Seven of Wands - Faith in the Unknown Mysteries

The Seven of Wands is a card of struggle, a card of competition, perseverance and faith. Ok, so there are so many things in life we don't understand, and these can cause us to be fearful if we don't have the right kind of attitude. Faith has been an absolute essential in my life and this in turn has helped me to persevere.

 I'll be honest with you, if I came across this humdinger of a critter in the ocean I'd probably swim for the hills. But I'd also have to ask myself, how can a fish possibly be wearing lipstick? And I might well think I've completely lost the plot. I don't think I'd persevere and go back for a second look.

 This unbelievable creature is not a photo shop creation. It actually exists in the ocean, called the Red Lipped Bat Fish.

Red Lipped Bat Fish

I love this little dude, the Leafy Sea Dragon.

Leafy Sea  Dragon

Today on the radio I learned about what's called the Twilight Zone  , a place that exists in the depths of the ocean, so dark and deep, where no one has gone, until a special pressurized chamber was invented to bring these kind of incredible creatures, safely to the surface for scientists to study and then return to the ocean depths.

Often what human beings don't understand we are fearful of, we can sometimes be jealous, or simply not care less about what we don't understand for what ever reason.
But the mysteries we don't understand can hold so many answers to questions surrounding life itself, and can keep us from hubris, which usually gets us into trouble.

Human beings are not greater than nature, we are all part of nature. We don't need to lord it over nature with power and control.
It's a precarious and delicate balance between humanity, the environment and the metaphysical relationship that exists, needs to be paid attention to and we need not be in opposition with nature, if we are to survive and thrive into the future and the seven generations to come.

Many years ago I got my SCUBA certification. Diving in scuba gear in the ocean left me with such a feeling of awe that never left me. I became acutely aware of a world and ecosystem that I never knew existed. It opened my mind, my heart, and gave me a new appreciation and vision of the ocean, where I live, and my place in the world.

In this world, in this century, it's more important than ever to have faith in the mysteries of life. It's what gives us hope least we live and die without purpose.

Death- Transformative Experiences

I rarely get this card in my daily draw, although lately it's been making an appearance and it always gets my attention. In spite of infrequently drawing this card it makes sense to me today as it speaks of transformation, a kind of out with the old, and in with the new pretext, which is exactly where I am presently  in my life. It's both exciting and daunting simultaneously, that directly involves my creative goals and objectives.

Transforming experiences are brought about via internal or external forces, but ultimately it is our responsibility to decide what to do in response to the circumstances in which we find ourselves. I always try hard to work with what I've got, and my out look is to take an optimistic, hopeful and trusting stance, regardless of the situation, be it positive or negative.

 The power of our mind can never be underestimated in it's ability to transform the quality of our lives.

Skeleton Woman - Egg Tempera on Wood - Catherine Meyers

Seven of Wands - Are You Ready To Rumble?

I've never been a fighter in that I never beat anyone up, and was ever interested in that sort of thing. Although I loved to watch wrestling on TV with my dad, and we lived close to Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto and we'd actually go see wrestlers like Sweet Daddy Seeky and The Beast.

 When I arrived in the small home town I was born in, after living in Ontario for 15 years I took serious notice of one thing. The young teen aged girls were physically fighting with one another. It was very strange and a little scary. I felt like a powerless underdog, but my actions reflected my creative intuition that were my weapons of choice, if I was ever confronted, and this resulted in a peaceful outcomes. I also found humour was often disarming or I could simply walk away and vote with my feet.

I'm a fighter when it comes to trying to overcome fear, or when certain challenges present themselves  I force myself to persevere and I try to remain calm. It's a good feeling when I can overcome whatever it is I'm struggling with in stressful situations.

I spent the last week fighting with my printer and finally figured out how to get it working properly. This isn't a spectacular kind of accomplishment but if I can fight those little frustrating day to day challenges, I see it as a kind of creative practice. These scenarios give me the opportunity to practice patience, and to have the trust to have faith, that I can overcome, and it gives me the opportunity to increase my perseverance.  These are all the things I pray for in my life.

