The Sun - Finding Peace

Today’s card is the Sun from the Druidcraft Tarot. We see a boy riding a horse on a summer's day. The sun is directly behind his head so we can only see its rays. This card is about everything joyful and happy we can think of.  It's also about confidence and vitality, about having the courage to put yourself and your talents out there,  so everyone can see how magnificent you truly are. But too often we don’t; feel like this and we are tempted to chase this illusive happiness in the outer world. We buy things, we eat things and yes they do make us happy, for a while, and then we have to hunt for more.

So my question for the Celtic Lenormand was: where to find a more lasting joy and I was quite surprised by the cards I pulled:

Lily + Cross + bear

In the center there is the cross; for me the card of spiritual beliefs and faith. In this context I see the lily as a symbol of harmony and inner peace. The bear is all about strength and courage and standing up for who you are and what you believe. These cards tell me that instead of chasing  happiness, I should turn inside to my spiritual beliefs and find there the inner peace and strength to bask in that sunlight which is a beautiful symbol of the Divine light shining from without and within every moment of our life. (whether we are aware of it or not)

Celtic Lenormand- a very feminine Line of Five

For my daily draw I’ve used the Celtic Lenormand by Chloe McCracken and Will Worthington. First I’ve shuffled my deck thoroughly and then I searched for the Woman card with the spindle in her hands. This is the one I identify the most with. The Lady card feels more like a representation of the Goddess to me. Then I picked up the two cards on either side of her...

My cards are: Birds - Chickens + Bear  + woman + Lady + snake - fierce

For me these are all cards who have a very strong  feminine energy. Of course the bear can also represent a businessman but for me she screams: Mother!!! But back to the reading:

Chickens + Snake – This week S. is visiting her boyfriend’s family up North and M and I are staying at home together. I want to keep in mind to be more socially aware and to spend time with her. We do love to talk about  almost everything and like to have very in-depth discussions, but we both have the tendency to spend to much time behind a screen . I do want to be careful not to get irritated and snap when our social time “exceeds both our limits”. J

Lady + Snake – I see these two cards as a advice to protect my boundaries this week  and be firm but kind about it. Also it is better to use my wits and humor than my ability to “bite”.

Chickens + bear – Social interaction with a great dinner: baked salmon, bread + herb butter, salad and wine

Bear + Lady – These two are literally me, applying my skills at the stove tonight and baking us a beautiful piece of salmon. Or at a more spiritual level:  My  relationship with the Mother, the Goddess which is lately strong and fulfilling.

Al together I think we will have a lovely week together as long as we keep an eye out for the snake.

It was a bit of a challenging combination of cards, since  three of the additional cards from the deck appeared in my line of five but I loved it to figure out what they mean for me today. 

When you stay flexible you can reach for the stars!

For today I've pulled The Acrobat, the Page of Stones from the Chrysalis tarot. This Page is all about changing your perspective, be open for new idea’s and knowledge. While swinging on her pole she is rising above her troubles and is able to see new horizons. Her monkey symbolizes the benefit of an agile, quick witted mind.

The Acrobat is studious with a playful sense of humor. She likes to keep her mind sharp and pliable. She has a positive mindset and encourages us to keep developing our skills and knowledge. That way we won’t get stuck in fixed and rigid ways of thinking but instead we’'ll always be able to see different sides of a situation

The question I can ask myself today is: 

“how do I keep an open mind?” 

I've chosen the Mystical Lenormand to give me the answer to this question:

Bear+ Rider+ Stars

In this line of three we see the Bear again as  the first card. He resembles power and inner strength. But sometimes also an older person who might be less flexible then our youngsters.

The second card is Rider, as a symbol for movement and new insights and messages  from other sources. Things are changing quickly.

The last card, the Stars, is a card for intuition, spirituality, dreams come true and nowadays also the internet: What a source of information and new contacts. Reach for the stars, the sky is the limit. In this depiction you even see the learning attributes next to the cat.

So I guess the answer might be something like this:

In order to keep an open mind you have to be willing to embrace and keep up with new ideas and information. Keep studying with diligence and enthusiasm and a touch of intuition. Your success is written in the stars!
Cher has taught me to add up the inserts to add an extra layer to the reading.The inserts of these cards (if they were depicted here) would add up to 25, which is Ring. So in order to be successful I've have to stay committed to study and finding new perspectives. 

Of course after this post I am open for suggestions how to read these three cards differently J

Combining Tarot and Lenormand in one reading (II)

Yesterday I liked doing this exercise so much, I thought let’s do this again. For today I've chosen the Original Rider Waite Tarot and the French Cathomancy cards. 

For the topic of the reading I pulled the Hermit. A card of seclusion and  meditation; of seeking inner wisdom and calm. The question this card seemed to ask me was; "How do I find the time for myself to meditate and reflect on a daily basis?". 

I often start out very enthusiastic with a new or rediscovered practice to forget all about it in a week or two, three. I've been meditating for some time now and I would love to maintain this practice for a bit longer than a few weeks.

And that’s when the Lenormand cards came into play and I drew a line of  three:

Bear + ring + whip

This immediately made sense to me (Yeah!!!)

