Daily Tarot ~ September 1

The Star

The Firedrake

Fortune Cookie: A powerful new beginning and a new beginning in your power… IF you own and work with your INTUITION!

Wow!!!! 

No, really.  Wow!!!!

This is only the second time in 3+ years that this card has turned for us in the Nealio’s Daily Tarot Thingy. So PAY Attention, Y’all!

This is one of my very favorite cards, because it betokens so many wonderful things.  Some readers see The Star as indicating hope and bright prospects.  Others tell of purity and even saintliness [which would leave me out of the picture completely, as you must well know]. Some find harmony and even relaxation in The Star’s gifts.

Anna-Marie Ferguson, creator of the Legend deck sees in The Star a good omen and inspiration, rebirth and opportunity, and rejuvenation of the spirit after a trying and traumatic time. She indicates that destined aspirations now seem to flow naturally into reality, and lotsa other wonderful things.

Is that JUST what you needed today, or what? [It’s sure what I needed today.  WHEW!]

Me?  Of course I have my own tweak to the thing.  I find all of the above meanings and potentials to be valid, but they hinge upon the querent (the person for whom the reading is done) owning, developing and honoring her or his intuition in an ever increasing, ever ascending for-the-highest-and-best way.  That’s the key element in achieving the desired success, now and for the future.

So grab hold of all the wonderful gifts The Star offers. Believe in their possibility in your life.  Then:

Move toward a powerful new beginning and a new beginning in your power by owning and working with your Spirit-gift of INTUITION!

Brightest blessings!

Quote for the Day:  All empty souls tend toward extreme opinions. ~ William Butler Yeats

Today’s Whether: All creatures, great and small. Including the tambourine man.

On this Date: 1914 – The last passenger pigeon, a female named Martha, dies in captivity in the Cincinnati Zoo.

Text From Last Night:  …you were passed out so I asked you what my name was… …you opened your eyes and yelled “ricotta cheese”…

Daily Tarot ~ August 31

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… uh… a week ago Monday. And useful for strategizing upon a the end of a season and a new one to come. 

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! (Great.  Now I’m out of a job.)

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:  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:  Summer willows.  Mild biosignatures. Intermittent Nureyevs, too.

On This Date:1422 – King Henry V of
England dies of dysentery while in France. [Shakespeare seems to have left that part out.]

Text From Last Night:I gave you a piece of bread to sober you up. You wiped your face off with it and then gave it back to me.

Daily Tarot ~ August 30

The Magician

Merlin

 

Fortune Cookie: Honor the Magician in you! And live a life in balance, moment by moment so you can access and use all of your wonderful, magical  skills and gifts.

 

We last saw this Card Of All Cards just 15 daze ago. Yo!!! Ya wanna pay some attention this time?

Ahem…

Poor you.  Those of you who have been here before will remember that this is a really long Nealian post.  Well, this card is worth a long read, and some extra contemplation.

I consider The Magician to be the Ace of the Major Arcana in the Tarot deck.  (The Major Arcana are the twenty-two cards that are all archetypal, allegorical figures – The Magician, The Tower, The Priestess, etc. − that have no complement in a regular deck of playing cards.)

So, as you’ve heard me say before, Aces in any Tarot deck are cards of a new beginning.

Therefore:

~ How can you (how do you need to) begin your life anew, today, right now?  Or at least open yourself to the possibilities that can help bring it?

~ What changes can you begin, even in small ways?

~ What potentials can you believe in, hope for, reach for and remember?

Here’s an excerpt from an article on my web site (www.shamanspath.org) that will give you a bit more Nealio’s uniquay perspectivo info about The Magician:

“When I look at The Magician, no matter what deck I hold, I consistently see (and sometimes sense through intuitive awareness) some specific elements or aspects:

There’s the element of deep scholarship and functional learning, often represented by books, scrolls or papers.

There’s the element of magical tools, including wands, crystals, and icons from various traditions.  [What are YOUR magical tools, by the way? Piano?  Pen?  Computer?  Healing hands? Trowel?  Paintbrush? Clay and cloth?  Voice?  Smile? Attitude? A killer cuppa coffee at just the right moment?  Or a killer cuppa somethin’?]

There’s an element of ceremony or ritual, often depicted in the motions of The Magician.

There’s a connection to the realms of Spirit, often represented through the presence of spirit helpers like angels or totem animals being present, and possibly assisting.

And there’s an aspect of connection to Power – of focusing will, energy, mind and soul to bring positive things into being in the world.

When I read for a client, I may find that each or any of those elements seen in the card should be selected and emphasized for a particular person, and then included in recommended “homework” I may suggest as a result of our session.

[For example: softly sing to yourself your favorite rock song from when you were sixteen years old. Sing it three times a day until the snow flies next December to help you reconnect with the magic that has always been in you but has been allowed to go fallow.]

[Or: remember and reread the three novels that have been most influential in your life to help remind you what you really care about, and why.]