The Seven of Wands represents the underdog who is victorious through perseverance and faith. It not about competing with anyone, but ourselves.

Chris Hogan, Will Sasso, and Aries Spears play El Asso Wipo, Señor Bag of Crap, and El Diablo Negro, the Mexican wrestlers.

Strength - What Makes You Strong?

Many moons ago, I used to do a lot of strength training for many years. I felt great to feel the physical strength that comes with resistance training. It's something I could definitely benefit from again, now that I've reached that crone age. I have to go for a bone density test next month, so it will be interesting to see the results of that test.

The kind of strength that comes with strength training can indirectly affect you inner strength of course, but the strength that results from trust, persistence, perseverance, and experience is equally effective to increase your strength of character.

Living on my own for most of my life has mostly proven to be a challenge in many ways, and though I am an independent woman, I would never think, nor could I ever say, that I did it all on my own, because I have that kind of strength. No, definitely not, far from it.

There is a kind of strength in numbers for sure. If we help one another, and really understand that sometimes we all need to ask for help, and that it's equally as important to simply offer your help to others, without them having to ask, and help one another to be strong in our weakness.

Lately I've been getting some very unexpected help, and today was such a day, and I want to say how very grateful I am. Truthfully, I know I have my own strengths, but honestly my strength relies on the help that comes from the grace and mercy of the God of my understanding, and from the generous heart and spirit of others. Without them all, I'd have been be dead in the water, a long time ago.

If I can give back in any way I do, because I know I can't keep what I have, unless I give it away, and that's what makes me strong.

“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” - Ian Maclaren

The Chariot - Do I Have a Discerning Balance?

I can't remember the last time I drew The Chariot. This is a card of balance, power, energy and discernment.

 Lately I have been doing a lot of praying for others, and for myself. I think many times the best prayers are for others, and prayers of thanksgiving. I know too I need to say prayers for myself. Mostly that my will be aligned with the God of my understanding. But sometimes I have to ask for help when I am up against it, and I have done all that I can do, and so I pray.

 The Chariot reminds me that when we are being pulled and pushed in different directions, we have to decide what we can and cannot do. Maintaining our focus on keeping our balance is perhaps all we can do even though we may feel and know that anything can happen. This is the way life is, and many of us try to simply keep our heads above water, or the struggles and hardships we have endured can give us strength to rise above, becoming better people, and we can help others in return, for what has been so freely given to us.

 I know that more often than not I can't often control what happens, but I can control how I respond to it. These days gratitude and having a sense of humour, is I think my default in life, and it really does help to keep things in perspective whatever else happens or is going on around me, and that doesn't have to dictate my behaviour and I can use discernment.

Strength - Flying Without Wings

 Sometimes when we are feeling the most weak, it's when we are the most strong, although it may certainly not feel like this is our reality.

 I love cats of all shapes and sizes, but most of all I am what some might call a horse nut. They deeply touch my soul. I love them for so many reasons. They symbolize to me freedom, inner strength, and beauty.

When I was a thirteen year old teenager, I was good friends with a girl who took riding lessons. I lived vicariously through her experiences with horses. She once told me something I never forgot, but at the time did not completely understand the significant depth of it's meaning to me. I was able to apply what she'd said to me later in life.

 She said when jumping fences her coach told her to concentrate on the fence directly in front of her, and to jump one fence at a time. I adapted this to living, taking on one day, and even one moment at a time. This for me is where strength is.

If I project into looking at the fences and hurdles ahead, I will be overwhelmed, worried and even paralyzed with fear. If I regret the stumbles I have made in the past were the posts came down, or I failed to even try to get over the hurdles, I'll feel guilt and maybe shame, because I failed and made mistakes.

When you come face to face with a horse, or any creature that is much bigger than you, you can often feel an overwhelming fear about the expanse of their huge strong bodies. You  also come face to face with your fears, and attune to your visceral reactions and response. You realize they could hurt you, or even kill you.

