There is No Puppet Master!

I took the notion to pull cards for myself this week and do a personal reading based on the question I had for 2018. With this new moon in Pisces coming up on March 17th 2018 and Spring right round the corner it's the perfect time to do my own reading, which I liken to a personal inventory for me. It gives me a chance to take stock of my life and what direction I'm going in. I ask myself what I want and need to change or to improve upon.

Many folks choose not to do their own readings as they might feel or think that it's difficult to remain objective. I don't find this to be the case. That said I'm not frequently doing full 10 card Celtic Cross readings for myself, as this does not enable discernment, but simply creates confusion, instead of real clarity and understanding of myself and my present situation.

Drawing a daily card, I do for study reasons. This daily discipline and practice gives me the opportunity to continue to develop my relationship with each card and I can meditate on it's meaning and how it relates to my daily life. No one should have readings done constantly, as each the reading covers a period of three to six months.

Some folks can become dependent on Tarot in an unhealthy way as a result of feeling we lack control over our lives. This isn't true, we do have control over many parts of our lives. Certainly there are also many things in life that we can't control but we do have control over our behaviour and the choices we make. But the fact is there's no weird puppet master pulling our strings.

This week's reading is an affirmation and a confirmation of the last reading I did for myself in October 2017,  and I was happy and very satisfied with the outcome and what the cards in the Celtic Cross indicated today. I'm sure looking forward to the months to come. However it's very important for me to remember, to really enjoy living my life to the fullest and mindfully in the present moment and to look hopefully to the future.

The High Priestess

Easter and the days leading up to it, in conjunction with Spring, have always been important to me, and it's the time of year I love the most. I have joyful sweet memories of going to yearly Easter Sunday service with my mother when I was little. I affectionately remember our usual special bonding ritual of searching for the right Easter bonnet , and then being all decked out in our outfits on Easter Sunday, where my mother would play the organ in Church.
Although my religious practices have changed and evolved, I still feel a very strong attachment, with great love for this time of year.

Drawing the High Priestess today reflects many of aspects of my spiritual beliefs today. I do not see these as being in contradiction to how I once celebrated Christian holidays. The liturgical seasons have simply been absorbed into part of my own spiritual journey.

There is something so beautiful to me about Maundy Thursday, the day before Good Friday, because it speaks of humility, and service to others. The symbolic ritual of the washing of one another's feet reminds us to love one another as we are loved by the Creator.

The High Priestess symbolizes this spirituality, our spiritual mother, where I find the womb of the unconscious, the inner workings of perception, the pattern, and the purpose of life. The High Priestess stands between two pillars, one black, one white representing the Tree of Life, and the Tree of Knowledge or Death.

She wears her gown of personal growth and the crown of truth. The Narcissus is symbolic of death and resurrection. The pomegranate she holds represents the fruit of the dead, undeveloped creative capacity, and immortality. Passing between the pillars heralds entering a new life, or another world.

I don't get an Easter bonnet any more, but if I did, it would be this one.

Queen of Pentacles - Spring Has Sprung Me Loose!

This Queen of Pentacles, who is the image of feminine strength (Omphale) is most happy on this Vernal  Equinox, Spring day, especially because the Normanator came with his Tractornator and plowed out my driveway! He's made mounds and mounds of snow, and it was a beautiful sight to see on this first day of Spring, the Vernal Equinox! Embodying the element of the earth the Queen celebrates the seasons and it is fitting that I draw this card on this particular day.

 Today is a full solar eclipse, with a super moon. It doesn't happen often the next one I believe is in the year 2020. This day is said to be the the most powerful in 2015 in astrological terms. It feels like it to me! Bring on the flowers!

Oh there may be more snow out there than I've ever seen but it matters not, when your mind is full of  gratitude, for the Normanator,  Spring, the earth, and the Queen of Pentacles.

Page of Wands - Having Something To Look Forward To

 The Page of Wands is the perfect card for me to draw today. The element of fire is representing the creative stirrings with feelings of unease and restlessness. Oh ya I'm feelin' it! Bring it on!

It's another day of snow, after getting walloped by yet another storm, 30-40 cm on top of the 30-40 cm that was already down from the last blast. Some folks actually got 80 cms! It's been said that this has been one of the most intense Winter's in 20 years. Needless to say, it is really getting to people, and here in Nova Scotia we've all gone a little doolally with seemingly no Spring in site. But this card gives hope in knowing Spring is coming, and it's just a blip, in relation to the great snow globe of life! All these weather events are relative. Actually what concerns me more than anything is climate change, which may be the new normal. I am a hopeful person, but this serious problem leaves one feeling a little dubious about the future.

