Flexibility ... like a rubber band

The word for today is Flexibility. When it comes to work, relationships or anything that involves dealing with people, we need to exercise a certain amount of flexibility, tolerance, and acceptance in order to get along. As in life, we all have areas where we don't bend much. Think about a rubber band for a moment. They come in all sizes and shapes. They all have a purpose. So do we.

When I was in grade school a few of us used to play rubber band jump rope. I always had a thing for rubber bands -- they amused me. Here's a link down memory lane: http://www.topics-mag.com/edition11/games-jump-rope.htm.

A few days ago I had a new group of students in my Tarot I class at SMC and found myself letting people know how flexible Tarot can be, and how flexible I can be -- up to a point. One of my students had read a lot of books on Tarot and asked me, "Aren't you supposed to wrap your cards in silk and put them in a wooden box?" I just love those questions. My answer was, "Many people write that in Tarot books. Does that work for you? I have decks in boxes, Gevalia coffee cloth bags, a Crown Royal bag, Tarot bags, and all sorts of other bags and boxes. Your deck your rules; my deck my rules."

He was stunned by my answer. Why wouldn't he be? I didn't agree with what he read. He also said, "I read that you should not let anyone read with your cards." I replied again, "Your deck your rules; my deck my rules. Whatever resonates with you or works for you should be fine. It's all about you, not what someone else says you are supposed to do. Let me repeat this again, Your deck your rules; my deck my rules."

I explained to the class that I have some decks that I collect, and some decks that I don't let people handle because they are signed by some of my friends (the artists Arnell Ando, Robert M. Place, Julie Cuccia-Watts, and a few others) that I treasure. There are also two or three decks that I read with that I won't let anyone use. However, I also have a bunch of decks that anyone can handle. I'm a teacher. However, if anyone rifles or "poker shuffles" my decks, I become rigid and my rubber band personality breaks. Rifling decks wear them out faster. Easy does it and my rubber band snaps back into place.

So, my question to you, dear reader, is simple, "Do you know how flexible you are and under what conditions?" We all have our areas of "no problem" and "absolutely not." You just read about one of mine!

Full Moon in Virgo - Wha???

Having stopped blogging for a while for various personal reasons, I wondered what would get me started again. Is it the Full Moon in Virgo today? Is it because the moon's transit hits my natal chart in such a way that I feel compelled to blog? More than likely. Seriously, can astrology have that much of an impact on my life or anyone else's. Yes. How does a full moon impact you? This particular follow moon?

Astrology does make sense. When I look at the various incidents that occurred during the past two years, I cried out at the top of my lungs Sh-t!

Is this particular full moon smacking a you hard? All I know is the whole world is in a state of chaos, and transitions are occuring on micro and macro levels in a volatile manner, much like Tarot's "Tower." Astrologers can look at various charts of countries, people in power, etc. and explain what is going on, and why better than I ever could. I ony know a bit of it from what I intuitively pick up from energy flowing/not flowing, and an occasional flip of at least a half-dozen Tarot cards.

My own life as of late is positioned to make some sort of transition. I'm still weathering the storm by exercising discipline, trust, flexibility, action, and surrendering when I can do no more. This method works for me. Do you have a better way? I'd love to know. Tell me. Post it.

My mother used to say, "All things come to he who waits." My father used to say, "You need to follow through." They both were right to some degree. Aha, it is all about the balance of energies.

For me, this Full Moon in Virgo reminds me that I need to balance my perfectionistic self with my active go-for-it self. My image for today is Bruce Lee at his greatest -- kicking ass for the greater good.

Whatever you do on this full moon, look to see what thoughts, ideas, dreams, prayers, and plans you put into the universe during the last new moon. See how they played out, and then refine your action list for the next new moon. There is nothing more wonderful than seeing your dreams and plans come to fruition.

My favorite expression is "God/Goddess/Creator didn't bring me this far to drop me on my head and abandon me. He just wants me to shift, transform and become the complete person I was meant to be. I still have no idea how long that takes. Oh, yes, it takes a lifetime. Let this full moon be a wishing moon for you too. Let me know your thoughts. Post them here!

