I Promise

Last night I settled into a corner of the couch, prepared to read or pull some cards while my husband watched an episode or two from one of his Hulu series. But then he passed me the remote control. I switched over to cable, figuring I'd flip channels until I found something interesting. The moment the television sparked to life, I saw a news anchor announcing the start of Barack Obama's farewell speech. For the next hour, we witnessed his final, formal words as President of the United States.

No matter what anyone says, I love, and will always love, this man. He wasn't perfect (and I'm sure he would agree), and not everyone supported his stances on matters such as healthcare and foreign policy. However he accomplished a lot of good during his tenure; he was a fundamentally good person. He is that. He is deeply intelligent, thoughtful, discerning, wise, and kind. His partnership with Michelle Obama is a beautiful testament to what a good, strong, balanced relationship can and should be. He didn't fulfill everyone's expectations for what he should do (no leader ever achieves that), and yet he will forever stand high above his predecessors, and in my heart, as one of the best presidents the U.S. has ever had.

Last night's speech was a beautiful farewell, and also a gentle-but-firm warning that the future of this country depends on the active involvement of every citizen. As I was listening, I pulled some cards from the Cosmos Tarot and Oracle:

The first card I pulled was meant to capture Obama's essence: Ace of Water, Hydrus.

The Ace of Water, an act of love. That was abundantly evident in his speech and his demeanor. The keywords on the bottom of the card caught my attention: "In one's element" - he certainly was. "Ease of action" - I don't necessarily assume that any of his speeches are "easy" to give, but he certainly makes them appear so due to his depth of grace and comfort in his own skin. The guidebook says:

Hydrus is a symbol of wisdom, steadiness, and focus. Snakes possess a fluid, elegant form that borders on elemental. Water snakes, above others of their species, signify awareness, flexibility, and subtle strength.... one can take time to celebrate a period of emotional peace with oneself.

All I can say is: yes. Not only does this encapsulate how I experience President Obama, the last bit connects beautifully to the core essence of what his farewell speech was all about. 

The next card I pulled was meant to signify Donald Trump's emergence in U.S./World politics: Comet.

An orange monkey that is far too big for the porch it's sitting on holds a woman captive by the throat, and binds her feet with its tail. Hmmm...... I think I'll let that speak for itself. The keywords read: "A sign of fate; a harbinger of change." Yes, that about sums it up. The guidebook reads:

As a comet passes close to the sun, it heats up and begins to emit gases which create a visible aura called a coma. Sometimes the visible coma can be seen from Earth. The coma's presence has given rise to speculation that comets are harbingers of doom or incredible change.

I believe that both are true. Change is already underway, for better or worse. In his speech, Obama touched on the fact that there is a subsection of the U.S. population that has been essentially ignored over the past couple of decades, and that it is that hole that ultimately paved the way for Trump's election. Understanding that dynamic is critical. I believe that many of us feel "doomy" about what is happening in our country... but I do believe that it is when we are faced with the dark that we learn how to shine our light most brightly. So in the end I also believe that we will certainly get through this difficult time to come, and that we will emerge the better for what we are able to accomplish in the meantime. 

Finally I pulled a card asking, "What can I do? How can I help?" I pulled the Moon from the Oracle deck.

Frogs and lizards huddle around a full moon, in a celestial embrace. Frogs represent healing energy, and the moon is the great light that shines in the dark. The positioning of the frogs looks protective: and indeed it's probable that protecting women's rights - especially in terms of healthcare - will be a significant matter in the years ahead. The moon also represents uncertainty and the unknown, which is how I've been feeling lately in respect to politics and the upcoming inauguration. I know that many will take to the streets - in fact even my mother will be heading to Washington D.C. in a couple of weeks to joint the Women's March on Washington. There is value in popular dissent. In my 20s I was very involved in political and social activism, and participated in a great number of marches, across several states. But it doesn't quite feel "right" for me at this moment. There must be another way. The moon governs the darkness, and as the keywords state: "secrets, mystery, cycles." Perhaps my way of acting will be more subtle - less attention-drawing. The guidebook says:

As a card, the Moon suggests that those who act behind the scenes can be extremely influential.

