Eight of Wands - Keep your calm in a chaotic world

Today’s card is the Eight of Wands from the Llewellyn tarot. We see the familiar eight Wands in the air, although today it doesn’t feel like they are all going in the same direction. Some seem to go upwards and some seem to fall from the sky. What also stands out is the calmness of the grazing deer. Some are eating and some are watchful but they are all convinced there is no need to fight or run to a safer place.

Often when a lot of Wands are flying over our head we tend to jump up, decide, act, again and again until each Wand is taken care of. We don’t like to allow those Wands to pass freely without our interference and to watch how life unfolds. To be able to do this demands a great amount of trust and confidence in our inner strength and in our resilience when something isn’t going as we hoped it would.

There is a lot happening in my life but I have to take a step back from most things, instead of jumping in, to “help” and  “fix it all. This card teaches me perfectly how to live in a chaotic world.

Time for lunch J

"Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset." Saint Francis de Sales

The Sun - Be your own hero

Today, on a warm August morning I drew The Sun from the Llewellyn Tarot. This card depicts the Sun God Llew, riding on his horse while feeling victorious after slaying his enemy.

So, I was wondering how the optimistic, youthful, and confident energy of this card could help slay my current, most vicious enemy: my anxiety and need to control every situation.

The light and warmth of The Sun will uncover and burn away the anxious feelings and the hurt this enemy is causing me. This does sound a bit like slaying my own dragon because both the characters of this story are parts of myself: my energetic confident ego as well as my slimy and deceitful anxiety.

So what weapons can I use again this ongoing thread? Together, Happiness and Joy will make a strong shield.  Being in the moment with a childlike innocence is the perfect attitude which will keep the darkness at bay. And whenever it does slip through my defences, I can throw an arrow dipped in a potion of trust, faith and self-confidence.

It is so self assuring to be able to be the hero of my own story instead of waiting for my knight in shining armor to come and rescue me.

Page of wands - Get off the beaten path

Today’s card is the Page of Wands from the Llewellyn Tarot. This is a card filled with enthusiasm and a zest for life. This Page is playful and he always feels the need to try new things and broaden his horizon.

When I saw this card my first thoughts were: “Well, it is clear this isn’t me today.” Lately, my energy level is quite low and I feel absolutely uninspired to do the things I usually love to do. While writing this I realize this is exactly the message I need to hear: get off the beaten path and do something out of the ordinary:  Wear something colorful instead of always black, draw with crayons instead of watercolors, read fairy tales, anything as long as it is different from what you normally do.

For a habitual person like me, this could become quite an adventure but I believe if the little rabbit is up to it so am I. I think my inner child, whom I have promised some extra attention this month, will be quite excited about this.

Nine of Pentacles – Happy Lughnasadh /Lammas

Yesterday I have received the Llewellyn Tarot in the mail. It was a belated birthday present from M. This deck has been on and off my wish list for such a long time because I wasn’t sure if I needed yet another Rider Waite Smith based deck in my collection. It was the artwork that convinced me that I indeed wanted this deck. When I flipped through the cards for the first time I was amazed by the rich palette the artist has used. As always in real life, the colors are so much more vibrant than in the online pictures. Because it is Rider Waite based, the deck is easy to read but has also more than enough new symbolism and layers to stir my curiosity and to let me dive deep into this deck and the beautiful guidebook filled with Welsh history and myths.

Today it is Lammas or Lughnasadh, the festival which marks the beginning of the harvest season with the first wheat harvest. For this day I picked the Nine of Pentacles. Not only because it is one of my favorite minors but more so because it illustrates beautifully how the time of reaping what we have sown has begun. The lady in the card is fortunate: she has worked hard all Summer and her harvest is abundant. The first wheat has been bound into a sheaf and I am positive that a lot more will follow.

I am planning to bake a loaf of bread today and fill my heart with things I am grateful for. All the things  I have sown myself but perhaps even more important: everything which  I have received as a gift from others.