[Or: write a quick toss-off (no judgement) haiku a day for thirty-six days to help re-find and heal the writer in your soul.]

Importantly, each of the elements I “see” in The Magician card is a thing that many of us have had learned out of us as we have “grown up.”

So we give those things, which are central to many traditional cultures and most spiritualities, extremely short shrift as we attend to our cultural paradigms for living a fulfilling life in the here and now as we have been taught.

As one client ruefully said, ‘I have ritual in my life.  I DO.  Every day except Sunday, I get up at seven.  I stop at the ’Buck’s at 7:45 for a grande cappuccino.  At noon, I eat rabbit food from a black plastic bowl.  I worship the Goddess of spinning at the gym ’most every evening, and I’m prostrate under goose down with TIVO by 10:00 at night.  I might as well be a nun.’

Well………… Okay.

But that’s not quite what I have in mind by ritual.  Although, over the course of working with any client, I may help them find that such events and actions, which most of us would consider meaningless from a perspective of personal ceremony, can in fact take on deeper meaning and become a connection to our higher aspects for our own magical good — if we consciously determine that they will.

But back to The Magician.

There’s an additional aspect of the card that I came to understand one afternoon when I was reading for someone on the cusp of a beneficial but stressful personal − let’s call it − evolution.

I stressed that The Magician, or in our case, Merlin the Wizard, brings together1. learning + 2. tools + 3. ritual or ceremony + 4. spiritual connection + 5. guidance/embracing of power for the benefit of self and others.

BUT, I realized as I was speaking to this particular client:

in order to be able to do so – to be ready to blend, focus and use each of those elements at the right moment, perhaps in an instant – The Magician must attend to living a truly balanced and positive life, moment by moment.  And that’s something our culture hasn’t really helped us with much over the last century or two (or fifty, come to that).”

So given all that:

How do you need to honor the Magician in you? 

And how do you need to live a life in balance so you can access and use all of your wonderful skills and gifts IN THE MOMENT when they can be most helpful to you and to us all?

Work with that today, and see what magic you can claim − and work − for the highest and best of all of us!

Bright blessings and YOUR OWN Magic!!!

Quote for the Day:  That’s the thing with magic. You’ve got to know it’s still here, all around us, or it just stays invisible for you.  ~ Charles de Lint

And: …I’m looking for the face I had, before the world was made… ~ William Butler Yeats

And: There is another world, but it is in this one. ~ William Butler Yeats

Today’s Weather:  Faery fire.  Magics sacred and free.  Quantum pentangles.  Dance! 

On This Date: You pick.  Really.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_30

Text From Last Night: What can i say, i’m an artist… i think deep thoughts… in between the erotica and pterodactyl noises…

 

Daily Tarot ~ August 29

Temperance

The Cauldron of Annwn

 

 

Fortune Cookie: Take stock of how you want your life to evolve.  Begin moving in that direction slowly, evenly, comfortably, braiding together the old with the new but evolving forward until only the new exists.

 

 

This card last showed up all the way back on Christmas day.  So let’s all think of Wednesday as Christmas in August, shall we?

 

Temperance is not necessarily an Aquarian’s favorite card.  But it is good advice.  This card says very directly how it would have you go about the day:

 

temperately, calmly, easily, neither striving to leap over tall buildings in a single bound nor being a slug and hiding under the covers till dinner. [I’ve already got dibs on that space.]

It’s a card that counsels you to guard against thoselittle wee tendencies to go toextremes − even supposedly positive ones.  Seek moderation today, and patience, and perhaps even a touch of diplomacy, no matter how much you might wish to just nuke the silly m#%@%@f**&##@s [that’s the Ukrainian spelling] and be done with it!

 

When this card shows up in a reading, I often suggest that the client may be on the cusp of a substantial change.

 

BUT the way to best and most positively bring the change into being is to

go about the transformation slowly, thoughtfully: braiding or blending together the old with the new until, over an appropriate time, the new alone becomes who you are and what you do.

So you don’t end up like this.

Unless you really want to.

 

 

It’s a card of making profound and helpful changes slowly, by not throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

 

 

[For pity’s sake, though, DO let yourself begin the process of change.  Don’t let yourself be a sitting duck where you are.] [Editor grabs my right wrist, slams it onto table to prevent Google search for duck image.]

[Editor loses.]

 

So, let yourself explore how you would like your life to be, and how you would wish to move in positive new directions.

 

Then stop and honestly take stock of who you are, where you are and how you have gotten there.  

 

Specifically acknowledge the good parts, the successful aspects, the skills, abilities and characteristics that are worth keeping and using and developing as you go forward. 

 

And blend them into the new you that is coming onto being.

 

Good things to be about on a Christmas day, no matter what spiritual path you may follow.

 

Bright blessings and timely, comfortable and comforting emergings! 

 

Thought for the Day: My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness ~  HH the Dalai Lama

Today’s Whethyr: Escalloped ivy passepartouts swinging from the oaks and larches.  For reasons unknown. 

