A Perfect Sunday in June.

Celtic Totem Animals by John Matthews
Oracle of Mystical Moments by Katrin Welz-Stein
Photo by © Karen Wiederhold

A relaxing day in progress with pottering about in the garden, reading and learning about Celtic Totem Animals, colouring, writing, exploring a new deck - Oracle of Mystical Moments (thanks Steven Bright, you were right about it). A perfect day at home accompanied with yummy lunch, frothy coffee and delicious Droste Dutch chocolate gifted by a friend 😊. 

Grief

Going within, soothing the pain, taking cover, healing.  These are the descriptions for my withdrawal from the world in part yesterday, today and possibly for the weekend too.  Yesterday marked the fifth year since the passing of our oldest son.  Each year is different, there is no predictable feeling or response from within me on those days.  This year it was about pulling up my blanket and hiding from the world just a little bit and allowing the feelings to wash over me and be released as they came.  The mercy of going into retreat and being comforted by the simple things is not to be underestimated.  Some years walking has soothed the soul, others times it has been colouring, drawing or painting which he loved to do and other times have been standing on a wild coastal cliff releasing my emotions to nature.  Yes sometimes there is anger, sometimes there is feeling lost and bewildered, some times just peaceful reflection.  You can never tell which one will visit at this time of year but after the wave and the day has passed there is always the sunflowers and memories.

Connecting with the earth.

The past week and a bit has found me completely engrossed in our garden and more specifically our veggie patches and allotment.  Time like this is always something that happens and isn't planned, and when it does happen it can result in me losing whole days without realising it - a good thing really and I love it.  As I said to some friends yesterday, even when setting aside a day of no gardening I find myself wandering outside to have a look at something and then before you know it i've been out there and hour, am covered in dirt and have planted, pruned or watered.

As a consequence on the slightly negative side is that the house becomes a bit messy in places, my cooking tends to be quick and easy heat up and eat type of food and my hands, oh my poor hands, they look very well worn.  On the very positive side is the excersise which is much needed, fresh air, connecting with nature, relaxation and of course, in the end, great fresh fruit and veggies.

I've not spent much time during this period studying and reading the cards, however that hasn't meant while pottering about, that i've not been thinking about, coming to realisations or having ideas to play about with.

Wishing you a wonderful week ahead.

Same card, different personality.

I've been having quite a lot of fun all of March comparing the same card from various decks and writing my thoughts and keywords in my working file, noticing personalities and vibes from each.  It's also been fun getting out some decks i've not visited with in a while and being reminded of their personalities and beautiful artwork.
I've done the comparisons in the past when there's been a card that just hasn't been speaking with me and i've gotten stuck.  Taking the same card from a few decks has helped me see the messages and clues within the card i'm struggling with and so getting thoughts to flow and barriers floating away.

This has been especially useful when buying a new deck and meeting the new cards for the first time.  Even after reading the accompanying book, the meanings can sometimes not sit comfortably until you've sat with the new card and corresponding cards from your collection and begin to see and feel the message.  Equally the new card can show you another perspective for looking at and reading your existing cards.

An example of differences can be seen here in this photo showing the Page of Pentacles taken from the Faerie, Chrysallis, Llewellyn Classic, Druidcraft and Anna-K Tarot decks.   They are all so different yet there is a common thread within them all,  though some are easier to see than others.

This past week I decided to select one deck as the constant or guide deck, and to compare some of the cards i'm needing clarity with from other decks against it.  The deck chosen was the Psychic Tarot Oracle by John Holland.  I love this deck for it's clarity and it really gets my intuition flowing.  I will be continuing with this into next week and write down observations in my working file.  Have you also spent time with your decks in this way?  What have you learned and experienced?  I'd love to chat about it so send me a message using my contact form at the top of my blog or leave a comment.

The cards below are (L-R top row) Psychic, Druidcraft, Anna-K,  (L_R bottom row) Hezicos, Gilded and Llewellyn Tarot decks.

Tarot for guidance at times of unease.

Life can often throw up situations in your life that you haven't yet learned how to deal with or sort through.  When this happens a person can often not know which decision to make even though they have a little voice in their mind or gut feeling of the correct action to to be taken.  Additionally they may also not want advice of friends or family, preferring to find a solution themselves as part of the growth process.

