Friday, December 17, 2010

A Course in Following Your Bliss

Magical transformation
through love
by being given
(or giving one’s self)
permission
to do what you really want to do
and be who you really are.

Honoring a promise brings fortune!


The Fool

Follow your bliss!  Follow your bliss!  Know what your bliss is!!!  Follow your bliss!

t’s therefore the card that offers you permission to go off on your own great and profound personal quest, just like Percivale did. (And he became one of the three greatest knights of all, y’all!)

The important aspect (and for some of us, the hard work) is: to actually KNOW what our bliss is (or would be/could be).

Because you see, when we get kinda down or times are tough, THAT is often the first knowing or believing that goes RIGHT out the window.

So, as I have written before, this is the somewhat rambling response I’ve given to a few clients when they’ve asked,

Follow my bliss?

What the hell does that mean?

 

You start by knowing what your heart’s true desire is [provided it's moral, of course.  And pretty close to legal.] If necessary, take some time to hone your understanding of what that means to you, for today, anyway.  Do it over an extra cuppa if that’s all the time you have.  But do it.

Do!! It!!!!

Then, no matter how impossible or illogical it may seem, like −

I’m gonna write a children’s story about an orphan boy who goes to a school for wizards, and it’s going to be so beautifully done it’s going to earn me enough to support myself and my family for the rest of my life.  In fact, it’s going to make me the first person to ever earn a billion dollars from writing fiction!  [Like THAT could ever happen!]

 − take your first single SMALL step on the path that follows your bliss.

And see what that leads to.

Then take the next step.

And see what that leads to.  And so on.

The difference between The Fool and some other Tarot cards that offer permission to follow your own unique path is that The Fool in particular says,

 “Stay connected to your heart, moment by moment.

Know that your heart may change, and so your direction may change, moment by moment.  But DO NOT allow yourself to think less of yourself, your efforts or your path because of that.  Go where your heart tells you and you will achieve more than most will ever even hope for.”

This is the card of the Sacred Fool, the Holy Fool;  the one who is open to divine inspiration and honors it by following his or her bliss, harm to none and love for all, always.

Let me remind you [troooooo-leeee for the umpteenth time] of how The Fool’s gift once applied to me.

We humans, with our nearly angelic powers and potentials, side by side with the reality of how we ignore them, or maybe even worse, use them in ways that are just plain selfish, demeaning, destructive and stupid, moment by moment.

And I got the very clear message that a big chunk of the problem is that we are following old habits, old programming. NOT following our bliss. Not honoring that which is angelic in us.  Not reaching for that which is for our Highest and Best.

But we can.

And then I came into the office and drew The Fool card and found great blessing in the message that that there is ALWAYS the possibility of doing it all differently

IF we know our hearts truly truly;

IF we honor that which truly resonates for the Highest and Best, which is always one with OUR Highest and Best;

 IF we follow our bliss.

 Wishing you a day of magic, and the sacred, and your true path.

 Brightest Blissings!

Quote for the Day: All I’m gonna do is just go on and do what I feel.  ~ Jimi Hendrix


PAGE OF SWORDS

Identify, own and begin a positive, deep and bright personal transformation.  TODAY! This card has the symbolism of a snake.


Snake symbolizes:

1. transformation and rebirth (the snake sheds its skin, and in that process experiences rebirth;  it has become a new creature and a creature renewed)

2. healing (the Rod of Asklepios, Greek God of Healing and Medicine, was entwined by a snake, and snakes were sacred totem animals, guardians and helpers at the temples of dream healing dedicated to him)

3. subconscious wisdom (knowledge of the Shamanic Lower World, which is almost universally understood to be a place of deep and beautiful healing as well as  a place of ancient and traditional wisdom)

4. masculine energy (any questions on this one?  Go back to our friend Freud)

5. clandestine affairs (the sneaky sneaky sneaky snakey)

So when the Page of Swords shows up for a client, I’m likely to ask him or her

~ what kind of deep personal transformation have you been longing for?

~ how can you be open to a rebirth − for personal and/or planetary healing?

~ how can you connect with deeper and perhaps archaic or ancestral wisdom, (Shamanic journeying, deep meditation, magic, prayerwork ) and to what purposes?

~ how can you go after these things in a direct, vigorous, perhaps even forceful way?