For me these three card are telling me to develop my inner strength and resilience by committing myself over and over and over again.  When I've skipped my meditation yesterday, I can start again with my daily practice today. When I've skipped it for a week I can start with my daily practice today. Every day I can commit myself again to a daily practice. In this way there is no room for guilt and regret, only for the courage to start again!

Combining Tarot and Lenormand in one reading

Inspired by Chloe and Siddaleah  I've been practicing again with my Lenormand cards for several days now. And I have to say it hasn't been easy. There has been times the cards only spoke jibber jabber to me and I felt like throwing them into the trash can. Could it be possible I'm not cut out  for this? Since I am a stubborn woman (Taurus) I didn't want to be defeated by 36 pieces of cardboard so I kept practicing.

And gradually the fog was lifting and the cards started to make sense to me again. It was helpful for me me not to search for generic meanings but to ask a question first. Was it about love, money or health? But how many questions can you come up with while practicing on  your own. So I included my tarot cards in the reading. I picked a tarot card which would be the topic of my reading and then I drew a line of three lennies about this topic.

The topic for this reading was the Ten of Swords from the Legacy of the Divine Tarot : How can I let go of all my self defeating thoughts and move on?

Then I pulled three cards from the Gilded Reverie Lenormand (both decks are by Ciro Marchetti):

7 Snake +15 Bear + 5 Tree

Biting thoughts (suspicions and self loathing) can be conquered by confidence and inner strength which will improve your physical (health) and mental (wisdom) well being.

I liked how the bear was swimming away from the snake and towards the tree; moving on from one situation to another.

Building confidence is certainly helpful for me while practicing with these cards. Whining about how I will never, ever be able to read them won't help me to improve my skills.J

Practicing like this is so much fun and very encouraging for my confidence in reading the Lenormand.

Don’t set the bar too high

Today I will be using the Tao Oracle by Ma Deva Padma. Before I pull my card I want to share my mega find on our Dutch online thrift store. Just before the new year, I had bought five beautiful, as good as new, tarot and oracle decks. The previous owner had only bought them to be a part of her collection and had never used them.  Even the boxes were undamaged. So now I am a very happy woman because right beside me on our dining table I have: The Tao Oracle by Ma Deva Padma, Angeldreams and the Angel Tarot by D. Virtue, Mystical Lenormand by R.E. Fiechter and Ask your Guidies by S. Choquette. And everything far below 50% of the retail price. I feel like I've won the New year’s lottery!!

Tao Oracle

For the second day of this year I've pulled: Duration. In my opinion an excellent card for everybody who is  totally excited to sprint into this year, heavily packed with goals and resolutions. (Myself included J) This card shows us a mountain in four different circumstances. And it’s no surprise to any of us, in each picture the mountain remains the same. This mountain is the perfect symbol for the keywords of this card: constancy, continuity, endurance, perseverance, maturity, strengthening, stability, a deep commitment. And in the end that´s what it´s all about. Not how we start out, which is of course important but also if you can really commit to your goals or whatever it is you want to manifest this new year. Do you have the strength to go on when it gets hard? According to the book it is so important to be aware of your inner core. (inner mountain) That unchangeable everlasting part of you. When you connect to this part, you can endure everything: “The essence of a mountain is stability, a deep and abiding quality that withstands the tests of time.  It is the solidity of rock and the stabilizing function of earth, and it is unequivocally itself.”. Perhaps it is a good idea to search for a symbol of your “inner mountain” to carry with you in your daily life as a talisman. It can be as simple as a pebble as long as it has meaning for you.

Mystical Lenormand

So this is definitely a card for the long run but what does that mean for me today? To answer that question, I drew three lennies from the Mystical Lenormand: house + bear + stars: 

• My home is my base to grow spiritually.
• My house is my safe haven where I can explore     new ideas and goals.
• The love and support of my daughters is a strong   foundation to have hope for the future.

I think I'll pick the second option. Perhaps it is a sound idea to review my goals in order to find out if I haven’t set the bar too high for myself. Sometimes it seems like I do this deliberately so I will fail again and I can beat myself up about it (again). But I can assure you it isn't. It is a common problem for people who are perfectionists. That's why I think it wise to give my lists a closer look to see if I have to adjust my goals in order to be able to stick them when circumstances change.

A quick three card Lenormand line

Since I am quite busy with cutting and pasting for my Soul oracle cards this will be a quick daily draw with my new Gilded Reverie Lenormand by Ciro Marchetti. It’s good to take a short break from collecting pictures and flipping through magazines because the images are already effecting me emotionally although they aren't even pasted on a card yet J

The cards for today are bear + tree + mountain:

Gilded Reverie Lenormand

• An authority with a traditional background is causing problems
• A strong woman has health issues which are hindering and frustrating
• Deep rooted jalousie can block you from moving forward

It feels good to search for various interpretations for this line. I've seen this on Chloe’s blog  “Inner whispers” and it keeps you from getting stuck with ready made answers: a tree isn't always about heath.

For today I've chosen the second interpretation. My health isn't that great and it so frustrating to feel you are getting older. This morning I went outside on my bike again. It was freezing a little and the sun was shining. A great ride. After this post I am going to do my exercises (physiotherapy) So I do try to maintain a healthy lifestyle but my joints aren't what they used to be.