Ace of Pentacles - Choosing Hope Over Fear

Entering this New Year of 2017 like many others I'm sure, my thoughts turn to the state of of world. 2016 seemed full of sadness and pain, that seemed prevalent throughout the world. So with this in mind today, I was happy to draw the Ace of Pentacles a very positive card, full of potential and manifestation. This is a card of great creative energy, tremendous growth and material achievement, and it leaves me feeling very hopeful.

The plague of terrorism, refugees fleeing civil war and the rise of the alt-right is very disturbing, and sometimes leaves a person with feelings of hopelessness. But there have in fact been many positive things that have happened in 2016, in spite of the media coverage and barrage of negative stories that sell copy and ratings but only perpetuate an already existing climate of fear and division.

I also felt hopeful finding an email from Ricken Patel, the Canadian/British founding President and Executive AVVAZ with messages of why 2016 has been a great year for humanity. My immediate visceral and cynical reaction was, you've got to be kidding?! Given more thought I came to conclude that we must have hope, the opposite of fear. Hope is not simply a feeling, it's a choice. I choose hope over fear and division for 2017 and beyond. My hope for 2017 is that you will too.

Ace of Swords - Clarity and The Cynical Elf

Yesterday I drew the Ace of Pentacles but didn't write a blog post. I simply thought about how it I related to this card right now, because I'vebeen in a bit of a pre-Christmas funk that I think many people get. It's not an easy time for many people for a myriad of reasons.

When I saw this card I didn't come up with much significant meaning other than seeing the Ace of Pentacles and being a positive and powerful card, full of potential for energy and growth. I did feel this was a good indication that my muddled and dark thoughts are lifting, which they did. I don't mean lifting in the way folks make fun of how those of us who are like Pollyanna, you know everything is groovy doodles, but being more positive than negative in my thinking, otherwise my negative thoughts can spiral down into a dark place, that I don't go any more.

Today's second Ace that I drew, the Ace of Swords bolsters me even more, as this is really an affirming card of clarity that cuts through those muddled thoughts.

To be grateful for those little moments of happiness that come with gratitude for little things or for the small kindnesses from others and to the ones that we've shown kindness toward, reminds me that no one is an island, we need one another. This I know today, is where my spiritual strength and wellness lies, and where power, victory and clarity comes from through faith and trust, one day at a time, sometimes one moment at a time.

So if you find yourself in a Christmas funk, show a little kindness toward yourself and toward someone else, or you can try some cynicism chased with a little humour, added to your nog this year. Always works for me. 

Ace of Pentacles - Water On It's Way!

I was happy to see the Ace of Pentacles earlier today that I drew from my deck. It felt like is was a hopeful affirmation to me because my water woes were and are not over yet.

Poseidon being the God of the seas and the one who sustains all of the water ways and the earth itself. The Ace of Pentacles represents the earth and the material plane. Here we the symbolism of potential, manifestation and prosperity.

Although Poseidon might look like a merman, he is definitely not. He was able to live in the water, but also lived very easily on the earth and actually craved land, which caused him to be in conflict with the other gods, as he was always appropriating islands and pieces of the mainland of Greece. Poseidon was a bit of a land hog.

So after having drawn this card I found my water back to full pressure again, after not having water for another day and I'd left the house the other night only to return to hearing a running pump. The stopper on the toilet tank was dislodged and therefore was draining what water was being pumped, once again, hardly present from my spring.

I'm so grateful to live along side of a river, because I am able to access water.
And I am well aware that in spite of getting water pressure back again, it is still low because we've just not had near enough rain, but I am very hopeful the rain will come again before the Winter.
If the Ace of Pentacles is any indication, well there's water on it's way! Weatherman is calling for rain!

Cape Chignecto - Oil Pastel on Canvas - Catherine Meyers

Ace of Cups - What's Love Got To Do With It?

When I see the Ace of Cups that I drew this morning I always get excited, because it means there is a raw
emotional energy abounding some where within the context of my life, depending on what I choose to do with it, and how it is directed and channeled.

We see here Aphrodite, the goddess of Love that is embodies the potential for compassion and intimacy.

This card is a representation that urges me to be compassionate toward myself and have an intimate knowledge of who I am, both the positive and negative aspects of my personality. It's really about accepting and loving myself as I am. This isn't an easy undertaking and often takes years of work and maybe therapy for many of us.

 I remember over 20 years ago before my own personal recovery, I was rightly told that, I had to learn how to re-parent and love myself. I was as mad a hell. I'd been care-taking most of my life, making sure others were happy, putting my own needs and wants on the back burner, letting people use and abuse me.

I felt like once again I was expected to, and was going to have to be the one to do this 'taking care' of myself, when what I really wanted and needed I thought, was for someone else to take care of me for a change. I figured this was only fair. This in fact was due to having grown up with unmet needs when I was a kid, and it carried over into my adult life, and I acted this out through my co-dependent relationships, until I finally understood how to really re-parent and love myself. It meant changing myself and changing my relationships.
Many of us, if not all human beings are a work in progress.

When it comes to love and intimate relationships, what's love got to do with it? If I don't have a healthy relationship with myself, being really happy and content with my life as it is, I can't expect someone else to either fix me or to make me happy. That's my responsibility.

 It's really a simple kind of equation and formula, but many of us get wrong, time and time again. We just have to look at the statistics and observe the high incidence of divorce.

Taking an inventory of how we define our relationships with ourselves and with others, is a very important factor to consider as we more forward in our lives, regardless of our status and whether we are single. married or other. Tina Turner figured this out. She is someone I greatly admire.