~ how will you test for integrity – in yourself, no less than in those around you?

Also, this card indicates that it may be a good idea to be more than normally open to help or guidance from someone of substantial masculine energy: a positive, powerful man or a strong and wise woman-warrior type, for example.

So, given all that:

What is the deep, positive and bright personal transformation you can own and begin TODAY?  DO IT!

Bright blessings and beautiful, healing transformation!


THE UNIVERSE

The Universe is your oyster.  It will give you your fondest wishes, if you will be clear within yourself about those wishes, be true to those wishes, hold them close moment by moment, and honor them.


As I said before, this is absolutely one of the most glorious, hope-filled positive cards in the deck, so PLEASE know that such energy is available to and for you today.  Don’t waste the vibe by talking yourself out of what may be!

The card in the Legend deck pictures a Goddess/dancer moving ecstatic and free under the stars within Stonehenge (the Giants’ Dance, as it was once known).  Anna-Marie Ferguson, creator of the deck, finds this card to be a harbinger of liberation, the attainment of a long-sought goal, and the culmination of events, efforts and experiences from the past.  [So listen for advice and take to heart the good wishes of others who would offer or encourage you toward such positive culminations.]

Some readers find assured success, emigration and a change of place in this card.  Others see a promise that the querent – the person having the reading done − will become all that she or he can and more IF he or she is only confident enough.

[Need me to repeat that for ya?]

You will become all you can and more if you are confident enough!

As I sometimes say to clients in my readings, “Remember: you’re really never too old to become a Mouseketeer, if you want to.”

When this card comes up, I ask clients:

What would dancing free under the stars be for you?

What would give you that sense of

freedom, and

security, and

elation, and

ecstasy, and

connection to beautiful and eternal and renewing Source and its most healing , empowering rhythms?

Now:

what can you do

and

what will you do

to begin to give that to yourself?  NOW!

The Universe is your oyster.  It will give you back your fondest wishes, if you will be clear within yourself about those wishes, be true to those wishes, hold them close moment by moment, and honor them.

In our daily lives, we very often become wrapped up in the seeming necessities — or easy ways out — of the moment.  We lose track of our more profound, more eternal and inspiring hopes, wishes, beliefs − and powers.

So, starting today, reconnect with that higher, more hopeful vision of yourself and your life.

KNOW that you have all that is necessary to bring it into being.

This is a card of successful completion, harmony and lasting happiness.

Believe!

Bright blessings!

 [And please share this card with someone who needs a little boost today.]

Quote for the Day: Everything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labor in freedom.  ~ Albert Einstein


ACE OF SWORDS

Undertake a quest for a new beginning in a way that is firm yet considerate of the law: WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND!


This card last turned for us way back in May.  And just a month before that. And less than two weeks before that.  So, aside from me, IS THERE ANYBODY NOT PAYING SUFFICIENT ATTENTION TO THIS CARD?  I mean it.  Really!  Own up.  Right.  Attention.  Right?  Right.

All right, boys and girls, ALL TOGETHER NOW:
Aces in any Tarot deck are cards of a new beginning.
 
Therefore:
~ How can you (how do you need to) begin your life anew, today, right now?
~ What changes can you begin, even in ways that may seem small?
~ What potentials can you believe in, hope for, reach for and remember?
 
When the Ace of Swords comes up in a reading, as it did in a big way for a client earlier this week, I say something like:
 
Your new beginning has to do with going on an adventure, of giving yourself permission to go after something that really sets your heart and soul on fire.
Please understand, if you undertake this quest, it very well may involve the release of some element of your life that no longer serves you.
 
Should you find that to be the case, strive to let the release be as quick and clean as possible, a very skillful surgery.

I’ll stand by that.

But as I’ve worked with clients who have had this card come up, I’ve also come to perceive that the adventure, the new beginning and the release tend to have an aspect of destiny to them: we often find that the person has reached a point where they must make some choices to move forward in order to evolve as their life offers them the potential to do.

And what I often see is, in doing so, they do very well to remember that even big changes can be initiated and made without creating negative karma.  And I’m going to keep telling myself that until I believe it.

By the way, I have also found that this card betokens a positive outcome for skillfully undertaken literal surgery.
 
