Daily Tarot ~ February 29

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 towqard the end of November:

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?] [And and, as it’s showing up for us on Leap Day, may I strongly suggest that we all look at the entire rest of the year through the lens this particular card offers? Pretty please? With caviar and party franks?  Or Frank’s party?]

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: Scruffymuffins and blessed urchins. Silly whiskers. La vie en Bozos.  

On This Date: 1504 – Christopher Columbus uses his knowledge of a lunar eclipse that night to convince Native Americans to provide him with supplies. [Do not get me started. Do. Not.]

Photo for the Day:

Please note: Daily Tarot will be taking a few days off.  Prob’ly see ya Monday.  Bless!

 

Daily Tarot ~ February 28

Ten of Shields

Camelot

Fortune Cookie: Look for the right GROUP energy to become part of so you will receive the right kind of support as you move onward and upward in your life.

Very interesting card.  Always a very interesting card − at least when I have seen it.   It last showed up for us in early September.  Truly a different time in the world.

For those of you who are regulars to these posts, you know I’m about to say something like

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

How do the things you have been experiencing – and more importantly, how do the things you have begun to long for in life just now – represent a strong message to you that you must allow yourself to acknowledge the end of a cycle and the powerful potential for you to move into something wonderful and new, even miraculous?

How can you keep that in front of you,

and not just for today?

How can you let today be part of something new that you BEGIN TODAY but may continue to pursue for some time to come?

Some readers see the Ten of Shields as gain, riches, or having to do with family abode.  Okey-dokey.  Us likes wot’s riches an’ gains, us do!

Anna-Marie Ferguson, creator of the Legend deck, indicates this card is about  affluence, riches, inheritance, and possibly clan gatherings.  As my grandmother often used to say about clan gatherings, “Always glad to see you all come.  Even happier to see you all go!”  If you had seen my family, you’d be right in with her on that.

See?  (I’m the one on the lower right.)

I see the Ten of Shields as saying:

Time for a change.

Possibly time for a BIG change. 

In pursuing that change, don’t look for the right person to help bring it about.

Look for the right groups and circles and organizations – possibly new ones to you – to become part of.

Be very careful to evaluate the GROUP energy or the GROUP dynamics of where you are and where you need to be. 

If you were interviewing for a new job (or exploring a new spiritual circle, or new club), it wouldn’t be anywhere NEAR enough to evaluate whether it felt like your prospective new boss (or leader, or pastor, or teacher, whatever) would be good to work with. 

You’d really want to explore and be sure that the energy of the greater team, group, circle or organization felt positive, clean, imbued with integrity, excitement, spirit – whatever you need a boost of right now.

So:

Be open to the possibility that some element of your life is grinding its way to an end. 

Understand that it may simply be TIME for that to happen – let no judgment or negative feeling attach to that reality.  It’s just a necessity in your evolution.

Then look for the right GROUP energy to become part of so that it will be supportive of you as you move onward and upward in your life.

Bright blessings and REALLY GOOD group connections!

Quote for the Day: Suppose you were an idiot and suppose you were a member of Congress.  But I repeat myself.~ Mark Twain

Today’s Weather: Tweedlepop dust devils and roaring torbies. Carry a SuperSoaker full of Schweppes bitter lemon.   

On This Date: 1939 – The erroneous word “dord” is discovered in the Webster’s New International Dictionary, Second Edition, prompting an investigation.

Daily Tarot ~ February 27

Page of Cups

The Salmon

Cortune Fookie: Know what wisdom you seek. Begin or ramp up your search or endeavor now. Give yourcreativity more free play in your life.  Now!

Hmmmmm….   mmm…  mmm-mmm-mmm…

Ah-HA!

 

This card last tried to be helpful on the first of October.  So there!  It’s back!  Ha!

 

So…

In Celtic legend, Salmon is considered the wisest of all creatures.  He dwells in a great well overhung by the Hazel, the tree of knowledge.  As the fruit (hazel nuts) of the tree drop into the well, Salmon eats of them, growing greater and deeper and truer in wisdom.