Relationship Insights Series

What is the number one topic that people ask a psychic or professional Tarot reader? The obvious answer is love and relationships. Over a period of weeks, I will blog about various relationship issues that people encounter. Feel free to comment or email me with specific relationship-oriented questions, and I will provide information for you to think about in my intuitive, practical, no-nonsense manner in a future blog. Feel free to agree or disagree with me and offer your comments and insights, too. Those of you who know my work as an intuitive know that I can cut through the bull, present any situation for what it is, and provide more than one way to look at any situation so that you can choose the course of action that will best suit your life and personality.

Here's an example of what to expect in upcoming blog entries:

When I read Tarot cards at an event last year, a young woman asked me, "Can you tell me how my relationship is going to end?" I answered, "Did you want your relationship to end?" She stopped her dead in tracks. The stunned look on her face then turned to awareness.

How often do we let our emotions, fears, insecurities and doubts rule our lives? Probably far too often. I am certain you have heard people tell us that the energy we expend comes back to us--the positive and negative. While the manifestation process is not very complicated, what we often put into it is mixed energy. So, why are we surprised when the universe grants our wishes and we end up with things we don't want mingled with things we do want? We shouldn't be. We need to remember that everything comes about in its own time, and in the form that will best assist us in our personal growth.

Using the young lady mentioned above as an example, her fear that her relationship would end took precedence over what she really wanted to know. I felt that she wanted to know the following two things:

1) Am I going to live happily ever after?
and
2) Is my relationship is going to end?

I asked her, "Did you want me to tell you how to make your relationship flourish and what areas you need to work on to improve it? She said, "Yes." I proceeded to do just that, and I reminded her that her partner also needs to work on the relationship.

Her desire to live happily ever after and her fear that she might lose him created the compound question. Compound questions do not generate clean readings with Tarot or any other form of divination. Short, sweet and to the point generally works best for prayers, manifestation and when consulting a professional intuitive.

Stay tuned for the next installment in my Relationship Insight Series. Perhaps I will use one of your questions.

At the Crossroads - Using the Majors to Create a Path

Crossroads. This word provides me with a richness of images. The first image that comes to mind is when Dorothy reaches the end of The Yellow Brick Road and she must choose a direction so she can get to the Emerald City to meet The Wizard of Oz. Many of us are finding ourselves at a crossroads right now. We have a decision to make about one or more aspects of our lives and we are running out of time and/or financial resources. I wish I was blessed with the ability to provide people with the right answer. Unfortunately, that would go against my ethics. I cannot take away someone's right to choose--their free will must prevail. What I enjoy doing is providing enough information to individuals so they can see their options. It is up to them to sort through this information and make a decision. Once they make their decision, they will need to find some way to go forward and follow through. Should someone go left, right or continue on the path that they are currently traversing? Once a choice is made, only time will tell if the right path was chosen.

Are you at a crossroads?The important thing about choosing a direction is to take the time and combine all of your available resources so you have a wide range of information to sift through that will assist you in making your decision. Using the Tarot to illustrate the process for moving ahead I would hand pick the following cards to help you.

The first card I would choose is The Fool. He reminds us that anything is possible and we will be just fine--we are on a journey. We are taking a chance on life...on a path...we are willing to embrace life. All of life is a journey. His backpack contains all of the information and tools he needs to make a decision. He can deal with anything that comes along, and so can we. Now, we must decide where we want to go. We need to use the information we have available to us. Do we have a plan or a map in place? We may have difficulty moving forward if we don't have structure and organization?

Why not choose The Hierophant next. He has the keys to knowledge and information. With our computers, we can obftain tons of information. Google whatever you need to know. Talk to people. Sometimes someone else's point of view can provide input or feedback that could be very valuable. Ultimately, we may end up with just one plan, or we may have several plans to choose from. The Hierophant can help us streamline our thinking. With him on our side, we may be able to save time once we are ready to move forward. Keep it simple.

