The Queen of Pentacles - Who's Happy?

I'd love to be or even feel like the Queen of Pentacles today but I'm not sure I'm any where near feeling like her right now. Oh sure on an intellectual level, I really identify with all her glorious attributes and I aspire to them daily. She's stead fast, possessing endurance and stability, grounded within herself and through her deep connection with the earth she loves to generously share in it's bounty, in any way that she can.

She lives each day to the fullest and is the embodiment of what it means to embrace all the simple pleasures of life. The Queen of Pentacles very much is an inspiration and is really the quintessential Earth Mother, the image of feminine strength and sensuality, with dignity and power.

I've deemed her to be the Queen of Hygge, and so drawing her today, is a much needed reminder for me to be happy, which is directly proportional to the gratitude I try mindfully to have everyday.

 Today it's been hard for me to focus on my gratitude because of the direct or indirect affects of not having enough available funds to get by every month. Yes, I'm poor, but I do know I'm rich, in so many other ways and this is what I try hard to focus on.

Financial insecurity has been an ongoing thing for me and tends to wear on you after many years. I never thought I'd be wishing for the day I turn 65, in 508 days, but who's counting? Well I am, because this will make a huge difference in decreasing my stress level, when my income will increase three times.

Today I've acknowledged that I'm sick and tried of struggling financially but I know there's light at the end of the tunnel and feel comforted by the Queen of Hygge who reminds me of this, and to count my blessings and to be thankful for the small miracles in my life. So the Queen of Pentacles (Omphale) queen of Lydia, she has made me grateful today and I'm feeling happier for it now, before having written this post about my favourite influential, down to earth, motherly Queen.

I'm reminded of a saying that I try hard to live by. I'm grateful not because I'm happy, but I'm happy because I'm grateful.

My cat Tommy Tom, he's a good teacher, he's so happy. He's really got this Hygge thing down pat!

Tommy Tom is Hyyge enlightened!

Queen of Pentacles - Bellissima!

The perfect card for me to draw today! The Queen of Pentacles enjoys the abundance of life, being surrounded by natural beauty and bounty of the earth that surrounds her. She is quick to share that bounty. Being a Queen she has influence, is the salt of the earth and is motherly.

Embodied in the mythic figure of Queen Omphale, is the image of feminine strength and sensuality.

Experiencing the richness of the earth for me is one of the most wonderful things that I am so grateful to be able to experience this on a daily basis, and I get the most pleasure from. I'm not materially rich, but the good earth makes me feel wealthy.

I have this fabulous collection of Italian herbs, Oregano, Thyme, Rosemary, and Basil, that I am so excited about and I'm really looking forward to having tomatoes, peppers and herbs from my garden to make salsa. Bellissima!

 We have a special dish in Nova Scotia called  Hodge Podge. After picking some fresh peas, green and yellow beans, along with new potatoes I threw them all into my slow cooker crock pot, along with seasoning, a large amount of butter, cream and milk.

I'd also made some bread yesterday, and this addition made for a delicious Nova Scotian Summer supper.  As we say here, it was some good!

Nova Scotia Hodge Podge

Knight of Pentacles - Steadfast

I've been writing a lot lately, I'm back to work after two weeks off, and trying to get ready for an art exhibit next month and so I feel a little pressed for time and could easily get my underwear in a big knot, if I let myself.

And so it's nice to see the Knight of Pentacles that stands placidly and steadfastly, seated bareback upon his loyal companion, his horse, and appears to be if in a meditative, mindful state taking in the beauty, sights, sounds and smells, all around him, that he loves so much. He takes pleasure in the simple things of life, and  has faith, trusting the Earth Mother will supply his needs. On a mission of sorts, he persists in living a full balanced life, is forward looking, focusing on his goal.

 The Pentacle he holds is confirmation and assurance to me that the physical demands of daily life are best managed and tempered in the context of that calm, mindful state. This is what helps us to get done, what we need to do, every day.

I have to remind myself, that I can't control the goings on around me. I can control myself and my attitude and perception toward them. It's a simple message but a vital one. I need to appreciate the menial everyday tasks and to persevere in getting them done. At the same time I need to do all I can to foster that connection with all of my environment, including my relationships and friendship with other living beings, in the natural world, be they creatures or human.

The Empress - The Queen of Nature

I always feel happy to draw the Empress, Demeter the Earth Mother, matriarchal goddess, mother of Persephone. She is a welcome site and gives me the sense, all is right with the world, especially after the big storm this week. This card makes me feel very grateful, hopeful and optimistic for the day, and for the future.

