Knight of Swords - "Shit Happens"

Change can be scary. I'm not sure it can be anything else. But it doesn't have to be overwhelming.
When change comes it can feel like our life is in total chaos, and it probably is, but I can't plan for how I am going to deal with it all, because life happens in unpredictable sometimes messy ways, but I can do things to prepare myself. One thing that is predictable is that change happens. As my old friend Charlie once said to me, at a time in my life of deep sorrow, "shit happens". He was right, that never changes".

The Knight of Swords is all about how we adapt and accept turbulent change. This card represents motion, and mercurial energy, based on the element of air, signifying a duplicity in the realm of the mind, and our ability to move with changes, that lead to a broader vision of life.

If we aren't open to change in life, we get stuck. We base our decisions on opinions that are reactionary and often hasty, because we are fearful of change and want to maintain some semblance of control.We just want to escape the mess.

The three mainstays in life that continue to enable me to accept disruptive and fluctuating change, are prayer, persistence and simple trust.

I have come to understand that tribulation gives me the opportunity to increase my patience, with patience comes experience, and with experience comes hope.

The Knight of Swords represents Gemini the identical Warrior twins and mythic figures of the quarrelsome Dioscuri, Polydeuces and Castor. Being a Gemini myself I understand this card all too well. I am grateful to have taken the road less traveled that has given me a broader vision of life.

Nine of Wands - Not Organized But Prepared

The Nine of Wands in spite of it's chaotic, turbulent and imminent danger, is a card that symbolizes having a strength in reserve, which helps us to be prepared, and not necessarily organized.

This card reminds us that we can call on the power of the imagination which can supply us with new hope, new ideas, and even a new life, providing strength when we most need it, during our lowest ebb and our energy appears to be used up.

Being willing to try once more is what we need in order to bring to fruition our final goal. This creative power is directly connected to resilience, persistence the need to overcome rough and rocky seas and is a what enables all human achievement.

Strength - What Makes You Strong?

Many moons ago, I used to do a lot of strength training for many years. I felt great to feel the physical strength that comes with resistance training. It's something I could definitely benefit from again, now that I've reached that crone age. I have to go for a bone density test next month, so it will be interesting to see the results of that test.

The kind of strength that comes with strength training can indirectly affect you inner strength of course, but the strength that results from trust, persistence, perseverance, and experience is equally effective to increase your strength of character.

Living on my own for most of my life has mostly proven to be a challenge in many ways, and though I am an independent woman, I would never think, nor could I ever say, that I did it all on my own, because I have that kind of strength. No, definitely not, far from it.

There is a kind of strength in numbers for sure. If we help one another, and really understand that sometimes we all need to ask for help, and that it's equally as important to simply offer your help to others, without them having to ask, and help one another to be strong in our weakness.

Lately I've been getting some very unexpected help, and today was such a day, and I want to say how very grateful I am. Truthfully, I know I have my own strengths, but honestly my strength relies on the help that comes from the grace and mercy of the God of my understanding, and from the generous heart and spirit of others. Without them all, I'd have been be dead in the water, a long time ago.

If I can give back in any way I do, because I know I can't keep what I have, unless I give it away, and that's what makes me strong.

“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” - Ian Maclaren

Using The Magician's Tools When The Arse End Goes Out of 'er.

Well I couldn't have drawn a better card than the Magician today. I have spent the past three days without my internet or my phone due to unknowingly disconnecting a cable from my router and then I unknowingly connected it incorrectly. I finally figured this out with persistence, and the expertise of a good computer technician I called a few times from a good neighbour's phone..

 Being sick with a rotten cold and flu bug, along with some car problems, all added to my frustration. It takes patience to ride the wave of chaos and confusion, and it can do a number on your self-esteem, your self-confidence, and your overall health, if you let it. We all experience days like this and can feel like we have some dark raining cloud hanging over our head with a universe conspiring against us. We have to make a choice to turn our good days into bad somehow. There is always something good to be found in the bad days, and they can go from bad to good, which makes the good days even better, with the wisdom of patience and gratitude.

Letting go, taking care of yourself  and just riding the wave until calm seas prevail, is the only thing to do, if you have given everything else a try, and then, wait. If not, it's real easy to make things more complicated and difficult for ourselves, in trying to force a solution.

