Daily Tarot will disappear for a bit

Bless, all!

Daily Tarot ~ January 9

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 near the end of FEBRUARY.  So, as she’s here again, she must have sompin’ important for us to hear.  Y’know?

Besides, 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, dunnit?]

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 really do 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!

Me? I’m as lost as ever about this sh… material.

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. 

Taext From Mars: …woke up to a lot of blurry photos of a swan i must have chased …and a wallet full of gummi bears

Bumper Sticker of the Day

Nuttier Than a Squirrel Turd

Open Journeying Circles in January

Hi, All,

 

Just a little reminder that I’ll be “facilitating” two open journeying circles in the next couple weeks.  Hope to see you there.

 

Bless!

 

Neal

Fairport Harbor

Sunday, January 13

2:00 – 4:00 pm

Open Shamanic Journeying Circle

Shamanism has been called the first spiritual practice of humanity. The Shamanic Journey has been a powerful, enlightening, beneficial meditation practice for 50,000 years. Join a comfortable circle to experience different kinds of simple shamanic journeys from Native American, Celtic, South American, African or other shamanic traditions.

This circle, led by shamanic practitioner Neal Szpatura, is for participants who already have some experience with journeying and would like to broaden and deepen their personal shamanic practice.

Please dress comfortably in loose clothing and for the weather. Bring a drum or rattle if you have one and if you wish to (it is not necessary to have on to participate). Bring mats, wraps, eyeshades, etc. and be prepared to work on the floor if you can be comfortable doing so. (Chair work can be fine if necessary.) Please bring any snacks and drinks you may personally desire to help sustain you through the afternoon.

Fee: $20

 To sign up, please CONTACT BRANCHES OF WELLNESS at (440) 639-8181.

*****

Rocky River

Sunday, January 20

2:00 – 4:00 pm

Open Shamanic Journeying Circle

Shamanism has been called the first spiritual practice of humanity. The Shamanic Journey has been a powerful, enlightening, beneficial meditation practice for 50,000 years. Join a comfortable circle to experience different kinds of simple shamanic journeys from Native American, Celtic, South American, African or other shamanic traditions.

This circle, led by shamanic practitioner Neal Szpatura, is for participants who already have some experience with journeying and would like to broaden and deepen their personal shamanic practice.

Please dress comfortably in loose clothing and for the weather. Bring a drum or rattle if you have one and if you wish to (it is not necessary to have on to participate). Bring mats, wraps, eyeshades, etc. and be prepared to work on the floor if you can be comfortable doing so. (Chair work can be fine if necessary.) Please bring any snacks and drinks you may personally desire to help sustain you through the afternoon.

Fee: $20

To sign up, please CONTACT HEARTLIGHT CENTER at (440) 356-5991 or heartlightyoga@gmail.com

Daily Tarot ~ January 8, 2013

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 mid November.  And not too long before that.  Do ya think it has a message for us, then?  Eh?

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

  ]

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!

None!

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: Laughter is the valve on the pressure cooker of life. Either you laugh and suffer, or you got your beans or brains on the ceiling. ~ Wavy Gravy

Today’s Weather:Willowy wispie wackers. Ridges and dells. Way far away. (Right here!!!)        

Text from Last Night: …she smells like compost and feathers!! // …I believe they call that patchouli.

Daily Tarot ~ January 7

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 start of a year 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 deep winter time 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 snow fleurs all over freakin’ everywheres.  Maybe yes.  Maybe no.  Possibly Yo.

Text from Mars: …uhhh  …I am now officially connected on LinkedIn with my arresting officer…

Daily Tarot ~ January 6

Knight of Cups

Galahad

Fortune Fookie: Think upon the commitments for this lifetime that you made before you came into being.  Determine the next few steps to keep you moving along that path – or the first steps that will be necessary to move you back onto that path.  And GET GOING!

 

Okay.  This good, brilliant and amazing  fellow last stopped by a couple weeks ago.  And exactly two weeks before that.  You think maybe he’s got summin’ we need to lissen to, maybe, you think, eh?

This is a card of sacred questing, and for all of us, whatever our spiritual path, it’s a good reminder to look at and remember what’s REALLY important and worthwhile and magical and holy ~ at any time of year.

The Knight of Cups is always a good energy & good advice card.  As I have said, I think of this as the card of THE sacred quest.

Therefore, if you have been feeling that your life really isn’t going in the direction you and God (Spirit, The Universe, the Universal Life Force, the Big Enchilada, Maggie Smith, The Voice of John Cleese,  Neil Young, Stephen Colbert ~ whoever) agreed to before you accepted birth this time around:

HEY!  YOU!!!!

Don’t you think it’s time to reconnect and GET GOING?

Some readers might interpret the Knight of Cups as the coming of a messenger, advancement in the world, or a graceful but not warlike person of great masculine energy [think Baryshnikov, I guess. Or Angelina?]. Others could say it indicates someone (maybe you?) ingenious, full of original ideas (probably you!) .