 Horses, although no longer so much a wild animal like a lion, they cause you to become self-aware, and teach you to have an inherent respect for a highly intelligent, sentient creature.

When I turned 40, I had the privilege of being able to work around horses, riding daily, and living on a horse farm for a period of two years. It was hard disciplined work, but I persevered, and I overcame so many struggles and  fears. I learned so much about horses, about myself, and learned to fly without wings.

" The horse had carried the girl into danger, as it may carry many of us, but her triumph conquered her fears and gave her courage for the new challenges that lay ahead. ".

                                                               - Mary Midkiff, She Flies Without Wings 

Feugo- Robert Painter's Barb - Oil on Canvas, Catherine Meyers

 

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.

How To Take Control of Your Inner Fool - The Fool

The Fool is a lovely card to draw today, considering the pending oncoming Winter, which is not at all my favourite time of year.

 I'm not so sure I want to take control of my inner Fool unless it is controlling impulsiveness and naivety. But then again the Fool would not be, if these characteristics were absent. I am not so impulsive as the Fool, which is directly related to my age I'm sure, but I still love to be spontaneous, optimistic with an open heart, which I think helps to keep your inner Fool alive helps to keep you young at heart and to grow old gracefully.

 The Fool's message to me is one of hope, excitement, having a forward looking attitude with optimism and an open heart, as the Fool is the carefree traveler embarking on the beginning of life's journey. The Fool doesn't know what lies ahead, but has the right attitude, is prepared as much as he can be, with his tools of life, carried in the satchel over his shoulder, and his canine companion following close by his side, or the eagle watching out for him as he begins his journey


Spending a lot of my life by myself, animals have always been my great comfort, and are wonderful companions. So it is fitting that the Fool would have his little dog, as seen in the Rider Waite Smith deck or the eagle, who is closest to the gods, watching over his journey. They are his close and loyal friends.


So the puss cats and I, are ready as we can be for the coming Winter with our life tools. We are beginning to hunker down, sticking closer to home near the fire, grateful for the load of wood in the garage, that will keep Jack Frost at bay. Problem is, like the Fool who is full of potential, but it is not applied as of yet, I am reminded I have to get four cord of wood into my garage before the snow comes!


The tools of life that we carry are so important on our daily walk through life. I have tools of life, but I have to be sure to use them, if they are to work for me. My tools have to be honesty, open mindedness, and a willingness to be at least willing to do the work it takes to live my life to the fullest. Trust, prayer, and  perseverance are also tools I must use in order to guard against and to take control of the negative aspects of my inner Fool.

Knight of Swords - The Hero

 

We all need a hero. I have been fortunate and blessed to have had an big brother, who was ten years older than me, and he really was my hero. He was not one like Sir Lancelot, or like the Knight of Swords, and never really rushed in to save the day,  without thinking, except on a few occasions, when I was young. Ralph however was very protective, charming, and everyone who met him, loved him.

 Why I consider him my hero, is because of the example he set for me. He embodied all the characteristics I admire in another, and in those we call heroes. He possessed perseverance, courage, and faith, in spite of all the odds, and was never afraid to show his emotion and affection.

My big brother was the salt of the earth, shot straight from the hip, and his wonderful sometimes dark sense of humour always came shining through regardless of how bad circumstances became. For me, Ralph set the bar, the standard for the way a man and a hero should be, and for that matter, he was an example for anyone.

Sadly, I lost my loving brother to Multiple Sclerosis 12 years ago, when he 59. I miss him more than words could ever express. He will always be my hero. <3

Seven of Cups - Reality and Fantasy

The Seven of Cups speaks of an emotional situation with the potential of a positive outcome. This is a card of fantasy and reality.

Here Psyche is confronted by Aphrodite, who points to the seven golden cups in the air, which symbolize 'castles in the air'. Psyche fantasizes about the future, which cannot be realized without the acceptance of the reality of hard work and sacrifice.


