The Woodward - Hunter and Guardian

Today’s card is The Woodward (Strength) from the Wildwood Tarot. We see a hunter with a mountain lions mask. He is holding a spear with blood on it in one hand and a cup in the other. From the shaft is hanging a lion headed figure. The hunter is waiting, assessing what the right next move should be. Each moment he has to find the balance between the darkness of death and the beautiful gift of life.  He is both hunter and guardian of the forest.

The book says:  “The Woodward is a hunter whose prey is solutions to moments of crisis. He acts as an emotional backstop when fate, or the destructive energy in a situation, faces us with seemingly irrational or overwhelming disaster.” 

This card reminds me to reevaluate my own backstop; my inner place of strength and protection; How can I maintain a balanced stance like this Woodward and wait patiently for the right moment to act and the right words to say? If possible I retreat myself from a stressful situation to regain my focus and balance but usually I just have to try to keep my mouth shut, breath and pray for guidance. It is so easy for me to blurt out my first reactions and try to get my way but it is often not very helpful for the long run. My greatest challenge is to keep silent and have the patience to listen to others involved and to that soft voice within. Only then I feel I can make the right decisions for the good of all.

A Twist in the Tale – Expect the unexpected

Today’s card is “A twist in the tale”- The unexpected, a change you did not see coming” from the Shapeshifters Oracle.  I like to use this deck during this season because the theme of the deck is Change and so much is changing right now. We are entering the holiday season. The temperatures are dropping rapidly. “Winter is coming” without a doubt and in thirty days Christmas as is already over and days are slowly lengthening again.

The card shows us a pale white girl and her white ferret. There is not much color but the red of their eyes, nose and ears  and the pink glow in the back. Not quite what you would have expected of a fairy and her ferret.  They come to tell us that change is coming and there is nowhere to hide. It can be about your age, your relationship, your job, a project; something is about to change and the only thing we can do is embrace and accept it and go from there. So often we are relentlessly trying to keep change at bay so we can uphold our illusion of being in control.

It would be so much more easy to accept change and then embrace it or deal with it. So many possibilities could have been ignored or set aside out of fear of change. And who knows what we have missed out on.

Nature teaches us all about change. About the beauty and the hardship. About life and destruction. Everything  is part of the whole beautiful picture

Perhaps that is the message from this card:  take a step back and try to see the whole story with all its twists and turns and how everything worked out for the best. That way the next twist won’t  be that scary and maybe in the end a great blessing

Six of Cups - A trip down memory lane

Just before I went to visit my mother, I pulled for myself the Six of Cups from the Goddess Tarot. Although this deck has a lot of Rider Waite based imagery, this card seems to lack the two children where one child offers the other one flowers. Here we see a house in the distance and six cups, neatly arranged and filled with soft purple flowers. It is a card of memories: Of reminiscing about a time when everything was fine and life was simple: Of remembering our childhood. Whenever I am with my mother I feel often like a child again. In her own way she still takes care of me, simple because she cares for me unconditionally. And that feels safe and it gives me a chance to completely relax.  I didn't know I needed this so much until I got there. I loved listening to her stories and even now after so many years some of them where still new to me. This card radiates  peace and quiet. Everything has it’s place and time there, just like with my mother. Her house is clean and organized in contrary to mine especially with our puppy running around messing with his toys and stuff. So when I came home I felt a bit overwhelmed and I had some difficulty to adjust to our everyday life.  Even the idea of starting to blog again wasn't appealing. It felt more like a chore than something I love to do so much. So I started to leave some comments here and there and that felt good. I know eventually I will adapt and fit in again. Today is already so much easier than yesterday and gradually I am getting used to our own way of living which I do love a lot J

“Grown means nothing to a mother. A child is a child. They get bigger, older, but grown? In a mother’s heart you will always be her baby.”

Five of Vessels - Ecstasy

The weather has really changed here . It feels like November at last. It is cold, grey and wet  outside. This weekend Sinterklaas has arrived in our country, so the card I pulled for today is quite fitting for the Dutch children and everyone young at heart who loves to reminisce about his own childhood  Sinterklaas experiences  while eating some Pepernoten  or Kruidnoten and drinking some hot chocolate.

Today card is the Five of Vessels (Cups) – Ecstasy. Although this card is not about sadness and grief, like its Rider Waite counterpart, it is about fully immersing in, and expressing your emotions and feelings. Letting go of thinking and analyzing and being  totally present in this one moment. The woman in the depiction is dancing and making rhythmical music and maybe she is singing too. She keeps on dancing until she feels the connection with Spirit/ the Divine. That one split second where all is one, when your soul fuses with the Universe, that is the moment you are really between worlds.

