New Moon in December

Pulling my cards for this New Moon, at het end of the Holiday season, feels a lot like an intention setting for January. I suppose most of us are anxiously anticipating the first of January, when everything will get back to “normal”

For this New moon I pulled two cards from the Dreams of Gaia Tarot:

Release – X Wisdom

This card relates closely to the Hermit in a traditional Tarot deck. It represents o.a: inner wisdom, self knowledge and shadow work. Yes, I feel the time for inward reflection is coming to an end. It can be tempting to stay in our cave a bit longer but life is more than only seeking inner wisdom. It is also about having experiences and creating opportunities to gain wisdom from. Without those our wisdom might become shallow and meaningless

Embrace – XI of Fire – Masculine/feminine

A very motivating card for this coming lunation. This card is all about finding the balance between passive and active energy. January often appeals to our most active energy, so we can better ourselves, follow up on our new year resolutions and trying to work on our goals and intentions. This is not always the most effective way to go about it. Instead of hurrying and chasing and doing our uttermost best, listen to your energetic rhythms and try to be flexible. Embrace the energy which suits you best. It is okay to slow down, even in January! There are eleven more months to come.

The Wheel - Carving out Space and Time

Question to draw a card with: How can I take care of myself during the last days of this year? And I got The Wheel from the DruidCraft Tarot.

Some keywords for this card are Completion  and beginning of a cycle.

For me this is a perfect card for the last out breath of this year. A time to  recuperate from the stressful Christmas season. Only one festivity to go and then the new year will begin. The priestess is drawing a circle with her wand, while holding a symbol of the wheel of the year in her other hand. The circle is almost completed. It is a symbol for a completed cycle but it is also a sacred space, out of time out of place, where we can recharge and/or ground ourselves and where we can connect with Spirit. It is so essential to carve out space and time for ourselves this time of year to withdraw from everyday distractions. This way we can reflect on what has been and what may come. This is the perfect time to set new intentions and let go of outdated beliefs.

I hope you will all be able to give yourself the gift of Space and Time these last few days of the year.  

My best Christmas gifts!

I wasn’t planning on blogging today but when I read Chloe’s post: “What Were Your Best ChristmasGifts?”

I was inspired to pull two cards to answer the following questions for myself. I used the Druidcraft Tarot since it is my “Christmas deck” for this year. I have been enjoying it so much; just looking at the pictures, discovering new details, pulling a card now and then and being amazed by its wisdom and evocative nature all over again.

So let’s dive in:

What is the best gift I gave this Christmas? – Ace of Swords

From the depth of my sometime murky unconscious  emerged one thought crystal clear: this Christmas is a brand new experience: a once in a life time Christmas. No need to stain it with regrets and/or high expectations of Christmases  past. This relaxed mindset allowed me to step into this year’s Christmas with my family and really enjoy it. My eldest daughter and her boyfriend and my husband all came to visit us and we had a very good and peaceful day. I was able to divide my energy with ease and even keep some for  myself.

What is the best gift I received this Christmas? – Three of Swords

All  the merriment and cheerfulness were like a healing balm for the lingering sadness which is always, one way or another, asking for attention during this season. But this year I felt no need to harden my heart so I could protect myself from feeling too much. No this year I felt like I could be truly be myself and that was a wonderful Christmas gift.

What were your gifts this year?

Son of swords – Keep your sword sheathed

My card for today is the Son of Swords from the Wild Unknown Tarot.  It feels like this card is warning me to keep silent when emotions are running high. And let’s be honest, these coming days emotions will easily get over heated and perhaps even explosive.

  

Tomorrow M. and I are going to bake two loaves of our traditional Christmas bread, and one apple pie. If we are emotional balanced it  will almost look like we are dancing around the ingredients and the loaves will be the final accord of the melody. But if we want to be right and do this how we think is best we will collide and might even hurt each other with our swords.

So what  is the advice we need for tomorrow. Ten of Cups. It seems like all the ingredients are coming together for a lovely baking day with delicious loaves of bread en  beautiful pie as result. Look how the cups are pouring their colors into one and other. Each cup is beautiful in its own way but together they are creating a rainbow rhapsody. So let’s keep our swords sheathed and let’s dance!

Cycles – Trust the process

Today’s card is Cycles from the Magical Times Empowerment Cards. “We are all becoming. Surrender to your changes. Release your fear. Trust this powerful process.”