When this card shows up for a client, I share about the legend and then say something like,

First of all, this card is a call to find meaningful opportunities to seek wisdom and increase your knowledge – scholarly pursuits may be perfect just now.  So get started on that immediately if you feel some call to do so.

Beyond that, Page of Cups is a card of creativity.  So be prepared to explore how you may begin or expand creative projects starting today. Not tomorrow.  Not next week.  Today. 

Uhhh… Okay. Whatever floats your… 

Sigh.

Never mind.

And in many traditions, The Fish represents spirituality.  Salmon is one of the only creatures on the Earth who returns to its place of  birth to procreate.  So this card speaks of a primal, powerful drive toward reconnection with Source − with The Divine, with Ultimate Reality, whatever name you choose to give to it.  Or perhaps a drive to return to a place you consider sacred — perfect at any time of the year, sure, but certainly important to put on your agenda before this year’s end.

Some readers find the Page of Cups represents

a fair young person,

meditation,

an imaginative, reflective, inspiring friend,

or that

It’s time to discover some new career direction that will lead you towards prosperity. [Show of hands… Anybody interested?  Hello?] So if any of these are meaningful to you, or pop up in meaningful ways today [including via an email Tarot card reading, already], eagerly accept the gifts that are offered!  And let yourself begin to act on the gifts.

What this card recommends and requests, all in all, is

Know what wisdom you seek.  

Begin or ramp up your search or endeavor now.

Give your CREATIVITY more free play in your life.

Let yourself contemplate, explore and pursue new career options.

Open to very solid and inspiring reconnection with

SOURCE

in beautiful, meaningful, transcendent ways.

DO IT TODAY.

DO IT TODAY.

DO IT TODAY.

Bright blessings, grace and peace!

Quote for the Day: They both savoured the strange warm glow of being much more ignorant than ordinary people, who were only ignorant of ordinary things. ~ Sir Terry Pratchett, from Equal Rites

Today’s Weather:  Lemondrop Wellies.  Tangerine whales.  Squishages.  

On This Date: 1964 – The government of Italy asks for help to keep the Leaning Tower of Pisa from toppling over.

Daily Tarot ~ February 26

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 exactly three weeks ago. It’s certainly an apt card for almost any Sunday in February, says I. 

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? We can? Pleez?

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?”

 

Yuck!

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:  Spotted towhee tourmaline in dippy but rather   portentous clusters. A mild Wülfing, off left.     

On This Date: 1946 – Finnish observers report the first of many thousands of sightings of ghost rockets.

Daily Tarot ~ February 24

Queen of Swords

Morgause

Fortune Cookie: Be very strategic. Be clear about what you want, why you want it, the impact it will have on you and your world, and what it will take to attain your goal.  Then follow the plan that comes naturally from this knowing.

Hmm….  We last saw this important lady back on the first of November. 

It’s always good to bear in mind the insights she offers. [I say that even though I’m an Aquarius, and the idea of doing anything logical, plan-oriented and strategic makes me look like I’m about to cough up a gerbil…. Two gerbils.]

This card certainly betokens being strategic in our lives and in our world – as I’ll talk about in a bit.  That could, if you let it, lead to the question, “What is the difference between strategy and tactics?”

[God knows, I confuse the two about every chance I get.  Which helps explain why I still drive an old Toyota instead of a new BMW, I guess.]

Strategy is the big picture look at a problem, situation or goal.

It focuses on the sea-change-sized thing that needs to be achieved.  Defeating an enemy, preserving the ecology, earning a living as a Tarot reader − those are strategies.  Concepts like objective, maneuver and security are among the principles of strategy.  Sun Tzu’s The Art of War teaches strategy.

Tactics vary with circumstances, time and technology.

As I’ve written before when this card has appeared, if I were to guide you in marketing yourself as a Tarot reader for the eighteenth century, I’d suggest you get a beautiful snug little cart, paint it in wild and wonderful colors, and travel the roads from town to town to town in order to find new clients. And stay ahead of the sheriff.