Once we have a plan or several in place, why not choose The Hermit to help us next. He represents the need to go within and tap into our inner wisdom. Introspection allows us to see the many different roads that are available to us and where those roads may take us. By using intelligence and logic, we can determine the pros and cons of each possible choice. Once we have refined our list of possible options, the next card we might want to choose would be The Wheel of Fortune. This card allow us to see what karma we may create or resolve in addition to determining the time frame for manifestation. This brings us to the the following questions that we want answered. How long will it take us to get to our destination? How can we deal with the limitations or road blocks that may show up? Sometimes we may decide that a particular option is not worth pursuing. Using the Wheel of Fortune, we may be able to hone in on one or two opportunities that we can happily pursue in a time frame that we can embrace comfortably.

Once we have a few possibilities that may work for us, why not choose The Lovers card. Normally, this card is not a typical choice for this situation. If we have people who love us and have our best interests at heart, we can go to them for love, support, and get their feedback--and perhaps, their advice. In other words, this is our support network. If we have some sort of self-esteem issue, we need to "love ourselves" enough to check in with our emotions to see how we feel about the options that are front and center. We are responsible for our choice(s)--not our loved ones. Depending on our decision(s), we may make them happy or we may make them angry. We need to live for ourselves, so we need to keep that in mind when we make our final decision.

Why not choose The High Priestess to help us at the next checkpoint. She symbolizes our ability to get in touch with our intuition. While she may not represent logic, she is a logical choice for this stage of our journey. She can help us to see between the lines. She will connect us to our intuition. I often refer to our intuition as the director of our lives. She reminds us that we need to balance our intellect, emotions and intuition to make a sound, choice that will resonate with us.

Once we make our choice, we might want to connect to The Magician. He is the master creator--the alchemist. Through his mind he can create anything. Our destiny depends on him being able to use his will to create magic. We can also call him a miracle worker. By utilizing his powers, we know we can manifest what we want.

Choosing The Star next would be important because it is the card of hope and optimism. This is where prayer and meditation can provide comfort and allow the angels, archangels, Gods, Goddesses, and the Creator to assist The Magician. At this point, the divine is really in charge. There is only so much we can do without their assistance. While we are waiting for divine help, more than likely we will need to apply a little Temperance. Why? Because most of the time, things do not generally happen when we want them to; they happen in their own, perfect time. When we tend to get a little impatient, we need to exercise a little temperance. Choosing our words carefully might be helpful here, too.

If we discover that our plans are not quite working for us, we can always recycle back to The Hierophant in order to re-structure. Perhaps we may need to make our plan of action a bit more flexible..or not.

At this point, why not revisit The Star before we take a ride on The Chariot. The Star will reconnect us to the divine and that may be just what we need if things take a bit longer to manifest than we anticipate. While The Chariot leads us to our destination and a new phase of life, it also provides us with courage and protection, too. Extra protection. Love it! Why shouldn't we head into a successful phase of our lives? What card would you choose to have after The Chariot? What card feels appropriate to you?

Would you choose The Empress for giving birth to a new project and/or staying grounded? Would you consider her as the harvest card? Would you reach out to someone in order for them to nurture you? Would you nurture yourself?

Would you choose The Sun for a new beginning?

Would you choose Judgment for a rebirth and a different type of new beginning--one that will allow you to re-invent yourself and/or leave your past behind you? Could this be a new beginning where you get a second chance to do something you always wanted to do? Could this be an opportunity to revisit something that you stopped doing because of some type of family obligation?

Or, would you choose The World for unlimited opportunities and a chance to embrace _______ (fill in the blank)?

Whatever card you choose, add a companion card of your choice for guidance. Tell me what cards you would choose with/without a companion card and why. I want to know!

Trust Issues and the Tarot

Trust is a major issue for most of us. What we trust (or believe), who we trust, and what information we are willing to entrust to someone can be a source of frustration, joy or pain. When someone betrays our trust, we experience inner turmoil. When we trust our intuition, we can always make the right decision.

We need to learn how our intuition works, and then we can learn how to trust it. Generally, experience aka 20/20 hindsight is our best teacher. We need to be gentle with ourselves and know that things take time. What I love about Tarot is that we can use it illustrate trust issues, too. There are countless cards that scream trust in varying degrees. I am going to focus on a few Minor Arcana cards—that I feel illustrate this well—the Swords: 2 of Swords, 3 of Swords, 7 of Swords, 8 of Swords and 10 of Swords. I chose these cards because they deal with trusting people and/or intuition.

