Singer of Courage – Be brave, be free

Today’s card is the Singer of Courage from the Faeries’ Oracle. This card is all about the courage to face our fears and transform the energy we invest in those fears into action; in moving forward and living our lives as bravely as possible. 

Mind you this is not a call to play the hero. Our day to day life is fearsome enough to need our courageous actions. Every moment when fear starts to act up, it is up to us to look in the eye and decide if it is a true fear or a veil over a deeper rooted issue. Often our most primal are fears are buried deep under many layers in the dark borrows of our mind.

Fear has been for most people a lifelong companion and it presents itself in many forms. When we start to address the less dreadful fears, we will eventually learn how to transform our deeper more ingrained fears.

And so I asked what energy might be helpful on this journey? And I pulled Myk the Myomancer. When you look closely you see all kind of little creatures hidden in the foliage of the forest. But Myk knows they are there; he is attentive to every little detail around him...

So be mindful of the seemingly insignificant opportunities to show courage. This way we can strengthen and practice our bravery muscle and learn to have faith in our courage.  Little by little, we will break the bondage of fear and set ourselves free.

In the world, not of this world

After my last post I have been thinking a lot about how to stay true to myself and today I wanted to ask this question to one of my decks. The sacred Rebels Oracle seemed to be a perfect fit for this question and it replied to me with: In the world, not of the world.

We see a woman with a shoal of fish. She jumps out of the water, clad in nothing but the locks of her hair. Although she used to be perfectly happy to be one of the shoal, lately it seems she has outgrown the mentality of the shoal and has started to make up her own mind about things. She knows this will make her extremely vulnerable so for now, although she is perfectly aware of her peculiarities and unique points a view, she still remains a part of the shoal. Perhaps for safety, community or just the need to belong to something more than herself.

This in between phase demands a lot of  courage and trust, in order to find a balance between being true to yourself and being part of this world; a constant weighing and questioning of when to swim with the shoal and when to jump out of the water,

As always balance is everything

Seven of Wands - True Colors

Today’s card is the Seven of Wands from the Joie de Vivre Tarot. This card is about courage, persistence and standing up for yourself. Instead of the defensive character of the Rider Waite version of this card, here we see the aftermath of the battle. Beam, beaming with confidence and joy, has stood up for his beliefs and dreams and has shown the townsfolk, who want everyone to be like them, that it is okay and quit rewarding to be who you truly are. To show your creative nature, your own uniqueness; your true colors. He has taken off his greyish coat and is brave enough to show the colorful outfit he is wearing underneath. Even though it was a bit scary at first, he is so happy he has come this far.    

I wonder what he will do next. Will he come down to live among the townsfolk again; Inspiring them to live a more authentic life or will he turn around and search for his own tribe?

"I see your true colors
Shining through
I see your true colors
And that's why I love you
So don't be afraid to let them show
Your true colors
True colors are beautiful
Like a rainbow"
(Cyndi Lauper)
 

Year ahead spread July – Seven of Swords and Nauthiz

It has been a while since I’ve blogged about my rune and card for the month ahead but I wanted to pick it up again. Why now you might think; well perhaps because it is quite a challenging pair. The rune Nauthiz talks about need and necessity,  about being faced with obstacles and finding the courage to move forward despite the fear it might cause you. It is also a rune of shadow work, of receiving the opportunity to dive deeper into the uncharted territory of who we are.

When we combine this with the Seven of Swords from the Wild Unknown Tarot, it speaks about how this journey is a lonely one. Shadow work is an undertaking which we have to do all by ourselves and with ourselves. The fox (or “The lone wolf” as I often call this card) is protecting, hiding one of the seven swords. The other six are hanging over him. It is not that he only values this own sword but he is reluctant to share it with others. His findings are too fresh, too vulnerable. Sometimes we have to take the time to process what we have experienced, learned before we put it out in the world.

Perhaps this month I will be doing a lot of journaling,  meditating and walking to get a more clear perspective about what it is my soul wants to share with me. Perfect for the hotter days to come.

