Barmbrack – Sweetness and Synergy

Today’s card is “Barmbrack – Sweetness and Synergy” from the Halloween Oracle. What a lovely cozy card this is. The barmbrack loaf has just come out of the oven and it smells so delicious. Also, the lit Jack-o'-lanterns are adding their sweet smell of slightly roasted pumpkin to the lovely fragrance of freshly baked bread. A barmbrack is an Irish sweet bread filled with raisins.  It is also called a bairín breac - a speckled loaf (due to the raisins in it)
“The Halloween Brack traditionally contained various objects baked into the bread and was used as a sort of fortune-telling game. In the barmbrack were: a pea, a stick, a piece of cloth, a small coin and a ring. Each item, when received in the slice, was supposed to carry a meaning to the person concerned: the pea, the person would not marry that year; the stick, would have an unhappy marriage or continually be in disputes; the cloth or rag, would have bad luck or be poor; the coin, would enjoy good fortune or be rich; and the ring, would be wed within the year.” Wikipedia
Although the fortune telling part of this bread is quite an interesting fact, today I want to focus on the magic of baking bread. When we gather all ingredients for baking bread, it doesn’t  seem as they have much to offer us by themselves but when we put them all together in a bowl and mix them thoroughly the dough comes to life even after beating it up again harshly, it will rise again. And then after we have baked it in the oven all the ingredients have come together and created something so utterly delicious, it is almost unimaginable.

Yes, a loaf of bread is a beautiful example of Aristotle's phrase: “the whole is more than the sum of its parts”.

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

Zombie – Control is an illusion

Today’s card is “Zombie – Control” from the Halloween Oracle. On a moonlit night, a dead body comes to life. His hand is already above ground.  He is not emerging from his grave by his own free will. No, he is summoned by some kind of sorcerer to do his bidding.  A small fragment of a living soul has been put into this body for a specific cause.

This card is asking us how much we are in control of our own life.  Are we living the life we want or are we buried beneath the demands and expectation of others? And in return, how much are we, ourselves in need of controlling the lives of others. Or are we capable of letting them walk their own path, only to help when asked? I think every form of control stems from fear, one of our four basic emotions. Letting ourselves being controlled by others might be caused by a fear of taking responsibility and accepting that change is a vital part of life. And change often hurts…

Controlling others, on the other hand, could stem from a fear that if we don’t interfere, things are bound to go sideways. We know best, so everybody should do as we would do in a given situation.

When we are busy controlling and letting ourselves being controlled, life passes by and we loose fragments of our soul by shying away from a more authentic life, filled patience trust and love.

Today, thirteen years ago, my life changed dramatically and I learned that control is indeed an illusion…

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.

The Veil and Seven of Fire – Divination or Exploration?

From the Halloween Oracle I got The Veil – Future, which represents the” thinning of the veil” around the Festival of Samhain or Halloween. 

It is said that during this season it is the perfect time for divination and all things magical. Although I hardly ever use my cards for giving me a peek into my future, for this one time I asked a little hesitant: “What do I need to know about my future?” Because I can’t get enough of The dreams of Gaia Tarot, I pulled the Seven of Fire, from this deck.

Seeing this card made me  laugh a littly bit. This card is all about divination and using your intuition and I think it might be the Minor Arcana counterpart of ‘Intuition” from the  Influence cards of the Major Arcana. Since this is a Minor Arcana card I think this card mostly about how to put our intuition into our daily practice and how to develop this highly influential part of ourselves.  According to the guidebook listening to our intuition can be a completely internal process; you just “know” something or it can be triggered by external stimuli (like our cards). But both ways do depend on a large amount of trust in ourselves.

Today this card is encouraging me to listen to and trust in my inner voice and also to be aware of those little things which happen during the day and which give me a that tingly feeling of a meaningful coincidence.

Or maybe I got it all wrong and this card is telling I  will to get into the card reading business any time soon now.

Eight of Earth – Gratitude will protect us from evil spirits

Today's word to draw a card with is Jack O’Lantern. I’ve picked the card with the same name from the Halloween Oracle and its keyword is protection, So I wondered what energy will protect me from evil spirits or maybe rather from self-defeating attitudes and thoughts  and I pulled the Eight of Earth from the Dreams of Gaia Tarot.

In this deck the Eight of Earth stands for enjoying what you have accomplished so far and contemplating where to go from here.  Since you were able to  reach this luscious garden, this card also wants you to remember you have the ability to unlock doors to maybe even more greater successes and abundance. This is highlighted by the keys dangling from the lady’s staff. She is also holding a crystal ball in her hand with which she can seek out new possibilities and manifest her future.

Don’t sell yourself short. We are often capable of much more than we give ourselves credit for. Feeling grateful for the abundance in our life as it is right now and feeling thankful for and proud of what we have achieved so far will fend off insecurity, fear of failure and other shortcomings (or evil spirits)

Today I am grateful for: S has helped me doing the groceries,  fresh apple pie and coffee, this blogpost, my Dreams of Gaia Tarot, Jofee is feeling better, the sun is shining,  my home, watching “Turn” with M, I won the Fountain tarot give away, my health, whole wheat bread with cheese and a glass of milk, clean sheets sprayed with lavender…… and so much more

Joy, an infinite power source

Today’s word  to draw is card with is Power: “The ability or capacity to do something or act in a particular way or to direct or influence the behavior of others or the course of events.” So I was wondering  what would increase this ability for me and I drew: “Joy, Rejoice the Present” from the Halloween Oracle. The mere sight of this card gave me a jolt of energy. A  feeling of bliss and physical alertness. It is for everybody more than obvious how experiencing Joy can give a boost to our energy levels. Why then is it so hard to remember to be aware of those little things in the present moment that will bring us joy or even more difficult, to seek out joy as a conscious act of  self care?

When you look closely to the girl in this card you will notice that she doesn't smile, yet... She is opening herself up though to the warmth of the Autumn sun, the bright oranges and yellows nature has painted this day with and the rustling sound of the falling leaves. It is as if she is consciously invoking her power from the beauty all around her. I am sure when she puts down her hands there will be  a smile on her face.

Today I will carry my Sun stone with me as a reminder to actively seek Joy in the here and now

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!