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.

The Wheel of Fortune - The Shortest Day

I was kind of hoping I might draw the Sun or maybe the Moon today, but the Wheel of Fortune is the most suitable card on this approaching Solstice, which arrives here in Nova Scotia at 6:44 am December 21st 2016.

Winter Solstice is the time of year I always look so forward to, more so than Christmas because my head is full of thoughts of Spring and light. Winter has never been my favourite time of year, perhaps because I was born in June, but I'll certainly celebrate the return of the light.

 I'll plant some garlic inside the house for my Solstice celebration and light some special bees wax candles in my Candelabras.

The Wheel of Fortune is a fitting card being the Major Arcana card that reminds me of the balance and the seemingly imbalances, our ups and downs and the ying and yang of our lives. Winter Solstice is paired for me with the Summer Solstice on June 21st, the day my late husband and I were married.

And so I'll say prayers for those of us who are thinking of loved ones we deeply miss, no longer with us on this mortal coil, but forever live in the light, close to our heart our hearts.



Samian Night - Loreena Mckennitt

When the moon on a cloud cast night
Hung above the tree tops' height
You sang me of some distant past
That made my heart beat strong and fast
Now I know I'm home at last

You offered me an eagle's wing
That to the sun I might soar and sing
And if I heard the owl's cry
Into the forest I would fly
And in its darkness find you by.

And so our love's not a simple thing
Nor our truths unwavering
But like the moon's pull on the tide
Our fingers touch, our hearts collide
I'll be a moons breath by your side.

Knight of Swords - Can You Have One Without The Other?

I relate very much to the Knight of Swords as it relates to Gemini, my Sun sign. According to Roman Mythology these inseparable brothers were considered the patrons of horses, a majestic creature I greatly  love and adore.  

Castor the mortal, and Polydeuces the Divine represent courage, adventure and change. Having a sense of adventure and being open to change can make us better people. When we can temper our intuition/emotion with our rational/intellectual mind and visa versa, this can help us to be aware of our behaviour and our mortal/divine nature.

This card brings to mind the Winter Solstice, with the presence of both light and dark in our lives.
Like the twin brothers it is a good reminder to me that I can't have one without the other, and I've learned to appreciate both individually, and simultaneously.
I hope you are looking forward to the future with adventure and change and I pray that you have courage.

Finding The Light In The Dark - Ten of Wands

There are those of us who are afraid of the darkness, or find it oppressive and depressing. Some embrace the darkness, especially those who live in the North. They find a beauty, and peace in the dark of the North, that many Southerners may never experience or fully understand. I was blessed to have been able to have lived in Northern Canada for three years. Initially it was an adjustment, but I adapted quickly to the lack of daylight. I will say the excess of light in the Summer months made up for it, and because of this, I actually found it more of an adjustment when I moved back to the South,  if you can call Nova Scotia being the 'South'.

An over active imagination can contribute to our fears of the dark, but if we can learn to embrace the darkness we will eventually find the light, and be able to overcome our fear of the unknown.

Upon first impression, the Ten of Wands, the last numbered card of the suit of Wands, gives a feeling of heavy oppression, because it speaks of taking on too much, and feeling overwhelmed. We have lost enthusiasm for our once new creative project or undertaking. Here we see Jason surrounded, and bound by burning Wands, with the Golden Fleece on the ground, and the once great Argos is beached and wrecked in the background. You would expect a different scenario after Jason's accomplishment.

Being surrounded by the burden of the Wands on fire, we ask ourselves, what now, and how am I going to get out of this situation? Will I ever get back to were I was once was creatively? We all experience what some call creative blocks, or what I call a kind of spiritual dryness where depression can follow a particular creative or happier time. Often when we are feeling oppressed, this can lead to suppression, and eventually unconscious to repression all this can stifle our creativity, and happiness.

We may feel like, some how we have lost our way, and are out of touch with ourselves, maybe we are feeling burnt out, under the weight of many burdens.
Although this fire can hurt us, if we let it, it still provides us with a light that points to the way out, and can illuminate our path on the pilgrimage of life.


For me, the Winter Solstice is the time to deeply reflect, take an inventory of my life at present, to prioritize, and to apply the slogan, ' first things first'. I need to discern what it is I need to unburden myself from, and perhaps add to, or reorganize my life in order to restore my vision.

When we hit the darkest low points in life, I do believe, we can only go down so far, before we begin to come back up, as my strong mother, and wise mentor would always say, in so many words.  The darkest hour is truly just before the dawn, when the restorative life giving warmth of the sun, will come shining through.