On This Date: 1966 – The Beatles perform their last concert before paying fans at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.  

Text From Last Night:You were face down in the punch bowl, humming the theme to Jaws.

Daily Tarot ~ August 28

Ace of Spears

The Grail Lance

 

Fortune Cookie: Be clear in what you want.  Be clear about the why of it.  Go after it evenly, directly, the way anyone with a strong, positive masculine  energy would.

Okay, okay, okay.  This card last turned for us on August 23.  Of 2011.  So who wasn’t paying attention the last time it showed up?  Huh?  Huh?  And may one ask, HOW COME?  Huh?  Now, because of you, we ALL have to go through the same lesson ALL over again. Jeeez!

[Probably just as well.  I didn’t pay all that much mind meself.]

As those of you who have read this blog for even a short while, like, three days, will likely remember, Aces in any Tarot deck are cards of a new beginning.  So, let’s ask again (and again and again, from time to time as the Universe prompts it):

~ How can you − how do you need to − begin your life anew, today, this moment?

~ What changes can you begin, even in small ways?

~ What potentials can you believe in, hope for, reach for and remember?

Expect The Universe will keep asking that question until you (yes, you!  Don’t try to weenie out of it this time!) truly remember to ask those same, powerful questions over and over again as a part of who you are!

Some readers feel the Ace of Spears has to do with invention or creation, and perhaps with an inheritance.  Anna-Marie Ferguson, creator of the Legend deck, finds mental activity, revelation and beginning anew to be elements of the card’s meaning. 

[So ’scuse me while I have a revelation. 

Humteedum Deedum.  Humtedee Deedum.  Humtedeedeeedeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Deeedum.  Ahummmmmmmmmmm.] 

[Thank you.]

I believe the Ace of Spears asks two things of you when it appears.

~ First, it reminds you to become very clear within yourself about something you want or some goal you would achieve.  It is, therefore, important that you know specifically what you want to go after – perhaps some major wish in life, or perhaps just a current, interim, in-the-moment thing that will be helpful or fulfilling for a short time, or serve as a useful next step.

It is equally important that you be clear about why you want it.  What are your true motivations, and are they really for the highest and best? So this card is also about being conscious of what you would do and have, and of your impact on the world.  I think we could all spend a little more time on this one.  Or a lot more, if we were smart.  Sez I.

~ Then, once that first, more internal step is completed, the Ace of Spears directs you touse strong, clean, clear, non-repressive and non-repressed masculine energy as your model − think Dalai Lama, maybe? – and simply go after your wish or goal confidently, hopefully, firmly and directly.  (So it’s assertive rather than aggressive.) 

Know what you want for that new beginning.  Pursue it.  Yourself.  Today!

What is your new beginning?  Be clear in what you want.  Be clear about the why of it.  Go after it directly, the way anyone with a strong, positive masculine drive would.  Do something concrete about it today. 

Bright blessings and blissings and beautiful, knowing beginnings!

Quote for the Day: If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion. ~ Dalai Lama

And: We are all the same person trying to shake hands with our self. ~ Jolly Lama [Wavy Gravy]

Today’s Weather:  The walnettosphere predicts currant precipitation.  Or possibly bumbleberry.

On This Date: 1963 – March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom: Martin Luther King, Jr. gives his I Have a Dream speech. […the speech was ranked the top American speech of the 20th century by a 1999 poll of scholars of public address.]   

Link to Full Text of Speech:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-mlk-ihaveadream,0,36081.story

Daily Tarot ~ August 27

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.

A card that last showed up for us in early December. [Although I keep dreamin’ that this is a card I’m posting for you, right regular like.  Hmmm…  mmmm…]

Typical readers would find in this card such things as rectitude [which one of my spirit-guides calls “retch-itude,”], utility, and responsibility.  One has even suggested it predicts a message of good news to someone who really needs it. [Over here!  Over here!  Yo!  Toss it my way, y’all!  Over here!]

Can I see a show of hands from all the other folks who vote for that one?

Watch as Tarot reader gets knocked over by great

WHOOOSH!!! ]

Mmmmmm hmmm……

So anyway, see how all that might fit into your day today.

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 the suckers!

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

one who considers himself —  rather objectively — 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!

How much?

None!

Therefore, he is calm.

He is in no hurry.

He feels no need to seek to impress anyone for any reason,

no need − ever − to leap over a tall building in a single bound just because somebody else might want 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,

always 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: Keep your sense of humor, my friend; if you don’t have a sense of humor it just isn’t funny anymore.  ~ Wavy Gravy

(Worth a repeat, these days.)

Today’s Weather:Willow wispies. Ridges and dells. ‘Way far away. (Right here!!!)        

On This Date:1498 – Michelangelo is commissioned to carve the Pietà.

And: 1883 – The 1883 eruption of Krakatoa begins its final, paroxysmal, stage.

Texts from Last Night: … i have officially banned the recreational use of bayonets.