Six of Wands – Ignite your fire

Today’s card is the Six of Wands from the Tarot of The Hidden Realm. Traditionally this is the card of victory and success. Although this card often relates to experiencing a successful completion of a project, today I feel it is more about an internal victory. Sometimes, often without knowing, we lock ourselves in a mental stronghold, which seems impossible to break out of. The only tools to escape we have left are our inner resources, how scarce they may be. When the day comes we begin to feel restricted and imprisoned instead of safe and protected, we will have to ignite a tiny spark of courage inside us and feed it with brave and fiery kindle. It is okay to be afraid, this is in no means a sign of cowardice. Still your mind and nurture your flame so it will grow stronger with each breath you take. This fire inside you will forge the key to freedom. Nothing will be able to hold you back when you tap in to this fire.

And as we can see in this card, fire attracts fire(flies). So our inner fire will keep feeding itself with everything we do and with whatever makes us happy!

“Courage isn’t a lack of fear, it’s being afraid and doing something anyway” (guidebook).

Thurisaz and Two of Wands - The Gate will wait one moment more

Today’s rune is Thurisaz (thorn, gate, giant). For today I wanted to highlight the meaning of Gateway. Often  a gateway holds the promise of something new. This could be a.o: a new opportunity, a challenge or perhaps a new insight. In my case it is often fear which prevents me from walking through this kind of gates. I also realize that this fear prevents me from having new experiences, meeting new people and broadening my spiritual beliefs. So for today I asked my cards what might be a beneficial way for me to approach such a gate.

And I got the Two of Wands from The Wild Unknown Tarot . In this depiction we see the moment just before the two wands touch each other and call for action. Notice how they almost form a gate themselves. When we dare to go through this gate it might open up so many colorful opportunities for us. This is the moment to focus, to consider, and weigh our options carefully. What will be the reward of going through the gate? What could be the worst thing that could happen? Where does my fear come from ? More than often we learn that our fear to go through the gate has nothing to do with this particularly situation. Most of our fears originate  from very long ago.  But since each gate holds a promise and a risk, it is up to use to find out if the promise is worth taking the risk.

So it is advisable to take a moment and really assess the situation and then our wands can come together and give direction and focus to our journey and we will continue to walk out path and whether we got through the gate or not it is still our path.

“Still round the corner there may wait, A new road or a secret gate.” J. R. R. Tolkien

What is already in you can overcome any challenge

It’s been a challenging week. Lots of family stuff going on which culminated in my husband's dental chirurgie under general anesthesia. Everything went perfectly fine but him undergoing this procedure was a pretty daunting prospect for both of us

Since all this has taken a lot of my energy, the advice from my previous posts on how to embrace my creativity and face the always accompanying  fear have been left untried.

For today again I feel myself encouraged to find my bliss and to let no fear withhold me to experience the joy of creating.

My card for today is “What is already with you” from the Sacred Rebels Oracle. This card tells me I don’t need to look elsewhere for strength and courage because all these qualities are already within me. I just need to acknowledge and embrace them and accept them as an intrinsic part of me. The guidebook recommends to start with small steps and then feel how you grow from the inside out. It starts like a flutter but gradually you have to let it fly free and surrender to who you are supposed to be.

The accompanying card is Mountain from the Gilded Reverie Lenormand. Although this mountain seems far too high to climb it’s a piece of cake when you have wings. Mountains and other kinds of roadblocks can be quite disheartening but when you discover your wings you’ll be free to soar the sky.

"I believe I can fly

I believe I can touch the sky

I think about it every night and day

Spread my wings and fly away

I believe I can soar"

R.Kelly

New Moon in December - Leaving my cave

For this New Moon I've drawn two cards as usual. The first one for the energy I am going to release and the second one for the energy which is beneficial for me to embrace. From the Druidcraft Tarot I pulled:

Release – Nine of Swords

Now that is a great card to draw for this position. Who wouldn’t want to release all their worries and think only happy thoughts?