The 2 of Swords is about trusting your intuition. Sometimes I see the 2 as the minor equivalent of the Priestess, but with a difference. The 2 shows that someone needs to trust his/her intuition and make a choice. Sometimes when a person is at a crossroads in life, the only way to create movement is to make a choice about direction. Dorothy had to choose a path when the “Yellow Brick Road” ended. With the help of the Scarecrow, she made a choice. That choice was an adventure that involved making friends from strangers and learning who to trust. Eventually she found her way home. No matter what choice someone makes, they will eventually end up on the right path and find their way home.

The 3 of Swords can be about stagnation, love triangles and betrayals. I often see it as a “brick wall” or a “dead end.” It is about accepting that things have changed or have not come to fruition. You can no longer have what you once had, or you cannot have what you want because it is not meant to be. If you prefer the betrayal interpretation, that’s fine with me. I seldom use it because I prefer to use the Tarot for empowerment and a brick wall works best for me.

The 7 of Swords aka the “Thief of Swords” can be about trust issues in general. It may indicate that someone has betrayed your trust or misrepresented themselves.

The 8 of Swords is about fear. Fear can often paralyze us. Sometimes we find it hard to move forward because we don’t know what the future may hold for us, and we are programmed to expect the worst. When fear overtakes us, we may have a problem trusting our intuition. I think the 8 is about using the knowledge we have and slowly trusting our intuition so we can move forward.

The 10 of Swords can literally represent “being stabbed in the back.” When I interpret this card, most of the time, I see it as the Minor Arcana equivalent of the Death card. It is about starting over--regeneration. It can also be about having learned our lessons and surrendering to a higher power. Surrendering allows us to move forward. Of course, it can also be about being betrayed by someone.

To sum things up, let your intuition be your guide and use the Tarot to guide you on your journey. Let it show you where you need to use your intuition and where you need to be careful when trusting others.

High Priestess--Finding your Place in the World

While I felt the need to use an oracle deck of Doreen Virtue's today, I was instead directed to use the Goddess Knowledge Cards by artist Susan Seddon Boulet with text by Michael Babcock. While I was looking for insight outside of myself to share, I was directed to go within, yet again. I have often thought of myself as the Empress--an aspect of mother earth and I still do. However, I am now being nudged, nay, shoved into the role of High Priestess. No matter what type of Oracle or Tarot deck I use, I am always brought back into the world of Tarot. In Susan's painting I can see several of the major elements of Tarot's High Priestess--the Torah, the moon, the veil of the temple, the pillars--Boaz and Jakin, and a pomegranate. If there are other elements present, I cannot make them out as the symbolism is so beautifully integrated into the painting.

Michael's text refers to the High Priestess as the direct representative of the goddess on earth. "She has direct responsibility for functions that ensure fertility and ongoing creation." I believe that also sums up the Empress in many ways. The High Priestess in Tarot is the maiden aspect of the triple moon goddess while the Empress is the mother aspect. Michael further states, "The High Priestess is a reminder of the innate wisdom in each of us. She demands that we connect to the divine spark within and manifest it in the world." Too bad she doesn't inform us of the difficulties that we may encounter in our efforts to succeed at manifesting, once we have connected to that spark.

My mother told me, "You are a square peg in a round hole. You need to conform and fit in." I have tried to fit into the world--the corporate world. Like many individuals, working in this environment can be stifling, next to impossible, and incredibly stressful. Creative and intuitive people need to find ways to adapt in order to survive. The need to make a living while pursuing their dreams is important--now more than ever. Yes, the spark within can lead to the discovery of an untapped dream, or one that we pushed aside for whatever reason we felt was important at the time. Can we manifest those dreams now? Yes? No?

Investigate, plan and never give up until you find a way to make your dream(s) come true. Once you connect to the spark within, your journey is half over. The next step is creating or finding an opportunity. Consult with the High Priestess within and find your next assignment, or create your own place...for the moment. However long you need to remain on your next assignment really doesn't matter. What matters is listening to the voice within--without over analyzing. If you can do that, you are letting the High Priestess do her job without complications.