If I were advising you to be a Tarot reader this year, I’d talk about blogs, e-books, web sites, apps, podcasting opportunities, corporations having you on retainer and maybe even securing sponsorships to help find new clients.  And stay ahead of the sheriff.

[As you probably suspect from this blog in general, I still think that snug little cart thing sounds pretty good.]

So, tactics present a small picture perspective where individual trees are in focus, and dealing with them one by one is the action. Strategy focuses on the big picture of the entire forest, and whether to preserve it, napalm it, or something in between.

Got it?

Goodie!

I’m as lost as ever about this sh… stuff.

Where was I?

Oh.  Yeah.  Believe it or not, this all has to do with what the Queen of Swords would tell us about our day, and possibly our future.

As I always say to my clients,

I love the Queen of Swords.  If anyone ever crosses her, disappoints her or gets in her way, she doesn’t get mad.  She just has them beheaded.  ‘Nothing personal,’ she’ll say. 

(That is a tactic to eliminate an obstacle.  The strategy behind the tactic is to ensure that her reputation will precede her and scare absolute hell out of those who might think to oppose her, or mess her about in any way.  With a Queen of Swords, that usually works.)

The Queen is a master of BOTH strategy and tactics. And your ability to work –consciously — with strategy and tactics is what you are being asked to explore within yourself and your situation today.  The Queen is intelligent, and may in fact be a scholar or have a strong scholarly bent, especially when circumstances dictate she must. She will do what is necessary to learn what may be essential for her to succeed. 

So, if you need to learn something new beginning today, don’t resist.  Get started!  It will be worth your while.

Most importantly [at least as I have experienced this card in working with clients], if the Queen wants to get from point A to point B, she will take the time to clearly and accurately understand WHY she should do that (strategy), and determine every baby step necessary to move her from where she is to her goal (tactics).  Just as important, she will exert the will to hold herself to every single step.  She’ll take unexpected breaks if they come her way, but she’ll muster the grit to grind it out every inch of the way if she must.

So be clear about

~ what you want,

~ why you want it,

~ the impact it will have on you and your world,

~ and what it will take to attain your goal. 

~ Learn what may be necessary to help you succeed.

~ Then put yourself on the path to your goal. 

~ And if anyone gets in your way, don’t take it personal. 

   Just have ’im beheaded! 

[Ummm… I mean, just find a way to cut him out of the situation.  And keep on moving on.]

Bright blessings!

Quote for the Day: It’s wildly irritating to have invented something as revolutionary as sarcasm, only to have it abused by amateurs. ~ Christopher Moore

Today’s Weather:  Lyres of Ur with the odd Egyptian arghool, Arabian mizmar and atomic tambourine at midnight.  Blackberry butter. 

On This Date: 1955 – Steve Jobs, American computer pioneer is born.

February 24 is the 55th day of the year.

And it’s National Artist Day in Thailand.

Daily Tarot ~ February 23

Eight of Shields

Wayland

Fortune Cookie: Do your MAGICAL work to help yourself find your magical WORK.  And DON’T settle for less!

We last saw this fellow less than three weeks ago.  So… Who is NOT doing their magical work?  Eh? 

I’m always nearly deliriously happy when this card shows up in a reading or on the blog.  It’s a card with SO MUCH  POTENTIAL and so much useful direction ~ if only we’d actually follow it!  [By the way, Wayland was THE Master Smith to the Gods in British mythology, in case that tells ya anything about your day.]

Wayland’s Smithy, Oxfordshire

I always tell my clients that Eight of Shields is the card of magical work. 

And you can interpret that as magical WORK …

or MAGICAL work!

(Or both, of course.  But, as I always request, feel it through for a minute and see if one doesn’t resonate more strongly… for today, anyway.)

