Without- Within- Advice spread with the Mary El Tarot

For today I wanted to do a daily three card spread which I found it the guidebook of the Mary El tarot

Without - The world

It seems I have it all under control. I have a house, a steady income, good health, a loving family and I am able to cope with the ups and downs life will present me with. Life is good and I am content. My dreams are fulfilled and I have nothing to complain about.

Within – Six of Wands

This is the archangel Michael, slayer of demons and dragons. Yes, although life is good, I still have many demons to confront. The question this card is asking me is if I want to slay my demons or if I want to assimilate them to become a more complete person. I think the latter. My demons are my own, they are part of who I am, although perhaps they are a bit deformed and grown out of proportion over the years. Marie White states that in this card our higher self meets our shadow. I think that although this might be scary, it is a necessary encounter which we can’t escape forever.

Advice - Ace of Wands

Roar woman! Show your strength and think of a creative way to lure your demons into the light. Don’t be afraid of who you are because you are wonderful and one of kind. This card is the primordial spark of creation. It is the embodiment of courage and power; the seed of our creativity and our intent. What better card to call us to arms than this one.  It is one of the greatest gifts life has to offer us and we only have to reach out than grab it, because it is always and everywhere!

I feel that when I can harness the power of this ace and meet my demons with courage and confidence the energy of The World will become an intrinsic part of who I am.

Three of Pentacles and Ace of Wands – A gentle kick in the butt

As you all know, I haven’t been feeling so well lately. Also I have been considering to take a short hiatus from blogging and social media all together.  Some days it feels like I am just going through the motions and ticking of my daily boxes.  The last two days I have been pampering myself and it felt really good: listening to music, reading books, drinking coffee, nibbling on biscuits, taking long showers and so forth. But  even pampering gets boring, although I am still not there yet. So  I asked my cards for advice on where to go from here. 

The Three of Pentacles came up: Creativity shared with friends. No Hermit or Four of Swords, which are my go-to cards in a situation like this. The other card which came up was the Ace of Wands: A budding wand, filled with so much potential. But be careful not to nip all these juicy ideas in the bud. Choose one and cherish is like a new born child.  

So here I am again with another blog post thanks to my “cardboard therapist” and it actually feels good to write this; sharing how it is right now and not pretending to be something I am not. Feeling like this often fills me with shame and/or guilt, because how can I permit myself these feelings when so many live in much more dire circumstances than I do. But it is what it is and I know from experience I will get better, probable sooner than later, because I’ve learned to recognize the signs early on.

Feeling like this confronts me with difficult lesson in self love. It is so easy  to love and  embrace who we are when all is well and life is on the upside but this lesson is about the hardest part: loving ourselves when we are faced with parts of ourselves we don’t like at all and are often embarrassed about.

 “I will be gentle with myself and I will only go as fast as the slowest part of me feels safe to go” Karin Drucker

Three card daily draw with the Raven’s Prophecy tarot

For today I’ve done a three card spread for my daily draw with The Raven’s Prophecy tarot. Although I have this deck for almost a year now, this is the first time I am working with more intensely and I enjoy this deck so much. The simple yet very skillful drawings are highly evocative. They are conveying their message very clearly and with little room for doubt.

For my spread the positions are as follows:

Well this seems like it is going to be a wandsy kind of day. What stands out for me in this reading is the fiery sword of the Knight of Wands between the Ace of Wands and the Two of Wands as if the Knight is somehow trying to prevent the sequence of the suit to continue….

1 The general energy of the day – Ace of Wands

This ace is all about creativity and enthusiasm. Yes after a good night’s sleep I feel like the Page of Wands from Yesterday is ready to roll. This card is about beginning and not worrying if you will complete your project in a perfect manner. Just start and enjoy the process

2 The challenge of the day – Knight of Wands

It feels like he is not letting me do my thing: play, make  mess and go for it. The knight of Wands in a challenging position can be about doing all your chores before you are permitted to do anything fun. He is also about doubting your ability to create and he is scared to fail. He will act busy so no one will notice he is actually procrastinating out of fear

3 The gift of today – Two of Wands

Being aware of the power of the Knight I will be able to bring my idea into the next phase. Building up my painting layer by layer after creating the initial playful background. This card is urging me to apply structure and direction to my work. Head and heart are coming together in The Two of Wands and are joining their forces

Ace of Wands – Anything is Possible

Today is a special day for me. It’s the day before my birthday. This last year has been over all a good year for me. It has taught me a lot and although it was not always easy, I am sitting here behind my laptop with a cup of coffee next to me, smiling and  feeling quite content. Life goes on and I am getting older and I dare say I think I am getting a tad wiser too.