Honestly,  it is not easy for me to go there.  I am quite introvert, so expressing myself in movement and sound is hard for me. The only way I can experience  this feeling of connection is while I am painting or something like that or when I am meditating.  I do envy this woman  though, because this card also radiates a sense of freedom to express yourself in such an exuberant way
P.S. I am taking a little break from blogging and commenting, because I am going to visit my mother for a few days and I have some other things to attend to. Probable I will be back next Tuesday J

The Enchanted Lenormand: line of five – What do I love about reading cards?

For today I have taken a break from the Mary El Tarot. A kind of breathing space you could say. Sometimes when I read with a deck for  a while, it can get too intense and then I like to shift to lenormand or oracle cards. Not that I value those less but they do touch a different part of me and each system addresses a situation in their own unique way.

So for today I’ve picked the Enchanted Lenormand. The first card would be the topic of my question since I didn't have a pressing question to ask.

I've pulled The Diviner.  So the first thing that came to mind was: why does reading cards appeal to me so much; why is this such a passion of me?

The next cards are: Moon, rider, key and coffin:

• Messages from the unconscious will unlock blocked  thinking patterns
• Stirring  my dreamscapes will be the key to freedom
• Creative activities will be the solution for my depression
• Moon + coffin: numbed emotional life
• Key +rider; revealing message

So all and all a lot of reasons to keep reading my cards. I like it how these little Lennies can tell me so much about myself and also how they inspire me to think out of the box. Each time a combination of cards can mean something different and you are surprised again and again by their versatility

Page of Disks - Step by step

Today’s card is the Page of Disks (Pentacles) from the Mary El tarot. And yes again it is a court card. It is almost if  they tell me a story. Yesterdays cub is todays new born baby. Swaddled in cloths and with two beautiful fabricated little shoes on his tiny feet. He is ready to start his journey as a child of the earth. I am sure if he would open his eyes, we would  see the deep blue color of the heavens he came from; this incarnated soul. He is so perfect, so full of possibilities. The guidebook tells us our body is like a shoe for our soul: The means to experience life during our earthly adventure.  With our body we can learn and express ourselves. We can feel and think and have access to all its possibilities. It is up to us to take care for this beautiful gift and to make it strong and keep it healthy, so it can help us and support to fulfill our destiny: making the most of our earthly experience

So what does this mean for me today? Although I am not a baby anymore and a lot of my options have been ruled out along the way, there are still numerous changes and experiences to go for  and to enjoy.  Often it is fear what is holding me back, so this innocent little child so full of trust, also encourages me to be brave and to try new things, starting with little things and go from there; one step at the time

The Queen of Wands - Cherish and encourage your inner cub

Last night I was meditating and I felt rushed and also annoyed that lately so much is left undone. It seems like I don’t have enough time to get everything done. Being the responsible woman I am (ahum) of course the fun things are being put on the backburner. While I was trying to free my mind of all this noise, I heard  from deep within: “Slow down; there is plenty of time”

And then I realized I was rushing from one thing to another without being present with what  I was doing  right now. No wonder I was experiencing lack instead of abundance.

When my meditation was done, I pulled  a card with the question in mind, what could help me to really stay in the moment  and enjoy what I am doing. And I pulled the Queen of Wands from the Mary El Tarot. Well this queen is certainly present in the here and now. Look at how she is presenting herself: boldly and fearlessly. She is a South American shaman holding her little Jaguar, which is a symbol of strength and protection, in her arms :

This queen is the ruler of our inner fire, the flame of our  true self and our creative potential. She will show you who you are really meant to be. This queen always reminds me of Strength and when I opened the guidebook I read:  “She provides you with a safe , warm and abundant environment where you can grow from a small cub to a powerful jaguar yourself; master of your own internal forest.”

When I embrace my creativity; my drive,  and spend time with my cub, time will stretch out and there will be plenty of it to play, to grow,  to work, to enjoy and to be grateful for each precious moment.

Queen of Disks – taking care of myself

For today I've drawn the Queen for Disks from the Mary El Tarot. The first thing I've noticed is that she is crying crystals. We only have her portrait to interpret so it is not entirely clear why she is crying.  From her face and out of her head, roots are growing abundantly, because she is the embodiment of Earth. I often see this queen as a representation of the Empress in the Minor Arcana. In the background we see a rose garden in full bloom. We are invited  to follow the path and take care of her garden because as her children we are co responsible for her creation.

If it wasn't for her kind tearful eye, I would consider this depiction a bit creepy. I've seen more motherly, nurturing depictions of the Queen of Pentacles. But while studying her she gets to me.  She is more a personified energy, a deity,  than a traditional queen and I like that.

