New moon in Januari

For this new moon, I have pulled one card from the Thoth Tarot as to what energy I should embrace during this next cycle of the Moon and I got The Hanged Man. Some of its keywords are: rigidity, ending of a stagnated situation, new ways of looking at things, letting go of old behavioral patterns.  This hanged man has nowhere to go. There is now way to escape his situation. His eyes are closed, blind for everything which doesn’t align with his point a view. He is totally disconnected from his intuition and heart centered wisdom.

Yet, since there is no way out the only forward is to go within.  Only then will the snake wake up and rise from the dark grave. Then the Hanged Man can find freedom from past convictions and behavior. It is there  and then that he can undergo a profound transformation. He can free himself from the need of being always right and in control. If he can let go of these rigid ways of thinking he will set himself free and become a different person altogether.

It’s is a lot for one lunation but I am not surprised this card has comes up for me (again). If I will be able to only touch the surface of this card during the next four weeks I will be thankful and content. Habitual patterns created over many years are usually not discarded in a few weeks.

Affirmation: “I will let go of my need to be in control all the time and realize that life will present itself moment by moment”

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

Father of Swords – Don’t get too emotional too soon

Today’s card is the Father of Swords from The Wild Unknown Tarot.  Father Owl looks stern and strict but his standoff demeanor is softened by the beautiful colors of his sword. 

This sword tell us he has seen it all, experienced  a lot and all of this has made him a wise and knowledgeable father. One you can go to in times of need or trouble. You can talk with him about anything. Pick a color and he will tell you tales you never heard before and give you advice, gladly and sincerely.

I wonder why he has showed up today and I pulled Death. This is a card a of transformation, closure and letting go. Whenever we are confronted with the Death card it is so easy to shift  in full emotional mode but Father of Swords reminds us stay clearheaded and  to remember other Death occasions which weren’t all together as bad as we feared they would be.  Death is what it is, unbiased and a part of everyone’s life whether we like it or not. Death is the only certainty we have in life. Maybe Father of Swords’ gift of perception and looking at a situation from all angles can be very helpful for us to learn to accept this undeniable fact of life.

“The Beauty of Letting go” tarot spread

A few days ago I came across a small but powerful tarot spread on IG. It is called “The Beauty of Letting go” tarot spread (from Arcane Mysteries) and yesterday I tried it for myself, using the Original Rider Waite tarot:

1 What must I let of? Queen of Swords. 

Now that was a major disappointment to begin with. How could I release the Queen I identify the most with but then I realized she is can also be the embodiment of my less positive traits:

I see her sitting on her throne, all high and mighty. She is been through a lot and it only has made her stronger and more willed to survive. She will make sure her people won’t have to go through any of her own ordeals so she is determined to advise them and guide them even push them into the “right” direction.

Yes I can relate to that: The hovering mother, the meddling mother, the know it all mother. At least I can acknowledge these parts of me and that will be the first step of letting them go

2 What will I gain and accomplish as result of this release? Ten of Wands

No, I don’t think I will get overburdened by this. Rather I feel this card means that I can lay down all these self imposed responsibilities and lift up my head to see the beauty of the clear blue sky and enjoy life as is comes without the burden of having to control everything and everybody. So I will lay down these ten wands and stroll leisurely to that lovely little house in the distance. There I will pour myself a cup of freshly brewed coffee and dwell some more on the liberated feeling of letting go.

Chaos – Trying to find a way out

When letting go by ourselves (see yesterday's post) is too difficult life has a way to assist us....

Today’s card is Chaos, aka The Tower, from the Vision Quest Tarot. We see a horse rearing up in a burning forest. He is clearly frightened and he is feels trapped.. There is now way to escape  because the fire and the smoke are surrounding him. The only thing to do is trying to stay calm and hide away from the wind. Eventually the fire will make way for greener pastures. The question is how do we get to that point since we are clearly not having a great day.

And I pulled the Spirit Guide. (Judgement) To be honest I don’t have a lot of experience with spirit guides or spirit animals. I would love to meet one someday but for now it’s just me and my intuition or my higher self. Listening to the soft inner voice is hard. Taking the time and becoming quiet enough be able to hear the voice is sometimes even harder; we are often in such a hurry. This card encourages us to notice the little miracles in our life; the “road signs” along the way. So not only listening but noticing small details too. Mmmm, that is starting to sound a lot like living in the present moment and being mindful of how we experience life on a daily base.

Maybe if we would have been more mindful to begin with, we could have prevented the forest fire? Or do we welcome Chaos to help us to clear old and dead wood?

Four of Fire - the art of letting go

When I asked this morning what could help me to approach life with a more positive attitude, I got the Four of Fire from the Vision Quest Tarot. We see four sage  bundles clearing the air of stagnant energy with their healing and cleansing scent. This in order to make room for something wonderful and new.

The Four of Fire is all about celebrating and letting go what we have accomplished and completed. Only after we have consciously gone through this process, there will be room for new adventures and projects. It can be so tempting to compare today’s gifts with what has been and to cling to expectations for today. This is often caused by stagnant and limiting ideas and feelings Today is new day so let’s be grateful for its opportunities.

Maybe it could be helpful to revisit our day before we go to sleep and give it all, the good and the bad to God(dess) so we can wake up fresh in morning without guilt or regret and start the new day with a clear mind and an open heart.

My words for 2016

This  year I’ve had some difficulty choosing my word for the year. Previous years my word had always come naturally to me; distinguished itself gradually from  other options but this time around I couldn’t make up my mind and was left with three words, equally appealing to me. So I made a daring decision: This year is my year, so why not have three words.  I am free to do whatever I with my word of the year so without further ado here they are:

(Drumroll………………………)

Osho Zen Tarot

Attention

This year I want to try to really pay attention to the present moment instead of wasting it to worries and regrets.  The present moment is all we really have so I want to make the most of it

Letting go

Letting go fear and control will encourage me to embrace what is here and now and to step in each moment with an open mind.

Trust

I want to trust that  everything I experience  in my life will bring me more understanding of who I am and will help me to become who I am supposed to be and most importantly that everything will be okay

Last but not least, my motto for this year is:

Everything will be okay, so let go and let God(des)

Do you have a word or motto for the coming year?