Daily Tarot ~ August 25

Queen of Shields

Igraine

Fortune Cookie:  Ask yourself, “What is really important?  Now how do I attend to that?  And how can I do it really, really well?”

 

This card last turned for us on July 28.  Of last year. Does that give you some sense that maybe this particular bit of symbolic and intuitive information MIGHT JUST be a little more than normally beneficial right now? Hunh?  Maybe?  Eh?

Once again…

Attend:

Other readers find this card indicates opulence, generosity, liberty, security, and perhaps even greatness of soul.  Certainly good stuff.  [So if you’re aspiring to any of that at the moment…  get going!]

Anna-Marie Ferguson, creator of the Legend deck I use, sees it betokening a sensible, considerate woman (or person), an effective advocate, one who uses her considerable influence and power to help those less fortunate.  [Find me one such.  And send her my way as ye personal manageress!]

So if that’s the kind of energy you’re hoping to find and/or embody today, JUMP IN!

In working with my clients, I’ve come to see the Queen of Shields as very strongly paralleling the King of Shields. [Like THAT insight took years of intensive training, right?]

This is, therefore what I call the card of the Good Queen.  [For those of you old enough to get the reference, I’ve also occasionally called it “the Harriet Nelson card.”]

This is the Queen who understands that her mission is to care for the health of her kingdom – perhaps behind the scenes, perhaps boldly and with great fanfare − and to help take care of her subjects so that they generally can take care of themselves.

She knows how the crops are growing, how the children are faring, whether the creatures are well, if the King’s men are living up to their obligations and so on.  She’s perfectly comfortable taking the limelight, and will be sweet or brash about it as will best serve the kingdom, but she does not seek it for herself and does not actually give a brass farthing for it except as a tool for doing good.

Like the King, the hard lesson she has learned is that there will always be more things asked of her than she can possibly fulfill, more things in need of attention than she can possibly do.  She has, therefore, come to understand and be comfortable with the necessity of allocating resources, caring and effort in such a way as will provide the greatest return and benefit to her King and the kingdom.

In her world, it IS NOT the squeakiest wheel that gets the grease; it’s the wheel whose repair is most significant and valuable to the well being of the King, the people and the land.

So, beginning today, how should you come to understand better the myriad workings of your kingdom?  (What, in fact, IS your kingdom?)  And how do you need to give yourself — in a functional, practical way — permission to attend to that which is really MOST IMPORTANT rather than that which seems MOST URGENT (or most annoying) in order to keep your kingdom’s balance, harmony and prosperity at the forefront of your rule?  What do you need to let go of, or let go fallow, or let go to hell, for that matter, in order for the stuff you truly came here to do to get done and get done well?  

So ask yourself, “What is really important?  Now how do I attend to that?  And how can I do it really, really well?”

Bright blessings as you rule all you survey! [Particularly the important stuff!] 

Quote for the Day: It is the folly of too many to mistake the echo of a London coffee-house for the voice of the kingdom. ~ Jonathan Swift 

Today’s Waethyr:  World enough.  Thyme.  Hyssop.

On This Date: 1981 – Voyager 2 spacecraft makes its closest approach to Saturn.

And: 1989 – Voyager 2 spacecraft makes its closest approach to Neptune, the outermost planet in the Solar System.

Text From Last Night: …Only you would have to block the freaking governor of Tennessee from reading your tweets…

Daily Tarot ~ August 24

Seven of Shields

Castle Of Wonders

Fortune Cookie: Find a goal that is worthy of your efforts.  Know what it is, and why you have chosen it.  Keep pushing once, twice, AS MANY TIMES AS IT TAKES till the opposition is eliminated or finally just gives up and goes away.  And know that your most beautiful dreams can come true.

 

Hmmm…  mmmm…  Mmmmmm…  Last saw this card in mid-January.  It is in fact a timely card, especially for one client who drew it earlier this week.

Let’s cut to the chase on this one.  It’s a card that says (in my perception)

Try, TRY, TRY AGAIN!

And it’s a good card right now, I’m thinking, when people may be experiencing some Holy **** how-did-it-get-to-be-August-already?-type confusion and even depression and maybe some fatigue ~ compassion fatigue, rain AND drought and cold fatigue, baseball  fatigue,  perpetual Kardashian fatigue, trying to send healing & light to the crazies fatigue, trying to send healing & light to yourself fatigue, recession fatigue, Ohcrap!I’vegotthefluagain fatigue, my boss is a twit fatigue, life sucks fatigue, Neal drones on and on like an old goat fatigue ~ whatever.

Well, too bad.  Because, you see, the potential for you to experience goodness and goodies far beyond your brightest hopes is right there in front of you IF you screw up your courage and connect with your dreams and 

Try, TRY, TRY AGAIN!

[Do I need to do that lunacy one more time, or have I made my point?]

The Seven of Shields in my deck is a card that requires a Nealio’s sprained-bashed-and-mangled faerystory version of the legend behind the card.

So listen to da ol’ storytellah here:

[Hmmmm…  That IS the haircut I had through most of the 70s.]