Wands are full of growth, energy and action. So, I swept the floor, rearranged some furniture, and re-potted a few plants and of course as always blogged. It's not exactly going after the Golden Fleece, but considering my present level of ambition right now, it's as good as it gets today! No snow shoveling until tomorrow, as I just can't face it again right now. If we get the next storm on Saturday, they are calling for, which might be a snow/rain event, it will make for a beautiful mess and three storms in one week.

As you can see, my preoccupation today is with this Winter weather, and Spring arriving in two days. It's not what I was expecting. So close yet so far away! But this card heralds good news, that is on it's way! Right now it is a ' hurry up and wait' scenario, but the snow can't last forever!

The ram that this Page of Wands (Phrixus) is riding, is in fact the Golden Fleece, when it was alive. Phrixus is escaping. The ram was sent to rescue him, and his sister Helle. Phrixus was to be sacrificed to Zeus that was the curse put upon him by the phantom woman Nephele, who had married King Athamas,  Phrixus and Helle's father. Zeus was having no part of this plot, sending the ram to rescue Phrixus and his sister, the same Golden Fleece Jason, and his Argonauts were in pursuit of finding. Phrixus in turn gave the ram to Zeus as a sacrifice for having been recused.

Phrixus looks like he is in a desperate state to get moving, and so he should be, because his life depends on it. He's already lost his sister, whom he tried to lift onto the ram when escaping, but sadly she fell into the sea, and perished.

When we are wanting something badly enough, we too may be in a desperate state. Perhaps because we are afraid that we might not make it, and fear failure. Our lives may or may not depend on it, but we may feel that our happiness does. Creative energy moves us toward change, gives us the ability to move ahead, and  overcome.

Not unlike Phrixus, we have no way to predict future outcomes or what is ahead. To be sure, there will be trials, difficulties, and sacrifices made, challenging us to grow. These will only increase our confidence. Regardless of our circumstance, it is a good thing to be motivated and inspired to have a goal, and live the life you love, and deserve. This is transformation.

I have heard it said, the definition of an alcoholic is someone who has to have something to look forward to. As a recovering alcoholic, I think this may be true, and makes sense to me. I must say, I am really looking forward to the year ahead, to Spring, and it can't come fast enough. I won't stick my head in the snow bank.

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.

Ten of Pentacles - Permanence

My apologies to my readers for having no posts as of late. My internet had been up and down, but mostly down the past few weeks, the result of power outages due to Spring snow storms, and problems with my new devices for my internet settings. Thankfully it's all good now!

In spite of nothing in this life being permanent, the internet appears to be, unless it doesn't work! One can get the impression that the internet, and our online presence will live on forever, even after we leave this mortal coil.

Ironically, the card I picked today from the Minor Arcana is, the Ten of Pentacles, the card of permanence, signifying what outlasts us, and the legacy we leave. It can be in the form of material possessions, and life achievements, that are passed on to others and the ones we love. This legacy can also be the creative ideas that endure through the example we have imparted, through our values and beliefs. These creative ideas can  also be in those tangible ways through a book, writing, a painting or other artistic achievements. What is passed on to us or to others matters greatly. What we have achieved , whether it be in material inheritance is something not to be squandered or misused. It can give us not only a feeling of security and contentment, but perhaps more importantly, it gives a deep sense of belonging, and the knowledge that we are loved.

There is a lesson that can be gleaned here, in that we need to pass along, or pay it forward, what is so freely given to us.

Today I saw the return of the Canada geese on my frozen over salt marsh. They come every Spring, and that seems also to be permanent. I hope for their return always year after year.

The one thing that is always permanent is hope, which really does spring eternal, in spite of the storms of life that come our way. It is my hope that Spring will always come again.

The Ace of Pentacles - The Card of Spring

The Ace of Pentacles is the card of Spring. Pentacles or coins represent rewards for past efforts. Here come pennies from Heaven. This is the time of new and tremendous growth. It augers the season for renewal after a long hard Winter. Spring brings with it new energy, and a fresh start. New opportunities and the fruit of your labour is manifested through continuation the life force and cycle, through a new beginning.