Queen of Wands - Forever Young

Vibrancy and exuberance are the words that best describe this Queen of Wands (Penelope). She is forever young, because of these qualities, regardless of her age.

I asked the question this morning, what 2018 held for me as I approach a milestone age of 65 years. Reaching this age was once considered old, but no longer, in light of what you hear about 60 being the new 40 etc. Nonetheless varying attitudes about age is a relative thing, often are very superficial and can still promote ageism, as we live in a youth oriented culture that seems to by times, have lost it's soul.

I've never been one to pay much attention to age, accept when I was a young girl. I longed to "grow up" in the physical sense, to be what I thought was that magical age of 20, for reasons that made no sense, and were purely superficial. Now I ask myself, what does it mean to be approaching 65? It's a good feeling because I'm comfortable in my own skin, and I've accomplished much, and I still feel young.

Having a mother who set the example for me, as she knew how to age so gracefully, I never thought of her as being "old" as she was very much like the Queen of Wands.

And so I have long aspired to live by this example, and intend to strive to exhibit the same characteristics of this Queen, with an eternal youthful spirit. I will continue on the path of the Heroine's Journey. 

I found this article today, that I think adequately describes the defining stages of aging, and generally reflects our changing perceptions regarding age.

Two of Swords - Winter, Spring, Summer or Fall

There are 85 days left before Spring, according to my Farmer's Almanac.

In spite of not being a fan of Winter, without it I know it just wouldn't be right if we had no the snow and the changing of seasons. It all makes so much sense to me, being all part of the cyclical nature of earth and the life cycle.

We all have our own favourite seasons. Spring is definitely mine. I admit I can hardly wait for the Winter Solstice, and for Christmas to come and go, because it brings Spring closer and closer with each passing day and increasing sunlight.

The duality, being of two minds, and opposing forces is what is presented in the Two of Swords. and the reflection of tension, where an unpleasant reality must be faced. Acceptance is the key to whatever situation I find myself in. It's necessary in order to enjoy and to move forward in life.

I can't spend my energy projecting into the future, or wishing things where different, and I have to make a choice in attitude. Oh I could easily spend energy, complaining about the weather, the cold, on and on etc., but I know I'll just feel worse not better about Winter.

If I don't take on life including Winter with a positive attitude I'm stuck in the problem.

The Two of Swords that I drew this morning reminds me of how I'm conflicted in my mind, but I choose to make the most of it and find some comforting creative ways to face the cold and avoid accumulating icicles on my butt.

The practice of Hygge helps me immeasurably, lifting my spirits, especially during the Christmas season and in the dead of Winter. But Hygge is good anytime, anywhere.

 Making a big mug of  hot chocolate with lots of marsh mellows in my very special, French Cafe, hot chocolate maker, or a lovely pot of loose Darjeeling tea in my traditional Brown Betty teapot, both of these special treasures I got for Christmas!

Time for a big bowl of slow-cooked, homemade turkey soup, and then some hot chocolate!

The Empress - Winter Solstice Blessing

The one thing I look forward to this time of year is the Winter Solstice. And when I think of this celebration of light, my thoughts go to the Major Arcana card the Empress. She is representative of the Great Earth Mother within, and the image of the great goddess Demeter, mother of Persephone (Proserpina), who freezes over and blankets the earth for six months of the year in desparate search of her abducted daughter for whom she mourns so deeply.

I've heard it said that the Winter Solstice is like the birth canal and the physical experience of mothering, but also the inner experience of the Great Mother: discovering that the body is something valuable and precious and that we ought to celebrate the pleasures in nature and in life.

We experience being part of nature and how we are rooted in natural life. Without Demeter the Empress and Great Mother, we cannot appreciate our physical selves. We are connected to the feeling of safety and trust in life and the wisdom of nature. There is a deep understanding that everything moves in cycles and ripens and comes to fruition at the appropriate time.

Three of Swords - Tarot Readings in Cyber Space

In every suit of threes initial completion is what is represented.  The Three of Swords represents heartache, separation and grief. It's a sorrowful card because of strife, conflict and a painful situation.

This week I spent an afternoon doing a face to face reading. These are always enjoyable and energy expending but energizing at the same time.

I always include the face to face readings with a hard copy emailed reading for my clients future reference, because for those not familiar with Tarot it's a lot of information to take in and it can be like hearing an incomprehensible foreign language to the questioner.

When composing online emailed readings they can be both time consuming, and very rewarding. Then add the combination of computers, WiFi and the Internet this can be very convenient and potentially frustrating. This was very much the case for me this week.

I had the pleasure of doing this sit down reading with my friend, intending to follow up with an email of the reading, other unforeseen and unexpected factors came into play.

After having been called away from home, on what I felt was a bit of a goose chase yesterday and delayed my task by several hours. When I finally returned I set about completing the reading and was ready to send it off into cyber space, when the WiFi, my prehistoric desk top computer and  slow-speed internet connection, all seemed to conspire against me by going on the fritz.

