The Tower - Time For a Big Change

Here we see Poseidon rising up out of the sea coming to the famous Labyrinth of King Minos to reclaim his White Bull. He's mad as hell, and he's not going to take it any more. Poseidon is about to crush the kingdom.
A rather dark story, but not a hopeless outcome as the Tower represents the values of the past that have enslaved us, and there is a need to take a serious and honest inventory of ourselves in order to spare ourselves of any further anguish.

Not unlike the two Major Arcana cards, The Devil and The Death card, the message expressed in this card id dependent on the attitude of the individual who is presented with an immanent situation that calls for some kind of radical transformation. And depending of the attitude of the individual this will determine a positive or negative resolution.

Generally I see The Tower as a card of transformation and change, that comes from new beginnings and the tearing down of the old order. A very suitable card to draw in this New Year.

I've never been one to make New Year's resolutions, as I'd just set myself up for failure. I do gratefully determine to, as I have over the past 24 years of recovery, one step at a time, to live one day at a time, in the present moment, living life to the fullest extent that I can. I maintain my conscious contact with the God of my understanding asking the Creator for help everyday.

Step By Step - Jesse Winchester
 
Step by step
All the happy Saints go marching in
And if a Saint step out of line he'll have to start again
'Cause Jacob's golden ladder gets slippery at the top
And many a happy-go-lucky saint has made that long long drop

[Chorus]
If I'm late don't wait
Go on without me
I may tarry awhile
'Cause I need to know
Before I go
How come the Devil smiles

If I'm late don't wait
Go on without me
I may tarry awhile
'Cause I need to know
Before I go
How come the Devil smiles

[Verse 2]
Free from care, free from fear
The Saints are trooping in
The children play all around the throne innocent of sin
A trillion voices sing the name the mortal may not know
And Heaven's wall's too high to hear the trouble down below

Six of Pentacles - Forgiving

The Six of Pentacles is a card of growth, generousity, charity and giving.

Daedalus has not been the best kind of human being. Here we see Daedalus kneeling and paying homage to King Minos, who knows the extent of Daedalus' actions, but he also knows that Daedalus has suffered, been exiled and humiliated for his crimes, and he has learned many lessons, the hard way. In spite of this the royal King doesn't judge him in a merciless and unforgiving way in which society would. He forgives Daedalus and offers him friendship and generousity in his heart and spirit.

Today is my late big brother's Ralph's Birthday who was ten years older than me. He's been gone for 15 years and I miss him so much and always will. We were very close when I was little. Once I hit adolescence and with all the serious struggles that went on in my family growing up, my relationship with my brother suffered, got complicated and difficult. After I sobered up things got much better, but I was still emotionally bankrupt in many ways and didn't know how to find my way out.

The forgiving and merciful King Minos extends a generous, giving and loving heart toward Daedalus, the way I know my brother extends toward me and I do the same for him. To love and forgive our family is something most of us can't help do, no matter what. Loving our human family is just as important. We are all wounded in some way, have done things we are not proud of because we fell very short in many ways. Perhaps we haven't been the kind of person we should have been or wanted to be. Being forgiven especially by those we love that we have hurt is one of the best gifts we can be given.
 What is more difficult, is forgiving ourselves, but we need to this in order to heal, and move forward so we can grow into the people we are meant to be and be happy.

The Tower of Pickled Eggs

I don't ever recall drawing this Major Arcana card, The Tower. I know I haven't seen it before in my daily draw. But I do know it's a very relevant card for me today, having learned from a recent experience, after completing a lot of diligent hard work and then easily concluding that circumstances aren't always as they appear to be. The reason I say that was easy to conclude, is a result of having continued to trust my intuition and have the discernment to understand and accept what has happened and was meant to be, and to know  there are better things to come.

I'm actually further ahead than I was before and I'm now relieved of the stress that I was feeling. I think my increased cortisol level was simply a message from my intuition doing it's job, leaving me with that nagging pull or sinking feeling in the pit of my gut. I wasn't exactly sure why, what it meant and how it was going to all turn out, but I kept trusting that all will be revealed, and happily, it was.

When we experience periods of confusion, it can be very stressful and can be compared to going through that Labyrinth of King Minos, and we wonder when that scary, horrible, and gross creature, the Minotaur is going to show up and do his dirty work.