This last week  it feels like I am in a kind of a spiritual Winter or  a standstill. I don’t feel “it” and during this season the pressure is quite high to feel “it”, with everybody talking about the Christmas Spirit and so on.  In the depiction we see two dragons chasing each other, which tells me there is always movement in Cycles, even when we are not aware of it. This card resembles the Wheel of Fortune, which also teaches us that life has its ups and downs. Nothing ever stays the same; everything always changes. So I just have to trust this universal law and accept where I am right now, knowing this too will pass.

But I wouldn’t  be me if I didn’t  want to  help the universe to speed things up a little and preferable before Christmas. Yes I do have own my time schedule to consider too, so I pulled a rune for an assisting energy in this matter.

I pulled Jera, the rune of Cycles and Harvest.  Two divinatory systems telling me exactly the same thing.  How cool it that. Now I understand how speeding things up can ruin my harvest of this experience. We have to follow the rhythm of sowing, growing, weeding, harvesting and yes, also of resting. Each activity has its own season. This is the natural cycle of life. So it is actually not that strange to find myself in a spiritual lull these days. Maybe the cold winter does that to a person sometimes.

For now I will pour myself a hot cup of coffee and try to accept what is and sit with that, without giving in to my need to fix things quickly and trying to find a shortcut out.

I wish you all a wonderful Yule

Six of Cups – Adapting our Memories

Today’s card is the Six of Cups from The Wild Unknown Tarot with the keywords: Memories, Childhood and Joy. A very fitting card for me, since I’ve visited my mom last weekend.

In this version of the Six of Cups we see a Fir tree with a stunning, intricate and colorful root system. On the surface this Fir looks like any other Fir in the forest but when we look more closely, each Fir has developed in his own unique way. His roots and his trunk could tell us so much more about his growth throughout the years. 

And the same thing is true for us. Our memories, happy and sad ones alike, are partly cause of who we are today. But memories are not stagnant, they change when we change they way we feel about them. It is not the exact memory which determines how  we respond to  whatever life throws at us but the way we relate to those memories. Our perception might change over the years. Memories laden with guilt can  become filled with acceptance and compassion. And so we grow new roots each day and strengthen old ones, or cut them off from our energy flow so they wither and be forgotten.

With this notion I try to approach the Holidays. Traditions, childhood memories and expectations are not stagnant. They are truly alive and can become part of something new and fresh Our personal stories, even the sad ones, can be retold from a more empowering perspective. 

Let’s fill our memories with Compassion and Joy

Eight of Cups - Breaking through resistance

Today’s card is the Eight of Cups from the Wild Unknown Tarot. Our eight cups are shattered, broken beyond compare and a dark almost impossible to climb mountain is blocking our way. When we find ourselves on the dark side of this mountain, it is very hard to imagine there could be light on the other side and trees and flowers growing there.  So what to do now in such a precarious situation and I pulled a Soulcard. At first glance I would say: Stay put, don’t change and pretend to be happy where ever you are right now. But I have been playing this game too long to fall for this initial thought. The message today is to open your eyes, acknowledge your broken cups, feel you fear and start climbing. Fear is a devourer of energy. So face it, name it and disempower it and feel a jolt of energy being released from its shackles. And you're lucky, for there is no need to pack because inside, you already have everything you need for the journey. Bon voyage! 

Demeter - Need for sustenance

Yesterday I have bought the Foolsdog app of the Darkgoddess tarot. The deck is momentarily out of print but to be honest it was a bit too expensive for  me anyway, especially combined with the shipping costs to the Netherlands. I also was  a bit hesitative if I could read with the deck since it contains so many goddesses, I have never heard of. Working with the app is a perfect way to dive into the realm of the Dark Goddess since it also comes with a great guidebook which tells the myth of each goddess and how this myth is related to the interpretation of her card.

This deck couldn’t have come at a better time for me since I am working with the aspect of the dark goddess a lot lately. It feels like she is encouraging me to really look at myself  and to strip myself down to the bare bones of who I am and to figure out what I want to hold on too and what to let go.

For now I will use it mostly for daily draws and the first card I got is Five of Earth - Demeter - Give no part of yourself to what does not sustain you.

Demeter is the Olympian goddess of agriculture and grain, the sustainer of mankind. She is the goddess of the fertile earth. We all know how deeply she grieved when her daughter was in the underworld and how the earth withered away until Persephone was allowed to return to her mother during the light half of the year.