For today she is telling me to divert my attention from thinking to doing, from researching to creating  and most of all from taking care of others to taking care of myself; taking the time to relax and to rest, eat properly, got to bed on time and brush my teeth J. All the things a real mum would tell me to do, which are often the last things on my lengthy to-do list 

Strength – Watch and Wait

In the Strength card from the Mary El Tarot we see a woman sitting on a lion, holding a strand of pearls in her folded hands. The depiction is predominantly painted with orange, which relates to the sacral chakra which is situated in the lower abdomen.

Strength is about aligning your soul’s purpose with the source of your  more primal desires. This is where you inner lion lives; the one who is destined for creativity and greatness. It is our task to befriend, to get to know this part of ourselves so we can tap into its enormous potential and to let him watch the zebra’s in the distance while you are praying with you pearl beads. Each bead is a result of wonderful transforming power: making a gem out of a continuous irritation. This is asking for restraint from lashing out and breaking your shell. No, we watch and wait,  are patient and pray.

Strength is also about taking responsibility for our own life; creating it with our words and actions. When we do or say the right thing, we've listened to the voice within. Only we can know what is right. This is when we trust our own greatness. Each time we do the right thing we become stronger and more confident.

This card is a welcome companion for me. It will help me to  find my own Lion. Sometimes I think it is still an insecure cub which bites and growls, to make a lot of noise when shadows are moving in the dark J

Maybe if we hang out a bit more he’ll grow stronger and more self assured.

King of Cups – Listening to the deep waters

For today I've drawn the King of Cups from the Mary El Tarot.  For me he is the master healer, the empath, He feels deeply without drowning in his own or other’s emotional tidal waves.

In the picture we see our king floating in the water between blue lotus flowers. He is holding his scepter, signifying he is Poseidon the God of the Ocean.

The king of Cups is master over the deep realm of our unconsciousness, of dreams and imagination.

It seems like there is not much going on in this depiction but although the surface may look calm and peaceful, we never can quite  grasp what is lurking in the undercurrent. Al we can do is trying to be still and listen,  like this king is doing

I've picked up  my meditation practice (Four days in a row J) This will help me to be still and listen to what is going on in the deep waters of my soul.  I do hope I can keep it up and try to see it as a gift to myself instead of a chore. 

"Whatever is fluid, soft, and yielding will overcome whatever is rigid and hard. What is soft is strong." —Lao Tzu.

Eight of Cups – The strength of an open heart

Although it wasn't my intention to really start working  with this deck, it did arouse my curiosity and perhaps it is a good deck for the beginning of this month.  It might also be a good companion on my journey to explore my inner  landscapes: “The landscapes of the abyss.”

So for today another eight; the Eight of Cups. Instead of a person leaving eight cups, we see a young child with the skin of a lion, draped over his shoulders. The combination of opposites reminds me of the Strength card. Real strength comes from an open and truthful heart rather than from anger and vengeance

So if you are to face obstacles and stressful situations, it is wise to approach it with and open heart instead of being totally shut down and on guard

That way you stay true to who you really are and from this comes inner strength, confidence and self-reliance which  will be shining in your eyes, and permeate your  demeanor  like the sun on the child’s  wrist

Easier said than done, since I am inclined to close all the shutters in times of trouble. It seems to me this card is showing me the right attitude to open the door from the Eight of Swords and meet the one in the tower. Perhaps it is this child I will meet there….

Jofee Pictures!

No daily draw for today . Since Sunday was rather stressful and tiring, I've decided to use this day for reading and other relaxing activities. which won't require a lot of my own input.
But I do have some wonderful pictures of Jofee to share. He has grown a lot and is becoming really frolic and frisky and also a real naughty boy. Luckily for us he is still taking his naps. Each day he is becoming more and more a part of our family. It is hard to believe we only have him for about three weeks.
So enjoy.....

Getting dirty

bathing time

So tired!

Eight of Swords – Opening the Gate

For today I've drawn the Eight of Swords from my newest addition to my tarot deck collection: the Mary El tarot by Marie White. I've had it for a few weeks now and to be honest is has taken me some time getting used to. The imagery is stunning. But to interpret these cards is a real challenge.  The eight swords in this card are incorporated in the gate. Upon closer look it is a rather strange gate without hinges or a latch. A gentle push will open it and give way to the path leading up to the tower. There is a light in the tower and somebody seems to be waiting for you there. If the tower wouldn't have been illuminated, I would have suspected, that was what was holding me back: Being safe in my hiding place, keeping the world outside. But it is the  inward journey, which can be even more daunting, this card is talking about. When we dare to face and let go of limiting thoughts like fear and worries; when we are brave enough to change our perception, we are able to move through the gate, pick some roses and meet our whole potential self. Because that’s who this red figure in the doorway is, according to the guidebook. It makes sense that rigid thought patterns will block our intuition which is the path that will lead us to the tower and meet the one inside.

It is remarkable how my latest daily draws are tied together by my intention to face my fears. It is giving me the feeling I am on the right path now.