Today’s card is the Ace of Wands from the Wild Unknown Tarot. What a beautiful energy to embrace today and to take with me into my next year. This is the card of  unbridled possibilities and options. A very inspiring card too! Just by looking at it you can feel the fire burning inside, the urge to go do something; anything. Just jump in and enjoy yourself. Don’t  fret about if it is going to be worth the effort or if what you are creating is good enough. Fuel your fire with experiences. And learn while you play; just like children do.

We can only conceive our ideas  to a certain extent  in our mind but then we have to pick up our tools and make it happen. Write, cook, sew, paint, draw, sculpt, bake etc There are countless ways to express ourselves and do what makes us stand out in this world. For whatever we make, it is unique. Each mark has our own distinct energy and is the signature of our soul.

Today I have written this post, baked a apple pie for my birthday with M and I drew a girl’s face.

What mark are you going to make today?

Ace of Wands – Feeling free to be me!

Today’s question for Shadow Work October by Mnomquah is:

Mage - What areas of my life need to be freed from outside influence?

I’ve chosen the Deviant Moon Tarot to help me answer this question and I pulled the Ace of Wands!

“The Ace of Wands heralds the beginning of all that is good as she cradles new life in her arms. Her massive torch is prepared to spread its fire throughout the woods, igniting

minds with creativity and passion.”

Look how she gently holds  her new born in her arms. Just like a mother who is caring for her child, we all should be kind and nurturing for our ideas and dreams about who we want to be and how we want to build and create an authentic life for ourselves. I remember the fire inside when I was much, much younger. I wanted to change the world and make it a better place. I wanted to pursue and Eco-friendly lifestyle. I wanted to be an artist etc. But when I grew older I was taught to be responsible and do as grownups do: find a job, buy a house and start a family.  This is when I started to become more insecure about my own needs and desires. What would others be thinking of my choices?

This card reminds me that I am perfectly able to decide for myself what is best. This doesn’t mean I have to turn my life upside down and start over.  I can start right here and now. For instance I can be more kind and supportive towards my creative endeavors. My creative ideas are worth pursuing even if they aren’t successful. I am allowed to experiment and fail just as I am allowed to succeed and shine. Also I can try to be more clear about what I want and make things happen for me; like choosing what we will eat tonight instead of asking what everybody else wants for dinner. Yes it all sounds so simple but even the smallest steps can be the beginning of significant changes.

Ace of Wands - Enthusiasm , Inspiration and Confidence

Yesterday I've written about embracing Trust,  so for my daily draw I've asked the following question: What can I do today, to strengthen my trust?  And I drew the Ace of Wands from the Original Rider Waite tarot. This card is showing the necessity  of a lot of trust, both in life and in ourselves. We see the a celestial hand offering us budding wand.  Life and or God is offering us an opportunity  to start a brand new project or to go for an exciting new creative idea. But do we dare to accept  this gift. As soon as we see new chances to explore often we feel a great reluctance and we are experts in coming up with numerous “what if’s”  before we've even tried it.  Killing every possibility of success in the bud.

Well that was yesterday because today I will try be open to new Wandsy gifts and I will even trust in the possibility of synchronicity and little miracles; of all the beautiful things that can happen if I let go of my anxious need to be in control and approach life with enthusiasm , inspiration and confidence. (notice the word “try”, because it won’t be easy. J)

Four of Vessel and Ace of Bows: leaping out of limbo

Yesterday was a difficult day. Last Friday, M. had learned from her doctor she had to have an ultrasound of a lump under her yaw which has been sitting there for about six weeks. And we all know what everybody is  thinking, when a lump is in the picture. Whenever one of my kids is not healthy and I don’t know what is wrong with them, I worry a lot and my anxiety tends to get overwhelming. Gradually I get sucked in a kind of limbo, where all I can do is wait, hope and pray and desperately seek for distraction in gaming or watching TV-series. In limbo tarot shouldn't be allowed. The cards speak only about gloom and doom and I am forgetting the fact I don’t do predictions. But then the moment came we were at the hospital and the doctor spoke the liberating words:” It’s nothing serious”. I barely could keep myself from kissing the man. We celebrated life with a large ice-cream. When I came home I felt so good, happy and relieved.