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

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

As I’ve said before, believe it or not, those kind of careers and positions do actually exist.  I’ve had that experience, even in the nonprofit sector, and it’s wonderful!  And it really didn’t require handing anyone a nice chocolate-covered hand grenade. Often.

So if a really soul-deep happy work scenario is not in your life now:

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

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

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

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

e.)  You’re not letting yourself figure out what baby steps would help take you in that direction, or

f.)  Something! Jeez, figure-it-out-fer-yerself-fer-gawdsake!

Who CARES if you’re too old to be a Mouseketeer?  If that’s what would really light up the universe for you, at least start down the path and see what the job placement elves magic into your inbox. 

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

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

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

[Well why not?]

[What do you mean, “Such as?”]

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

Or getting the Feng Shui of your house together and in line with your desire to have (positive) fame and wealth in your life.

Or even making the time every day to use guided meditation/guided imagery CDs to help boost your immune system and help increase your energy to help you engage in your own career revolution.

Your magical work is exactly that:

YOUR magical work.  For you it may be prayer, or  dance, or singing gospel, or shamanic journeys, or herbal-infused spellwork, or candle magic, or HIGH CEREMONY, or whatever floats your magical/spiritual boat.  But do it.  DO IT!

And think about really working with both interpretations (magical WORK + MAGICAL work = MAGICAL LIFE!) together.

Move toward your magical WORK, and let your MAGICAL work help get you there more quickly, and keep you happier, more connected, more fulfilled while you work on getting there.  It’ll make the world better for you, and everyone and everything. And that’s why you’re here this time, after all!

Bright blessings and magical blissings!

Quote for the Day: There’s more magic in a baby’s first giggle than in any firestorm a wizard can conjure up, and don’t let anyone tell you any different. ~ Jim Butcher

Today’s Weather:  Cabbage mysts and moists. Outpourings of indwellings.

On This Date: 1887 – The French Riviera is hit by a large earthquake, killing around 2,000.

Daily Tarot ~ February 22

Wheel of Fortune

Arthur’s Dream

Fortune Cookie: You’re finally in a position to really be on top of the world, in the way you have wanted to be. So let yourself believe in that!

We last saw this card exactly two months ago, on the Winter Solstice. So this is a reminder of the energy we are to hold for the entire winter season. So maybe we can spend a wee bit o’ time thinking about it, practicing what it offers a little bit and working out how to implement its advice for what’s up before Spring. Or for the rest of our lives.  Whichever.

In pretty much any reading, Wheel of Fortune augurs well, especially for the immediate future.  It usually betokens a happy change of fortune and the beginning of a positive cycle.  [Yes!  Please!!!!  YES!]  [This message brought to you on behalf of most of my clients this past coupla months.]

Some readers would say, hop on! Make the most of your life, NOW!!!!

I agree with those interpretations, but my work with clients has prompted me to put a particular spin on that energy [no pun intended, for a change].  When the Wheel turns up I usually say something like,

Look. 

Take a moment. 

Pay attention here.

You’re finally in a position to really be on top of the world, in the ways you have wanted to be.

So first of all, let yourself believe in that.  Let yourself KNOW it.  Do what you need to do to move beyond doubt.  As I’ve said before, doubt kills more dreams than anything anyone else could possibly do.

There’s a special tweak to this interpretation, though, and, as ever, it takes a bit of explanation. 

The card indicates that over the years, and perhaps particularly in the recent past, you have learned tough lessons in hard ways. [Whenever I mention this aspect to a client, I almost always hear, “That’s fer dayum sure!”] 

One positive result of that experience is that you’ve developed an enhanced  ability to pick up on and read the subtle vibrations of a situation – of situations in general – to a much greater extent than most people.

This is a very effective tool for you right now. 

I repeat:

This is a very effective tool for you.

Right now!!!! 

Honoring it and using it will be to your advantage. Okay? Advantage? Yours? For you? Are we on the same page here? You? Advantage?