Eight plus one equals nine

Simple mathematics teaches us to add numbers together in order to get a sum--a total. Tarot cards can provide us with a couple of different ways in which we can interpret a pair of cards. When I was contemplating employment opportunities this morning, two cards (Universal Waite deck) came out to visit me. I welcomed the 8 of cups and the ace (or 1) of cups. Using simple mathematics, as mentioned above, provides us with the formula 8 of cups + 1 of cups = 9 of cups. How sweet. Nine of cups is the gluttonous wish card.

On the 8 of cups card we see a man walking away from a stack of cups. We see the moon illuminating the sun. Depending on the actual situation, he may be walking away from something, or walking toward something. What matters is that he is on a journey to find emotional fulfillment or to fulfill a need that is emotionally driven. If he is unemployed, he may be seeking a new job. If he is unhappy in his job, he may be contemplating a new start that may fulfill him. Just because the card shows movement does not mean he will take that journey. He may look at his options and decide to stay put.

The moon illuminating the sun further reminds us that his movement that is tied to his emotions. He needs to take his emotions and feelings into account when choosing his path. With the positioning of the cups on the card, it is obvious that something is missing. Add the ace of cups to the 8 of cups, and we can see that he is walking toward the missing cup.

If we view the ace as the missing piece, it shows us that he is walking toward a new beginning--the holy grail overflowing with water--emotion and fluidity. The cup is held by a hand reaching out from the clouds. A dove holding a cross is strategically placed over the the opening of the cup. The images contained in the ace provide him with validation, hope and optimism. This is a winning combination of numbers. Why? If we do the math, 8 of cups + 1 of cups = 9 of cups--completion, or the wish card.

The ace is the missing piece in his life. He should pursue the ace of cups--see his life as potentially full of love, happiness and all of those emotionally positive experiences so he can use the wish card (9 of cups) to help him manifest what he wants--employment-wise, or in other areas of his life.

While these cards were chosen for employment options, I believe they can be used for any other type of situation where something may be missing from someone's life.

What do you think? Would you be willing to move forward in order to find out what you may be missing?

Temperance, 8 of Swords and the King of Swords

Spirit directed me to discuss the Temperance card today. While I wanted to pull a companion card, I ended up with two cards instead of one. These cards were the 8 of Swords and the King of Swords. Simply put, Temperance is all about patience, lack of patience and tempering one's words. When we combine Temperance with swords it can indicate that most of our problems arise from our thoughts and fears. If we can still our mind--work with keeping our egos in check, we can rise above any situation with which we may find ourselves involved.

I used Robert Place's Alchemical Tarot Renewed. His artwork is superb and my intuition takes me to a more spiritual level when interpreting the above-referenced cards. In order to improve our lives, we need to transmute our thoughts into that of a higher vibration. Dealing with our dark side and lightening this energy is paramount to change and transformation. Patience is not something that comes easily to most people. If we look more closely at this card, we see that the lady holding the urns is walking away from a path that leads to a sunset behind mountains. She appears to be walking on grass. One must remain grounded and live mindfully in order to deal with life situations--even if we need to walk away from something that no longer serves us. The bouquet of flowers that are encircled by the contents of the two urns are red and white--further reminding us of the alchemical process--transmutation of energy. I also feel that this card reminds us of the need for balance as well.

During our current economic situation, it is a challenge to remain optimistic with more and more businesses facing financial crises and people unable to find work in order to pay their bills. The fear that surrounds us, which we try to keep from consuming us, is represented by the 8 of swords. What I love about this deck is that the horned beast in front of the eight of swords may seem like a caged animal at first glance, but there is more than one way to interpret his image. Is he getting ready to defend himself? Is he checking out his options for escape--from his current situation? Or, is he surrendering to the higher power--waiting? Add the King of Swords to these two cards and you may either see the beast as a victim of his situation, or the victor.

These cards together can remind us that if we keep a positive outlook on life regardless of the situation in which we find ourselves, we can set ourselves free. Lighter energy is freeing. Keep your mind positive. Keep the faith. Stay focused and grounded during turbulent or uncomfortable times and situations. Know that temperance--patience, choosing our words carefully and choosing a new direction are needed whenever we lose our way.