(And for some people, the adventure they decide to go on, and the “surgery” of the release they decide to make, can lead to a profound healing of the romantic side of life as well.)

What is your new beginning?  What adventure does your destiny call you to − beginning today?   What may you be called to release?
 
Undertake your quest in a way that is firm yet considerate of the law:
WHAT GOES AROUND
COMES AROUND
 
Bright blessings and joyous adventures!


PAGE OF CUPS

Know what wisdom you seek. Begin or ramp up your search or endeavor now. Give your creativity more free play in your life.  Now!


Saw this fellow last in early September.  It’s a card with counsel that’s good for a regular reminding.  So can we all try to pay a little contention this time?  Huh?

In Celtic legend, Salmon is considered the wisest of all creatures.  He dwells in a great well overhung by the Hazel, the tree of knowledge.  As the fruit (hazel nuts) of the tree drop into the well, Salmon eats of them, growing greater and deeper and truer in wisdom.

When this card shows up for a client, I share about the legend and then say something like,

First of all, this card is a call to find meaningful opportunities to seek wisdom and increase your knowledge – scholarly pursuits may be perfect just now.  So get started on that immediately if you feel some call to do so.

Beyond that, Page of Cups is a card of creativity.  So be prepared to explore how you may begin or expand creative projects starting today. Not tomorrow.  Not next week.  Today.

And in many traditions,  The Fish represents spirituality.  Salmon is one of the only creatures on the Earth who returns to its place of  birth to procreate.  So this card speaks of a primal, powerful drive toward reconnection with Source − with The Divine, with Ultimate Reality, whatever name you choose to give to it.  Or perhaps a drive to return to a place you consider sacred — perfect at any time of the year, no?

Some readers find the Page of Cups represents

a fair young person,

meditation,

an imaginative, reflective, inspiring friend

So if any of these pop up in meaningful ways today [including via an email Tarot card, already], eagerly accept the gifts they bring.      

What this card recommends and requests, all in all, is

Know what wisdom you seek.  

Begin or ramp up your search or endeavor now.

Give your creativity more free play in your life.

Open to very solid and inspiring reconnection with Source in beautiful, meaningful, transcendent ways.

DO IT TODAY.

DO IT TODAY.

DO IT TODAY.

Bright blessings, grace and peace!


Quote for the Day: The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. ~ Albert Einstein


THE MOON

Work with your dreams.  Seek the change that is desirable now.  Honor and empower the feminine aspects in you.  Own your magic and use it.  Today.


We last saw this card back toward the end of July.

The Moon is another one of those cards that has different meanings depending on who you studied with, where ya come from, and  − if you’re a good reader and not just a good memorizer − the kinds of things you find your clients have gone through when The Moon turns up to guide them.

Some readers say The Moon warns of darkness, hidden dangers and instability.  Others stress the “Moony” aspects of fluctuating emotion, high levels of unconscious activity and intense dreams.  I find I can accept that more easily.

For me, The Moon is first of all a card that betokens change.

Perhaps the change should be rhythmical and constantly evolving, like the changing of the moon itself.  

In some cases I’ve intuitively perceived it to be a warning that a client should change course, NOW!

At times I’ve found it indicative of the need to accept that change will come, so get to work on determining what would be the best, happiest, most fruitful and healing way to have it – so a substantial change doesn’t just get handed to you half-baked on a paper plate.

In this deck, because of the card’s embodiment as Morgan Le Fay, I find The Moon to have other important qualities and messages.  First, it is a card of feminine empowerment.  So − assuming you are of the feminine gender − own your power not just as a person, but as a woman.  And let yourself contemplate what that distinction might most fully mean to and for you.

Of course, if you’re masculine, this card directs that you more fully own your connection to the divine feminine, or to the artistic, intuitive, perhaps even Dionysian elements in your life.

And whether you are male or female, masculine or feminine, The Moon is a card that commands you to own your magic – whatever you understand that to be – and use it fully and well for the highest and best of all.  

Work with your dreams.  Seek the change that is desirable now.  Honor and empower the feminine aspects in you.  Own your magic and use it. Today.

Bright blessings and… YOUR magic!