As usual, my version of the story may be a bit different than what you will find in some — if not most — Arthurian mythologies.  And my interpretation of the card veers a bit from the norm as well. So, depending on what you can best handle at the moment, grab a mug of hot something, a bottle of whatever, a hookah or a few of those cute little mushrooms the seven dwarves used to sell on market day, and away we go!

Sir Gawain found himself in hot pursuit of an outlaw knight.  He chased the cur over hill and dale [sorry yet again, Dale] until at length the outlaw rode into the courtyard of a great castle, and then right into the great hall of the castle itself.

Gawain galloped on in hizownseff.

As Gawain entered the hall, he began being pelted by a huge indoor storm of sleet,  iceballs and stones.  Being a prudent man, Gawain reined in his worthy steed, thinking, “Hmm….  ‘There’s more here than meets the eye,’ as Ringo once said. Or will have once said some day. Maybe I better just go back and tell the lads I lost track of the blighter, and I’ll hunt him down another day.”

But being a brave soul and one of the leading lights of the flower of chivalry that was Camelot, he pulled himself together and said, “Nay then. ’Tis my quest, and meet it is that I pursue it come what may.”  Or something with a bit more testosterone and fewer letters. Beginning with F and ending with T. And he began pushing his way through the storm.

At which point the storm simply stopped. 

And he found himself confronted by an entire army, blocking the path of pursuit.  Again he took pause, thinking, “This here is some weirdness here, y’all kin bet ready money on that!  Maybe it’d be better to jist come back another day and see wossup then.”  But again, he screwed up his courage [see verbiage above], pulled out his trusty sword and launched himself against the foes.

At which point they disappeared.  Ha! Hahaha!!

Only to be replaced by a huge lion and griffin who – um, which?  Nah, who − blocked his way.  This time Gawain really took a step back, thinking, “Okay.  Look, magic is one thing, but this is getting ridiculous.  I could end up a hot steaming lunch here.  And, they’re protected species, aren’t they?  I’m just not gonna.…   I’m not….  Aw, bugrit!”

And again he remembered his quest and his solemn vow to his droogies from the Round Table, so he pushed forward, hard.  The lion and griffin disappeared.

And as Gawain moved forward into the center of the immense hall, A GREAT MAGICKE occurred.  There was a shimmer, and a shine, and a wrinkle in reality.  It became a doorway into a realm of wonders, goodness and healing.  It was a place which offered many amazing, magical things, along with major cash and gems, which the goodlye Knighte gathered up and took back for the benefit of Camelot.    

So, what has that got to do with the card?

I thought you’d never ask.  [Just like you thought I’d never finish that damn story.]

Okay, some readers see the Seven of Shields as betokening money, business and barter.  Other say it means it’s time to re-evaluate one’s Mission Statement.  Anna Marie Ferguson, creator of the Legenddeck, writes of treasures, bounty, persistence and the steady, methodical removal of obstacles[some of which may be in-laws, coworkers or bonehead politicians, I’d guess].

When this card shows up for a client, I’m likely to say,

Okay.  What it comes down to now is

~ knowing what you’re really going after, and

~ why, and

~ refusing to give up.

You may feel overmatched, overwhelmed, afraid and even a tad hopeless.  But if your goal is REALLY important to you, remember what it is, screw up your courage, dig in your heels and push back or push on.  Hard!

Hard!

And if you really have chosen a goal that is worthy of you, and important to you, have faith in yourself.  You will succeed beyond your brightest dreams.

Find a goal that is worthy of your efforts.  Know what it is, and why you have chosen it.  Keep pushing once, twice, AS MANY TIMES AS IT TAKES till the opposition is eliminated or finally just gives up and goes away.  And know that your most beautiful dreams can come true.

Bright blissings and great wonders!

Quote for the Day:  Not everything has to mean something. Some things just are.~ Charles de Lint

Today’s Weather: Great gingy garglers of boggly wallah. Wind dancers.  Abdominal snow….persons. Borecole.

On This Date: 1967 – Led by Abbie Hoffman, the Youth International Party temporarily disrupts trading at the NYSE by throwing dollar bills from the viewing gallery, causing trading to cease as brokers scramble to grab them.

Text From Last Night:  You okay? //  I walked into work with a banana and a loaf of bread…

Daily Tarot ~ August 23

Six of Spears

The Return of Ambrosius

Fortune Cookie: What IS the seeming defeat that you would turn into a victory FOR THE HIGHEST AND BEST today?

Hmmm… We last saw this fellow waaaaaay back in early December.

As I said other times this card has shown up for the Blog, it’s one that requires a Nealio’s fracturized-and-beat-all-to-hell-an-back-faerystory version of the legend behind the card.  That will help you understand my interpretation of the Six of Spears, which – as ever – varies a touch from the norm.

By the way, my intuition-based recounting of the story of Ambrosius also varies a tad from anybody else’s, historical or otherwise. And there it is.

