Eight of Arrows – Keep Going

Today’s card is the Eight of Arrows (aka the Eight of Swords) from the Wildwood Tarot.  We see a young woman struggling on her journey. Eight broken arrows are lying in the snow. They are of no use to her anymore.  Although her path is challenging, cold and lonely, she keeps going and she doesn’t give up. Her staff and her lantern are symbols of hope and determination. I prefer this depiction over the Rider-Waite version where the woman is blindfolded and not able to leave the imprisonment of her own thoughts.

No, this young woman is painfully aware of the brokenness of her arrows and how she has to rephrase her view of life, her feelings and ideas, her story. Often this is a lonely road to travel. Of course, we can ask for advice but the actual task, the decision to move forward,  is ours. This is, in my opinion, an act of great courage. 

This week we had a family get together to celebrate our wedding anniversary. This day is always filled with many contra dictionary feelings which leave me a bit shattered and down. Outdated expectations and missed opportunities are almost certain to come up on days like this. But although I am not feeling at my best. I do know it is best for me to keep going and to keep busy.

Page of Bows – Stoat: Jump!

Today’s card is the Page of Bows –Stoat from the Wildwood tarot. A perfect card to lift up my spirit after yesterday’s post. This card is the equivalent of the Page of Wands from the RWS deck. Its youthful playful energy includes a.o: creativity, willfulness, impulsiveness and curiosity and since this animal is a predator, I would like to add fierceness as well.

Look at him standing on his rock, one paw lifted, ears pricked up, and the point of his tail is slightly curved. His whole demeanor radiates excitement before action. Maybe that's what this Page is all about for today:  To find something which excites me, makes me curious and then jump in fearlessly. Just do it and make the best of it. I can’t imagine a stoat refusing to jump of his rock because he is afraid to hurt his paw. He just jumps because he know he has to and he deals with the consequences in the next moment. No, I don’t suggest we should live recklessly but a little less planning and thinking ahead might result in a lot more fun and enjoyment. The fear of making mistakes is more than often depriving us of joyful living

So for today I say to myself: let’s jump of that rock and finish my latest art journal page. Whether or not I am content with the final result, I am sure I will enjoy myself a lot while playing with my art supplies! 

New Moon in February

For this new moon I’ve pulled  one card from the Wildwood Tarot as to what  energy  I should embrace  during the time until the Full Moon in March. I got the Seven of Vessels – Mourning. Perhaps you can imagine my initial reaction to this card. My first thoughts were: how could this be a focal point right now, when I am so trying to find some emotional balance again? But then I knew: We are often talking about releasing and letting go to make room for the new but we tend to forget the work we have to do prior of letting go. Mourning is hard work and calls for a great deal of effort and endurance. It is only through mourning we can become soft and fluid again because when we hold on to grief, often without knowing, we tighten, both mentally and physically. We hold on to our sadness, our loss, in our stomach, our muscles and we bury it deep in the shadow of our soul. This way it can fester and eventually make us depressed. We can’t escape mourning so we’d better get to it.

Usually we are better at mourning our greater losses, the ones we can’t hide away: the death of loved ones, losing a great love etc. We often mourn these losses in the circle of our family and friends. But this card also encourage us to look at the smaller losses, the seemingly insignificant ones.

What immediately came to mind, when I saw this card is how I never have acknowledged my sadness over the loss of my ability to play the piano. I have had piano lessons for more than seven years and it gave me such joy to play this instrument. But due to my nerve damage in my hand I won’t  be able play again. It hurts too much.  Just as we have to be grateful for achieving “small victories” I believe it can be very healing to recognize what we have lost along the way and to say our goodbyes; perhaps with a little ritual, while being grateful for the good memories which we will always keep close to our heart.  

“This will allow our emotions to flow again; to rise and fall naturally and  bring a sense of closure, completion and peace” (guidebook)

Berkano and Four of Vessels - Get up and get going!

Today´s rune is Berkano (Birch). It is the rune of creative energie and the femine principle: The Empress of the Elder Futhark. The challenge of Berkano is to take care better of ourselves and to try to improve our  well-being; not only physically but also emotionally. Besides being a strong nurturing energy, Berkano also encourages us to give birth to our creative ideas. We can only gestate them for so long before they wither and die within us, which will cause us maybe more pain than the birthing process itself.

So what energy will help me to embrace the spirit of Berkano today? From the Wildwood Tarot I pulled: Four of Vessels- Boredom. Well this is a crystal clear advice. The only thing I have to do is to get up and to leave this energy devouring state of inactivity. 