This past year has been a difficult one for me personally, but I see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Today seemed to be the culmination of a rough past two weeks. As I was writing this post, there came a knock at the door, and I found a very dear, kind friend, who reached out in generousity, and I was overwhelmed with emotion, in  great gratitude.

The Crescent Moon Bear- Catherine Meyers

The Spirit of Solstice - Sun Stands Still - Hope Is Renewed

The Eight of Cups very much corresponds with my thoughts today about letting go. Psyche, as she descends into the underworld, all hope seems lost, and even abandoned. There is nothing more left, for her to do, but to let go of the past, and of the future. Letting go for me is about turning things over to the God of my understanding. Letting go is rather like releasing a balloon. Once we let it go, it begins to float, you don't grab hold of the long string attached, and take it back again, when you let it go, it is gone.

 As I was saying to a friend today, it is easy to let go, when things are all going accordingly. I compare it to loving those who are easy to love. There is no virtue in that, those who are miserably unkind, and cruel do this. Loving the unlovable, or embracing difficulties, and burdens is how I learn those important life lessons.

On the shortest day of the year, The Winter Solstice's literal meaning of the word, is "Sun stands still". Today is the perfect time to reflect on the past year, and look to the renewed hope for the coming year and the future.

 The shortest day of the year gives way to the celebration of rebirth, and longer days to come, as the sun will shine brighter through to the Summer Solstice on June 21st, the longest day of the year. This day has special meaning to me because it was the day I married my soul mate. Though Bill left this mortal coil over 34 years ago, I still miss him deeply, especially at Christmas. He was the kindest soul I've ever known, and as the sun stands still today,  I will carry him close, in the small of my heart, as I always do.

Transcendence - The World

The World is a reassuring card that I have drawn today, after this past week which has be a rather difficult one. A sense of completion and wholeness, the ideal goal in the cycle of life, that goes on as they say, and we are left often trying to figure out what it all means. There are often no answers to our questions, but I do believe with the depth of my soul, that there is the power to transcend, through a spiritual awakening, the kind the Carl Jung referred to regardless of your religious belief.

Life being so full of ups and downs, we all pass through various phases, that present a variety of challenges. It can be very difficult to find joy when we are at the low ebbs of the cycle. I compare life to the weather. Wait a while, and it will change. If there is nothing we can do, then we can do nothing, but wait for the storms to pass, and take what joy we can, out of the moments we have, and be grateful for the seemingly  insignificant little things, as well as the major events in life.

All the elements come into play in the last card of the major Arcana. The unborn potential and capacity of the personality leads the birth of the Fool which completes the circle of life.

The World causes me to reflect on the Winter Solstice which is fast approaching, heralding the end of darkness and beginning of new light. In the cycle of life, life begins, ends and begins again.

"The great cycle of the Major Arcana ends where it begins." -The Mythic Tarot

Skeleton Woman - Catherine Meyers

North Versus South - The Sun

It's a lovely thing to see the Sun, with the fast approach of Winter. I am not a sun worshiper, in the sense of being a person who sits in the sun day after day, soaking up the rays. I do however love to see the brightness, and light it brings everyday, especially when the days are short with too much darkness for my liking.

One of the reasons I look forward to Christmas is knowing the Winter Solstice is just around the corner, and with the approaching days of increasing light. There are good and beautiful things I greatly love about the North and the South, the Sun and the Moon, the dark and the light. You can't have one without the other.

In the 80s I moved to the North West Territories, where I lived in Yellowknife and Fort Smith for three years. It was wonderful having all that light until midnight, and I felt short changed when I returned to Nova Scotia, with 9:00 o'clock sunsets in the Summer.

More sunlight means folks generally have a sunnier disposition, or a least you don't have to work so hard at always keeping on the sunny side of life. Oh don't get me wrong, Winter was brutally cold and dark in the NWT.

The first year I arrived on April 28th, the day before the ice bridge closed. I thought I was going to end up on the bottom of the MacKenzie River, because the ice was melting! I was at least somewhat acclimatized, but I wasn't prepared for snow on my birthday June 4th, and I wondered what was I thinking moving from Nova Scotia to the 'Great White North, The Land of The Midnight Sun!'

When I returned to the Maritimes, sometimes I would tell stories to people about how it was so cold my braids would freeze, break right off, and fall on the ground, and a few other tales people would believe  about the frigid temperatures. The favourite story I would tell, was about how some Northerners didn't have ears because of frost bite, their ears fell off, and as a result they couldn't wear glasses.

I'm grateful to still have my ears and today I was happy to see I had drawn the Major Arcana card, The Sun. This card speaks of expanding horizons along with creative endeavours to follow. Oh happy day!

If we can't find the Sun outside of ourselves we have to find it within, and let it shine.

Northern Boys - Catherine Meyers