So, gae we noo taegether, aye.  Or some twaddle-e-o like that. Twaddle-e-o.  That should probably be a part of Today’s Whether forecast once again.  Let’s see if I remember.

The Story:

Just as Arthur had to deal with a rebellion of the lesser kings at the start of his reign, and Arthur’s father Uther had to deal with a rebellion of the lesser kings at the start of his reign, Arthur’s uncle Ambrosius had problems from the git-go.

But Ambrosius was literally overpowered by his enemies and driven completely out of Britain, to Brittany in France.  And the people who stole Britain from him were a bunch of real scumbuckets (I believe that’s the French term), you bet!

Now, that made our guy Ambrosius a King in Exile, which could be a pretty cushy life back then: Small but scenic and well-appointed castle, nice lands, good hunting, splendid French wines − there could be a real temptation to just put your feet up, marry or tarry with a French princess, become a semi-powerful courtier and suck down the oysters of life, washing them down with champagne.

Not for Ambrosius.

He gathered, from ALL around the world, the finest strategists, armorers, teachers, mages, alchemists, architects, trainers, warriors, etc., etc., etc. and put them all to work for him, on him, on his forces and on his hopes. So that, after a while, it became generally acknowledged that he had the finest army, guided by the finest advisors and the finest king, in all the world.

Then, in his own chosen time, he and his army went back across the English Channel and literally blew through the opposing forces like wind through a cane break.

Which brings me to the card.  [Yeah.  Finally.]

To most readers, the Six of Spears betokens a victor triumphing, or great and important news.  Others see it as the final, finishing touches on a long project, or perhaps a surrender by the competition.

Anna-Marie Ferguson, creator of the Legend deck, sees this card as a well-earned victory, change for the better, and “passing through a gateway to a new era.”

I won’t go against any of those interpretations.  I could use a touch of that stuff lately, meself.  Couldn’t you?

But to me, Six of Spears goes a touch farther.  It represents utter, total complete victory after what seemed to be utter defeat.

And the victory comes, not instantly, or even easily, perhaps, but after careful planning and the marshalling of THE BEST people who can help make the desired success and/or reversal of fortune possible.  (Attention, please: That means you’re NOT SUPPOSED to try to handle it all-by-yerself-alone! But don’t settle for help from any doofus who happens to wander by with a card that says $$Consultant$$ either!)

So:

What IS the seeming defeat that you would turn into a victory FOR THE HIGHEST AND BEST? 

Who are the friends, associates, helpers, consultants (good ones!), managers, healers, intuitives, artists, teachers, spiritual directors OR WHATEVER who would be THE BEST to help you take back what seems lost? 

What must you do to involve them in your cause?  And what can you do to start on that today?  Go!  Go! Go!!!

Bright blessings and victory, one that is for the Highest and Best!

Quote for the Day:  I never remember what I’m going to forget. ~ My friend Les

Today’s Weather:  Chills like the jolt from a Frankie Valli falsetto.  With intermittent mellotones.  Oh yeah. And twaddle-eos-eos-eos.

On This Date: 79 – Mount Vesuvius begins stirring, on the feast day of Vulcan, the Roman god of fire. [Insane cackle from demented Tarot reader…]

Text from Last Night: All I’ve had today is a brownie and a shot of Jack Daniels. So you know, I’m doing ok with that low calorie thing.

Daily Tarot ~ August 16, 17, 18, 19, 20

See ya again Toozdee.

Bless!

August 16

Five of Spears

The Pursuit of Igraine

Fortune Cookie: Take out those old, dried, abandoned dreams. Dust them off, check them out, plant them and water them. See if you don’t make the world burst into bloom again!

Well, let’s knock the dust off of this card, too, then. We last saw it in early May. And I gotta say, for most people, the tail end of summer is a GREAT time to flow into the energy and wisdom of this card. Even crab-ass middle-aged, uh… grouches like me are prompted by the real, deep magic of the it’s almost-nearly-summer times to open to what may be possible, if not for me, then for those who’ll come after. Or maybe it’s just the leftover absinthe from that bar in Hudson…

Anyway, once again, as a beginning to my pontification upon the Five of Spears, lemme say that there are several cards in the deck that recommend things along the lines of, “Follow your Bliss,” or, “Do what you love,” or, “Pursue what you really want.” Right?

But as my friend Ginny said in a comment on the blog, “I think the hardest part is knowing what your bliss is.”

I dunno if I’ve ever heard that from any… um… normal person under sixteen or so. So it must be a condition peculiar to modern Western [alleged] adults. Often, we buy into concepts that create a war within us ~ concepts that say, “You can’t hope to succeed, doing what you enjoy. You’ll fail. You’ll starve. You’ll be selling pencils in front of The Ritz. Take your medicine. Grow up!”

Like these people:

~ On one of John Lennon’s school reports at Quarry Bank School a teacher wrote, “Certainly on the road to failure.”

~ In prep school, Bill Gates ran into trouble for skipping classes, not turning in homework and spending day and night − in the computer room. [No future in that, right?]