While the traditional Four of Cups sometimes might be interpreted as meditation, nobody will belief this applies to the woman in the Four of Vessels. She obviously feels disconnected, stuck, sorry for herself, and she has created a black hole of despair inside of her. But holes can be filled,  if we only let the energy flow again. The only one who can begin this process is us. We have to ignite  that first spark. We have the key to open doors to new opportunities. So let’s get up,  turn around and step through the portal behind us. It may be scary but we already have everything we need to take this next step in our journey.

NB Perhaps this portal connects to the one from in the Yew tree of my previous post?

Eihwaz and The Knight of Bows

Today’s rune is Eihwaz (Yew). The Yew tree is an evergreen and will easily reach 600 years of age or more. It is a tree which often splits under the weight of advanced growth without succumbing to disease . It is easy to imagine that such a split could be a portal to the spirit realm. Eihwaz  is the rune of death and transformation, of standing at the crossroads.  I can relate to this rune very easily. Something has to change in order to move forward. Old victim stories, which are repeated over and over again, should be retold as heroic tales of overcoming great adversity. Letting go of old limiting thought patterns will make room for new ways of understanding.

So which energy will help me to bring about some change  in my life and I pulled the Knight of Bows from the Wildwood Tarot. The Knight of Wands in general  has a tendency to come up whenever I expect him the least. He is often a bit “too much in my face” when I am feeling down but he is also the one who gets his way with a nudge,  a smile and a motivating line. “Come on”, he says, “let’s make some fun! Don’t be such a party pooper and go on an adventure with me. I know the best places to go to.”

His charms are alluring and I can imagine myself wandering into the forest with him, without being afraid to go astray because he is walking right beside me. I am Feeling fearless and curious, enjoying each moment with an open mind, taking in the fragrant wisdom of the Wildwood, while putting my faith and trust in my red furred companion.

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. 

The Woodward and Queen of Vessels - There is no easy way out

Today’s word to draw a card with is "Crossroads" and I got The Woodward and Queen of vessels-Salmon from the Wildwood Tarot.

Some of my initial thoughts where: if anybody could make the right decisions to find his way out of the dark forest it is The Woodward. But even the strong and experienced Woodward needs some quiet time to collect his thoughts and weigh his options before his can make the right choice, not only for himself but also for his environment. I wonder if his cup is also filled with coffee just like mine is, when I am trying the make up my mind about what to do next and where to go from here.

Next I got the Queen of Vessels to add some  intuitive wisdom to this post. She is the living example that the best way is most often not the easiest way. It takes a whole lot of courage and determination to swim upstream but she knows without an doubt, this is the best choice for her and her future offspring.

She advises us to not only to make our decision based on our strength but also on our intuition because together these two aspects of ourselves can show us the way out of any forest.

“You can always take the easy way out and give up, but real strength comes, when you decide to keep pushing forward, no matter what the circumstances are”

Seven of Wands – A time to clear out the Dead Wood

For today I pulled the Seven of Wands from the Original Rider Waite Tarot and I picked its counterparts from the Wildwood Tarot and The Wild Unknown Tarot. 

When I pulled this card, the first thing that came to mind was of course “standing up for your beliefs” but when I saw the other two cards, I was reminded of how some of us (including myself), struggle with too many creative idea’s, passions and whatever keeps our heart and soul occupied. That got me thinking about the concept of pruning. After the Summer our garden looks a bit like a jungle. Some of our plants, like the Wisteria, even grow offshoots which almost strangle you when you walk past them. But if you want to have flowers and the next year you have to master the art of pruning. Prune too much and the plant will wither and die, too little and all its energy will go to maintaining all the excess branches and leaves instead of growing new flowers. In short we have to prune our non viable ideas (for now) to give room to our most  passionate desire to come to fruition. And perhaps maybe you will be amazed by how rich and luscious your creative talents will grow and develop.

“People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully.” Steve Jobs

Soulcards and Laguz – Don't keep the lid on

My Rune for today is Laguz, meaning water or lake. This is the rune of feelings and emotions, of the unconscious and of the hidden and unknown. Combined with this Soulcard from Soulcards 2 it is obvious how unhealthy it is to bottle up feelings and emotions and to keep them under a heavy lid. One way or another they will always find a way to surface and always when you’ll expect it the least.  This intense screaming inside will hurt us so much more then expressing our troubling feelings when they arise. Sometimes our cover can be so strong and impenetrable, it might even be possible we cannot hear our own soul screaming. But what if we do hear it, what to do about it?

