Graveyard – Unnecessary Fear

Today’s card is “Graveyard” from the Halloween Oracle. There is something about graveyards at night which makes the hairs on our neck stand up. An unspeakable fear creeps up on us, mostly caused the countless ghost and horror stories we have been hearing throughout our lives.

Logically speaking there is no need to be afraid of the resting places of the dead. It is just our mind who likes to tell us differently. The Graveyard card reminds me of everything I have put to rest: old projects, withered relationships, lost jobs and neighbourhoods, secrets and regrets and so much more. As long as I haven’t buried them properly, they sometimes still try to haunt me but when I am sure I’ve closed the lid of the coffin and filled the grave with dirt and the occasional flower, my mind will be at peace again and what I have buried will decompose and make the burial ground even more fertile than it was before.

The Three of Earth elaborates a bit more on this subject. Here we see someone planting his seeds in the fertile ground of our graveyard. He has to sacrifice his acorns in order for a tall Oak tree to grow there. Without death, there is no life. And so we come full circle. No, death shouldn’t frighten us but rather make us curious about what comes next.  What does life still has in store for us? Yes instead of letting ourselves being haunted by the past we’d better sow our seeds for a promising future

Night Song – Here goes nothing

Yesterday evening I pulled Nightsong – Hidden Talents from the Halloween Oracle and this morning I decided I wanted to write about this card instead of pulling another one. We see a beautiful red colored bird sitting on a branch at night just before he is going to burst into song. Because it is quite rare for birds to sing at night, it was often seen as a bad omen.  But for the more positive minded people, it could be a sign of good fortune too. A bird singing at night could also be considered to be “able to direct us towards discovering our talents and true purpose – a kind of guide in the darkness leading us to the dawn.”

This got me thinking about my own hidden talents and I couldn’t come up with anything. Of course, I know I can draw and write but that’s nothing new. This card is about the hidden talents. Then I thought:  “Let’s draw some more cards about it” and I drew three cards for three talents. (Perhaps a bit presumptuous?) The cards were quite positive but still, it didn’t feel right and I went to bed and stopped thinking about it. This morning when I saw the Nightsong card again, little by little it dawned on me because now I realize you cannot go searching for hidden talents or draw cards to reveal them.  No, you have to do the work or better said you have to start playing with the mindset of “Here goes nothing”, just like when we were children.  If I had never picked up crayons and paper when I was a child, I would have never have discovered I had a talent for drawing and painting. Somehow along the way, a lot of us have lost the open-mindedness of a child to try out new things without expectations. And now, as adults we seem to walk in darkness, frantically searching for our authentic self. Perhaps if we would try to relax and enjoy playing and experimenting more, then who knows what treasures we might find, hidden in some dark unexplored corner of our soul.

Trick or Treat - Take your child out to play

Today’s word to draw a card with is "Wind" and the card I got is “Trick or treat” from the Halloween Oracle. When is saw the two kids in this card, I had to laugh because when you combine them with storm and wind, lots of things could happen: the cloak of our little ghost could fly away, the candles could be blown out etc. but does it prevent the kids from having their Trick or Treat?  No, I suppose not but I am sure many moms would rather have them watch TV that night than let them go out on their own. Who knows what might happen, and whom they may encounter…Some moms will scurry a few meters behind them to be sure nothing bad will happen. It is so very hard to let our children go and let them do their own thing, leaving room for failure and mistakes and even accidents. Most of us were raised this way too and because of this, our inner child is still afraid to play and make a mess and wants to check under the bed and in the closet for the boogieman (not that we let her of course).Being kept too tightly under the parental wing can be suffocating and when we do get out, our need to play can be hard to discover and not to mention to embrace. Our child needs to be guided and persuaded to experiment and to do things just for the fun of it. It is a long process but believe me it is so worth it to take your child by the hand an lead it trough the world of wind and wonder. Let the wind mess up your hair, your dress and your perfectly crafted Jack-O-lantern and laugh about it and don’t  let it spoil your fun. Life isn’t perfect but joy is!

Happy Halloween and a Blessed Samhain

I want to wish you all a beautiful Halloween/Samhain. 

The photo is taken by M and she has also baked these delicious pumpkin cupcakes for us

Hugs!

Ghost of the Pumpkin Patch – Count your Blessings

Tonight is All Hallows Eve or Halloween, the evening before Samhain. My last two posts were about my intention to look into my fears and anxieties. So for today I've asked the question, what will help me to face my fears. And I pulled The Ghost of the Pumpkin Patch from the Oracle of Shadows and Light.

The Ghost of the Pumpkin Patch Speaks:

“Something that is a blessing is being overlooked. It appears cloaked and seems almost invisible to you. You must stand in your field – that is to say, your life – and look around you, and see all that has been given to you again, and give thanks for it. You are forgetting how much you truly have, and how much you will have again, and again. My time is the harvest: it is now your time to bring in, or harvest, the joy and love of what you have so much of, and share your abundance.”

When you want to face you fears it is wise to first count your blessings. This will give you lots of security and strength for your inner journey. Life is not always as bad and scary as it seems. Skeletons in the closet are a lot smaller than the sound of their rattling bones might suggest. Spiders in the attic? Humbug, Monsters in the cellar might be just brooms and boxes when you are supported by the joy of your blessings

I've written  a lot about the practice of gratitude and this card is a reminder to uphold this practice when dealing with the harder parts of life

Count your  blessings and don’t take anything for granted. Count until there is nothing left to count, not even the smallest little squash in the corner of  your patch.

Happy Halloween and Samhain!