Hermit: Reaching In, Reaching Out

This morning, before rushing off to work, I pulled the Hermit from my Navigators Tarot of the Mystic SEA as my card of the day. I was very pleased for two reasons: 1) I've been wanting to write about this card for a while, and 2) it's very apt for my day, and for my week, really. Maybe even my month!

I love this version of the Hermit and find it fascinating! There is an abundance of symbols and details to focus on and pull from, in addition to a variety of colors and even movement. In the background there appears to be a pink, snow-covered mountain range which calls forth the idea of isolation - not necessarily loneliness, but simply the idea of being alone - solitude.

I think it's very interesting how the Hermit's staff reaches up and intersects with the sky with the staff tip almost seeming to penetrate the sun - this becomes his lantern. His feet are planted in the earth and green, fertile grass, and his arm is outstretched as a hawk either flies in to land, or takes to the air. The hawk symbolizes insights, far-reaching vision, access to higher consciousness.

A particularly intriguing detail in this card is that there is a small keyhole on the Hermit's loincloth/underwear!!! This highlights the root chakra, and suggests that finding ways to ground your thoughts and introspection in tangible ways, and rising above (or tapping into) instinctual reactions, is crucial. This makes sense as the Hermit is ruled by Earth.

Navigators Tarot of the Mystic SEA
J. Turk/US Games Systems

Down below there is a crevasse through which a pyramid can be seen on a stretch of sand reaching out to the ocean. Pyramids call to mind esoteric knowledge, the deep mysteries of life. Meanwhile behind our blue Hermit (blue itself being a symbol of knowledge!) there is a dark cave where we see the outline of a person in the lotus position perched before a burning flame. I like this juxtaposition of  reaching out (arm outstretched toward the sun) and reaching in (cave dweller), which is so fitting for the Hermit. Finally, there is a veiled woman approaching the Hermit from one side of the jagged divide and she means two things to me: 1) the student seeking a mentor, and 2) the fact that in our modern age, the Hermit can take any form, and walk beside us without our ever realizing it. This woman could well be another face of the Hermit.

I've been doing a lot of "reaching within" lately, and the one of the things that has been on my mind a lot is where I want to take my card reading as a business. I love helping people, and find that reading cards for people can be deeply satisfying and rewarding. However I feel like so much is changing in my life at present, and my thoughts and feelings about being available to the world in the form of a card-reading business have not been immune from the great wave rushing through and around me. I've temporarily disabled my "reading request" page as I work through what changes I want to see, and how I want to implement them. One thing that I'm considering is the creation of a questionnaire for potential clients that would be completed prior to a consultation in order to get at the core of their situation, needs, expectations, perceptions about divination, goals, mindset, etc. I'll be taking some Hermit-time to sort through the specifics and logistics of doing that, among other things, which in the end will bring me to a place of deeper satisfaction and clarity of purpose and intent!

The Queen of Coins in the Kitchen!

This morning I drew the Queen of Coins from my new Chinese Tarot. I must admit that the image on this card is quite decadent and rich, very befitting of this particular queen of earthly and material things. She is dressed from head to toe in luxurious textiles in deep reds, oranges, and golds, with touches of green and blue. She looks rather plump which suggests that she eats well, and with all those robes she likely won't be doing much other than sitting and enjoying the wealth of her surroundings!

Chinese Tarot - US Games Systems

When I saw this card I immediately thought of my sister, who is here visiting me for a short time. She is a couple of years older than I am, and has always been very nurturing and affectionate - even now, well into our adult years. Today when I said, "We can just have leftover soup for dinner..." she cut me off and said, "Oh no! I'm cooking. Let's think about what we want, and go to the grocery store!" She proceeded to plan out the menu (I let her have at it as her style is very different than mine) and I pushed the cart around while she filled it up. I'm lucky to have her, and I'm really looking forward to enjoying the fruits of her kitchen labor!