~ Henry Ford gave up his family’s farm to go tinker with machines. And he founded two car companies that utterly failed before he created the Ford Motor Company.

~ And let’s not forget Edison, who said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” And, “Many of life’s failures are men who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” Not to mention, “I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward.”

~ Even Donald Trump, who has said, “The most important thing in life is to love what you’re doing, because that’s the only way you’ll ever be really good at it.” He has had to stare down bankruptcy and be called a failure by pundits, politicians and everyday people by the millions.

~ And The Beatles (fer Gawdsake) were rejected by Decca Records, being brushed off with, “Guitar groups are out of fashion.”

That’s a list of failures well worth emulating, and a group of people who followed their bliss ~ in radically different ways and directions.

Ultimately, it’s like what I told my stepson as he was heading for college: “Find what you love to do, and do what you need to do to be able to do it incredibly well – better than anyone else, even. Because whether it’s digging ditches or doing rocket science, somebody’s making a million dollars a year doing it. No reason it shouldn’t be you. No reason it can’t be you.”

Which FINALLY brings us back to today’s card. [NO, I didn’t forget! Jeez, have you considered decaffeinating for a week or two?]

I’m guessing that would still be, “No.”

 

The Five of Spears indicates a deep need to reconnect with passion in your life. Not just passion of the steamy, rumple-the-sheets kind, although that maybe can apply if that’s what’s a big issue for you just now.

Rather, the card asks you to stop and take stock of what really sets your heart and soul ablaze − what drives you, what you’d truly like to have the world remember you for a hundred years and more after you’re gone. Also, and perhaps as part of that, it’s important to go back and let yourself reconnect with old dreams you had put away − or thought you had “become too grown up for” − long ago.

In fact, go back in your mind to when you were four or five years old. What were your dreams, your hopes, your knowings for your life and the evolution of the world back then?

Take out those old, dried dream seeds. Dust them off, plant them and water them. See if you don’t make the world burst into bloom again! Now!

Bright blessings!

Quote for the Day: [Luke:] “I can’t believe it.” [Yoda:] “That is why you fail.”

Today’s Weather: Spirit and fleurs all over freakin’ everywheres. Maybe yes. Maybe no. Possibly Yo.

Text from Last Night: I swear she’s a drunk klepto…by the end of the night she had stolen 3 bowling balls… HOW DO YOU STEAL 3 BOWLING BALLS?

