The Magician - To Drive The Cold Winter Away

The Magician - Egg Tempera on Porcelain - Catherine Meyers 2015

The Magician has all the tools he needs at his disposal. There are Cups for his emotional health, Swords representing the intellect, Wands symbolizing creativity and Pentacles serving the physical needs on the earthly plane. He points to the Heavens and to the Earth reminding us of their direct interconnection.

 During Christmas and in the dead of Winter, it's wise to have all our tools at our disposal as well, in order to make the most of a difficult time for many of us. Of course not everything about Christmas is difficult, there is beauty, kindness and love extended toward many that often goes unnoticed. There are those who selflessly give of themselves time and time again throughout the year, every year.

The spontaneous generousity of giving is part of the magic of Christmas but more importantly it is also a basic human need that builds and maintains positive interpersonal relationships, and is vital to our own health and happiness everyday.

I have a number of things that help to give me comfort and joy during this time of year. Here's my list of seven that I use from my personal tool box. There are no doubt, lots of other tools that I'll continue to add and please feel free to add to this list as I would love to know what's on your list.

1. I always choose to have some special Christmas ornaments that I keep up all year round as a reminder to  keep the spirit of Christmas in my heart always.
2. Music soothes my soul and gives me strength, so I play certain songs during the season. I love to play Loreena Mckinnet's  To Drive The Cold Winter Away .
3. The smell of fresh growing herbs reminds me of Spring and my connection to the earth, and growth. This year I have a combination of Italian herbs and a close friend gave my a smudging bundle of sacred sage.
4.The Magician's tools I compare to the Circle of Courage which I pray for that I'll always strive to keep in mind that I need to maintain balance in order to maintain a happy and healthy life.
5. Keeping some of the special traditional activities alive and creating new traditions are affirming and heart warming, providing a sense of belonging.
6. I've found the best prevention for the "poor mes" is to focus on trying to help someone else.
7. Last but not least find ways to have a good laugh, whether it's watching some good comedy, stand-up comedian, or attending a party with some friends who love to laugh will get those feel good hormones working.

Eight of Cups - Freedom From Death - Freedom To Live

Cups representing the emotional life, here in the Eight of Cups we see the descent of Persephone (Psyche) which is dreaded and dark, but one that is taken by many of us at some point in our lives. Persephone is descending down the stairwell of the underworld. Despairing in the knowledge she may never return, as it is the last task Aphrodite has given her, which is death. She has voluntarily given up hope in achieving her goal of relationship. She must let go, as she can do nothing else, but submit to the will of the divine, the great goddess of love Aphrodite. Persephone goes empty handed into the unknown.
This is The Heroine's Journey.

The descent to the underworld or the unconscious, is a time when everything is about to change whether we know it or not.

We don't like the change and want to refuse or deny the changes, being fearful, insecure, and perhaps feeling a sense of obligation, or any range of reasons why we cannot let go of our current circumstances.

Once circumstances are accepted, suddenly help or spiritual guidance appears and is then provided.

 Finally crossing the first threshold to the new adventure, filled with unknown dangers, limits and rules, it is at this time there is an overwhelming sense of hopelessness, and this the lowest point in the journey, despairing as there is no one to help us.

 It is like being in the belly of the whale, separated from ourselves and the world as we know it. But it is now where we begin to embark on the metamorphosis, dying to the old self, and are transforming into the new self, with a willingness to transform.

At this point, there are an initiation of sorts including many tests, trials and ordeals to undergo, in order for the transformation to begin.

After facing these challenges, we can return transformed, experienced, with a deeper understanding of unconditional love, the balance between the material and spiritual world, comfortable and competent with the inner and outer world. Being unified within ourselves, we need to integrate the wisdom imparted to us through our journey, and figure out how to share our experience strength and hope with others.

The mastery that is achieved from this journey leads to freedom of death, and in turn, gives us the freedom to live.

Eight of Pentacles - Apprenticeship - The Circle of Courage

 An apprentice must work hard at practicing his or her skill to learn their trade. It helps immeasurably if you are a quick study like the individual in the Eight of Pentacles. Advancement of your craft happens with conscientious effort and old fashioned hard work. The new ventures presented to you, will be rewarded through all your care, effort and dedication. Perfectionism is not the goal, but progress.

We all reach a stage in life often referred to as, a mid-life crisis. This juncture in life can be navigated successfully if we are willing to be open to new challenges, and work hard at learning, to acquire new skills.  
Life long learning accompanied with a positive and optimistic attitude, can not only improve our quality of life but can increase our life span as well. We can learn from one another.

I found out many years ago, the definition of what a skill is. First, someone takes time to demonstrates the skill to us. Then we attempt the skill, and follow this up, by disciplined regular practice, if we want to develop, and master the skill. I believe developing and learning a skill, regardless of our age, can lead us to a greater sense of well being and health as whole human beings.

