Wheel of Fortune - To Everything There is a Season

I compare life to a garden. Both gardening and life are about growing and learning.

As the gardener. I have to make sure I've well prepared soil, sowing fertile seeds that can help one another to grow. Then I must tend to my garden regularly by attentively weeding. Then I can reap just what I've sown at the end of the season, barring any happenings like storms, floods and big bug infestations. But that's the thing, there are no guarantees in life or gardening. We have to learn to expect the unexpected.

I'm happy I've drawn this Major Arcana card today, The Wheel of Fortune, and the tenth card in the Tarot,  ruled by Jupiter and the planet of expansion.

This card indicates positive change,  growth, a new phase of life and coming to terms with our own inner journey within the cyclical nature of life, as there is a season and a time for everything.

The Wheel of Fortune urges and reminds me to not be complacent, otherwise the weeds will take over my garden.

Spring is not far away now, just 17 days! I'm really taking notice of the increasing sunshine everyday. I've planted my garden seeds early indoors, the first week of February and now I'm enjoying watching them break through the soil. Even my Christmas Cactus has decided to bare a few beautiful blooms again, which hangs above my big Calla Lily, and just in time for the coming Easter season, my very favourite time of year.


The Wheel of Fortune encourages me to be determined to put ever effort into growing my garden this year and intend to apply the same principles to my life, embracing growth, making changes for the better and shoulder whatever responsibility this entails.

The Sun - Is The Sun Indifferent?

I can't remember when I last drew The Sun for my daily draw. It's uplifting, hopeful, positive, and a very promising card, on this gray overcast day here in Nova Scotia.

Recently I've been feeling inundated with the media hype about Donald Trump. I'm really so sick of seeing his foolish face, and all of his negative racist pronouncements.

This morning I heard some one say, good people need to speak out against this racism and injustice. I agree. I took this point to heart, though many of us might be think if we ignore Trump, he'll just go away. I'm tempted to think the same myself. Then I remembered, and reflected on what Eli Weiss said about indifference.

"The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of beauty is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, but indifference between life and death."         

                                               - Eli Weiss


The Sun is the antithesis of indifference. It's the life force, the power of consciousness to dispel darkness with affirming purpose, foresight, and a faith in the striving of the human spirit.

I Do A Great Lizard Impression...Really - Two of Swords

When I see this card, the Two of Swords with the dude in the middle, the two individuals pinning him in, and threatening with swords, I think of that saying, ' reality sucks '.  Life is hard, no two ways about it. We can feel we're between a rock, and a hard place, damned if we do, damned if we don't. So just what do we do?

In the past, I would run from reality. Sometimes I think it's just in my DNA. Regardless of being a recovering sober alcoholic, for almost 21 years, come January 2nd 2015, I can still feel my propensity to want to run away in my mind, when reality sucks. Old habits do die very hard. Perhaps this is simply a human characteristic, wanting to escape troubles or painful situations, and we are born with a the fight or flight instinct. After feeling this initial instinctual reaction, we do have a choice, to either react, or respond accordingly.

Swords represent the intellectual aspect of ourselves, and the Two of Swords urges to us to take action with our rational mind, instead of ancient lizard brain. We really need to exercise discernment, diplomacy, and commonsense as an adult, responding, instead of reacting to a difficult situation. Otherwise, we can really get into a pile of mess, and I can certainly attest to that. We can even do an injury to ourselves, or to someone else, in particular those you love. So my biggest New Year's resolution is to do myself a big favour each day, and continue to grow by getting real with reality.

In the 12 step program we have a slogan. H.O.W. stands for Honesty, Open mind and Willing. This is how it reality works for me, whether I like it or not.

Lounge Lizard

What To Do With B'shert - The Star

The Star is a very hopeful card, where guidance is found from within, giving meaning and faith, in the midst of difficulty, when Pandora's box has been opened. I drew this card Friday and didn't get a chance to blog about it. It has been on my mind since, because I have been thinking a lot about life, destiny, fate, and thought I'd continue with the post as soon as I could, after a busy few days.

I subscribe to a site, and am part of an online community. Rabbi Brian sends along 'wisdom biscuits' from his site that he calls ' Religion Outside The Box '. I am glad I was late in posting about The Star, because when I received the post from Rabbi Brian today, I thought it fit well with The Star, a card that warns us against having blind hope, when our dreams don't match up with reality, but urges and reminds us to keep the faith, and to know that deep within, we possess a will to live. We need to hold tight to hope, as it can make all the difference between life and death, in some circumstances.

It is easy to feel like things are meant to be when things are going our way, but I ask myself what happens when they aren't working the way I want? Do I lose hope and faith, feel sorry for myself, and ask why me? Certainly all the struggles, suffering and burdens, many of us bare more than our share, and it is sometimes very hard to have hope and faith.  Are those difficulties meant to be? I don't think so. It is simply the reality of life. Life is what happens, when we are making other plans as John Lennon once said.


Rabbi Brian calls it, "b'shert", the saying we all hear "it was meant to be" Here is a story he shared on his post today. 

" A man, because he couldn't figure out how to say no to the request, reluctantly loaned a set of silver serving spoons to his neighbor. They were returned along with a shiny silver teaspoon. 

"I lent you only 2 serving spoons. Why are you giving me this teaspoon as well?"

"Apparently, one of the spoons was pregnant and, in the course of the night, it gave birth. I figure that this rightfully belongs to you."

A few weeks later, the request to borrow a bronze platter was made. With less hesitance than previously, the loan was made. The platter was returned, along with a saucer and with a similar explanation of how it came to be.

When the request to borrow candlesticks came, the loan was instantaneous.

A week later, the borrower came empty-handed explaining that the candlesticks had died in the night.

What could the man say?

So it is with my life. Why do I only accept the things that I like as being the way they are supposed to be?

This week's spiritual advice: 

Contemplate our egocentricity with regard to the unfolding of reality. "

{B’shert, (Yiddish: באַשערט), is a Yiddish word that means “destiny”.

Ten of Swords - Resurrection

 

The Minor Arcana card I drew this morning, the Ten of Sword's, is a very appropriate one for this beautiful and glorious Spring Easter Day. 

Upon first looking at this card it looks ominous as depicted in most renditions. It is a card of perfect desolation, representing an apparent hopeless ending. The darkest hour is just before dawn, but there is major change and transformation on the way.

In fact, it speaks of triumph, conquest and resurrection, in spite of the harrowing and fearful imagery of extreme danger, bloodshed and fear. The man who lies limp and defeated has been tortured and seemingly clings to life by a thread. He is a Christ like figure. However upon closer examination, the emphasis is actually on overcoming, and triumphing over defeat, and on the resurrection of life and rebirth.

 In the distance, the sun is slowly rising in the horizon, heralding a new beginning in the midst of the defeat. The sun is life giving.

Once the crisis is over, the sun shines again. We have been freed of some deep rooted wound and burden within ourselves, that has been released and redeemed but our suffering. It is the final conclusion and the end of a difficult situation. A new life begins, and the sun shines brightly upon us.