Wildwood Tarot

This morning I looked at the last two cards I had pulled yesterday before we went to the hospital. And no, the Ace of Bows isn't a laser or radiotherapy and the Four of Vessels isn't a waiting room in a hospital. When I look at those two cards today  I see myself sitting in limbo not knowing what to feel; “Sickness of the soul” and “emotionally frozen” the book is calling it. But then there is this Ace of Bows,this spark of life,which encourages us to stand up and start living again. It is almost like a rebirth.

Another spread for Self Love

A few weeks ago I've posted a spread for self love for Valentine´s day. Yesterday I've discovered a great website called "Little Red tarot". There I saw a post with another “awesome” Self love spread for this Holiday. But hé, self love is for every day of the year and since I adore this little three/four card spread so much, I wanted to post it here. So (drum roll)…. Here it is:

“The ‘Me Myself and I, aka Why I Am Totally AwesomeTarot Spread”

1. What’s totally awesome about me is…

2. My favorite thing about myself is…
3. I am brilliant because…

And if that hasn't sorted you out, go right ahead and pull one more card:

4. One reason it doesn't matter if I have one lover, three partners or no sweetie at all is…  

I guess this is the Valentine’s day position, so for now I like to call this extra card: the loving/caring action for myself right now

It is in the nature of this spread to read it in a quick, positive and intuitive way. Just see it as a pat on the back whenever you need it.

So let’s give it a try:

 

Crystal Visions Tarot

 1 What’s totally awesome about me is…

Five of wands – I have a lot of creative ideas running around my mind: I just have to pick one…

2 My favorite thing about myself is…

Strength – I am  a compassionate , strong woman

3 I am brilliant because….

Five of Pentacles – Even in times of need I always take care of my family

4 How can I love myself right now?

Ace of Wands - I will pick one creative inspired idea and  I will  go do it!

I highly recommend this spread because it feels só good! The cards give you compliments you would not have thought of yourself. Even this reading with two fives has been so delightful

Ace of Wands: Take a leap or wait some more

Druidcraft Tarot

This morning I've pulled the Ace of Wands from my Druidcraft Tarot. For me this is one of my most beautiful depictions of this Ace. From the heart of the burning fires of the Sun, the great spark of life on Earth, we receive a branch of a Birch tree. The birch is a symbol of new beginnings since it is the first tree who grows back after a forest fire. It is also the first tree in the Ogham, the Celtic tree alphabet.The Stag is associated with fire and passion which we all can imagine why… He is standing on the cliff waiting, weighing, will he jump or not?

The keywords for this Ace are: creativity, inspiration, desire, renewal, growth

The tension in this card and the one I am feeling lately, are much alike. A few days ago I've written about my creative blockage and the way I would try to work through that.

Now this card has come up and it feels like it is saying: Get up and do something, anything! I have been a bit in a creative slump and avoiding any “risky” situations. I’ve been playing it safe so to speak. (these are the reversed meanings of this card)  Before I will run upstairs like a mad woman and get my paint out again (failure assured) I want to figure out what I want, how do I want to express myself creatively at this moment. What feels good for me now. Is it time to jump or not? The sun will still be there tomorrow. For me today this card is a like a nudge, a little push of encouragement, to wake up my inspiration and my drive. This quote couldn’t have been more fitting:

“I am the thinkling, the quiet whisper of inspiration. I am the novel idea at its moment of conception, the spark of something wonderful. I hold unlimited possibilities if you have the courage to run with me. New life blooms with a touch of my hand. Reach out and share my joy of creation.” (Leila Veh)

Ace of wands – I know I can do it!

Ace of wands - Anna K Tarot

For today’s draw I've got the ace of wands from the Anna K Tarot. This ace is all about  new inspiration, trying new things, enthusiasm, energy etc. It’s a very appropriate card for me to start the week with, for I lack most of these qualities. The last few days I feel I’m a bit in a rut. There’re some things I want to do, to try  but I can’t seem to get started. I feel stuck, probable afraid of failing (one of the anxieties I have). When I think of starting something new all those alarm bells go off and I stop before I've even tried it. I beat myself up over not doing what I want and that doesn't help much either.  I suppose it’s my inner kid who is afraid. And who would beat up his child for lack of faith in herself. I should encourage her rather than being strict and severe. Look at this girl balancing to the other side gleaming with joy from all the cheers she's hearing: Come on! You can do it! You’re the best!. Perhaps the first step of accomplishing anything is loving my inner girl and complement her whenever I can; building up her self esteem and self confidence. I am sure in this way I can create a much more safe environment, for both me and my girl, to experiment and play. J