New Moon in March

For this new moon I wanted to pull one card from the Dreams of Gaia Tarot as to what energy  I should embrace during the time until the Full Moon in April. Instead this one jumped right into my face while shuffling and when I turned  it over I knew it was the perfect card for me: The Seven of Earth. Some of its keywords are grounding, meditation and connection.

In this card we see a meditating figure who chakras a perfectly balanced.  He is one with himself,  the physical world around him and the all permeating spiritual realm. Yes he even fully understands that all these aspects of being spring from the same source  and are all equally important. 

Painting my oracle deck has brought me a great deal of healing but now I want to take it up a notch and take up things I feel less comfortable with.

So for the coming time I want to focus on doing things outside and also pick up my meditation practice (again). This morning I’ve combined the two and meditated in my garden. It is some getting used to because while I meditated other people were talking loudly and someone was working with a sander.

Also I want to go out for walks more regularly again. I know it will bring me peace  and calm but just like meditating I tend to “forget” it too often. Sometimes I think I suffer from spiritual amnsesia J

So lots of ideas and to tackle my forgetfulness I am going to list them  in my planner. Mind you, it won’t be a “todo” list but a gentle “remind” me list of options

The Magician - The Joy of Creating

For today I pulled two cards. One for the overall energy of this day and one for needed advice

The first card is The magician and this is such a fitting card for today because I have all kinds of plans whirling around in my head and today is a perfect day to actually manifest some of my ideas into being. The thing that stands out the most in this card today is the obvious joy of The Magician. He is drumming as if his life depends on it and he is totally absorbed by it. There is no sense of time and place. There is only of the joy of creating.  And maybe that is what The Magician is all about, creativity has to flow through us like a river because when this flow is obstructed with fear and feelings of inadequacy, it gets murky and smelly..

On the other hand the advice of the Seven of Earth is from a whole different nature. This card urges us to step back and evaluate what we have made or learned. 

This is a card of patience and of watching how life evolves instead of us trying to control everything to the last detail. Together these two cards do make a lot of sense . When the Magician has expressed his creativity he has to step back and wait until it becomes clear what the next phase will be. Each of knows that creativity comes in waves and personally I do have a tendency to hold on to my creative flow anxiously, afraid it will never return once the drum roll is over.  The Seven of Earth learns us to trust the Universe that after every ebb tide our flow will return.

This morning I have sewn a dress for my Waldorf doll. It has been years since I have touched a sewing machine. It wasn’t easy but I enjoyed the experience and I was satisfied how it turned out. It's a pity the bobbin winder is broken, so I have to take my sewing machine to  the repair shop. A mandatory pause but it is a good thing, so I can evaluate this first trial run and search some more patterns and maybe watch some YouTube tutorials on how to sew properly.

A Brat Bride Tarot spread

On the evening of January 31, the day before the Feast of Brigid, women in Ireland put a piece of cloth  on a shrub or hedge and left it  outside all night. This is the Brat Bride. The piece of cloth symbolized the mantle of Brigid, a Celtic goddess who brings healing and protection.

The dew and perhaps the snow that falls on the night of January 31, is Brigid’s and has healing properties  for body and soul. The cloth was kept throughout the year in a special place and came out when someone was sick as a tangible prayer for healing.

I’ve made my own version of the Brat Bride of a white handkerchief which I decorated with a little clover charm to give it a Celtic touch

I’ve done the following  three card tarot reading  with the Gaian tarot to put my intent into it before putting it outside this evening

1: What is my wish to imbed in my cloth?

The Gardener. What an apt card for this reading  since Brigid is the Goddess of creativity.  The wish I imprint in this cloth is to express my creativity freely and abundantly.

2: In what reoccurring situation, is it beneficial for me to call Brigid for help?

Whenever I feel insecure if I am on the right path, I can call on her for guidance and wisdom

3: How is Brigid’s healing dew offering me help and guidance during the year?

She will teach me to be patient and to see nature as a metaphor of the Divine. Nature is our most precious healer so it will be very beneficial to my health to go outside and find God(dess)

Dedicate the cloth with these words 

(they will transform your reading in a kind of tarot spell/intention):

I dedicate my Brat Bride to Creative Freedom. (name the wish, card 1).

I call on Brigid for help when I feel lost (the situation, card 2).

The healing dew Brigid offers me will help me by developing  patience and reconnecting with nature...... (card 3).

Tonight I will lay down my cloth on a shrub in our garden and be patient……

Source: Berthevan Soest

My copy of the Gaian tarot has arrived!

Yesterday I've received the Gaian Tarot  in the mail. This is a deck which  was off and on my wish list for years. I already had the Foolsdog app of this deck but in the end  that wasn't  it for me.  

A few weeks ago I decided to finally purchase a physical copy for myself and was deeply disappointed when I learned it (the Llewellyn edition) was out of print. 

There and then I decided to let it go and not obsess about any further.  But a few days ago I found myself searching the net again for this deck and  to my great surprise I found a Dutch Publisher who still had a one copy in stock. Without any delay I made the purchase and now I am ever so glad to have The Gaian tarot in my collection. It is a welcome counterbalance to all the more whimsical decks I have. It reads very intuitively which I like and it has a soft nurturing feel to it. For me it is a grounding deck after having read with the Chrysalis tarot for whole month now.

Today’s card is the Seven of Earth. Well it couldn't be more grounding than this. We see a woman planting a young sapling in the soil of a large forest. She is holding the root ball carefully in her hands and with her smile she is giving the young tree the confidence to grow.

Growing a tree needs patience; a lot of patience just a some of our other projects do. Not always we get the results we want and when we want them. Sometimes we just have to work slow and steadily towards our goal. Often life is not about our pass but more about Nature’s and Spirit’s pass.

When we learn to take pleasure in daily progress and in taking baby steps  then we can be grateful for each new leaf of our sapling, for each millimeter growth in length and or thickness.

Just before I wanted to upload this post I got the feeling this woman was adding her precious new deck to her collection with the intention of growing a solid and deep relationship with it. J

Affirmation: “ I trust that my efforts are growing to fruition in their own good time” J. Colbert