Embracing Light: Summer Solstice

Happy Summer Solstice to everyone, everywhere! Today is the longest day of the year, and marks both the sun's longest ride through the sky, and the point at which our light begins to lessen each day until we reach Yule. Today is an excellent day to simply be aware of the sunlight. If it's cloudy where you are, how does the brightness of the sky lighten or darken depending on the thickness of the clouds? If it is a sunny day, how do the rays of sunlight enhance or illuminate the greenness of plant leaves, or the color of flowers in bloom?

This morning I pulled a card from my Viking Cards deck asking:

"How can I bring more light into my life?"

I pulled: The Hearth - Care.

Viking Cards/G. Bergmann

This card represents both caring for other people in your life, and self-care. Interestingly, I've pulled the Empress several times over the past couple of weeks, and I always hear her saying to me, "Take care of yourself. Be kind to yourself. Eat well. Nurture yourself." And I have been trying to follow her advice (and more or less succeeding!).

I've been alone for a couple of weeks. My kids are on a long visit with their grandparents, and my husband is working in Sweden for a while. I had a similar experience last summer, and it was the first time I'd ever been completely alone in so many years that I honestly didn't know what to do with myself. I didn't know how to organize my time, I didn't eat very much, and when I did eat it was quite often frozen veggie burgers and carrot sticks (I didn't see the point in cooking when I didn't have a family to cook for!). It took a while to gain some semblance of balance in my life, and then everyone was back, and things fell back into the normal family rhythms.

Chinese Tarot/US Games Systems

This time has been a bit different. I cook for myself - complete, hot meals, with lots of flavor and lots of earthy goodness (Swiss chard has been a mainstay of late). After the first few aimless days of watching Netflix non-stop I finally turned off the television in disgust and started reading, gardening, writing, thinking, and even baking (though it's hard to finish an entire pan of brownies on one's own!). So in many ways I have worked out the kinks of being alone, and taking care of myself just as much as I would care for one of my children. This is good!

But there is something deeper to the Hearth that has come slowly unfurling from the deep dark and into the light: it's not just about how much I miss loving and caring for my family, or how successful I've been at being good to myself - it's about taking the time to honor what I want and need.

What I want and need. These are things that in the daily grind tend to get lost or muddled. I spend so much time in busy-ness, yes, cooking and planning meals, worrying about the grass being too long, wondering about what the electric bill will look like after this massive heat wave, taking my children to the park, figuring out the next grocery list, teaching, doing readings, fitting in time for walks with my husband, and on and on and on. Most of these things are positive (worrying about bills and lawn, maybe not so much!) but what happens is that the constant movement shifts my focus away from "me" and on to the vast variety of other things in my life. The result is that I don't have a chance to honor my own needs. And I need to, because it is essential for not only my own well-being, but the well-being of my crew.

I've come to some important realizations during this time that I've been alone. I have begun to recognize with tremendous force the things that I want to change, and what I want, what I really want for myself and ultimately for my family. For a long time I've known what I don't like (about my job, or my house, or my physical environment) but I haven't really been able to identify what it is that I do want. When I start to feel frustrated with my workplace, I immediately counter it with: "But... I have a lot of flexibility, and a good income, and a lot of creative license, and access to amazing technology.....I wouldn't get this anywhere else, I need to just focus on that." Well, that's not bad, to focus on the upside of things. But after a while, it starts to shift from being optimistic to simply not honoring the messages that my heart and soul are trying to get me to pay attention to.

Swedish forest/J. Destrades

What do I really want?

This morning my husband sent me a dozen photos of a farmhouse where he's spent the last few days. Deep green forests, the sun rising over a lake, children playing freely outside, a dirt path forking off in different directions. As I reviewed the photos a deep, visceral desire surged forth from my belly, and all I wanted in that moment was to shed this skin and live in that place. To stop living according to what limitations I perceive, and to reach out and pull myself into a new, fresh landscape of life. To release every aspect of my current environment that is not nourishing me, that I'm not satisfied with, and to free myself to be who and what I am; to give that gift to my children. To experience that with my husband. For months I have been pulling the 8 of Cups, Judgment and Death, and I see these cards as a reflection of what was already developing under the surface of my psyche before I could even place a finger on it; that helped me to slowly become more aware of the changes brewing within, and the rebirth that is taking place.