Yes, I thought. I don't have to march to make a difference. I just have to act. I said silently to myself in that moment: "I promise." I promise to speak when I see injustice, and to act in support of environmental preservation, human rights and equality in all its forms. I looked down at the oath ring on my left wrist, as if to seal my promise in its silvery sheen. 

Fire and Air

I've come to regard the court of Air in the Tarot as my principal teacher in 2016. The Knight of Swords made many important appearances throughout the previous fall, along with the King, and at times the Queen as well. They are here to help me recognize the power of their element within me, and to develop those aspects of my Self that will benefit most from their energy and wisdom.

The other night I drew a card from the Dark Goddess Tarot asking how I might best approach this integration of Air and out flew Cerridwen, the Witch of Fire:

I picked up the card and when I saw the sow-faced figure of this goddess I was entranced, though also slightly mystified that I should receive a fire card when asking about how to enhance my air qualities. The guidebook names Cerridwen a goddess of transformation: "Craft anew with the bones of the old." Ah, transformation. Becoming. This is certainly a year for those things. The infrastructure remains, but the qualities and elements are engaged in an ever evolving dance of growth and change. Cerridwen tells me that my walk through the realm of air is not so much a journey that I'll be navigating, rather it will be a process that will occur organically within and around me. It's simply time. I will learn to breathe and to speak. I will learn to release and to name. I will craft and be crafted; I will learn to allow the breeze to move through me. I will learn about power, and about the ways in which air and fire feed and influence one another. Air is already mine; I will learn to claim it.

As we drove to the sea a couple of days later I decided to pull a card for each family member for the year ahead from the Cosmos Tarot and Oracle deck. Uranus for my husband, Grus for my eldest. The Knight of Water for my Pisces son, and Canes Venatici for my younger daughter (a dog-lover, "incidentally"!). Lastly I pulled my own..... Lynx - King of Air!

Cosmos Tarot: A Reading

Yesterday I facilitated my first important meeting in my new position, after spending a couple of weeks preparing for it. Over the course of my various career paths, I've led a lot of meetings, and as a teacher and presenter I'm accustomed to speaking before groups, however this felt like a whole new ball game (so to speak). I was going to be presenting on various critical aspects of my program and requesting feedback from our department's advisory council, and I wanted to make sure that my data was accurate, clearly presented, and well-organized. Needless to say, I was slightly anxious!

Yesterday I decided to pull some cards from the Cosmos Tarot to provide some advice for how to approach this meeting:

1. Do this: 3 of Fire (Tucana)
2. Don't do this: 3 of Air (Hercules)
3. What to be aware of: Judgement (Capricornus)

As I was shuffling the cards, Strength (Puppis) leapt out at me. This was comforting for many reasons, but one of the connections I made was that when I had read on my ability to do this job (during the interview process) I pulled Strength, and found its message of calm confidence and compassion very stabilizing and encouraging. So I saw this as a reminder that the same skills or traits that brought me to this place would sustain me throughout this experience.

In the image on this card we see a ship moving forward between two towering cliffs. Surely the channel is narrow and harrowing to navigate, but the shades of deep purple give a sense of being calm, cool, and collected, and the golden hue in the sky foreshadows success. There are oars in the water - someone is navigating. However the greatest force propelling this ship onward comes from the many beings under the water. Bulls, fish, birds, people.... they are like spirits offering their support and guidance, even in quiet ways.

As advice about where to focus, and what to do, the 3 of Fire encouraged me to focus on goal setting, plans for moving forward with what's been developed thus far. It would be best to have a clear list of proposed focal points to discuss. And the keywords on this particular card read: expression, confidence, communication. Being clear and concise with my words would be important, and then, there again is the theme of confidence...in myself, in my ability, in the ideas I would be sharing.