In fact, giving yourself permission to read and trust and use what you perceive about those subtle vibes (in an intelligent, I’m not gonna overload my mouth and blow my own ass up kinda way) is key to keeping yourself on top of the world.

It will help you if pay attention to the fact that the Wheel of Fortune is always in spin, and remember you can move along with it at the right moments and in the right rhythm. By doing so you can keep yourself from losing your footing and being dumped into the moat, thereby becoming dragon chow.

As I’ve said before with this card, one of these days I’ll have to do an article listing some of the excuses I’ve heard [and used], for not going with what we KNOW from reading the vibrations of a situation. [Like, “My boyfriend will find me annoying.  He doesn’t like to be contradicted.”  Get a clue, M’Dear.  He already finds you annoying.  And he’s gonna find you annoying ANYWAY, no matter what you do!]  [Or, “She would never do that to me.  She’s my FRIEND.  She’s my MENTOR. She TOLD me so!”  Oyeah?  Betcha she has done it.  Already. Twice.  And is coming around for the third time now.  With no remorse whatsoever in this lifetime.]

I’m not asking you to be paranoid — just honestly connected to the intuitive insights that come to you AS THEY COME TO YOU!  

There’s an old shamanic saying: “You know what you know.  Do what you know.” 

With the Wheel of Fortune as I understand it, I’d tweak that a touch to say, “You know what you know.  Believe in what you know. Act − in a skillful, respectful, savvy way − on what you know.”

Make sense?  Please?

Top o’ the world to ya!  Permanently!!

Bright blessings, joy, success and light!

Quote for the Day: … we are trying to unravel the Mighty Infinite using a language which was designed to tell one another where the fresh fruit was. ~ Sir Terry Pratchett

Today’s Weather:  Faeriefire and deep dream healing.  

On This Date:1819 – Spain sells Florida to the United States for five million U.S. dollars.

Daily Tarot ~ February 21

Ten of Swords

Camlann

 

 

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

Sigh. 

This card last turned for us in early October. I know it can be perceived as a real toughie.  I mean, just LOOK at the thing.

But work with me.  It’s really a superb card.  And, as one or two of you may remember from last time it showed up, I have my own divergent take on it. [What ELSE is new?]

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

In any case, it’s the battle that (at least according to most opinion) saw the demise of the Round Table, the end of the Pendragon kings and the fall of Camelot.

Most readers see the Ten of Swords as a card of sadness, pain, affliction and desolation.  [Charming! PERFECT for a Tuesday with no major drinking holiday in sight!]

Even Anna-Marie Ferguson, writing of her Legend deck, sees it as betokening troubles, conflict, a showdown, or perhaps the climax and end of a chapter.  That last one in particular isn’t necessarily bad, y’know.

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

Tens in any Tarot deck betoken the end of one cycle and the beginning of another, or even the end of one way of life and the beginning of another. 

So, if I were reading for you today and this card came up, I’d ask:

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

acknowledge the end of a cycle

and own the great potential for you

to move into something wonderful and powerful and new?

How can you keep that in front of you not only today, but for some time [like the next few months, at least, fer example] to come?

Then I’d say

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

You!  You!  You! 

 

Yes!!  You!!!

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

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

Yeah, it requires some courage, all right.

But remember the promise: “a beautiful new world to be born from it.”  This is in fact a hopeful card.

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

That does NOT mean they are required to throw everything up in the air and rush off in a direction wholly opposite to that which they have known – or dash off in no intelligible direction at all.

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

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

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

What would I wish them to be?  How would I wish to pursue them (for the highest and best, of course)?  What would I do to begin?

And of course:

What are the baby steps I can take to begin that today?

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

Bright blessings, courage, hope and beautiful dreams! 

Quote for the Day:  We all not only could know everything. We do. We just tell ourselves we don’t to make it all bearable. ~ Neil Gaiman 

Today’s Waethyr:  Frogging great billows of snowdrops, rampant squirrels, bluejays and tufted titmouses. It is a Tuesday in February, after all. 