The Empress lightens my heart, and brings thoughts of sunshine, flowers, growing things and the Spring. She has  pomegranates decorated on her dress, and she is obviously carrying a child, signifying her fertile nature, and the creative growth within.

The water flows in the background which is life and spirit affirming symbolizing, flowing feelings and fertility. She wears a necklace with twelve stones, representing the astrological signs, and wearing her crown that represents her as ruler of nature and instinct.

The Empress embraces and cares for the good earth, and she is a creator, encouraging and urging us to do the same and to take good care of the earth and of ourselves, mind, body and spirit. She cares for all vulnerable creatures. Without her we cannot appreciate our physical selves and we are disconnected living only in an intellectual world.

A new creation whatever it is, needs patience and nurturing, in order for it to grow to full term. The Empress symbolically reflects the mothering experience, not necessarily in a physical way, but on an inner level.

Nurturing and caring for ourselves like a mother would, is probably one of the most difficult things for us to do, as women are often much more comfortable mothering, nurturing and caring for others. It is essential that we learn how be a mother or to re-parent ourselves, because if we can not care for ourselves, we not only short change ourselves, we are not able to fully care for or be present to another. We can risk burnout, may become resentful and bitter, because we are constantly giving to others, feeling that we are being taken for granted, revealing the dark side of Demeter.

Wild Woman Singing Over The Bones Egg Tempera, Catherine Meyers 2013

' The Feminine Face of God '

La Loba /Wolf Woman - Catherine Meyers

Yesterday I posted the about the Empress, which was the card I drew from my Mythic Tarot deck.
The Empress (Demeter) is the Earth Mother. Her daughter is The High Priestess (Persephone) queen of the underworld, link to the inner world or ' the unconscious ', and guardian of the secrets of the dead.

I am posting today about these two particular cards because they directly relate to the amazing book I am reading that I have mentioned in my posts a number of times, The Heroine's Journey, by Maureen Murdock. There is so much more I would love to share about this book and why I think it is a very important book to read, but suffice to say I highly recommend it to anyone, but especially to those who are tarot readers. It is a book that enables a deep understanding of our feminine and masculine identity and how there needs to be a balance between the two within ourselves for wholeness.

The High Priestess is our guide to all that is mysterious and mystical. I have read that this card, more than any other in the tarot deck, embodies and symbolizes the tarot reader, which I agree with, because the High Priestess represents the knowledge of intuition, supernatural, instinct, secret and self knowledge, and I believe it is the reason why individuals become tarot readers, male or female.

Here are some excerpts from The Heroine's  Journey that I hope will provide for you  food for thought, that I think clarifies ideas about the feminine, masculine, and about mother and daughter.

 " The nature of the mother/daughter split is also determined by how a woman integrates the archetypal Mother into her psyche, which includes Mother Earth and the cultural view of the feminine.

Our collective psyche fears the power of Mother and does everything it can to destroy it. We take her nurturance for granted; we use, abuse, and dominate matter (mater) every time we get a chance. Every barrel of oil that pours into Prince William Sound, every ton of nuclear waste that is stored in the New Mexican desert, every tree that is suffocated by acid rain shows our enormous arrogance and disregard for her.

Our churches have pushed the feminine face of God underground for centuries, destroying her image and usurping her power for the male gods. How can we feel connected to the feminine when culture around us does everything in its power to make us forget? We bow before the gods of greed, domination, and ignorance and scoff at the feminine images of nurturance, balance, and generousity. We rape, plunder, and destroy the earth and expect her to give to us endlessly. This mother/daughter wound runs deep; it will take much to heal it. "

" Your inner man and woman
   have been at war
   they are both wounded
   tired
   and in need of care it is time
   to put down the sword
   that divides them in two "

" The Masculine is an archetypal force; it is not a gender. Like the feminine, it is a creative force that lives within all women and men. When it becomes unbalanced and unrelated to life it becomes combative, critical, and destructive. This unrelated archetypal masculine can be cold and inhuman; it does not take into account out human limitations. Its machismo tells us to forge ahead no matter what the cost. It demands perfection, control, and domination; nothing is ever enough. Our masculine nature is wounded. "

" It is the job of the heroine to enlighten the world by loving it-starting with herself. "

I have to say I was initially not clear about what is meant by the masculine not being a gender. Upon more reflection. I believe what is meant, is that masculine and feminine are archetypal forces, not gender. That makes sense to me. I found more information from this site.

 http://www.gestaltreality.com/2013/02/03/archetypal-masculine-feminine-forces-the-key-to-creation/