As advice about where not to focus, and what not to do, the 3 of Air (Hercules) suggested that to focus on the challenge of this meeting would not serve me at all. The keywords here are: great effort, trial. I was feeling somewhat anxious about the meeting, however worrying, focusing on the potential difficulty of the task at hand, would only shake my calm and wear down my confidence. It was important to stop thinking about this meeting as a hardship, or hurdle to be jumped, and start focusing on the benefits of idea sharing and goal setting highlighted by Tucana.

Finally, Judgement, Capricornus, appeared as "what to be aware of." It actually appeared inverted, which told me quite a lot - similar to the message of "confidence" in Strength and the 3 of Fire, this card told me to toss any self-doubt out the window. I had this. I would be fine. Yes, I should review the development of the past year with this council. I should talk about what wasn't working, and how we might take steps to improve those areas. But I should do so with the understanding that I am perfectly prepared to describe and address the pertinent and salient issues, and likewise I am capable, along with the support and diverse perspectives of the advisory team, of directing our "ship" forward into clearer waters (which again conjures that image from Strength). The keywords here are: setting priorities, efficiency, practicality. This would be my focus. Furthermore, I am a Capricorn, and the connection to my sun sign felt important. Last week I met with the dean (my boss) and when she realized that my birthday was coming up soon she said, "Oh, you're a Capricorn! Well no wonder managing the faculty schedules is a breeze for you!" We had a little laugh about that (she also happens to be a Reiki master, which I love, but I digress...)

The story over all told me that I didn't need to worry - that in fact to worry would detract from the experience. All I needed to do was spend a little additional time ensuring that the agenda and discussion items were organized, clear, concise, and geared toward progress. If I could manage that, and preserve my own self-confidence, the meeting would go just fine.

In the end, it did just that!

Cosmos Tarot: A Short Interview

Back in mid-November I ordered a new deck (or rather, decks) - the Cosmos Tarot and Oracle - from the Light Grey Art Lab, based in Minneapolis, MN. This is the same group that produced the collaborative deck, the Light Grey Tarot, and the Cosmos similarly features the work of 100 artists. These sorts of decks can be challenging to work with due to the varying styles of imagery, however as I was perusing the Cosmos online I found that while not all of the art was immediately attractive to me, a lot of it was very much so, and as a group I found it compelling.

One of the things I like about the Cosmos Tarot (I'll discuss the oracle deck in another post) is that each card features a constellation and its associated mythology. One of the more difficult-to-swallow characteristics of the deck is that the elemental and astrological associations have largely been changed from the traditional, and in fact many of the card meanings are non-standard as well. For example, the 5 of Earth, a card normally associated with isolation and economic struggle, carries the keywords: "new projects, craftsmanship, hard work." Instead of the Chariot, Cancer is now connected with the Lovers, and Temperance is now governed by Air rather than Fire. The Sun and Star Trump numberings are exchanged. All of this (and there are many more changes than what I've listed here) makes the Cosmos Tarot feel more like a second oracle deck, despite its Tarot organization.

Still, I like a good challenge, and there's a special "something" about this deck that reels me in. I decided to do something I have never done before: conduct a short "deck interview" with the Cosmos:

1) What is the Cosmos Tarot's strength? Devil (Andromeda) - This is a great deck for challenging myself to move past self-imposed limitations.

2) What it can teach me? Moon (Pisces) - The Cosmos Tarot will help me to delve into my shadow landscape, to read more intuitively, to not shy away from the Great Unknown and the riches it offers.

3) How can I best approach working with it? Emperor (Leo) rx - In order to get the most out of my work with this deck, I need to be open to doing things differently, to seeing what good may come from alterations in structure. I need to relinquish the desire for control, for following known formats.

I'd say the message was quite concise and very appropriate given the aforementioned traits of the deck. And three Majors! Hmmm.... I suppose the best is yet to come.