And then I pulled the Six of Pentacles from the Original Rider Waite Tarot. The first thing that came to mind was asking for help to someone we trust. Because obviously  we are left with little to give like in the Six of Pentacles of the Wildwood tarot. The card from the Deviant Moon Tarot advises me to keep some of my time and resources for myself when others come to ask for my help after I have recuperated from this emotional tidal wave . My initial response is always give, give, give and that’s okay as long as I don’t exploit myself.

Today after a very busy morning and afternoon I am claiming some space and time for myself to do the things I love most… and maybe take a peek under that lid…

King of Pentacles – Our Pater Familias came to the party

Today’s card is the King of Pentacles from the Original Rider Waite Tarot, the Wild Unknown Tarot and the Wildwood Tarot. He is the patriarch, the provider and the defender of the family. He is strong, confident, skillful and  just. The perfect leader of his pack or herd.

For me not always an easy court card to interpret but for today it reminds me of my dad. “Family comes first” was his credo. He has worked his whole life hard to provide for us and after he had retired he could find joy in the simple pleasures of life: coffee, a walk, good book etc.  Yesterday it was M. her birthday and although he isn’t with us anymore in a way he was very present. Somehow it started when in the morning I gave M a kiss to congratulate her with her birthday. Suddenly I saw such a strong resemblance of my dad in her, which I’d never seen before because she is the spitting image of my mother and me. Throughout the day, when other family members arrived,  we kept seeing other family resemblances in one another. Some of us who were always compared to my mom suddenly also looked like my dad or vice versa but one way or another my dad was always part of the conversation. The King of Pentacles from the Original Rider Waite Tarot is connected to the earth by an overgrowth of winding and binding vines. This symbolizes today for me my dad is always with us; connected to us through his Love for us and his  Dna in us. And if  miss him we only have to look in our heart for him or ...in the mirror

The Magician - On your mark, get set, go!

My card for today is The Magician from the Original Rider Waite Tarot. Since I am participating in the Tarotperspective Experience on IG,  I pulled the Magician card also from the Wild Unknown Tarot and the Wildwood Tarot in order to deepen my understanding of this card.

What stands out almost immediately is the motionless posture of the three Magicians. It is almost  as if they are waiting for the signal to come into action. And when I am writing this, I realize it is me who needs to give the starting shot: steady ready go!

Then this big wild strong wildcat will run towards whatever his mind is focused on, the magician will channel the energy from above to whatever he wants to manifest in his life and the Shaman will share his knowledge how to travel into your inner realms to heal what needs to be healed in order to move on

I like how the tree Magicians each has his own expertise and how together they build such a more in depth description of this archetype.

For me today he urges me to get going and move forward toward the things that make me happy and feel confident. Beside knitting socks I have an art journal page to finish which I was putting off again and again. Getting back into artjournaling is really a magical experience. I never know what will happen if I put my first layers of paint on the  page. Most of the times it unfolds effortlessly and I just have to follow along, which is so relaxing. How strange that I keep myself from enjoying this practice so often

Anyway the Magician has get me going again, so next post will be my finished art journal page!

My thoughts on The IG Tarotspective Experience

my setup and six decks that might play along

In less than three days July has come to an end, so several new tarot challenges for August are promoted on IG. Among them is the Tarot “Experience” called  #tarotperspective   created by Kelly from @thetruthinstory and Patrick from @inthe78cards The fact that they call the Tarotperspective an experience was the reason I wanted to find out what this was all about. I’ve come to realize that I am not that good with IG challenges. Such a challenge is often a collection of 30/31 prompts to draw your daily card with. It puts too much pressure on me and when I am not able to complete a challenge it feels a bit like failure.
This Experience is supposed to be different. The goal is to choose one core deck and two additional decks. From the core deck you’ll pull, after shuffling, a card and from the additional decks you'll find its counterpart. When you sit with these cards you’ll experience how your understanding of the card you've pulled will grow and  become more layered. There are no prompts or questions. You don’t have to show up every day and you're free to tailor this Experience to your own liking. Some people  chose more than two additional decks or some will rotate them weekly.

Example with the Death card

For me it is certain I will pick the Original Rider Waite Tarot  as my core deck. The Rider Waite Tarot is the deck I started out with many years ago. It is a highly trusted, well read, and deeply loved deck. I want to broaden my perspective of the archetypes in this deck. I want to deepen my relationship with its characters and I want to add some fresh insights to the mix of meanings I have for each card of this deck. The more I think about it the more excited I become to participate in this challe… no, experience!