On This Date: 1937 – Initial flight of the first successful flying car, Waldo Waterman’s Arrowbile. 

Daily Tarot ~ February 20

The Tower

Vortigern’s Fortress

Fortune Cookie: Go back to the shop.  Spend some time hammering out a few of the most basic details about who you are, what you believe, what your foundation is, what you want to build — and why.

 

 

Hmmmmm…

Hmmmmmmmm-mmmmm….

We last saw this card waaaaayyyy back in mid-August. As usual, I suspect some of us (maybe moi?) need to attend a bit more closely to what’s offered here.  I mean, this really is a very helpful card.

Yes, really.

But still, I can’t help wanting to launch just one wee tiny technicolor

 

Oh Bugger!!!

 

There.  I feel much better now.  Thanks.

As I said, this IS such a valuable card.  [And it’s one of my longer posts, for which I apologize.]  [Yes, really.  But don’t expect me to grovel, mind…] So here we go.

As we have seen, this is definitely another of those Oh Bugger!!! kinda cards, at least from its appearance — in ANY Tarot deck.

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

And, as I always ask,

Remember the alleged persons (from high school math teachers to your skating coach to Ram Dass to Mother Teresa to Miss Laura on Romper Room to un-indicted senators and everybody in between) who have handed you that “really significant opportunities for growth and learning here” shitake?  It always really means, “Get ready for some deep-down bone-crunching head-smacking hard work!” Even I admit that, and I have the honesty level of a dried toad.

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

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

But when my clients see it as it’s depicted in the Legend deck − a huge red dragon fighting a ginormous white one, completely destroying a massive royal fortress in the process – it sort of makes them go, “Eeep-Mewlp,” suck in their breath,  swallow hard and say, “WTF!”  [That’s Wallachian Toltec Fibrecereal.]

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

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

The card is asking you to examine yourself, your hopes & dreams and your being.

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

If you take your life down to its foundation, down to what’s REALLY important, what’s really essential to the you that is really you, then

WHAT

IS THAT

TRUE FOUNDATION??     

Who are you?     

What are you?      

What is it that you REALLY care about and

REALLY have available to build upon, and wish to build upon, this time around?

And, by the way, WHAT will you build upon it?

This evaluation should be applied to every area of significance in your life, particularly those in which you’re experiencing some transition.

[Transition.  What a weenie word.

How about .  Or .  Or .  Better?]

What is the true foundation – for YOU:

What is the true foundation of career?

What is the true foundation of family?

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

What is the true foundation of joy?

What is the true foundation of spiritual connectedness?

What is the true foundation of physical health?

What is the true foundation of emotional health?

What is the true foundation of creativity?

What is the true foundation of home?

What is the true foundation of beauty?

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

What IS the true foundation for YOU?

[And how many different type faces can this idiot insert for no good reason in one single post?]

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

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

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

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

Quote for the Day: A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him.  ~ David Brinkley

Today’s Weather:  Lucid yak twaddle, with intermittent–Yurk!

On This Date: 1877 – Tchaikovsky’s ballet Swan Lake receives its première performance at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow.

Daily Tarot ~ February 19

The Judgement

Avalon

 

Fortune Cookie: Know what you want. Don’t be crazy, necessarily, but be willing to try something unusual or out of character to get it.  Reach out for your destiny.

 

We last saw this card on New Year’s day.  And several times recently before that.  And five times altogether in 2011, the most of any card, I’d bet. Which doesn’t particularly mean anything, except for the fact that the card is now showing up in ways that must call attention to itself.  And so we should PAY attention to it, and how it really does seem to be asking us to push a little beyond our comfort zones in some pretty specific ways.

It’s really a pretty useful card for a not-quite-spring day of the year, here in North America… A fine prompt for taking a look at how we might want to shake things up a bit in some positive ways, change some habits, or at least prime ourselves to do so over the next couple days/weeks/months.  Actually, it’s always a good card to work with and one we would do well to allow to guide us. I certainly need to pay more attention to it! [And maybe I will. Anyway?]