Anna-Marie Ferguson, creator of the Legend deck I use, feels this card betokens a tempting proposal which deserves serious consideration. [However, avoid snakes in apple trees and guys playing the fiddle at the crossroads. ‘Cos things rarely work out with those deals there.]  Also, an approaching opportunity for advancement. Or an unexpected gift. [Duh!] So if something like that crosses your path today, assume you deserve it, accept it fully and gratefully, and run with it!

I still like my intuitive interpretation best. [And I say that with no modesty whatsoever.]

Think upon the commitments for this lifetime

             that you made before you came into being. 

Determine the next few steps

                        to keep you moving along that path –

or the first steps that will be necessary

                                to move you back onto that path. 

And GET GOING!

Bright blessings and remembrance of your sacred self, and the sacred in us all and everywhere!

Quote for the Day: God has no religion. ~ Gandhi

Today’s Weather:  Sands of thyme. With rosey marys. Controlled remote mewing. Alexandria’s Library on disc. 

Text From Mars:  …what do you mean I asked the waitress to box up someone else’s discarded food last night?

Daily Tarot ~ January 5

Page of Shields

The Badger

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So, for today:

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

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

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

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

Bright blessings!

Quote for the Day: There is, I think, humor here which does not translate well from English into sanity. ~ Jim Butcher

Today’s Weather: Waggles, bobs, bazoonies and womps to keep us moderately tuned. That sacred place between infinite passion and a fast food breakfast. What? 

Text from Mars: …worst thing for a hangover ever …A FREAKING BOLLYWOOD MOVIE [[[[[BLARING]]]]] in 9 am film class

Daily Tarot ~ 4

The Universe

The Giants’ Dance

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

What a great card for any time at all!  Saw this one last in the middle of October, by the way.

As I’ve said before, this is absolutely one of the most glorious, hope-filled positive cards in the deck, so PLEASE know that such energy is available to and for you today.

Don’t waste the vibe by talking yourself out of what may be!

The card in the Legend deck pictures a Goddess/dancer moving ecstatic and free under the stars within Stonehenge (the Giants’ Dance, as it was known).  Anna-Marie Ferguson, creator of the deck, finds this card to be a harbinger of liberation, the attainment of a long-sought goal, and the culmination of events, efforts and experiences from the past.  [So listen for advice and take to heart the good wishes of others who would offer or encourage you toward all such positive culminations.]

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

[Need me to repeat that for ya?]

You will become all you can Be

and more

IF!! you are confident enough!

As I sometimes say to clients in my readings, “Remember: you’re really never too old to become a Mouseketeer, if you truly want to.”

When this card comes up, I ask clients:

What would dancing free under the stars be for you?

What would give you that sense of

freedom, and

security, and

elation, and

ecstasy, and

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

Now:

what can you do

and

what will you do

to begin to give that to yourself?  NOW! 

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

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

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

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

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

Bright blessings!

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

Quote for the Day: Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities. Truth isn’t. ~ Mark Twain 

Today’s Weather:  Silly wizards.  Robin goodfellows.  Ginger marmalade. Leannán sí.  ҉

Text from Mars: …so  …guess as long as I have this piercing  …I’ll get tested for explosives at the airport?

Daily Tarot ~ January 3

The Empress

Guenevere

Fortune Cookie: If opportunity knocks, rise to the occasion!  Don’t hold yourself back.  And take a risk or two on something that you love and believe in.

Saw this card waaaaaaaaay back in mid-April.  Glad it’s back, because we can all use a regular dose of encouragement and goodness like The Empress  provides — especially as we [in Ohio] are temporarily up to our armpits in freakin’ Freezolio! [That is a noun. Isn’t it?]

The Empress card really does take us lovingly by the throat and say, “Look.  No, really, LOOK! Today has the potential to be SUCH a great, beautiful day!  Remember that, will ya?  And take advantage of it.  That’s why we’re giving it to you.”

The Empress is a card of abundance, creativity, beauty and fertility. 

It’s a card of nurturing, both giving and receiving. 

On a day ruled by this card, you can find opportunities to go after your most enriching, ennobling dreams.  [So it really is pretty important that you have some idea what they are.  Right?] 

Open yourself to your muse.  Believe in your creativity and let it flow.  And keep an eye out for beneficence from an admirable, kind and generous community leader ~ most likely a woman. 

 

If opportunity knocks, rise to the occasion!  Don’t hold yourself back.  And take a risk or two on something that you love and believe in.

Bright blessings and beautiful opportunities!

Quote for the Day: Sacrificing minions.  Is there any problem it can not solve? ~ On a tee shirt

Today’s Wathyr:  Bubble and squeak, with a side of Dublin Lawyer from NightTown.  Mostly a day with considerable this over that there, nonetheless.

Text From Mars: Laying in bed in silk jammies eating a tempeh salad sandwich with a cat. Probably a real cat? It’s gonna be a good year.

Daily Tarot ~ January 2

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 around the end of November. 

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 (not bad for the second day of a New Year, eh?), 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: Popploptical dust devils and minor majorities. Carry a SuperSoaker full of chilled Bushmills Celtic Twighlights just in case.