Wheel of Fortune

          Sometimes you're up, sometimes you're down. That's life. Deal with it.    

     The Wheel of Fortune symbolizes the ebb and flow of how life works. It represents the outside forces that act upon us that we have no control over. The only thing we do have control over is how we react to those outside happenings. You can plan something to the absolute tiniest detail and then something else comes along and throws it all out of whack. You could say f**k it, throw in the towel and go cry in a corner or you can say f**k it, factor in the change and revise the plan. The more often you can do this the more you grow in a very good way. But don't sweat it if you can't possibly revise the plan. There are times when the best thing you can do is retreat. I look at down times as a time to go inward to find out about myself. I believe the sudden lack of interest in usual activities and withdrawal from society (aka 'depression') as a necessary function of inner growth. It's kind of a hibernation where we can heal and revise ourselves and the way we see the world. We do that when we're physically injured, why not when we're psychically injured? So whether you're up or whether you're down, it's all good. The wheel keeps turning.
     So, where are you right now, up or down? What is going on internally, how are you using this time to grow? Is one part of your life up while another part down? Can you see how the wheel is turning? Let me know,  I'm interested in your stories.

High Priestess

                    Learning to listen to and trust your inner voice can enrich your life by
                                        allowing things inside to awaken.

     We are all blessed with intuition and a sense of knowing what is right for us. It's that gut feeling you have that you can't articulate but you just know. It's the most powerful knowing we have and sadly, we ignore it most of our lives.  We mostly disregard that little voice inside as fantasy or trivial or mental imbalance. We've been taught that the answers lay outside of ourselves and we spend an awful lot of time looking for what has always been there right inside of us. Fortunately, it's fairly easy to change that.  Just listen, really listen. Pretend you have an immensely wise being sending messages to you about every aspect of your life and really hear what she has to say. Acting on that advice will make you feel powerful in a way that you feel you can conquer the world. Just try it for an hour. Let me know how it works out for you.
     My problem is that I keep forgetting to listen so I'm going to figure out a way to remind myself all through the day, some token or totem. I'll just ask my High Priestess for the answer.

Knight of Cups

  
                 Let your imagination out into the world. Time to put your dreams into action.


     Now is the time to start putting those daydreams of the 7 of cups into a plan of action. This knight can be somewhat of a vague romantic lost in his imagination. So getting this card warns us of staying too long in the world of our dreams and of the need to put them into play if we want them to become part of our lives. I can honestly say that I am getting my dreams out there. My biggest dream was to have my own perfect little house by the beach and on March 1 the building begins! I've always wanted to draw really well, so Beth has started to give me lessons. I wanted to share my love and knowledge of tarot so I started this blog. I realized on my birthday that I am the only one who can make my dreams come true so if I want it I need to go out and get it. My biggest challenge was getting over the fear that I would fail. That kept me from starting in the first place. I have pursued lots of dreams that fizzled out and didn't want to go through that again. But you know what, it took the life right out of me, that defeatist attitude and I was bored to tears. So now I'm going for it and who cares if it doesn't work out. At least I tried.

Four of Pentacles

            
                 Too much emotional attachment to material things leads to hoarding. Time to purge!

     Just yesterday I was looking at all the clothes in my closet that I don't wear and thinking I really should do something about it. After watching a couple of shows on hoarding I realized that I have a touch of the craziness that grips a hoarder. All the lovely things that no longer fit me properly (but when I lose those pounds I can wear them again! rrriigghhttt...) I have stuff I haven't worn in years! And don't even get me started in my studio with my bins full of supplies (for all those unfinished projects I talked about yesterday). So I am making myself this promise, that I will get rid of all the crap I've been hanging on to. I've done this a few times in my life when downsizing my homes and it is surprisingly refreshing to let go of stuff. It feels good to make space, to get organized, to let go. If I look at the whole picture it can be overwhelming so I just do one closet at a time, one dresser, one bin. If I haven't seen it for a while then it can't be too important to me, right? So out it goes!
     What are you hanging on to that you should let go of? What would happen if you let it go? What's stopping you? And it doesn't always have to be some thing; it could be an idea, a situation, a person, a label, an attitude. Where are the garbage bags?

Four of Wands

                      Celebrate new beginnings! Start building a solid foundation for the future with love and laughter.

      What better way to begin anything than with celebration? The positive energy and optimism driving you onward and upward. Soon the Universe will be mine! But first, laying the foundation so it doesn't all fall down. Depending on what is beginning, the four wands could represent any combination of positive aspects that will provide a stable basis for the future. I'm thinking that it's a good idea to sit down and decide what these four cornerstones might be before starting anything. Sort of gives focus to the project. I want to lose a few pounds. So my wands might be diet, exercise, motivation and commitment. If any of these aspects aren't firmly established or maintained, I'm likely to keep those pounds. I could even break each of these wands down even further like so:
 diet - low fat, lots of water, no sugar, smaller portions
 exercise - 30 minutes dancing per day, walk after supper, 50 situps and 25 pushups, stretching session before bed
 motivation - have more energy, clothes fit better, have more confidence, be healthier
 commitment - ok this one has me stumped; any suggestions?
         Too often I've just declared my intentions without giving it much thought beyond "Hey, I've got an idea." Too often I have failed to see it through. I have so many unfinished projects...

    

Ace of Cups

              
                      Open your heart today for the possibility of a new passion coming into your life.