I am not sure which additional decks I will choose. Perhaps I will choose several and let

empty beds

my intuition guide me which decks want to enlighten me about my daily draw. Or I might just end up using two of the ones I’ve picked; we’ll see.

If you are on Instagram maybe you would like to join in and if you’re not, you might like trying to do this for yourself

How to bring more Magic into 2016

The prompt for today from the #MagicSeeker2016 Tarot challenge on IG hosted by @ghostkittenart is: What energy do I need to help me cultivate more Magic in 2016? I used the Wildwood Tarot to answer this question:

My first card was the Eight of Pentacles – Skill.

This card is all about developing new skills and practicing both the new as the older ones. This requires perseverance, patience and self discipline. At first glance not the card I would have expected to draw. It seems that magic is more about hard work than about waving your magic wand.

For some more clarification I drew The page of Arrows – Wren.

This page advocates fortitude through difficulties, daring and agility and determination. All good attributes for practicing our skills. It feels like he also wants me to be really open to new possibilities and broaden my horizon both practical as spiritual. Narrow mindedness is something he loathes intensely.

Next I drew the Two of Arrows which clarifies the reason for the first two cards.

Here we see a pregnant blindfolded woman immobilized by false assumptions, twisted ideas and most of all by fear. This card shows me that the previous two are an encouraging promise to bring magic into 2016. If I want to give birth to new life, I have to let go of my fears and insecurities and then I will be able to truly embrace my creativity, to be open for new ways of thinking and to practice and hone my skills. This is “Big Magic” indeed!

Eight of Arrows – We Struggle Because We Have Hope

 

Today’s card is the Eight of Arrows (Swords) from the Wildwood Tarot. We see a young woman struggling to find her way through the snow and the blizzard. There are eight broken and wasted arrows lying in the snow, with no use to anyone anymore. The woman is carrying a lit lantern, which is a symbol of her hope to eventually find her way again. Everybody knows how it feels to be in a situation like this; to be challenged by choices and dilemmas, which are often calling for harsh and sometimes painful decisions. And we know we are the ones who have to make them. Life can be cruel and difficult but we are fueled with hope that we will prevail. Otherwise we wouldn’t struggle and fight to overcome these challenges. And what will our destination be, once we have survived this storm?

The Six of Arrows. We are heading for the port to set sail on our boat towards calm weather. Now that we have left behind our broken arrows, our old thought patterns, we are energized with new possibilities and ideas. There are boundaries to cross. New reasonings will be tested, and new approaches will be researched. What wonders may lie ahead???

Personally I’ve experienced yesterday a minor struggle of my own.  After reading Bev’s blogpost “indulging the Ego” I was wondering what hidden agenda I myself had for creating art and why my ego is always so hesitant to create since it would probable result in praise.  Or is my ego afraid that I will ruin the drawing and it won’t get it’s quick fix. Some part of me wanted to start drawing again so badly and finally, late at night I succeeded to overcome my inner adversary and I drew a woman’s face. Maybe I should call her Hope.

Tarot and Oracle Decks on my Altar

Lately it seems to be trendy to take the tarot and oracle decks you are currently working with out of their boxes or bags and put them out in the open on your altar or some other kind of sacred space. Preferable with a crystal on top to keep it safe, to charge it, cleanse it and whatnot.  I’ve seen this practice for the first time in a video by Raecine from Owlmoon 513.

I can remember, I was not overly enthusiastic back then, because in my opinion there would be a dust gathering problem and the backs might discolor in the daylight. Over time, on YouTube and on Instagram, I’ve seen others doing the same thing, which is totally okay because that is how we learn from one another. Personally for me, my Tarot and Oracle decks are one of the most important tools of my spiritual practice, so it would be very fitting to have some decks ready to pull from on my altar. Because my altar was in some serious need of dusting and cleaning/cleansing anyway, I thought, why not try to put some decks on there too.

And so I did. On my altar I have now out in the open: the Sacred Rebels oracle deck, The Wildwood Tarot, The Celtic Lenormand and as a trusted old friend; The Original Rider Waite Tarot.

It has been three days now since I’ve made the "altaration" and I absolutely love it. It such a good feeling to be able to pick up your deck and start shuffling it right away. It feels so intimate and very inviting to me. Like in the fairy tale of Mother Holle when the apple tree calls out: "Shake me, shake me, my apples are all ripe,." so is are my decks calling out to me: “shuffle us shuffle us, we have many tales to tell”

New Moon in July - Get real!

