How to bring more Magic into 2016

The prompt for today from the #MagicSeeker2016 Tarot challenge on IG hosted by @ghostkittenart is: What energy do I need to help me cultivate more Magic in 2016? I used the Wildwood Tarot to answer this question:

My first card was the Eight of Pentacles – Skill.

This card is all about developing new skills and practicing both the new as the older ones. This requires perseverance, patience and self discipline. At first glance not the card I would have expected to draw. It seems that magic is more about hard work than about waving your magic wand.

For some more clarification I drew The page of Arrows – Wren.

This page advocates fortitude through difficulties, daring and agility and determination. All good attributes for practicing our skills. It feels like he also wants me to be really open to new possibilities and broaden my horizon both practical as spiritual. Narrow mindedness is something he loathes intensely.

Next I drew the Two of Arrows which clarifies the reason for the first two cards.

Here we see a pregnant blindfolded woman immobilized by false assumptions, twisted ideas and most of all by fear. This card shows me that the previous two are an encouraging promise to bring magic into 2016. If I want to give birth to new life, I have to let go of my fears and insecurities and then I will be able to truly embrace my creativity, to be open for new ways of thinking and to practice and hone my skills. This is “Big Magic” indeed!

Happy Holidays!

With this beautiful picture by Vladimire Kireev I want to wish you all a very Blessed Yuletide and a Merry Christmas. I want to thank you for your ongoing support and lovely comments on my blog. Especially during these darker days of winter it is so magical to realize that our circle of friends extends across the whole world. I am truly grateful for each and every one of you.

Hugs Ellen

On my way to freedom

These last two weeks of December I am participating the #MagicSeeker2016 Tarot challenge on IG hosted by @ghostkittenart. The prompt for today is: What energy do I need to help me cultivate more Freedom in 2016?

Since carving out more personal time and freedom is one of the major challenges in my life, I decided  not to pull only one card but three, because all good things come in threes!

From the  The Wild Unknown Tarot I pulled: The Emperor, The Sun and the Five of Wands

The Emperor advises me to keep the reins of my life in my own hand. He is the one who makes the rules and expects both his people and himself to abide by them. He is also not afraid to delegate or ask for help . No emperor can do everything by himself.

I think I might benefit from some kind of schedule or routine which will bring more structure into my days and which will help me to find balance between activity and rest; breathing in and breathing out.

The Sun is a very welcome card for this question. Choosing actively for joy, love and light will help me to prevent losing energy to complaining or whining about everything I have to do or about how tired I am. Just get it done and be happy and content afterwards. Feeling good about yourself is such a great motivator.

The Five of Wands. This card is strongly connected to my word for 2016: Focus. The Five of Wands is an exact representation of my mind when I feel anxious and stressed out by the many things I want to get done All my ideas  and plans and whatnot are all mixed up and they all want to be heard and executed NOW! So for 2016 I am going to try to Focus on only a few tasks or projects at the time and the rest of my ideas will be written down on a “You don’t have to think about this now ” list

So all and all some clear road signs to more freedom in 2016

Different Cards - Same Message

Today’s card is the Three of Cups from the Druidcraft Tarot. A happy cheerful card, well suited for the Holiday season. Although in this deck the characters are male instead of female, I always identify it with my daughters and myself and of course for now also with my SIL. 

When I asked for advice on how to create such a loving and joyful atmosphere in my house, I got The Wheel: In this depiction we see a woman literally carving out space and time for herself. She is casting a circle with herself in the center of it. From there she can observe and respond mindfully to any given situation at hand without becoming overwhelmed by it. 

Finally I asked what the result would be if I would follow the advice of the Wheel? And then The Star jumped out of my deck. Hope an renewal, Cleansing and healing and wishes come true. When I trust enough that all will be well and I will be able let go of my Holiday anxiety, then I will find that inner peace and quiet: a well brimful of inspiration and loving guidance 

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!

Knight of Wands - I can’t stop the Rain

The last few days have been quite busy and I suspect there are still a lot of those days ahead. Due to the changes in my household I felt too distracted and too tired to pull my daily cards. Somehow my daily routine has been tossed upside down and this has made me realize how much I depended on that routine to get things done and make room for me as well.

After a few days without tarot, I pulled the Knight of Wands from the Raven’s Prophecy. This is the same card from about a week ago. It seems I needed to hear and feel his creative energetic message again today. He reminds me to take charge and be strong for myself. I am a worthy cause to fight for as long as I take care not to hurt the ones I love.