      Love is in the air and it doesn't necessarily mean romantic love. Our hearts can fill up with love and passion for many things, people and even ideas. I have to say that I am in love right at this moment with ;
    Murray, Caylum and Quinn, Lake Huron, learning to draw, dancing, the music of Sia ('Breathe Me' is a most beautiful song), learning, planning my new house.
    If I am feeling sad or upset I only have to think about one of these passions and I feel better. When I am talking to Murray or my boys I always feel loved. When I am dancing and listening to music I feel energized. When I am planning, learning or drawing I feel creative and powerful. When I am with my lake I am filled with serenity. I am trying to get to the point where everything I do is tapping into these same energies. If it doesn't fit the criteria I don't want to be doing it. But what about the times I have to be involved in something that doesn't make my heart sing? I think the trick is to make a little bit of room in there for the time being and find some little thing to love that makes each moment of the day something special. It gets easier all the time and the first step is to be open to the possibility of falling in love. With life.
What makes your heart sing? If you could be with or do anything in the universe what would it be? How can you change how you see something you currently are not too fond of?

Seven of Swords

                   How you live your life is your business and nobody else's.  Do what you've got to do.

     One of the meanings for this card is "Reject outside expectations for an individually fashioned lifestyle." I am drawn to this message at this time in my life. I have always preached to be true to yourself and I thought I was following my own advice but there were aspects of my life that were being directed by what people expected of me. Questions like "What's the matter with me? Why am I so emotional? Am I being too demanding? Do I need to be more flexible?" and so on to infinity, were normal for me. I pretty much questioned every emotional response I had as being unreasonable. I tried to conform to how I thought I should be at this point in my life. It suddenly dawned on me about a month ago that these emotions are trying to tell me something and I should be listening to them instead of explaining them away. I mean really listen to them; talk to them, feel them, allow them to be, hear what they were telling me. And holy shit, what a giant difference this tiny adjustment has made made. The first day I felt lighter than I had in years, I felt like I was let out of jail, I felt more like myself than I have ever felt. And I am shocked to realize that the expectations were not coming from outside but from what I thought people expected of me. I'm the outside influence.  My life hasn't changed so much from the outside looking in but I can't begin to explain how much it has changed from the inside looking out. Just by listening.
What are your emotions telling you? Are you listening? Are you honouring them? Share your stories with me. I really want to hear about them.

Page of Swords

                  Try out that new idea today, learn something, challenge your mind. Smart is beautiful.


          Exercising your brain is just as important as exercising your body. I usually start each day by doing a logic problem or cryptic crossword. You're thinking; what a giant nerd. See how I can read your mind? Brain exercise.
         I love learning. If I had the money I would be a perpetual university student. I love the knowing of things just for the hell of it. Do I want to dazzle people with my awesome intellect? A little Miss Know-It-All? Not so much. Here is how it works for me. Something happens that makes me think "I wonder why, how, when, etc...." Then I find out which almost always leads me to more wondering which I then find out about and so on and so on. So really there's no ego involved, contrary to what some may think.
         I try to learn something new every day. It gently expands my mind so when something comes at me that really blows my brain, my head doesn't explode. It gives me an awareness of the world around me that allows me to see things other people might not see. There's so much cool stuff out there.
       What have you learned lately?  What do you want to know about? What are you interested in? Tell me something I don't already know.

The Empress

    

          Oh, yes, Darlings! For today you may indulge any or all of your appetites without the guilt. Empress has spoken!


Sure, it's not like I deny myself those guilty pleasures. But I usually have that bitch in my head telling me that I'm going to pay for it. Kind of takes the fun right out of it. Today, I give myself permission to enjoy whatever indulgences I decide to partake. And here's the cool bit about that. You may find that when you allow yourself to give in to the sensations of appetite that you don't need very much to satisfy you. I don't enjoy furtively eating an entire Crunchie bar as quickly as possible so I don't get caught as much as I enjoy popping a square of Lindt dark chocolate, closing my eyes and feeling its silky sweetness melt on my tongue. Mmmm. Treating yourself to even the smallest something you enjoy should be an everyday part of your life. It makes you more relaxed, you feel special and loved which translates into self confidence and inner power and that gives you what you need to conquer your world. Try it and see if I'm wrong. Let me know what your favourite indulgences are, how you felt by giving yourself permission to enjoy and what you keep denying yourself. I'm off to my bubble bath!

'Seven of Cups'

          The future holds infinite possibilities. Take time today to daydream about  the things you've always wanted to do, no matter how farfetched. Then ask yourself "Why not?"

     Daydreaming is something I do a lot of , so this was relatively easy for me to do. I decided to make a list of my dreams and here is what I came up with;
- to have a home filled with music, good food, laughter, unique art
- to have my family live within 250 kilometers of me
- to be filled with serenity and joy at all times
- to meet Kate Bush, John Irving and Richard Dawkins and be articulate enough to have a conversation
- to travel to Europe for the castles, museums and galleries
- to make some money creating unique things
- to have a large circle of interesting and fun friends
- to learn another language or two

It occurred to me that all of these things are entirely possible for me to do easily (aside from meeting the famous people but you never know, it could happen). We sometimes think that our dreams are unattainable or unrealistic but I am finding out more and more lately that what we think and what is true are entirely different things. I am also interested in hearing what other people are dreaming of, how they plan to make it happen, what's holding them back. So, lay it on me!