For this New Moon I've drawn as usual two cards. The first one for the energy I am going to release and the second one for the energy which is beneficial for me to embrace. From the wildwood Tarot I pulled:

1 Release - Page of Vessels

This Page is depicted as an Otter, sitting on a slab of stone near the river. Otter is a very playful and joyful creature. He also represents being intuitive, brave enough to be vulnerable and open to share his feelings. I don’t see how I would want to release any of those qualities.

As a challenging card this signifies self-indulgence, living too much in your imagination and being absorbed by your own troubles. Now those are more likely aspects of my life I want to let go of.

2 Embrace - Ace of Stones

I was pleasantly surprised to see this card in the Embrace position. It is also the first card of my Tarot spell for a healthy life style.

Here we see a standing stone as a symbol that we can create changes in the material world if we set our mind to it; we can manifest our hopes and dreams but also our fear and anxiety. It is up to me what I chose to create. The potential of this Ace is limitless.

Together these cards tell me to step out of my over busy imaginative mind. I’ve spend more time thinking about a healthy lifestyle, than actually living it. Luckily I know myself and I am not going to beat myself up over this but I do love the fact how this reading is giving me a wake-up call to get real.

Three of Bows - A combination of Skills and Inner Trust

Today’s Card is the Three of Bows from the Wildwood Tarot. The Wanderer is welcomed by a hooded archer. This is a place to reassess where we’ve come from and where we are going. Which path shall we chose? Which path is the right path? From the archer we learn that some choices can’t be rationalized. He has learned to control his bow and arrows by many hours of practicing but in the end, when he is confronted with his aim, he has to focus and let go of his arrow, trusting it will reach its goal. He knows from experience he will be successful; most of the time.

Now we have to be on our way again while trusting and listening to our inner voice which will tell us were to go. I wonder where we are heading? 

And then I pulled the Hooded man. Is it the same archer but much older and wiser? How long have we traveled towards this little door in the ancient Oak tree? Are we invited in to repose and regain our strength so we can  receive the wisdom from The Hooded man and his little wren?

So many questions today and so little answers. I like that. Time will provide the right answers and will show us the right direction, if we are only patient enough to wait and quiet enough to listen.

For me both these cards are telling me to slow down and stop hurrying towards whatever is so important that it can't wait. Today is for quieting my mind and about taking stock. If I know where I am coming from it will be much easier to find out where I want to go next.

The Forest Lovers -Where do we find True Love?

Where ever did I get the idea that the Wildwood Tarot is a wintry deck? 

Today’s Cards is The Forest Lovers. The setting of this card is during Beltane, the beginning of summer, when the world is in full bloom. The Lovers are celebrating their handvasting near a Birch tree, which is adorned as a maypole. Both are pledging their love for each other with their hand over their heart; the seat of their true love. It is very likely that their marriage will result in a third creative energy. The lilies are symbolizing this very clearly.

Personally for me The Forest Lovers is mainly a card of self acceptance which will eventually result in true self love. This card is all about embracing the darker aspects, the not so nice parts of myself. It is about commitment and about “for better and for worse”, even when we discover parts of ourselves which we loathe and detest. Yes, these are harsh words but it is not so difficult only to embrace our minor flaws. We all have more despicable aspects too. When we uncover these parts, our self love it really tested to the core. Can we hold our hand over our heart and say “I do” even then? 

I think only if we can truly and completely accept and love ourselves, we can truly and completely love someone else. Because “to truly love, we must be truly whole”

The Wheel – Change is Good

After having read exclusively with The Wild Unknown Tarot for ten days, it was time for me to pick up one of my other decks. But which one? After some careful deliberation I chose the Wildwood Tarot. Only now, while writing this sentence, I notice the similarity between the names of the two decks. This makes me wonder how many of our choices are influenced by “Unknown” factors.  First I hesitated to start working with this deck in the midst of Summer because for some reason I always felt like this was a deck for the darker and colder part of the year.

Anyhow the decision was made and I pulled my first card: The wheel. This cards radiates change on every level. A major part of the changes in our life are caused by outer circumstances, like the cycle of the seasons, time, life and death etc. these are aspects of life we have to accept. But, between those unavoidable threads of the warp of our loom we can chose our own yarn and patterns for the weft. That makes us “the weavers of our own destiny” and for that part of our destiny we are wholly responsible.

As a daily draw this card urges us to take matters into our own hands when possible, without falling into the trap of being overly controlling. Everybody around us has their their own loom to work on and we cannot decide which pattern they are going to weave. We can only watch and advise and then let go and live our own life

As a side note: this card shows me very clearly that the Wildwood Tarot is for all seasons!

“The secret of change is to focus all you energy, not on fighting the old but on building the new” (Socrates)