When I asked how or when he would help me I pulled the Seven of wands. Usually we see a guy on a strategic spot defending himself against his enemies. But in this deck we see a hand shielding the little flames from the pelting rain. This is what needs to be protected at all times: “the fire inside that makes you uniquely you.”

You can’t fight the rain, you can’t make it go away but you can be there for yourself, take good care of yourself so the rain won’t dowse your inner fires.

For me personally this means to carve out time for myself during the day, since the early morning hours are not always for me alone anymore. I want to spend more time in my room to read and write, to play with my cards or just to find some peace and quiet. I am sure if I am willing to give me all of this, the sun will come out soon enough again.

”La Loba” Tarot Spread

Yesterday I stumbled upon a very interesting tarot spread made by Vickie from EternalAthena Tarot: the “La Loba Spread”. She was inspired to create this spread after reading the first chapter of  “Women Who Run With the Wolves” by Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes. In this chapter the story is told about La Loba; the Wolf Woman. The story tells us about how important it is to recover the lost “bones” of our inner Wild Woman and to become whole again. Since I love this book so much I was very excited to try this spread:

I’ve used the Raven’s Prophecy Tarot by  Maggie Stiefvater because the energy of this deck feels rather wild and primal and it speaks to the more concealed (wild) parts of me.

1 Who is the “Wild Woman” within? – The Two of Cups

This card is all about relationships with  lovers, friends and family and of course with myself and it tells me that my Wild Woman loves me enough to stay true to myself in any relationship. She urges me to cherish en love myself so much that I dare to love another as well without the fear of loving too much and losing myself or the other again.

My Inner Wild Woman wants to share her love and live from the heart

Where do I go to gather my bones? – The Six of Swords

By taking a step back and by reflecting on what went wrong. Taking the time to figure out which idea’s and feelings I can release and don’t need to cling on any longer. Just open my hands and let go… Then there will be room for new, more empowering ways of thinking about Love and Trust. Being a Swordy woman, reflecting and journaling about my thoughts is like to gathering bones to me

How can I express her? – The Ace of Swords

By taking the brightest and clearest idea about Truth and Love and pray it into existence.

The Knight of Wands – My new best friend

Yesterday I’ve received the Raven's Prophecy Tarot by Maggie Stiefvater in the mail and because we have been quite busy decorating for Christmas, these two cards are the first ones I pulled from the deck.

The Knight of Wands, my least favorite card for ages but recently it has become one of my “sigh cards”. Whenever he shows up I get the feeling I am Brave enough  to do whatever I set my mind too. Up until now this card has always been mainly about overcoming my creative fears. So when I asked in what area of my life he would be willing to help me I was very surprised I got the Ten of Wands. This is the card of burdens and burn-outs. So soon in December and already I’ve pulled Ten of Wands. Together these two cards are telling me not to be afraid of whatever comes my way this month. They assure me I will be able to find the energy and courage to engage any challenge ahead and they also remind me I don’t have to do everything on my own. I have the tendency to believe “Ellen knows best” but I also know I have two very capable loving daughters and a darling SIL who are always willing to do one’s bit whenever this is needed and/or asked.  Also I will remember the almost magical soothing effect of making art. So whenever my head hangs low from anxiety and fear caused by the burden of feeling overly responsible, my paints and pencils will always be ready for action.

Let it Go!

Today’s cards are Strength and The Hanged Man from the Wild Unknown Tarot by Kim Krans. 

The first thing which came to mind, when I saw these two cards together was the famous song from Frozen: "Let it go".

First I pulled The Strength card. In this version of Strength we see only the Lion. The maiden is represented by the rose. The lion is  gentle holding our higher self between the softness of his lips. The sun of consciousness is shining upon them. In this card we have fully integrated our more untamed, wild and powerful self  with the more conscious parts of ourselves. We even trust it to take over if needed. 

So I asked for what cause I needed Strength and I pulled The Hanged Man. The bat is hanging upside down. His feet are in the dark, his head is in the light. Seeing things from a different perspective can provide you with some illuminating insights.... That was the moment I started humming “Let it go”

This is the best advice I can get from my cards for the coming month. In two weeks my SIL is starting his new job. then he will move in with us until S and he have found a place of their own. And let’s not forget the upcoming holidays….