Journey – Stop running and enjoy the scenery

Today’s card is "Journey" from the Magical Empowerment cards by Jody Bergsma. I needed a kind, gentle and uplifting message today, so I was very pleased this deck was still in my collection. It has been on my “decks to let go” list but somehow I find it very difficult to part with decks which have supported me throughout various phases of my life. So I keep them in a box for when I want to revisit with them again. And in that box, I found this deck …

The message of the card is to focus on how far we have come instead of how far we still have to go. Everything we have experienced up until this moment has brought us to where we are right now. Looking back on my life I consider this one h*ll of an accomplishment. But frankly, I never pay much attention to this feat.  I’d rather make to-do lists, research ways to improve myself, try to fix other people’s problems, run my daily life and move forward. But life has its own way of saying "enough!": Sometimes by sending you the flu or in my case dumping too much on my plate. 

So for today, I will keep myself from running towards the finish line and take some time to be proud of myself and to be in this moment, on this day and frankly, without expecting anything, it has become a good day, a very good day....

Ten of Wands – It’s okay to say No

Today’s card is the Ten of Wands from the Druidcraft Tarot.  It is a card of feeling obligated and overburdened.  An old man is carrying his ten wands uphill. His destination is not yet in sight, so we don’t know how far he has yet to travel before he can lay down his heavy wands.

When we often feel like this it can be a sign that we need to change our behavior and/or our attitude towards the need to do it all by ourselves. This is easy to write down but so much harder to establish in real life.

Lately, since I’ve started my journey towards more spiritual freedom,  I find my wands to be so much lighter and easier to carry. Also, my wands don't  hurt my back as much as they used to. And when I do feel tired, I don’t mind tossing them on the ground and take a nap on the side of the road. Life isn’t all about work and fulfilling (often self-imposed ) obligations and expectations. If only we were taught that play and having fun are just as important as doing our job and,…. most importantly, that it is okay to say NO once in while.

The Hierophant - I want to be free!

Today’s card is the Hierophant from the Ravens Prophecy Tarot. This card is the worldly, physical manifestation of spirituality, which is for me almost an oxymoron. 

In this version of the Hierophant, we see a candle burning in a lantern. It’s true that the lantern protects the light of the candle, even magnifies it with its glass but even though all these advantages, the light of this candle is contained and has lost its freedom to dance in the wind.

Lately, I find it difficult to relate to any organized form of religion or philosophy or even parts of it. I feel that my main reason to do so in the first place was my fear of being wrong and I perhaps felt there was safety in numbers. With the beginning of this new season, the only thing which feels spiritual to me is Nature itself in all Her abundance and Autumnal decay, the magic I see and feel in all of this, and of course my cards.

I do believe in the Divine, in Spirit, but for now, I experience it more as a loving Energy than as a specific deity.

All this feels fresh, free and playful. Without any tasks or structured practices, I am more “spiritual” than I used to be. There is no more pressure, just listening to myself and finding out what makes me happy and what connects me to Spirit

NB I do recognize the wisdom of all the wonderful teachings we have. I just don’t want to be limited by them anymore or exclude others who think differently.

Raidho and The Hanged Man – The journey within

My rune for today is Raidho (wheel), the rune of traveling and movement. The question I like to ask this rune is: "Where do I go from here?" and I pulled The Hanged Man. 

So physically I am going nowhere but that doesn’t mean I am not going on a journey. The Hanged Man tells us it is time to take a pause and reflect on what we need to hold on to and nurture and what we need to let go off. What is bringing deep fulfillment and is contributing to our purpose in life? What is helping us to step into our authentic power?  How can we respond to life with Love instead of reacting in fear? So many questions, so many things to ponder about. To find the answer to all of this we only need to quiet down and listen. This can be done during meditation, or while taking a walk or just sitting in our garden and let the beauty of nature sink in.

The Hanged Man of the Rider Waite Tarot shows us the effect of this inner journey. Just look at the halo around the man’s head. In the Wild Unknown Tarot we see how  by hanging upside down the bat keeps his head in the light too and in the Vision Quest Tarot the Hanged man is replaced by a Native American who is indeed going on a Vision Quest, an inner journey of self-discovery and spiritual growth

All the cards, however, show in their own special way that what is unconscious and hidden deep within needs to be brought into the light. Not to get rid of it but to truly own it and transform it from something we fear into something we are able to love. 

Resting in No-Thingness and trusting the Adventure

Today I asked my Osho Zen Tarot to tell me who God is for me right now. I hoped for No-thingness and I got No-Thingness. Don’t you just love it when that happens. 

This card is all about darkness, emptiness; Nothing to hold on to, no sense of direction. It is isn’t negative, nothing to be afraid of. In absolute darkness there are no shadows. This is the place between death and rebirth: The  gap between the outgoing and incoming breath. It is like the dark soil where a seed lies dormant until the spring.

So again I asked what would be a helpful attitude towards  this Nothingness and I pulled the Page of Rainbows - Adventure. Here we see a child who moves from the darkness into the rainbow of light, led by her sense of wonder and her innocence. Just moving forward without an agenda or a map. Trusting that all is well and letting go of all expectations. She is just moving forward step by step, moment by moment

For now I feel nurtured by the darkness of Nothingness and I am not in a hurry yet to go on an adventure but it is good to know that from here out there will be Something to discover  if I keep an open mind. And perhaps I am already on this adventure without being actual aware of it….?

A few day few day ago I’ve made a vision board which turned out to be focused around my spiritual journey into the unknown. It has become an open, peaceful and spacious collage. The texts say:

Intuition as your compass

Go your own way (literally: Go your own wise way )