Quote for the Day:  The miracle is not to fly in the air, or to walk on the water; but to walk on the earth.  ~ Chinese Proverb


QUEEN OF SWORDS

Be very strategic. Be clear about what you want, why you want it, the impact it will have on you and your world, and what it will take to attain your goal.  Then follow the plan that comes naturally from this knowing.


This card certainly betokens being strategic in our lives and in our world – as I’ll talk about in a bit.  That could, if you let it, lead to the question, “What is the difference between strategy and tactics?”

[God knows, I confuse the two about every chance I get.  Which helps explain why I drive an old Toyota instead of a new BMW, I guess.]

Strategy is the big picture look at a problem, situation or goal.

It focuses on the sea-change-sized thing that needs to be achieved.  Defeating an enemy, preserving the ecology, earning a living as a Tarot reader − those are strategies.  Concepts like objective, maneuver and security are among the principles of strategy.  Sun Tzu’s The Art of War teaches strategy.

Tactics vary with circumstances, time and technology.

As I’ve written before when this card has appeared, if I were to guide you in marketing yourself as a Tarot reader for the eighteenth century, I’d suggest you get a beautiful snug little cart, paint it in wild and wonderful colors, and travel the roads from town to town to town in order to find new clients. And stay ahead of the sheriff.


If I were advising you to be a Tarot reader this year, I’d talk about blogs, web sites, apps, podcasting opportunities, corporations having you on retainer and maybe even securing sponsorships to help find new clients.  And stay ahead of the sheriff.

[As you can probably suspect from this blog in general, I still think that snug little cart thing sounds pretty good.]

So, tactics present a small picture perspective where individual trees are in focus, and dealing with them one by one is the action. Strategy focuses on the big picture of the entire forest, and whether to preserve it, napalm it, or something in between.

Got it?

Goodie!

Me, I’m as lost as ever.

Where was I?

Oh.  Yeah.  Believe it or not, this all has to do with what the Queen of Swords would tell us about our day, and possibly our future.

As I always say to my clients,

I love the Queen of Swords.  If anyone ever crosses her, disappoints her or gets in her way, she doesn’t get mad.  She just has them beheaded.  ‘Nothing personal,’ she’ll say.

(That is a tactic to eliminate an obstacle.  The strategy behind the tactic is to ensure that her reputation will precede her and scare absolute hell out of those who might think to oppose her, or mess her about in any way.)

The Queen is a master of BOTH strategy and tactics. And your ability to work –consciously — with strategy and tactics is what you are being asked to explore within yourself and your situation today.  The Queen is intelligent, and may in fact be a scholar or have a strong scholarly bent, especially when circumstances dictate she must.  She will do what is necessary to learn what may be essential for her to succeed.

So, if you need to learn something new beginning today, don’t resist.  Get started!  It will be worth your while.

Most importantly [at least as I have experienced this card in working with clients], if the Queen wants to get from point A to point B, she will take the time to clearly and accurately understand WHY she should do that (strategy), and determine every baby step necessary to move her from where she is to her goal (tactics).  Just as important, she will exert the will to hold herself to every single step.  She’ll take unexpected breaks if they come her way, but she’ll muster the grit to grind it out every inch of the way if she must.

So be clear about

  ~ what you want,

~ why you want it,

~ the impact it will have on you and your world,

~ and what it will take to attain your goal.

~ Learn what may be necessary to help you succeed.

~ Then put yourself on the path to your goal.

~ And if anyone gets in your way, don’t take it personal.

[Ummm… I mean, just find a way to cut him out of the situation.  And keep on moving on.]

Bright blessings!

Quote for the Day: Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.  ~ Mark Twain


EIGHT OF WANDS

How can you liberate yourself, your creativity, your spirit today?  What do you need or what can you do so that you can  JUST GO FOR IT!!!?


It’s a good card to have come up in an emotionally charged season.

Liberation can ALSO involve freedom from from prejudice and hate, but also, from preconception and emotional baggage.  So please bear those elements in mind as you review what the card has to offer.

As I have said before [and I now realize I say with conspicuous regularity], “Ahhhhhh, yes.  Yepper, yepper, yep, yessirino!  Another card where my interpretation veers semi-wildly off in a direction of its own.”

My offering about this card is based on a Shamanic Journey I once did asking about its meaning.  (To find out more about Journeying, see the category of Shamanism on my web page, at http://shamanspath.org/index_ShamanicJourneyIntro.htm.)