It takes courage sometimes to change course and take on the challenge of a new skill, particularly one you know nothing about. You are not alone. There are many folks out there that have done or are doing just that. Seek them out, and find others who are like minded in following their passion. You will find a sense of belonging, community and fellowship. You then can in turn, be an example to another and help some one else learn something new,sharing with them what you have learned.

The Chariot - War, Battle, Conflict, Struggle

The card of the day for me, is The Chariot.  This card is symbolic of war, battle, conflict and struggle, which may seem initially to be a negative thing, but if we allow ourselves, this struggle and conflict can give us strength of character, and great personal transformation, depending on our attitude. I have found this to be very much  the case personally. I have witnessed this inner strength, and courage in others, who have been, and are warriors.
Although it is necessary to face these conflicts and contradictions within ourselves, and cannot be avoided,  I have never found this to be easy, but it is all part of growing up, even becoming and adult!.
Resentment and aggression  are luxuries I can  no longer afford. I stopped carrying around a little gunny sack full of grudges toward others. I have learned to forgive others and myself.

The Chariot is the seventh card among  the 22  Major Arcana. The astrological sign Cancer and the Moon are linked with this card of conflicting animal urges and the inner instincts that can threaten to run away with us, if we do not learn to live in balance and harmony. This does not mean that we should repress our feelings, otherwise we loose our personal power, and ability to not just survive in spite of ourselves, but to thrive because of our selves, in finding our way, traveling along on the road of life.
Harnessing and balancing human nature, being pulled in opposing directions; will and action, the two horses, one black, one white symbolize this struggle that takes place within the human psyche, as we make daily decisions in our lives.


Ares, the God of War, is seen in bronze helmet and bronze armor over a blood-red tunic as he drives his war chariot. He wears a shield at his hip, and at his side is a large spear. He holds the reins of two horses, one black and one white, as they pull in opposite directions before him. The landscape is reddish and desert-like as a storm approaches.

War Symbolism (Chariot, Armor, Shield, Spear, etc)

• chariot is a symbol of war or battle
• chariot is the image of the mastery and mobility of gods and heroes
• armor identifies a warrior
• spear is a symbol of war and struggle, aggression or hostility
• spear represents that which may cut, pierce or injure
• spear represents phallic power and potency in both men and women
• an environment of hostility, aggression and oppression
• an internal struggle
• retaliation for previous thoughts, words or actions
• the need to consciously deal with problems that are struggling at the unconscious level
• the need to fight for what’s right
• the process of disintegration and reintegration
• abolishing disorder and creating order out of chaos
• the spiritual battle between good and evil within man’s own nature

Black and White Horses

• Deimos (fear) and Phobos (terror) accompanied Ares on the battlefield
• the potential for both good and evil contained in the aggressive instinct
• white horse represents pure intellect while the black horse represents chaos
• black symbolizes lack of consciousness, descent into darkness, evil, corruption, ignorance while white represents innocence, purity, truth, perfection, redemption, illumination
• conflicting animal urges within man that are full of vitality yet unwilling to work together
• Metaphors/Proverbs:
  • “to know black from white” is to understand the difference between right and wrong
  • “to see everything as black and white” is to have limited vision, to see things only as true/false or right/wrong
  • “a horse of a different color” means additional information that causes a situation to be reconsidered or different
  • “don’t put the cart before the horse” means it’s important to do things in the right or natural order, and is also used to correct people who confuse cause and effect
  • “zeal without knowledge is a runaway horse” means that uninformed enthusiasm will only lead to disaster

Desert Landscape

• the lack of feeling and relatedness in which the aggressive impulses thrive
• that which is not fertile, is bleak or is abandoned
• that which lacks insight or spirit; hopelessness and pessimism

Ares

• god of war, he reveled in fighting and was in love with the heat and glory of battle so that he could unleash all his strength to challenge his foe
• because he was associated with bloodshed and conflict, he was disliked by Zeus and Athena because of his brute-strength and lack of refinement
• Aphrodite fell in love with him though, and together they had a daughter Harmonia, whose quality was the harmonious blending of love and strife
• the image of aggressive instincts guided and directed by the will of consciousness
• as fatherless god (he was born from Hera without male seed), he’s the image of the natural aggressive and competitive instincts of the body because he lacks the archetypal spiritual father who might provide him with vision and meaning
• this iron will and great courage are a necessary complement though to spiritual vision, which isn’t enough to survive in a competitive and difficult world
• the second of life’s greatest lessons – the creative harnessing of the violent, turbulent urges of the instinctual nature
• arriving at maturity – learning how to take the consequences of one’s actions as an adult and facing the anger and conflict one has invoked both internally and externally
• the need to deal with the warring opposites and war-like urges within
• lesson of how learning to contain and direct the aggressive drive fosters the development of the whole personality