Removing the Mask

Not long ago I acquired the Viking Cards, an oracle deck by Gudrun Bergmann and Olafur Gudlaugsson that offers guidance through the teachings of the Viking myths, deities, and Sagas. I've done many readings with this oracle over the past few weeks and always find it startlingly clear, appropriate to whatever topic I'm reading on, and wonderfully insightful.

Every morning I pull my daily three Lenormand cards, but sometimes I like to add to it, usually by pulling a Tarot or oracle card. Today I felt like hearing what the Viking Cards had to say. I shuffled, holding in my mind the open question of: "What guidance is most beneficial to me at this time?"

I pulled card 29-The Mask: Self Expression.

Viking Cards - Bergmann/Gudlaugsson
U.S. Games Systems

This resonates with me in a couple of ways:

1) I don't need to be stoic in the face of the challenges I'm experiencing. I don't mean that I will break down and fail to weather the difficult changes, I just mean that I don't have to pretend that the responsibilities I'm carting around right now aren't exhausting and stressful. And by simply expressing that, I'm alleviating some of the psychological burden even if the material weight hasn't shifted. That does make it easier to bear.

2) Presenting my thoughts and ideas to the wide world, primarily via this blog, is wonderful in many ways, but not without its risk. I've never liked conflict - I'm definitely one of those peace-making, harmony-loving types. I want everyone to just get along. It's relatively easy to post a daily draw, to discuss possible meanings of whatever Tarot card I happen to pull, or to do a deck review, but it's quite another thing to be forthright about my opinions and thoughts about potentially divisive topics (like fortune-telling!); it's a major challenge for me. But it's also a necessary step, I think, toward sharing myself and being okay with the fact that not everyone will agree or even like my perspective. It's important to me not to allow the fear of "not being liked," or being misunderstood, keep me from being true to myself, and to the wider world.

This card encourages me to take my Mask off, to call on my inner strength to give me the fortitude to let myself be seen.