Strength - Courage - Fortitude

Many of us have days when we feel weak within ourselves emotionally, mentally and spiritually. We can find some guidance and reassurance in the Strength card, that will hopefully enable us to overcome what it is we struggle with life. Strength urges us to respond with our heads and not our hearts, exercising restraint. Courage and fortitude is what will bring about a healing successful outcome. When this 'weakness' continues over long periods of time, we need to reach out for help.

There are many circumstances that can make us feel so over whelmed and vulnerable.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is one of the most common difficulties that can render people seemingly helpless.We can reach the jumping off point. We are afraid to live, afraid to die, and even contemplate suicide as being the only solution.

PTSD is such a common and very misunderstood mental health issue for so many of us, and it can be very difficult to ask for help or find the right kind of counselor.  Many of our loved ones and friends do not understand or know how to help us. Compassion and education is the key, and we need to stop the silence and stigma associated with having mental illness.

I understand this all to well, as I have had many loved ones that suffered with mental illness and I have myself struggled with addiction, depression, anxiety over the years, until I found 12 Step recovery.

I understand that this topic is a heavy one, that many of us rather not talk about, and want to avoid. Silence isolates, and isolation kills.
But there is life affirming hope, and it is vital that we be proactive regarding mental health especially through education, and talking openly with courage and fortitude.

Brigit-Dagda-The Emperor

 I am biased, I admit it. I am a believer of the goddess. I don't think of the Creator as gender specific. I didn't always hold this view, but my opinion has evolved, especially now I am a crone. I feel very comfortable with my own perceptions and stage of life. I do I look to the goddess for wisdom, but I know there is wisdom to be found within in all creation. The principles of the father and mother are equally as important to me. I also feel a very strong affinity with Celtic traditions because they are a deep part of my inherited identity from my Gaelic ancestors. Bagpipes and the fiddle can be spiritual experience for me!

Imbolc is the Celtic pagan festival celebrating the beginning of Spring, and the Celtic mythological fertility goddess Brigit, held on February 1st, which is approximately halfway between Winter Solstice, and the Spring Equinox. This is a uplifting thing to know right now because we are about to have a big snow storm with thin the next day.
The festival of Imbolc is still widely celebrated, ever since ancient times throughout Ireland, Scotland, and The Isle of Man, when Brigit is invoked to protect homes and livestock. She is considered the triune goddess, with attributes of the Poet, Healer and Smith. The house hold fire is sacred to Brigit. She is both sage and a woman of wisdom.

No one is above the goddess Brigit, but her father Dagda, similar to the Emperor, who embodies Zeus, King of the gods, and is also called All-Father.
Following the wisdom of the goddess is in part, a reclaiming and finding that forgotten sacred relationship
with the goddess within myself.
 

Brigit - Image John Duncan

Ace of Pentacles - New Beginnings

Poseidon, seen here in the Ace of Pentacles, is a real big guy, the son of Cronos and Rhea, brother to Hades and Zeus. He is the "husband of the earth", the god of fertility, of all the waters and of the earth's surface, possessing great power and strength. Poseidon is a mover and a shaker.

All the Aces are powerful, always representing new beginnings and innovative ideas.
Here we find a wellspring of raw energy toward creativity and inspiration. The Ace of Pentacles symbolizes the material plane, in the form of the physical body or monetary things.


Since paying off my mortgage in November I am finally beginning to feel less of a financial burden. Struggling on your own so long is a real challenge. As much as I can stress about this pressure, I really wouldn't have changed it, because it has made me the person I am, and I have come to greatly love, and appreciate the kindnesses of others toward me. I have learned a lot about myself, some positive, some negative, which is all part of the learning process in the cycle of life

The little pleasures have so much to offer us, and if we can't appreciate them, no sum of money, or things will ever bring happiness.
When we are little, we have a true sense of awe, wonder and joy, taking such pleasure in simple things, and time spent with those we love and who love us.
A day at the beach with my little cousins, picking berries, spending time in the garden with my grandfather, exploring the woods, playing with my dog, or feeling such excitement over the first snow fall, were all things I remember, and I think it is important to be in close touch with these things to keep them at the forefront of my mind, knowing it is the simple things and especially our relationships, is where we find real pleasure, happiness and wealth.

 Yesterday I was very sad to learn of the death of another beautiful friend, who was a very kind, down to earth, humble man, who was very much loved and respected. Lately there have been a number of people that have died in our close knit community, that will be greatly missed.

The weather today is very Wintery with a storm in progress, but it doesn't bother me one bit, because I am appreciating the simple things.
I put on a big pot of chili in my slow cooker for supper. I finally got my internet going after being able to get myself a new router yesterday, my car insurance paid, and am well prepared for a power outage or a flat tire because I was able to afford some kerosene for my lamp, and a handy-dandy emergency, portable air compressor, and good sized order of groceries. My good neighbour just arrived to plow me out.

Life is sweet, beautiful, good, and so very transitory. I intend to savour every minute, as it is, for however long it is. I am grateful for life, every day.

Five of Wands - Fighting The Dragon

I'm just now getting back on line after being three days without my internet. I feel lost without my computer but I have other issues I have to deal with that cannot be avoided. I think I've had some time well spent over the past three and a half days to do some introspection and taking stock of my present circumstances surrounding what I want and how this matches reality.