As you might have read in my previous posts, there are a lot of changes occurring in my life right now. My first reaction to change is to try to control each and every one of them and when this isn’t possible (duh!!) then I worry about my lack of control. Also at night and in the early morning things always seem less positive and more difficult than during the day. In Dutch we have saying: “seeing a lot of bears on the road…”

Embrace – Ace of coins

Well look who is here: a bear! But I do get the distinct feeling that instead of me seeing the bear, this card is about me being the bear:

Slowly I am coming out of my cave, knowing my own worth and strength. It is not necessary I hide there any longer. I feel confident and at peace and I am entitled to claim my place in this new world full of opportunities and the promise of new beginnings (birches)

When a situation is somewhat difficult I often tend to retire to my room in to find peace and quiet. Chloe from Inner Whispers gave me the advice not only to seek shelter in my room (my cave), how lovely and cozy that might be, but also to create one in my mind so I can find peace within and take it with me wherever I go.

I suppose this strong brave bear has accomplished all this during the dark long winter nights in his cave. Yes, I think such a spiritual shelter cannot be made overnight but has to be build with multiply layers of courage, trust and faith…and most of all Love!

So for now I am going to fill a “Spiritual First Aid Box”: It will contain items which will help me to ground and center myself and to enter that place of peace and quiet within, not only when I am alone, but also when I am around other people.

Some of the items are:

My knitting and chrochet

My journal and pen

My art journal and pencil

My prayerbeads

Some crystals

A mandala coloring page with coloring pencils

A deck of tarot and/or oracle cards

More suggestions are always welcome!

The Courage to take it slow

Today’s card is Courage from the Osho Zen tarot.  A small flower has faced the challenge of the rocks and stones. It has found its way towards the sunlight. And it has become a gorgeous flower in its simplicity: This tiny flower has no need to compare itself to a Rose or an Orchid because it is its own kind of beautiful.

To be kind and gentle for myself on this particularly part of my journey is asking for this kind of courage. The courage and strength to accept and to love myself even if I want to be somewhere else. even if I don’t feel happy and fulfilled, even if I don’t blog regularly or my house isn’t as clean as it should be. It takes courage not to compare myself with other flowers  who seem to be so much more attractive. But hey, they too will wither and die one day…

So today this little flower will help me to embrace every part of me and cherish it for no other reason than because it is a part of me.  Slowly and  carefully  I will guide myself out of the shadows  and into the light because that is where I am meant to be.

Lately I love journaling by hand again about my COTD. No worries about spelling, grammar or if others would understand what I mean etc. Just write word for word what comes to mind and enjoy the process and the little gems which sometimes may appear...

The Courage to dare to embrace the Ordinariness of Life

For today I've drawn the eight of Rainbows  (Pentacles) "Ordinariness” from the Osho Zen tarot. We see a woman walking in nature, enjoying the blossoming trees and the flowers all around her. “Beauty can be found in the simple, ordinary things of life. We so easily take this beautiful world we live in for granted. Cleaning the house, tending the garden, cooking a meal--the most mundane tasks take on a sacred quality  when they are performed with your total involvement and love.” (guidebook) 

This is an attitude which can bring us so much joy but is so hard to maintain. So I pulled another card with the question: what do I need to enjoy an ordinary life? Imagine my surprise when I pulled "Courage" (Strength) from my deck!

This little tiny flower had the courage to meet the challenge of the rocks and stones and it has become the flower it was meant to be, basking in the sunlight. 

Our daily life with its chores and routines can easily be represented by the rock and stones This courageous Daisy is asking us this: Do we dare to meet the challenge of our daily life; "to dare to live life fully right where you are" and embrace each moment of it. Maybe it can be helpful if you can look at your life as a beautiful painting. Instead of looking at the whole picture in a glance, and judging it in second, look for the details, the brushstrokes and how the light is captured on your canvas.  See the beauty of the colors and notice how they deepen by your perceptive look. Enjoying life can be as simple as looking at it with wonderment.

Today I am  going to be grateful for the colors my day is going to be painted with. So I will brighten the palette of my life