Two of Pentacles – Keep practicing

Today’s card is the Two of Pentacles from the Goddess Tarot. This is a card of balance, flexibility and a touch of playfulness. When we look at this woman, it is very obvious she doesn’t find this juggling act very difficult. She keeps her Pentacles in the air with grace and ease. She doesn’t even have to watch what she is doing. That is, in my opinion, the secret of a juggler. Once you get the hang of the rhythm of throwing and catching it isn’t that difficult anymore. Mind you, juggling isn’t so much about catching but more about throwing; about purposely letting go and trusting you will catch it again when the time is right.

Ah, if only I was such a proficient juggler. No need for planners or to-do lists, no need for creating some good habits day after day. I would love to be more like this woman who is living in this very moment and is satisfied with doing what she is can do. She isn’t concerned with all her other Pentacles laying around the house and catching dust.

So, for today I will try to focus on the task at hand without letting myself be distracted by everything else I should be doing instead.  Also, I will try to find some flow of throwing and catching, of breathing in and breathing out. 

Rhiannon - Movement, Moving into Autumn

Today’s card is "Rhiannon – Movement" from the Goddess Tarot. Rhiannon is a British horse goddess who rides on her white horse into the thick of the forest. An apt choice for this deck’s Chariot card. When you look closer, the swirling wind around her emphasizes speed and determination. She knows where she is going and how to get there and she has absolutely no fear to get lost in the woods.

It is almost the end of August and I feel a bit like this goddess, moving confidently into September, into Autumn.  How I have longed to reach this month, this season. I have survived the Summer and now I can start living again. Our pumpkins are almost ready to be picked, lot’s of bread needs to be baked, Chestnuts and acorns need to be gathered, Autumn decks have been missed and I have longed for so many more aspects of Autumn these last few months. 

Yes, let's gallop into fall and celebrate the arrival of this wonderful season!

Three Card Spread with The Goddess Tarot

Theme: Eight of Cups

With a waning moon and ebb tide, this card urges us to leave behind feelings and relationships which are no longer beneficial for us or perhaps they just have passed their expiration dates. It asks us to be true to ourselves and live an authentic life which is often not the easiest way to live.

Mentor: Tara – Beginnings

This card features the goddess Tara who has the power to grant all wishes and heal all sorrows. She is the perfect goddess to free us from mental blocks and help us to move forward in life. Notice how both the figures in the first two cards are looking over their shoulder and how Tara has no more reason to stay where she is now. The Cups are gone; no more regrets

Healer: King of Pentacles

Because most of the time life isn’t that easy, The king of Pentacles encourages us to enjoy the good things life has to offer us: coffee, sunshine, trees, chocolate, crystals…. So many things to cherish and to savor. And never forget time…there is always enough time to relax and take delight in what life has to offer us.

Ace of Cups – replenishing my Heart

Today’s card is the Ace of Cups from the Goddess Tarot.  In this card, we see the full moon “contained—but not captured—within a golden cup surrounded by the ocean, source of all life”. This is a card of great emotional fulfillment and an abundance of Love. It is a card of generosity; giving Love from your heart without holding back but at the same time it is also a card of receiving this Love, which is freely given and will fill up your Heart to the brim and even more. The only thing we have to do is to be willing and deem ourselves worthy to receive it.

This weekend I have been visiting my mother and the overall experience was good. But I am quite exhausted now, so I wasn’t surprised when this card came up again. It has been following me around for the last four days. J

For today I see it this card as a reminder to take care of myself and do the things which will help me to fill my cup again. So after finishing this blog post, I am taking “the day off” and forget about every  “I have to”  until tomorrow. 

Three Card Spread – Keep checking in with yourself

For today I have decided to do the Within-Without-Advice spread with the Smith Waite Tarot. The cards I drew fit perfectly with my previous post about my attempt to create a “Free-Flowing routine” in order to establish some fulfilling and more healthy habits.

Within – Eight of Pentacles

It seems I feel quite content with the result of my new routine. Working with it brings structure in my life and a great deal of satisfaction. Gradually I will get better in maintaining my new and still fragile set of habits.

Without - The Chariot

Look at me I am riding on the wind. Just doing great. Oh no, not quite the movement I was expecting. Yes, this chariot has left the city behind the walls but now, in his concrete wagon he is going nowhere. It looks very impressive on the outside world but what is going on the inside of the charioteer?

Advice – The King of Cups

This is for me the archetype of the healer. He is our inner therapist, the part of ourselves that is able to distance himself of the problem at hand. He urges you  to find out what is really going on.

Yes it is obvious I am already trying too hard; becoming too rigid in my efforts although my intent was to stay compassionate with myself  and surrender to the flow of the day. This is so me: wanting to do my very best, even if it is not the best for myself. So I will take this advice at heart and I will proceed more slowly, more gently and more consciously about how I am feeling.

New Moon in August

For this new moon, I have pulled one card from the Fountain Tarot as to what energy I should embrace during this next cycle of the Moon and I got the Six of Wands: Another Six after last New Moon’s Six of Cups. Six in tarot is a very auspicious number; it is all about Union, Harmony, and balance. The Six of Wands speaks of hope and motivation and is a very timely card for me because as of late I am trying to build a free-flowing daily routine for myself to get things done and get a more healthy lifestyle. A free-flowing routine might sound like an oxymoron to you but it does work for me.  I’ve started with one habit I want to keep above all, which is meditating for 15 minutes before doing anything else and all the other things on my list were mere suggestions. Now I am also writing daily in my journal and drawing a tiny sketch a day. For me, the success rate of my “routine” is very motivating. I feel very accomplished by doing these three things which will cost me about 45 minutes a day. Only when I feel these three activities have become real habits, I will add one more. Also, I have promised myself that taking a step back when I feel overwhelmed has nothing to do with failure but is, in fact, a kind and compassionate thing to do.

The whole premise of this experiment is getting motivated by success and to take one baby step at the time. Every little success is a like golden star on my chart. And every little setback a pink heart of compassion.

Ace of Air – Being honest with ourselves

This morning M. and I went shopping at a local metaphysical store and she gifted me a gorgeous piece of tumbled Sodalite. This stunning deep blue stone with white calcite veining is a stone of clarity, honesty, and truth. For me, it is a perfect stone to help to express myself more truthfully in my writing. The card I picked to go with this stone today is the Ace of Air from the Vision Quest Tarot. The feather in the depiction reminds me of a quill pen, so it fits wonderfully with my intention for this piece of Sodalite.

Although I am a fervent journaler and creative writer, it is sometimes hard for me to be really genuine and authentic in my writing.  Too often I am inclined to shy away when I touch upon painful subjects or I find myself smoothing over a difficult situation.

Yes, even in my journal, my safe place, my sacred space, I sometimes, mostly unwittingly, wear a mask instead of being true to myself.

I sincerely hope this stone will become a key for me to open the doors to my inner realms, to help me be confident enough to seek for the right words to write down what I find there and to bring me inner peace when I am done.

While writing this I realize it is a great stone for shadow work.

“Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.” Thomas Jefferson