I think there was a show on television once, called "Reality Bites." It does much of the time. Sometimes we are faced with situations were we become painfully aware that we can't go on in denial or fantasy. It is a difficult decision we are sometimes faced with in our day to day lives, and this can result in a very heavy heart, because it may appear we are damned if we do, and damned if we don't.We can feel like we are between a rock and a hard place, because of the limitations that reality offers, in spite of our hope for a better future circumstance.

It is essential that we carefully consider our decisions, however we must make decisions. Whatever the outcome, we will have to accept, but it is necessary that we decide in order to move forward.
We will always face difficult choices in our lives, and like Psyche we must learn to have patience, faith and perseverance in order to have the strength to make our choices based on reality, not fantasy. 

Eight of Swords - Patience

When I was in grade nine, I remember hearing my Geography teacher say under her breath, but loud enough for me to hear, she said, " Patience is a virtue ". The class was about to drive the poor woman over the edge.

We have all felt this way some time in our lives when we are tested, to the point that it felt we were at the end of our rope, and our patience is wearing thin. It is then, that we have to stay the course, dig our heels in, and find that reserve, to draw on our inner resources to persevere, and some how find the patience we need to overcome, whatever circumstance. If you don't, the situation will get much worse, and you very may well regret it, ending up in a worse mess.

You cannot ignore this situation, and you need to face it square on, even if there is nothing to be done. Coming to terms with reality, and going through whatever the challenge is the only way out.

The Eight of Swords portrays a situation of being in bondage through fear of the consequences. Fear will paralyze, rendering you incapable of moving forward, and you know it. You know you have played a part in creating this dilemma, and need to honestly accept responsibility for what you have contributed to this situation. There is a solution possible, but there is a need to try to understand what it is you want, and take action in order to change it for the better.

Knight of Pentacles - Persistance

The love and appreciation of the natural world, taking responsibilities seriously and persistence in finishing what is started , all attributes symbolized by this card.


Pentacles concern our physical selves, and all things connected to the earth; property, work, money and practical matters. Pentacles are also associated with the earth signs of the Zodiac: Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn. 
 
The Knight is both honourable, dependable, loyal, thorough, and ambitious. The Knight is a lover of the countryside, loves all animals and the wild creatures. He/she is humble and realistic in all they do.

To some, this individual may seem dull and boring, lacking in imagination, as there is nothing really heroic or a glamorous about them. This is not so. Being anchored in steadfastness, having a strong sense of responsibility, exhibiting diligence, being gentle and kind, are all desirable and wise leadership skills and virtues to possess, that are an example for all. We have much to learn from this individual.

I have learned three important things in life that anchor me in good times and bad. Knowing there is power in persistence, prayer and in trust.

Seven of Cups - The Creative Dreamer

The Seven of Cups augers an emotional situation that needs to be tempered and balanced with reality. , Here in this Minor Arcana card Aphrodite confronts Psyche with the tasks she must perform to win back Eros and is pointing to the seven golden cups. The number seven is the number of creativity, and represents the creative dreamer.

It is essential that we have realistic dreams. I believe they come for a divine source. Prioritizing, and learning how to fulfill dreams, is often what counts if we really want something badly enough. We can't achieve our goals having fantasies, pipe dreams or illusions. As well, too many possibilities and options can be problematic, and overwhelming. So, we must decide what it is we want, and don't want.

 I know creative visual imagery is an extremely useful tool, in order to actualize our dreams. I do however have to work hard to eventually lessen the existing gap between fantasy and reality, if I want to succeed in making many of my dreams come true. Being distracted by flights of fancy is not something most of us cannot afford.

Often through difficult and hard lessons learned, there are dreams that may never be able to be realized, and we have to accept this fact. Other dreams however can change along the way, and there is satisfaction and fulfillment that can be found in what remains. There are limitations to reality.

It's vital to believe, and have faith in ourselves, along with our ambitions, hopes and forethought, that enable us to reach our goals through commitment to hard work, and to perform the tasks at hand. Patience, faith, and perseverance are necessary to manifest the potentials and capacities, and will give us structure and direction.

Believe that all things are possible.