off soap box. Makes a feeble attempt to tidy hair and looks around for… Tidies hair and… Tidies… Aw buggrit! Tosses brush out window, accidentally nailing a groggy blue jay. Looks around for coffee. Asks, “Where was I?” Where, or who? Oh. Right. Where!]

 

Okay.

Kids, this is a card of warning, plain and simple.

 

Different readers vary the focal issues being dealt with here, so I’ll give bits and pieces of other perspectives before moosing on in with my take on things.

 

Betty – those of you who read this blog rather regularly will remember — was my long-time teacher and friend. She used to turn the elucidation of this card into a real piece of performance art. When Nine of Swords would come up, she’d shake her head, give a low whistle, shake her head again, look closely at the card, look up mournfully at me − or whoever she was reading for − and say softly, “You gotta be careful. Something here is nearly DEAD.” Got me whimpering every time. Even when I was just watching her read for somebody else.

 

So if that’s the interpretation of the card we’re working with, one of the things to be careful about − depending on exactly what’s being examined in the reading – is that you and/or a situation may be about to seriously pass the point of flameout or burnout and you need to pull back, regroup, rethink things and really recover before you go off the deep end or go up in smoke.

 

So please, today, give that possibility some serious thought throughout all major aspects of your life. [Except those that involve reading this daily card. No sense going overboard, then, is there?]

 

Some readers find this to be a card of delay, deception and disappointment − or worse. [Charming!] Others indicate that it betokens fear and dread for the future, and it implies you should take a course of action that will still and calm the mind to help instill courage. [Yeah. That there is a sentence that would really help ME calm down, you betcha! Yo! Waiter! Bushmill’s triple here. Straight up!]

 

Other sources say the card recommends finding a path of extra alertness and wariness, along the lines of “cover your back [or, uh… you know],” for now, anyway.

 

Anna-Marie Ferguson, creator of the Legend deck, writes of pining for a loved one, fretful dreams and obsessions. Her interpretation that I’m most interested in (on your behalf) is depression blinding us to the possibilities and beauty that surround us. (Don’t go there! You DO NOT need to be in that place!!!!!)

 

My take?

 

When this card turns up in a reading for a client, I say things like, “Okay, several levels of meaning here, and you need to pay close attention to each one.”

 

First, this is a card that says be very careful to NOT take on the emotions of others. You may choose to be kind and be a shoulder for another to cry on. But understand that to do so does NOT involve letting someone else’s disappointment or depression take you over; you are NOT meant to be anyone else’s emotional and psychic trash bin.

 

If you’re one of those people who lets a friend come over and dump all his baggage on you so that he can then just skip away, free as a bird and back in the groove while you need to go hide behind the couch – STOPPIT! That’s unhealthy behavior. It’s not kind. It’s not even really helpful to you OR him.

 

Second, do not take responsibility for other people’s emotions. Yes, we all do things that disappoint others, including those we love. But their emotions in response to the situation are THEIRS to deal with and work through.

 

I remember overhearing a woman in a store, talking to her four-year-old daughter, saying, ‘If you keep acting this way Daddy’s going to divorce us, and it will be all your fault!’ [Just. Plain. Vile!!!!] It’s obvious how false and manipulative − not to mention cruel − that is.

 

Whether we like it or not, EACH OF US is responsible for OUR emotions and HOW WE RESPOND to all the situations in our life. That’s true for everybody else as well. So don’t let anyone bamboozle you into thinking different.

 

Third, don’t take responsibility for anyone else’s life or life choices. If you’re in a position to help someone when they’re lost or down, and you CHOOSE to offer that, do so – if you can do it in a way that’s safe and healthy, non-manipulative, non-addictive, non-codependent, with healthy boundaries. It’s like they say on an airliner: if you’re traveling with a child and the air masks come down, put yours on first, THEN put on the child’s.

 

So:

 

~ Be careful today not to overextend yourself in unfair (especially to yourself) or unhealthy ways.

 

~ Hold good boundaries.

 

~ Be compassionate, but don’t be a doormat or a crying towel.

 

~ Double-check your own energy to be sure depletion isn’t closer than you may have realized.

 

~ If it seems depletion may be near, do what you need to do to take care of YOU!

 

Bright blessings, healthy boundaries, good choices and discretion!

 

Quote for the Day: Burnout is nature’s way of telling you you’ve been going through the motions; your soul has departed you’re a zombie, a member of the walking dead…~ Sam Keen

 

Today’s Weather: Intramural and extravehicular gonzo squelching, in spite of all appearances. True to self!

 

On this Date: 1501 – Catherine of Aragon (later Henry VIII’s first wife) meets Arthur Tudor, Henry VIII‘s older brother – they would later marry. [Boundaries, people. BOUNDARIES!]