Her message is to take care of yourself during your personal dark season. Don’t despair because after each Winter, Spring will always return. My previous post was about the Five of Stones (Earth) too but this version highlights how to nurture yourself in times like this.

During this Holiday season it is so easy to say yes to everything you think you are supposed to do. Saying “No” is not impolite or self centered. It can be a wonderful act of kindness and compassion  for  yourself. These dark days for Christmas often bring about a need for reflection for many of us. If so, make room for quiet time, for walks, journaling etc. Just do the things which bring you joy and fulfillment, besides buying busy and taking care of things all day.

Wishing you a smooth and joyful run-up to Christmas!
Hugs  

Ingwaz – Sitting with your shadows

Today’s Rune is Inguz or Ingwaz, named after the god Ing who is both a fertility god as well as a heroic god who traveled to the underworld. It is a rune of gestation and internal growth. This reminds me of the seed which has to wait in the darkness of the earth until it comes to life and is able to move towards the light. This process of sprouting takes time and requires al lot of strength and patience. 

I pulled a card to elaborate on this rune from the Wildwood tarot and I got the Five of Stones. 

This is  the card of hardship and the struggle to survive the challenges of life. I think this child is part of our inner hero. The one who keeps the fire of our heart burning even in times of stress and spiritual  starvation. She is not afraid to spend time in the dark cave; to sit with whatever asks for not only her attention but more so for her acceptance. This is an act which calls for great courage and resilience, because all too often with the first stirrings of our shadow we immediately tend to freeze and deny  it.

I suppose we each have our own dark cave. Mine is scary and cold but I did have found some treasures there and I am sure there are many more to be found. It is not easy to go there willingly but if we do “practice” this journey we will be more prepared when  life challenges you and we find ourselves sitting there unwillingly.

Uruz and the King of Bows – Strength and flexibility

My rune for this beautiful Winter day is Uruz (Aurochs). This is the rune of strength; both psychical and emotional and often also spiritual. It is the rune of courage, endurance and determination. This rune often comes up when you need a reminder that you are worth fighting for and that it is time to make a stand.

So what energy will help me to embrace the qualities of Uruz: the King of Bows - Adder from the Wildwood tarot. Together these two are  masculine energy squared.  The King of Bows aka the King of Wands is the personification of confidence, wisdom and strength. This is the third King in a short while to make his appearance into my life. Maybe it is time sit on the throne of my own life again.

Being in pain and/or just discomfort for two months in a row is not so beneficial for your mental well being.  I miss doing the things which make my heart sing. So yesterday I picked up a watercolor brush and  some paints and splashed some colors on a page. Did it hurt? Yes, a bit. Was is beautiful? Not particularly. But oh my god(dess) it made me so happy. I even hummed a bit. Sometimes when you are sitting on the fence of life for a long time, it is hard to get back in the saddle again. This process calls for the qualities of Uruz and especially the creative flexibility of the King of Bows. It might require taking some detours to achieve what makes me happy but I am positive I will get there. 

King of Cups – The perfect ally for this season

For this new moon I drew the King of Cups from the Morgan Greer tarot in the Embrace position. 

I am not a huge fan of the King cards in general but for me this one is the most easy to relate to. He is kind and wise, he is compassionate and tolerant and he is intuitive and artistic. So what is not to like about this King. Since he has come up in the embrace position I want to emphasize his  positive traits over his more challenging ones. What I love most about him is his emotional stability and great involvement  in the lives of his people and the way he offers them advice and guidance in times of need. He also teaches me not only to give advice but also to be open to receive advice from others. Ask M, because she knows how difficult it can be to tell me to slow down and rest more.

He is also a peacemaker which can be quite a useful  energy to identify with during the holidays. Together with his other aspects he is the perfect one to have around this season. And maybe this stretches a bit too far for some of us but he does remind me a bit of  Jesus himself.

So what could be a good way to manifest his energy today! and I got the (don’t laugh) the King of Swords. This card will remind me to keep a balance between my heart and my head. Embodying the king of Cups could perhaps lead to improvident actions. I supposes the clear mindedness of the King of Swords will protect me from becoming overly involved or too compassionate and he will make sure that my personal boundaries are guarded at all times. I am sure these two kings will have a lot to talk about.