 

So. Then. Several layers of interpretations here, and all worth a looksee. 

 

If there’s any inkling in your mind that you might be being

just a tad

judgemental

 

in any way, shape or form, it’s tremendously important that you STOP THAT RIGHT NOW ~ don’t be judgemental of anyone else.  And especially don’t be judgemental toward yourself. It’s not useful or even valid to be that way. Today, and for a while to come, anyway (like a year or so, maybe).

 

That doesn’t mean you should let yourself – or anyone else − run hog wild, going off half-cocked and half baked in every goofy direction that occurs. Even if it is that time of year. That’s my niche and I really don’t need any more competition, thanks.

 

Nor should you beat yourself up if you really want to just get quiet and do what it takes to stay grounded – or want to just hide and say, “To hell with ALL these freakin’ Bozos! A plague upon their fruitcakes!” for today.  Oh. Wait.  That would be kinda judgemental.  So you can do it (hide away). Just… don’t say it.

 

It does mean

~ don’t repress your own tendency to wish for what you really wish for

~ don’t berate yourself for wanting to be able to upgrade

   WELL beyond what ordinary reality might provide

   lately in some area of your life, but

~ stay grounded for the moment regarding what you actually grab

   or grab for

 

And send kind energy and blessings of Light to those who do get sucked into any craziness that’s around at the moment, especially in the holiday season.  [I STILL resent what you’re thinking.]

 

Also [and I’m finding this one to be unusually important with my clients lately],

be sure you are pursuing what really is for the highest and best of all.

Don’t just do what you’ve always been told you should do in order to be successful, popular, spiritual, thinner, blahdee, blahdee, blahblahblah…

           

Wrongo, vampire breath!!

 

That’s a wee bit better, then. 

Aw, come on, people. This is serious. Really…

Anyway.

Different decks portray ~ and different readers interpret ~ The Judgement in exceptionally different ways.  Some say it indicates a change of position, a renewal or reawakening, an ultimate outcome.  Can be good stuff at any time of  year. With a little good fortune.

Anna-Marie Ferguson, creator of the Legend deck, finds it portends passing through a gateway to a new existence, an understanding of how one’s actions influence others, good health or a positive legal outcome.

Moi? [Thought you’d never ask.]  I tend to see this card as requiring some action.  When this card appears, I’m likely to say:

Look.  Really.  There are powerful, helpful people who would be happy to work with you, work on your behalf, who might actually be out there looking for you right now.  But they can’t FIND you where you usually are these days.

There are wonderful, transformational experiences waiting for you.  But they can’t happen where you are, in the rhythm of your life as you currently live it.

You’ve got to

go new places,

meet new people,

do new things! 

And push yourself a bit to keep doing that for the foreseeable future.

So, while staying grounded and aware of what your wishes are − or could be if you really owned what your wishes really are − entice yourself out of your rut. Shop at different stores, from grocers to clothiers to where you buy your lottery tickets or get your dry cleaning done. Go to different movies at different theaters.  Eat at different restaurants.  Write at different coffee bars.  [Write AT ALL for a change, most of you!]  [Hah!  Got’em!]

Don’t let yourself stagnate where you are and have been.

Perhaps the most important aspect of this card is that it indicates your destiny is trying to reach out to you and for you. Will you be there?  If you will, bear in mind the insight of the card; it reminds us to understand  and be conscious of the impact of our actions upon others.

Know what you want.  Don’t be crazy, but be willing to try something unusual or out of character to get it. 

Reach out for your destiny.

Bright blessings — without even the least little hint of  judgemental! [I mean it!] 

Quote for the Day: Do not wait for the last judgment. It comes every day. ~Albert Camus

Today’s Weather:  Tennyson’s idylls on a gee whiz. Synthesized.   Shakepeare’s muddy bodkin.  Breakfast kahlua biscotti, anyone?

On This Date: 1878 – Thomas Edison patents the phonograph.