The Five of Wands represents struggle. I haven't drawn this card for sometime. It's an appropriate card that describes my struggles as of late. When we are experiencing one difficult event after another, one can have a tendency to think, what in the heck is happening here, and why?

Our creative visions clash with reality, and it can feel like this is all some sort of conspiracy against us. It is not, it is simply life.

I know there is a source of strength I can draw upon the same way Jason draws on Medea's strength and knowledge. She is a close relative to the High Priestess, who embodies the feminine power of intuition and instinct. Medea who gives Jason the vision and courage to fight the battle with the dragon, in order to achieve his goal of acquiring the Golden Fleece.

This card urges us to have persistence and loyalty to a vision, to make compromises, and to fight for what we want. I need to address my struggles with material reality head on. If not, one risks falling into a depressive and apathetic mood which all represents the dragon of inertia..
Fortunately this is not my nature, though I am certainly not immune to depression and feelings of apathy, especially when I procrastinate, and avoid things I should not. The more I ignore these issues the worse the situation gets. The struggle will prove fruitful, if I rally the forces and tools available to me, such as trust, perseverance, and prayer.

Queen of Pentacles - Feminine Strength

I find the all the Queens in my Mythic Tarot Deck always have some kind of significant and helpful message for me, usually with some thing I'm struggling with. Today it no different, when I drew the Queen of Pentacles or the mythic figure of Queen Omphale this morning. Prior to this, I heard good news about an issue I had let go of since Friday past, and this card was a clear confirmation for me to remain strong, stable, and simple.

 I don't know about you but I can complicate my life. If could get back the amount of time I've wasted on fretting about things, and if I could cash that time in for dough, I'd be able to at least pay off all of my bills! Especially when the outcome is good, I then reflect on my behaviour. I've metaphorically pulled my hair out, and got my underwear in a knot, and see clearly how this is such a very futile exercise. If this happened literally I'd be bald by now, with very ill fitting, uncomfortable undies.

Regardless of the outcome of things, it is a total waste of time. It is also uncomfortably obvious to me how I  lack trust. I do turn it over, to the God of my understanding,but not without a period of hand wringing, and hanging onto my Kerfuffles. Drives me bonkers.

I do believe I am making improvement, little by slowly. Today I strive for simplicity within the complexity of life. The Queen of Pentacles reminds me to keep my feet planted in the good earth.

Sometimes I bring on these problematic issues myself. I have nothing to whine, complain or worry about. So like the Queen of Pentacles I want and need to focus on the abundance of life. I need to be generous with  myself mentally and emotionally, believe in my feminine strength, and share that abundance with others, and stop worrying about Kerfulles.

The Lost City of Kerfuffles

Two of Pentacles - Don't Give Up!

Here we see Daedalus who is at the beginning of honing his skills and reputation. He is putting his energy and efforts into several challenging areas at once. It is like juggling, but in whatever form it takes in life, these are all the challenges before us, and it is a developed skill that we need to build upon and has been an essential habit for me to maintain balance.

 I have to make my mind up to be determined, to get one step successfully completed, before I can move on to the next. If I try to skip a step I'll simply not be able to accomplish the skill effectively, and won't be able to reach the goal I have set for myself.

If I break things down one step at a time, I can channel the flow of creative energy, put it to work, and reap the rewards. It enables me not to feel over whelmed, to not be overcome with impatience, which leaves me frustrated, disappointed, and like I have failed. Unfortunately all of these negative feelings can quickly translate into guilt and shame, leave us feeling like we want to give up.

Don't give up! There are those who love us, want to help us to reach our goals, and to reach our dreams, if we will only ask for help.

The Queen of Swords - Atalanta

There are no mistakes. Really? Well I think I can agree with this statement, though it does sound like a ridiculous statement on one level, it does not mean perfection, and that we never stop making mistakes. This is far from being true. Our so called mistakes I do believe, are wake up calls, all part of our life journey, and they can serve us well, to enable a change in our behaviour for the better.

In spite of the mistakes, I don't need to panic. I do need to try to relax. I know this is much easier said than done, because of my human fight or flight reaction, but it doesn't mean I stop trying to do some serious introspective homework, to figure out what the next step is. I cannot fear my mistakes, but I do need to embrace them, in order to make the changes necessary in order to avoid a repeat.

We don't always purposely make mistakes, but regardless we can avoid many of them if we can let go of our demand for perfection, often creating our own problems.

The Queen is the perfect card to draw today, as she lifts up the individual struggling to overcome a panic attack ( namely me). This Queen uses her intelligence, and her intuitive passion to solve her problems.

 Atalanta is embodied in the Queen, and when she was born, her father King Iasus, who wanted a male child, cruely abandoned her on a mountainside to die.  Atalanta was then helped by Artemis-Hecate, the moon-goddess, who sent a she-bear to suckle the child, and so, she is well acquainted with animal instinct. Later she was found and raised by a clan of hunters who found her. She learned to fight, and was a fierce hunter along side of men, and was always happy. Atalanta became the 'swiftest mortal alive' and was full of prowess. She greatly identified with the masculine world, and strove for perfection.

 It is said that she was the only woman who joined the Jason and the Argonauts on the great ship Argo, in search of the Golden Fleece.

Crescent Moon Bear - Catherine Meyers