I then decided to use my little Kobo reader to forward the reading, as I can use the internet on this little gadget. Something happened when I hit send on my Kobo, and the reading was gone. Thing was, it wasn't sent, nor was it anywhere to be found in any of my folders. It was simply sucked into the black hole of cyber space.

I proceeded to go into a big heartsick fit. The anxiety and stress I was feeling over this loss felt very palpable, because I had spent a long time carefully interpreting this reading for my friend. Nothing I tried worked, in hopes to retrieve my email. I felt my reading and I where  forever parted, and there was nothing I could do get it back. Of course I wasn't thinking right and was reacting, not responding rationally.

My distress continued to escalate, until I finally managed to get a grip after getting very annoyed at my visceral reaction. At the same time I happened to hear an item on the radio about the British Columbia fires, and how so many had lost everything they owned. Wow I thought, that's real loss. I asked myself, what am I doing getting so bent out of shape over my reading being lost in cyber space?

My really inconsequential loss paled so poignantly to me in comparison, that I was embarrassed by my behaviour and the way I felt and resolved to continue to work on changing this kind of reactionary, very hyper-vigilant behaviour that rears it head now and again, when I let stress get the better of me.

The lesson in this card, is how eventually it's necessary to work out the consequences of our choices over time, and once we do this, we will be relieved and our hearts will be healed.

So calming down I went to bed and knew, I simply would redo the email and send it along, which I did yesterday night, and I was happy and grateful in doing so.

Five of Pentacles - The Fat Cat

The Five of Pentacles comes up in my daily drawn card more often than I'd wish, and appears at the times when I'm feeling worry and insecurity over my financial state, which is exactly what this card's meaning implies. It's not my favourite, but on the positive side, I see it as a card of transformation, if I trust my intuition and have enough faith to allow the God of my understanding to do what I can't do for myself.

This perspective has enabled me to become rather immune to my worry, and the fear of financial insecurity. Experiencing these feelings in many ways has made me stronger, given me more compassion and gratitude. The most difficult bit about being in this situation in the past and occasionally today, is, I don't want to ask for help. I know this is a common experience for many people, they find it difficult to ask for help. The problem being, this is false pride, and it makes you angry. You don't want to appear weak, or you might fear being judged, causing an individual to cut their nose off to spite their face, and now added to your trouble, you're walking around without a nose, not a pretty sight!

Queen of Pentacles - Hygge Queen

You know the kind of day when you can't seem to get out of your own way, and you ask yourself why? I might blame it on the weather, the time of year being between the end of Fall and the impending beginnings of Winter.

Outside my window I see no more leaves left on the trees and no snow to cover up the bleakness and gray that matches the sky and I don't want to go out there into the wind and cold to get my needed exercise. I can feel the needle on my Hygge meter quickly inching into the red zone!

Well I'm having one of those days. Ironically I heard an item on the radio about Amanda Lang's new book The Beauty of Discomfort which explores how it's important for human beings to get comfortable with being uncomfortable that enables personal growth.

Having drawn the Queen of Pentacles today is initially comforting for me as she is the symbolic influence that all Queens represent, but she's especially the image of the quintessential down to earth, sensual mother, who enjoys abundance in many areas of her life and is quick to share all she has with others. She's stable and receptive, the Mythic queen of Lydia, Omphale.

The Queen of Pentacles is the image of female strength, a ruler in her own right. She wants the best, is hard-working and self-sufficient. I call her the Queen of Hygge!

So today I'm trying to get more comfortable with my discomfort, maybe even find  some meaningful Hygge in my discomfort and simply be grateful.

King of Cups - Creativity and Compassion

I often draw the King of Cups. There is a implicit message here in this card for me, that until now, I've missed. The two primary words used when describing this card are creativity and compassion, that both have evoked and created a kind of vision quest for me throughout my life.

Over the years my understanding and exploration of how I defined what both of these words meant to me  in relation to myself, to others and to the God of my understanding, began for  at an early age, for reasons that perhaps are not fully revealed to me

I was told as an adult, by an astrologer who read my chart, that it was extremely important for me personally, to find my spiritual purpose in life in order to find a deep happiness. This has certainly been born out and because it has long been my focus, through creativity and compassion, especially toward myself, this greatly helped me to find my purpose, mission, and define my vision for living life.

The road was often not an easy one at all, filled with loss, struggles and temptations, after trying unsuccessfully to fill that hole in the soul, that came with the territory along the path on the journey of self-growth.

In retrospect, I wouldn't change a thing, because these experiences have made me the person I am. Today I continue on the path to creativity and compassion, learning important life lessons along the way, and very gratefully, this has helped me to patch up and heal that hole in my soul, restoring the emotional balance that the King of Cups reflects.