I have to say I have a love hate relationship with technology, and though I certainly wouldn't call myself a geek, nor a Luddite, but I think I'm somewhere in between. Maybe a Geuddite. I enjoy all the benefits of technology but have real negative feelings around how dependent I am upon it, when things go wonky or as they say in Newfoundland, the arse is gone out of 'er. The nature of being human is that we often take for granted what we have, until it's gone.

The Magician reminds me that I do have tools at my own disposal to take care of my mind, body, and soul if I only utilize them on a daily basis, and when I need them. If I do this my self-esteem and self-confidence and my gratitude is much more likely to remain intact.

Time for a hot cup of some honey, lemon, ginger and vinegar.

Judgement - Gratitude-Joy-Generousity

Judgment

I rarely draw the Major Arcana card of Judgement. In the six months and seven days I have had this blog, today is the third time the Judgement card has come up. In is consistent with the theme of my recent posts and what I have been thinking about lately, transformation, forgiveness, and thriving.

Transformation is change yes, and it is also about growth, and becoming a new creature, much like the chrysalis. Transformation can be painful, and often is. It can be slow or fast. Sometimes we don't realize we have been transformed until it has happened, or we can know immediately, deep within our being when some event has happened, that we will never be the same person again.

There have been a number of trans-formative points and periods in my life. Some left me feeling so devastated and full of sorrow, I thought I'd never recovery from, and I wanted to give up. I did recover, I didn't give up, and eventually I became a stronger person.

 Other transforming situations were so challenging and scarey, they tested my limitations, that mostly existed in my mind. I found out how badly I really wanted something, and how hard I was willing to work at getting it. I also learned what I was really capable of when I applied myself, and this gave me the courage, determination, and persistence to continue.

Transformation is a powerful event. How it plays out is directly proportional to my attitude. These three things are what helped me to transform my life, and will continue to do so..

• Gratitude, and focusing my attention on what I have, as opposed to what I do not have.
• Altruistic joy, fixing my attention on the happiness and success of others, because inflicting unhappiness on others will never bring me happiness
• Abundance or generousity, and sharing with others no matter how much or how little I have.

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Two of Pentacles - Persistance

Two of Pentacles is always an interesting card. It presents a dichotomy of sorts, indicting balance or the need for juggling all the situations presented in life, like work and home, and making a harmonious change. Not an easy undertaking these days when so many of us spend our waking hours at work, or we even bring our work home, and we are always "on', available 24/7 with all our emails, technical gadgets and  gizmos. We are living in a age of distraction, which isn't a healthy circumstance that allows for a balance life, or mindfulness. This kind of busyness makes it more difficult to get things done effectively.

Living a pretty quiet environment here in the country, and semi-retired, I still can find myself unfocused,  having a somewhat unmanageable life,  especially when I take on too many things, which results in getting overwhelmed, leading to the frustration of being consumed by my feelings, that produce more stress and anxiety.

It is then I know I must do something about my condition, which is not beyond my power to accomplish and overcome. However, I cannot do it on my own, and I must ask my Higher Power for persistence and perseverance.

 

Ten of Pentacles - Stability & Foundation

Life is fleeting, and very often unstable in that we can't control what happens. We don't ever know what the future has in store. I have come to understand and believe the only stability we really have is within ourselves, that flows from the well spring of faith, to find meaning in whatever happens and it is wise to learn about how to develop trust, faith and persistence.

If we are fortunate enough to be blessed with good health, we will hopefully enjoy our lives into an older age. We can come to a point in life, were we don't have to wait until we are an elder to have many lessons learned under our belts, and content and find stability in the now.

Here in the Ten of Pentacles we see an older man, Daedalus, closely surrounded by generations of his family, representing  a dynasty of sorts. He now has a legacy that he can pass down to his loved ones. There is a sense of permanence, security and safety in what he has achieved personally and professionally. He has much to impart to others with wisdom, and perhaps in material possessions, which will endure, and be passed on to others because has built a good foundation from a life well lived.

The Ten of Pentacles is a card of hope and optimism in a world that seems unstable, and without strong foundation.