August 17

The Star The Firedrake Fortune Cookie: A powerful new beginning and a new beginning in your power… IF you own and work with your INTUITION! Wow!!!! No, really. Wow!!!! This is the second time in 3+ years that this card has turned for us in the Nealio’s Daily Tarot Thingy. So PAY Attention, Y’all! This is one of my very favorite cards, because it betokens so many wonderful things. Some readers see The Star as indicating hope and bright prospects. Others tell of purity and even saintliness [which would leave me out of the picture completely, as you well know]. Some find harmony and even relaxation in The Star’s gifts. Anna-Marie Ferguson, creator of the Legend deck sees in The Star a good omen and inspiration, rebirth and opportunity, and rejuvenation of the spirit after a trying and traumatic time. She indicates that destined aspirations now seem to flow naturally into reality, and lotsa other wonderful things. Is that JUST what you needed today, or what? [It’s sure what I needed today. WHEW!] Me? Of course I have my own tweak to the thing. I find all of the above meanings and potentials to be valid, but they hinge upon the querent (the person for whom the reading is done) owning, developing and honoring her or his intuition in an ever increasing, ever ascending for-the-highest-and-best way. That’s the key element in achieving the desired success, now and for the future. So grab hold of all the wonderful gifts The Star offers. Believe in their possibility in your life. Then: Move toward a powerful new beginning and a new beginning in your power by owning and working with your Spirit-gift of INTUITION! Brightest blessings! Quote for the Day: This is the time of King Arthur, and we reach for the stars! ~ Alan Jay Lerner, from Camelot Today’s Whether: All creatures, great and small. The Tambourine Man. August 18 Strength Percivale’s Vision Fortune Cookie: Trust in your strength and draw on it. Manage it well when you must, but draw on it. Believe in your success. And let your vision of WHAT CAN BE guide you higher and higher beyond the norm of what has been. We last saw this card in April.  It’s always a fortunate card to turn up — and it usually shows up not a moment too soon! Obviously, this card betokens its own name: Strength, as well as courageand vitality. Plus magnanimity − both toward you and emanating from you – [so feel free to send your favorite Tarot reader a beautiful and rare European antique-anything-expensive. Thank you.] [This smarmy message brought to you by the committee to help Neal look and live more like a grownup.] This card can also indicate perhaps the most perfect light touch of luck.Yesssss! Really pretty good stuff, then. So TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THAT! ALL!! OF!! IT!!!! [Otherwise what are you reading this for?] Where was I? [Come to that, Who was I?] Dear, Sweet Apollo on a go kart… Sigh… The Strength card is one of the most utterly positive cards in the deck. And it does offer a few useful, specific recommendations. It is very important that you do not underestimate your physical and emotional strength at this time, or doubt the power and durability of your connection to Universal Life Force – God, Spirit, The Big G, Mr. Dylan, Lady GG, Peter O’Toole, der Cheney-Fuhrer or Whatever-You-Name-It. In other words, don’t down yourself out or assume less of yourself than you may actually be able to handle. If opportunities come, REACH! If challenges come, PUSH BACK! Don’t just crawl under the bed and hide. Believe in your ability to succeed and to attain that which you most desire, particularly in areas of physical healing and achievement and/or emotional connection and healing. Draw on your inner strength, which is truly far greater than you give yourself credit for. So haul that butt up from under the bed. Right now! I mean it. We’re all waiting. Come on… Now! Much better. Like many of us, you may need to begin investing some ongoing effort toward actually identifying and functionalizing your connection to your inner strength. Our culture ain’t so good about that, unless you have forced yourself to march to the same “inner drummer” as everybody else. Get to know your OWN connection to Source, and work with it. We have in us the brilliant, beautiful and eternal power of stars. It’s up to us to find and focus it. Anna-Marie Ferguson, creator of the Legend deck, feels this card indicates having the strength and vitality to realize one’s goals, and also ambition tempered with serenity – a gentle yet full strength. When I work with clients, I advise them about an additional level of meaning to this card in this particular deck. I find this to be the card of the visionary – the individual who can see higher, farther, and deeper than others can. Sometimes, even more important, this is the person who can see (distinguish clearly) the trees for the forest and the forest for the trees. So give yourself credit for being able to see things more clearly, and define things more accurately and truly, than the madding crowd around you. Own your ability to be the visionary who can, as Robert F. Kennedy so beautifully put it, “…dream things as they never were, and say why not?” Or see things as they really are, and say, “Nuh-unh sucker! We don’t play that way NO MORE!” Trust in your strength and draw on it. Manage it well when you must, but draw on it. Believe in your success. And let your vision of WHAT CAN BE guide you higher and higher beyond the norm of what has been. Bright blessings, light, clarity and joy! Quote for The Day: I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our monied corporations which dare already to challenge our government to a trial by strength, and bid defiance to the laws of our country. ~ Thomas Jefferson Today’s Whether: Wobbly great dizzy circles and spires and gyres and stuff. Macaroon? August 19 Eight of Cups Chapel Perilous Fortune Cookie: Refuse to be confined, repressed, dimmed by anything or anyone – especially yourself!   This card last popped up for the blog just five days ago.  But over a year ago before that. It’s one that has a lot of helpful direction to it. It is, however, another one of those cards that sets clients awhimperin’ just from the visuals. [Except for those who are superGoth. They just ask for directions so they can find the place. And whether there is an app for the thing. And where they can buy ‘shrooms. And GOOD eyeliner.] The card, you see, (at least in the deck I use) portrays a wayfaring knight who has ridden into a lonely chapel to protect himself and his steed from a furious storm. He notices that the altar is without any adornment, save for a large, brightly flaming candle. As he waits, and drips, he sees a giant, clawed, monstrous hand reach in through the window high above the altar and make to extinguish the light. What a swell and encouraging image. Yes? Anyway, some readers believe the Eight of Cups conveys either turning away from felicity and celebration, or the exact opposite [I guess it depends which side of bed the reader fell out of that morning]. Others believe this is a card that calls for the querent (questioner) to look for a deeper meaning in life; it betokens a time for soul searching. [Preferably without the distraction of a giant, clawed, monstrous hand, would be my guess.] Anna-Marie Ferguson, creator of the Legend deck, finds this card to be about abandoning a path, a change of plans, and escaping an unhealthy situation, among other things. I can work with those meanings, and if you feel that applies to your life in any way at the moment, please take the insight to heart. Of course, I have my own particular take on the card. When it turns up for a client, once I have gotten them to calm back down from the impact of the visual, I usually say things like ~ Do not let anyone or anything – especially yourself − put a bushel basket over your light. ~ Do not allow anyone or anything – especially yourself or your perception of your self − hold you under its thumb. If necessary: Leave. Move. Go elsewhere. Hastily. Try something else. Reach out for other options. Rework your priorities and take life from there. SET YOURSELF FREE!!! So: Today, refuse to be confined, repressed, dimmed by anyone or anything – especially yourself! Bright blessings and an open path to your true self! Thought for the Day: If it’s the Psychic Network, why do they need a phone number? ~ Robin Williams And why do you need to call them? ~ Neal Today’s Weather: Snatches of bander, semi-colon, the frumrious sort, period. August 20 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 early January. And useful for strategizing upon a bright end of summer and new autumn to come. 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! (Great. Now I’m out of a job.) 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: 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: Windy willows. Extended biosignatures. Intermittent Baryshnikovs. ~~ Bless! ~~