Other readers give this card meanings like speed, action, movement toward opportunity, a test of skill, and an adventure.  It’s considered a good omen.

So if any of those are what you need today, by all means grab ’em and run!  Run!!!

I see the Eight of Spears as the card of utter, total complete liberation.  It’s an indicator that it is time for you to explore for yourself:

how it is that you may give yourself

more freedom to

go where you want to go

when you want to go there

by the means and

at the speed of your own choosing.

Given that, you KNOW my questions if you were my client would start with something like,

SO!  How are you keeping yourself confined?

How are you confining yourself in ways that are no longer appropriate for who you have become and what you may give to the world?

How can you open yourself to a liberation − in your thinking, your behavior, your belief in what is possible and your understanding of how you may go about achieving that possibility?


Please remember that one way in which you may need to… um, try something different is to just freakin’ go for it.  It may be a little uncomfortable, but at least it’s owning who you are and freeing yourself up so you can move along YOUR path. [Harm to none and love for all, of course.]

So:

How can you liberate yourself, your creativity, your spirit today?  What do you need or what can you do so that you can  JUST GO FOR IT!!!?

Bright, free, inspiring blessings!


ACE OF CUPS


What is your Holy Grail?  What is the highest, most perfect ideal you can strive for?  What is the purest, most positive thing you can aspire to do?  Who or what is the best, most brilliant, most caring version of yourself you can seek to become? Starting today, this minute, how can you honor THAT knowing, THAT aspect, THAT vision of yourself and your life?

 We last saw this card almost precisely two months ago.  And it’s a wonderful, beautifully spiritual card, so it’s perfect that it has come back around in this season, as all the fairy magics fire up for the long Winter dreaming!

Some spiritual traditions consider this season among the times when veils between the realm of ordinary reality and the realms of spirit are notably thin. So PLEASE take advantage of the energies and openings today in a sacred, loving and healing way.

Aces in any Tarot deck are cards of a new beginning.  So, that being the case, how can you (how would you like to or how do you need to) begin your life anew, today, right now?  What changes can you begin, even in small ways?  What potentials can you believe in, hope for, reach for and remember?  (And you can expect The Universe will keep asking that question until you most assuredly  remember to ask it alla tyme bya youseff!)


In any Tarot deck, the Ace of Cups is interpreted as a card of abundance, joy and even divine inspiration. [Ahem!] Some readers speak of this as a card of tremendously uplifting energy. [Ahem! Ahem!]

There have been many visions of what the Grail may really be.

~ Some have seen it as the vessel from which Jesus drank at the Last Supper.  Or a vessel from which he drank while on the cross.

~ Some perceive it as one of the Great Magical Cauldrons of Celtic spirituality.

~ Others have thought it a huge jewel broken from the crown of Lucifer when he was cast out of heaven.  [Me, I've always thought Lucifer got a bad rap.  What if he really WAS a light-bringer, and religious bigotry and opposition simply worked to dog him down? Eh? That could never happen.  Eh?]

~ It has even been written that the Grail is a great crystal at the juncture between the Shamanic upper, lower and middle worlds, and that our ordinary reality world balances upon its tip.

I see this card as being about regeneration − which makes sense, as so many of the objects mentioned here are mystical, magical, regenerative tools.

The Ace of Cups asks that we be open to rebirth, perhaps a spiritual rebirth, and that we begin to seek it today.

Most importantly for me, our culture has come to see the Grail as a symbol of purity and perfection.  So when I work with clients and this card comes up, I say,

What is your Holy Grail?  What is the highest, most perfect ideal you can strive for? What is the purest, most positive thing you can aspire to do?  Who or what is the best, most brilliant, most caring version of yourself you can seek to become?


Now, starting today, this minute, how can you honor THAT knowing, THAT aspect, THAT vision of yourself and your life?

 It may take a little work, sure, but you’re certainly worth it!  And so is the world you made your promises to.

Bright blessings, and a beautiful day full of magical early autumn!

Quote for the Day:   I believe in everything until it’s disproved. So I believe in fairies, the myths, dragons. It all exists, even if it’s in your mind. Who’s to say that dreams and nightmares aren’t as real as the here and now?  ~ John Lennon

No comments: