The Woodward - Hunter and Guardian

Today’s card is The Woodward (Strength) from the Wildwood Tarot. We see a hunter with a mountain lions mask. He is holding a spear with blood on it in one hand and a cup in the other. From the shaft is hanging a lion headed figure. The hunter is waiting, assessing what the right next move should be. Each moment he has to find the balance between the darkness of death and the beautiful gift of life.  He is both hunter and guardian of the forest.

The book says:  “The Woodward is a hunter whose prey is solutions to moments of crisis. He acts as an emotional backstop when fate, or the destructive energy in a situation, faces us with seemingly irrational or overwhelming disaster.” 

This card reminds me to reevaluate my own backstop; my inner place of strength and protection; How can I maintain a balanced stance like this Woodward and wait patiently for the right moment to act and the right words to say? If possible I retreat myself from a stressful situation to regain my focus and balance but usually I just have to try to keep my mouth shut, breath and pray for guidance. It is so easy for me to blurt out my first reactions and try to get my way but it is often not very helpful for the long run. My greatest challenge is to keep silent and have the patience to listen to others involved and to that soft voice within. Only then I feel I can make the right decisions for the good of all.

A Twist in the Tale – Expect the unexpected

Today’s card is “A twist in the tale”- The unexpected, a change you did not see coming” from the Shapeshifters Oracle.  I like to use this deck during this season because the theme of the deck is Change and so much is changing right now. We are entering the holiday season. The temperatures are dropping rapidly. “Winter is coming” without a doubt and in thirty days Christmas as is already over and days are slowly lengthening again.

The card shows us a pale white girl and her white ferret. There is not much color but the red of their eyes, nose and ears  and the pink glow in the back. Not quite what you would have expected of a fairy and her ferret.  They come to tell us that change is coming and there is nowhere to hide. It can be about your age, your relationship, your job, a project; something is about to change and the only thing we can do is embrace and accept it and go from there. So often we are relentlessly trying to keep change at bay so we can uphold our illusion of being in control.

It would be so much more easy to accept change and then embrace it or deal with it. So many possibilities could have been ignored or set aside out of fear of change. And who knows what we have missed out on.

Nature teaches us all about change. About the beauty and the hardship. About life and destruction. Everything  is part of the whole beautiful picture

Perhaps that is the message from this card:  take a step back and try to see the whole story with all its twists and turns and how everything worked out for the best. That way the next twist won’t  be that scary and maybe in the end a great blessing

Six of Cups - A trip down memory lane

Just before I went to visit my mother, I pulled for myself the Six of Cups from the Goddess Tarot. Although this deck has a lot of Rider Waite based imagery, this card seems to lack the two children where one child offers the other one flowers. Here we see a house in the distance and six cups, neatly arranged and filled with soft purple flowers. It is a card of memories: Of reminiscing about a time when everything was fine and life was simple: Of remembering our childhood. Whenever I am with my mother I feel often like a child again. In her own way she still takes care of me, simple because she cares for me unconditionally. And that feels safe and it gives me a chance to completely relax.  I didn't know I needed this so much until I got there. I loved listening to her stories and even now after so many years some of them where still new to me. This card radiates  peace and quiet. Everything has it’s place and time there, just like with my mother. Her house is clean and organized in contrary to mine especially with our puppy running around messing with his toys and stuff. So when I came home I felt a bit overwhelmed and I had some difficulty to adjust to our everyday life.  Even the idea of starting to blog again wasn't appealing. It felt more like a chore than something I love to do so much. So I started to leave some comments here and there and that felt good. I know eventually I will adapt and fit in again. Today is already so much easier than yesterday and gradually I am getting used to our own way of living which I do love a lot J

“Grown means nothing to a mother. A child is a child. They get bigger, older, but grown? In a mother’s heart you will always be her baby.”

Five of Vessels - Ecstasy

The weather has really changed here . It feels like November at last. It is cold, grey and wet  outside. This weekend Sinterklaas has arrived in our country, so the card I pulled for today is quite fitting for the Dutch children and everyone young at heart who loves to reminisce about his own childhood  Sinterklaas experiences  while eating some Pepernoten  or Kruidnoten and drinking some hot chocolate.

Today card is the Five of Vessels (Cups) – Ecstasy. Although this card is not about sadness and grief, like its Rider Waite counterpart, it is about fully immersing in, and expressing your emotions and feelings. Letting go of thinking and analyzing and being  totally present in this one moment. The woman in the depiction is dancing and making rhythmical music and maybe she is singing too. She keeps on dancing until she feels the connection with Spirit/ the Divine. That one split second where all is one, when your soul fuses with the Universe, that is the moment you are really between worlds.

Honestly,  it is not easy for me to go there.  I am quite introvert, so expressing myself in movement and sound is hard for me. The only way I can experience  this feeling of connection is while I am painting or something like that or when I am meditating.  I do envy this woman  though, because this card also radiates a sense of freedom to express yourself in such an exuberant way
P.S. I am taking a little break from blogging and commenting, because I am going to visit my mother for a few days and I have some other things to attend to. Probable I will be back next Tuesday J

The Enchanted Lenormand: line of five – What do I love about reading cards?

For today I have taken a break from the Mary El Tarot. A kind of breathing space you could say. Sometimes when I read with a deck for  a while, it can get too intense and then I like to shift to lenormand or oracle cards. Not that I value those less but they do touch a different part of me and each system addresses a situation in their own unique way.

So for today I’ve picked the Enchanted Lenormand. The first card would be the topic of my question since I didn't have a pressing question to ask.

I've pulled The Diviner.  So the first thing that came to mind was: why does reading cards appeal to me so much; why is this such a passion of me?

The next cards are: Moon, rider, key and coffin:

• Messages from the unconscious will unlock blocked  thinking patterns
• Stirring  my dreamscapes will be the key to freedom
• Creative activities will be the solution for my depression
• Moon + coffin: numbed emotional life
• Key +rider; revealing message

So all and all a lot of reasons to keep reading my cards. I like it how these little Lennies can tell me so much about myself and also how they inspire me to think out of the box. Each time a combination of cards can mean something different and you are surprised again and again by their versatility

Page of Disks - Step by step

Today’s card is the Page of Disks (Pentacles) from the Mary El tarot. And yes again it is a court card. It is almost if  they tell me a story. Yesterdays cub is todays new born baby. Swaddled in cloths and with two beautiful fabricated little shoes on his tiny feet. He is ready to start his journey as a child of the earth. I am sure if he would open his eyes, we would  see the deep blue color of the heavens he came from; this incarnated soul. He is so perfect, so full of possibilities. The guidebook tells us our body is like a shoe for our soul: The means to experience life during our earthly adventure.  With our body we can learn and express ourselves. We can feel and think and have access to all its possibilities. It is up to us to take care for this beautiful gift and to make it strong and keep it healthy, so it can help us and support to fulfill our destiny: making the most of our earthly experience

So what does this mean for me today? Although I am not a baby anymore and a lot of my options have been ruled out along the way, there are still numerous changes and experiences to go for  and to enjoy.  Often it is fear what is holding me back, so this innocent little child so full of trust, also encourages me to be brave and to try new things, starting with little things and go from there; one step at the time

The Queen of Wands - Cherish and encourage your inner cub

Last night I was meditating and I felt rushed and also annoyed that lately so much is left undone. It seems like I don’t have enough time to get everything done. Being the responsible woman I am (ahum) of course the fun things are being put on the backburner. While I was trying to free my mind of all this noise, I heard  from deep within: “Slow down; there is plenty of time”

And then I realized I was rushing from one thing to another without being present with what  I was doing  right now. No wonder I was experiencing lack instead of abundance.

When my meditation was done, I pulled  a card with the question in mind, what could help me to really stay in the moment  and enjoy what I am doing. And I pulled the Queen of Wands from the Mary El Tarot. Well this queen is certainly present in the here and now. Look at how she is presenting herself: boldly and fearlessly. She is a South American shaman holding her little Jaguar, which is a symbol of strength and protection, in her arms :

This queen is the ruler of our inner fire, the flame of our  true self and our creative potential. She will show you who you are really meant to be. This queen always reminds me of Strength and when I opened the guidebook I read:  “She provides you with a safe , warm and abundant environment where you can grow from a small cub to a powerful jaguar yourself; master of your own internal forest.”

When I embrace my creativity; my drive,  and spend time with my cub, time will stretch out and there will be plenty of it to play, to grow,  to work, to enjoy and to be grateful for each precious moment.