What has all this got to do with pickled eggs you ask? I'll tell you.
 I just finished making a batch of pickled eggs. I carefully placed them in the refrigerator, after making them, where they have to stay for two days before they're ready. Oh I've made them before, but I was usually in a big hurry to make them, skipping steps and certainly not following any recipe and I sure as heck didn't wait for two days for them to be ready!

This batch of pickled eggs I've made today, are going to be like none other I've ever made. I'm absolutely confident they are going to be delicious after paying very careful attention to detail. I took my time and followed the instructions in the recipe, right down to how to properly boil and even peel the eggs.

Discernment, intuition, having trust in that still quiet voice within my psyche, and practicing acceptance is rather like making pickled eggs. You really need to have the perfect combination of ingredients. You also need to follow the recipe if you don't already have one that you know that works because you know it like the back of your hand. It needs to be a recipe that's been trusted, tried and true, so you can be confident in knowing, you'll have the perfect pickled eggs.

Having patience, taking the time to pay attention to detail is essential in order to get the kind of result you want, or perhaps even something better than you expected, and you'll be a better person for it.

The collapse of the Tower, representing the collapse of old forms, outgrown ideas, and attitudes that don't emerge from the whole self, but are "put on" like a costume to impress an audience, need to fall away, to make room for a better attitude that's no longer confined to that Labyrinth and you can say to yourself, bring on those pickled eggs! They're ready and so am I! If you want the recipe, just ask, I'll be happy to share it with you!

Seven of Pentacles - Do you Know What Your Answer Is?

This has been a month of decision making for me and the cards I have been drawing daily, have definitely reflected this.

I see this decision making theme once again in the Seven of Pentacles, upon seeing today's card where Oueen Pasiphae is wanting to make an offer to Daedalus he can't refuse. Daedalus already has lots of golden coins, (Pentacles). However she's got another one in her hand to freely give him, none the less for a price he may not be prepared to pay.

When someone offers you something that sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

 I have  generally found this to be one of those truisms in life.
This past week I was offered one of those kinds of deals and honestly, I was tempted initially until I gave it careful thought. I concluded in my heart that is wasn't a good decision for me realistically, because I'd be in a worse case scenario financially, then what I am in presently.

That said this is the kind of society we live in today. There are various modern day snake charmers offering big things, with a big price that is often hidden or we rather not think about because we are reacting emotionally.

When it comes to money, and consumerism, we live in an economy that is credit rich and cash poor.
Taking a page from my grandparents book of debt, thinking about how they lived, and remembering what my mother once said. "If you don't have the cash to get a bargain, it isn't a bargain."
In those days, there were no credit cards, which I think now are mostly misused and are the scourge of our economy, affecting people and our world on so many levels.

This card has the message not to react impulsively. Care and forethought are necessary in order to make the right decision.

Every situation and person is different and so perhaps the question to ask is, am I going to be further ahead if I put my energy into a new project or should I continue to develop what I have already worked hard at in achieving.
I know what my answer is. Do you know what your answer is?

  

Seven of Pentacles - Generousity

 It's a beautiful thing when someone generously gives the gift to another from their heart, without expectation of return. I'm fond of the saying it is not the gift of the giver that is important, but the giver of the gift. In other words, it is in the giving where the value lies, not in what is given materially.

Generousity is one of the seven gifts given, that are the teachings of Indigenous peoples, along with Honesty, Humility, Courage, Wisdom, Respect and Love.

The Seven of Pentacles portrays Daedalus being offered the seventh golden pentacle by Queen Pasiphae, who is King Minos wife, and for whom Daedalus has a position of royal favour, that he has worked hard to obtain.

Pasipae, out of desperation is making Daedalus an offer that is tempting, and difficult to refuse. However there is a risk in the decision to be made, and may result in a dangerous, possibly 'immoral' outcome, as it means that he will have to betray the King Minos and risk all that he has gained. On the other hand this offer could result in personal growth, and hoped for success. Daedalus has a difficult decision before him and needs some discernment in this situation.

When we're made an offer of generousity, perhaps the intention of the giver is not pure intended generousity, but there's a hidden agenda, in that the giver is looking unscrupulously to get something in return. This is not using the gift of generousity with honesty, courage, wisdom, respect or love.

 In the words of a Lakota Elder, "You should be able to give away your most cherished possession without your heart beating faster."

I believe when we're offered something, we have to take into consideration the intention and motive of the giver, as we must consider our own intentions when we give, and our hearts will not beat faster..

Circle of Courage - Martin Broken Leg