Field of flowers in Sweden/J. Destrades

I asked the cards to highlight the way in which I can bring more light into my life, and they responded loudly, and very clearly. Take care of yourself. Take care of those you love by being true to your desires and your needs.

My Solstice task for today is to sit down with a notepad and a pen and make a list of everything I know that I don't want any longer, and to make a list of everything that I know that I do want.

After all, the first step to manifestation is to have a clear, concrete, focused intention!

May the light of the sun illuminate your soul on this longest day of the year!

Tarot Blog Hop: The Magician

Previous / Master / Next

Welcome to the Summer Solstice Blog Hop! Please use the links at the top or bottom of this post to navigate to the other blogs in this circle!

For this Solstice Hop our wrangler, Alison Cross, asked us to choose a card from the Major Arcana and discuss any aspect about it that calls to us, and then, if we like, to put any sort of creative twist on it (a drawing, a poem, a spread, a story, a recipe). I chose to discuss the special gift that the Magician offers, and at the end of this post I've laid out a simple spread that highlights its energy.

This Major Arcana card, as all do, covers a wide range of possible elements. There is the Magician as a manipulator, or trickster, or in a more positive light as a person who has the ability to make desires reality ("you have all the tools you need!"). There is the Magician as the doctor or shaman, the teacher and student, and the diplomat. The Magician is known to have the ability to unite all elements of his/her environment through Will.

New Orleans Voodoo Tarot
Destiny Books

If we distill the essence of the Magician into a concentrated offering, it is: manifestation through absolute self-confidence and focused intention. This is not about crossing your fingers and hoping for the best; rather it's knowing that you will accomplish what you set out to do, and it is the ultimate realization of that desire.

In magical traditions, doubts can be damaging to the efficacy of the work being performed, and it is often not even enough to simply hope that a working will be effective. You carefully select your resources and materials, you create a space conducive to concentration and communion, and you know that your work has reached gentle, energetic fingers out into the universe to help to influence your goal.

World Spirit Tarot
Llewellyn Publications

In the book A Practical Guide to the Runes (1989), Lisa Peschel writes:

Why does magick work? It works because you believe it works. It doesn't just happen, however. You must make it happen. The way you make it happen is through belief and understanding. You must have belief in yourself and in the operation, and you must understand the operation thoroughly. 

Aleister Crowley wrote in Magick in Theory & Practice: "Magick is the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will," and anyone who has ever performed magick of any kind can attest to the truth of that statement. Magick is not "supernatural." It is a well-thought-out and self-willed scientific exercise in which the results are known before they actually happen. 

You will find your magick becoming more effective as your understanding and confidence grows...

(pg. 130-131)

Even if you do not practice a magical art or tradition, the energy of the Magician can be channeled into any area of your life, into any situation that would benefit from unwavering self-confidence, focused intention, and personal empowerment. To this end I've created the:

Magical Roadmap Spread

1) Point A: Major circumstance or issue in my life
2) Point B: My goal for this circumstance
3) Magician: How I can best focus my resources and Will to manifest my goal

May your inner Mage always be with you!

Happy Summer Solstice, and Happy Hopping!

Previous / Master / Next

Get Off the Couch, Potato!

Today is the New Moon, and last night I pulled cards around what I should release and embrace for the next two weeks, as the moon moves back toward its luminous fullness:

What to release: Ace of Wands "Stimulation"

What to embrace: 8 of Cups (reversed) "Seclusion"

Navigators Tarot of the Mystic SEA
J. Turk

This pair spoke so clearly to me about my current state of affairs that I burst out laughing. My children are off spending time with their grandparents in the north country, and my husband has just left for a few weeks abroad, so I am alone. For the past two days I have not left the house; I've laid around the house watching Sons of Anarchy on Netflix. Honestly I haven't known quite what to do with myself. This card pair contains a couple of relevant layers of meaning. 