When this happens to me, I do turn to my Tarot cards for guidance, confirmation, kick up the butt or pep talk.  It's not that friends aren't available to be turned to for advice, it's more that sometimes I know deep inside what the knowledge or correct form of action to take is but I can't quite get it out or second guess myself.

This past week I have been using the Druidcraft Tarot for my readings as feel i'm needing the earthiness and stability of it and maybe also as we are entering Spring feels more in tune with my love and connection of being outdoors exploring and wandering.

This week has thrown up such a situation/an issue i've yet to get to grips with whenever it comes up.  In the past i've withdrawn but i'm fed up doing that or having the sick in my tummy feeling when it's happened.  So a card reading was needed.

Wednesday's card (the upset happened a few days earlier so i'd been gnawing at myself since then) was The Lord and the biggest sense of relief washed over me because the little voice had been telling me to stand my ground, not allow myself to feel defeated, not let this make me want to pull my head into my shell and not share anything ever again.

This was very good advice because i'd been contemplating not sharing creative offerings publicly again.  Instead, things got a spring clean, a reaffirming of my ideas and stamping my mark on my creations.  Regarding the boundary issue, again it was my sharing too easily which had been taken for granted.

How i've also looked at these experiences now is that i've perhaps been too trusting, also reserved about tooting my own horn where it matters and sharing too easily.  I'm going to keep visualising the steadfastness of The Lord image at these times, clarity of vision and integrity.



Thursday's card was The Seven of Pentacles and again some very good advice, in particular taking stock of a situation before moving forward.

Think things through before making actions which would direct me away from the direction in which I want to move in.

I'm feeling very calm today with new inspiration of what i'd like to change or try. 

Reflection - Too many voices?

Over the last few weeks I have been unwell thanks to winter bugs and while this has been frustrating it has given me a lot of reading time which I have secretly really enjoyed.

With this free time I ventured in earnest into the world of online Tarot forums, Facebook pages and Blogs, reading and reading and visiting until my eyes felt like they were spinning from all the images and my mind was crammed full of information, opinions and readings.

What I discovered during this time on the internet is that my own voice seemed to become drowned out, my ideas of the direction I wanted to be heading in felt like it was veering off course, my journalling fell behind and I began to feel out of sorts.  A few days were spent feeling disheartened and sad, questioning whether I was on the right track with what I was wanting to do.  It was worrying me so before bed last night I sent my concerns off into the night trusting that i'd wake with a feeling of what to do.

This morning arrived and with it the sense of knowing to go through all the pages, groups, blogs i'd bookmarked or joined and remove them because you see, i'd filled my mind up with too many voices and personalities and had stopped listening to my own inner voice.  While the internet Tarot community is vast and interesting to immerse yourself in, when you're walking your own path and sharing your own light, this can be distracting.  I think this applies to any field of interest or dream, you need to hear your own inner voice the loudest because that's what makes what you share, unique.

Today was spent reassessing things and reacquainting myself with my journal, doing a bit of spiritual recharging.  I'm back on track, concentrating my focus on studying The Holistic Tarot book at present and working on my own reference notes and ideas.

Have you had a similar experience?  What did you learn?

Journalling - Preparing your Daily Journal

 

Creating a daily journal is the most useful tool you will have in your exploration and study of Tarot. Your daily journal is where you record your thoughts and message/s received from your selected card of the day, returning later in the day to record you reflections on events and feelings.  The daily journal is valuable because it provides a wealth of personal symbology and meaning and how you view events in life and their correlation with the cards.

I took some time deciding on which type of book to use for this and chose, after much consideration of pro's and con's of various options, to use a page a day diary in A5 size.  The main reason I settled on this size is to guide me into being less wordy and be more to the point in my writing style. I also have a tendency to try to add too much information which then makes things too cumbersome for what is intended to be a 15 minute moment each day.

If you choose a basic plain covered diary or notebook, spend some time decorating the outside to make it special and uniquely yours,  an extra bonus is you get some fun creative time and a session of meditative reflection on what you are preparing for.  I'm a big fan of creativity and making things wherever and whenever you can get the chance.  There are some diaries and notebooks out there with lovely covers to begin with that may be just the thing for you.

Another very useful tool is your Working File which is where you will write your notes of study, insights into the cards, your personal keywords, things you want to study, books to read and so on.   I will write more on this in the near future.

So the next thing to do is venture out there on foot or via the internet and find your new best friends - your daily journal and a working file (an A4 ring file and pad of lined punched paper).