First of all, I see the single person on the Ace, and the reversed 8 of Cups with the boat which would be moving back toward the crowd of people rather than away from it. This tells me that I should try to not be a complete recluse while I have my alone time. It's good to putter around the house sometimes, but I need to get out and breathe the air as well. To take a walk through the neighborhood, to go the bookstore and browse books with a cup of coffee. 

On the other hand, both cards point to the need to slow down. The 8 of Cups tells me I have a valuable opportunity for some inner exploration and journeying now that I have this rare time alone. Rather than spending my days looking for things to engage (or distract!) my attention (TV, ahem) I perhaps would make better use of my time taking advantage of the quiet and peace to sort through my own interior world (which could certainly benefit from some attention and nurturing). There is a lot of change unfolding in my life, and reflecting on where I've come from, and where I'm headed, is a great way to spend a few days.

The good thing is that I can weave both layers of advice together. A stroll through the neighborhood gets me out of the house, but it's also a great way to practice walking meditation which is good for the soul. Going to the bookstore puts me in a public setting, but it gives me leisurely time to look at books, think, ponder, and sip coffee. There is nothing I "have to do", which is a special gift, because it allows me to focus on what "is."

May your New Moon be rich and full of joy!

Tarot Isn't A Quick-Fix

A fellow reader broached a topic today that highlighted something that's been on my mind for a while of late: that identifying an issue doesn't automatically fix it.

There are a million uses for Tarot (and divination, in general) from fortune telling, to spiritual guidance, to personal development, to gaining insights for practical decision-making, and on and on. All of these have a valuable place in the divination spectrum. As a reader I've found that by far the most powerful function of Tarot is for exploring the Self, and using insights and knowledge to make positive changes, spark thoughtful introspection, and generally making us all better, happier, stronger, and more peaceful human beings.

"Descent" by Jorge Garza

I've also found that many people (most definitely not all, nor the majority) that seek out readings on significant matters in their lives are not looking for or interested in personal growth or development; rather they're looking for fast and simple solutions to complex issues, or even simply interested in hearing that their deepest desires will come to pass, with little-to-no effort on their part (and as a side note, there are definitely "readers" out there in the business of telling clients only what they want to hear - it's not just an issue related to the impulses of a subsection of seekers, by any means). I am not entirely certain why this is, but I do notice it, and I'm curious about the phenomenon.

Tarot can be a powerfully meaningful catalyst for real, positive change. But real change is hard work. The most enriching use for Tarot is for self improvement, yet even for those people who are open-minded, honest, and dedicated to improving their lives, making lasting changes can be challenge. Tarot isn't meant to be a quick-fix. Durable change takes time and persistent effort, a willingness to delve into personal weaknesses, fears, and shadows, to shed light on what needs to be healed or strengthened or honored. It creates space for forgiveness and empowerment. This is the heart and soul of Tarot, and what makes it such a precious tool.

Some seekers are not interested in identifying areas for growth. And even knowing what needs attention is not always enough. If you're willing to do the work, however, Tarot can help create wholeness and nurture wisdom. That, for me, is ultimately what it's all about.

7 of Wands: I Got This

I had a pretty good day yesterday, but by late evening was feeling a bit oppressed, and fell quite happily asleep once the time came to get some shut-eye. One of the first things I did this morning was to pull out my new Light and Shadow Tarot, swish the cards around, and pick one for my day. Well, I didn't actually have the opportunity to select a card, as one flipped over in my face during the swishing process! It was just the right focus card - the Universe doesn't mess around:

Light and Shadow Tarot

The 7 of Wands is a card of fortitude and the ability to rise above challenges. This is the ultimate "I got this" card. In this image we can see a man fending off six wands reaching up to him from below. I love the expression on his face - a slight smile, the confident stance, the protective positioning of his own wand. It reminds me of one of those exciting scenes from a martial arts movie when our hero delicately and self-assuredly fends off dozens of foes, making it look much more like elegant choreography than a battle. When you know who you are, what you stand for, and what you're capable of, you can move mountains. 

This card reminds me that I, too, can dance through the obstacles in my way, as long as I believe in myself (and find the right music!).