Monday, January 23, 2017

November 10, 2016: Yes the darkness is daunting.



My Dreams of Gaia card for today is the Six of Fire reversed.  The keywords for the Six of Fire are healing, meditation, negotiation, arbitration, truce, boundaries, support, and diplomacy.  In an upright position, this card tells of a time when communication and diplomacy are needed to end a conflict.  In order to end an argument, both sides first need to be able to be listened to and to hear and understand the other side’s point of view.  It does not surprise me that my Six of Fire is reversed today.  This card in a reversed position tells of “. . . an unwillingness to come to the discussion table and resolve a problem that is not only affecting you, but those around you also.  You would rather fight and win, than to give an inch.”  Ho boy, does that describe the situation in the US right now.  I am being told that even if I am correct and justified in my opinion, by standing firm I may very well cause harm.

Still struggling, but I’m feeing a bit better today.  The darkness is lifting; my country is strong and perhaps, just perhaps, it will survive this.



“The night can be daunting, but it is also deeply healing. May you honor the darkness that precedes your rebirth. May you find comfort in its mystery, reminding yourself that enjoying the ride is as important as directing your energy to the tasks at hand. May you see the direct connection between healing the oldest wounds you carry and experiencing the current success of all your work endeavors. May you be continually encouraged to flush out the murky waters of your past, creating free-flowing streams that feed all you do. May you feel free to flush out what is stagnant, refresh the wells you draw from, and replenish the sources that soothe you. May this season be one of healing the projections that you tend to place on others. May this season be one that helps you to reclaim the pieces of your heart that you gave to those who could not hold it. May this season be one of collecting the fragments of self that are still strewn about so that you feel well-collected. Called back in. Corralled. Cared for.  May you revel in your imperfect shape, explore your jagged edges and proclaim your wholeness, no matter the holes in it.”  Chani Nicholas

$>

Wednesday, January 4, 2017

November 9, 2016: Election Day Plus One



My Dreams of Gaia card for today is the Two of Fire reversed, and oh boy, does this make sense.  The keywords for this card are power sharing, mentorship, partnerships, equality, teamwork, mutual interests, ambition, and control.  The card in an upright position represents power sharing, teamwork, and manifesting goals by working together.  My card is reversed, and the connection with this day is obvious.  The reversed meaning is an unequal power exchange or a struggle to have power over another.

The election has ended in a frightening way.  To me, both candidates are flawed.  The Democratic candidate blurs the lines between ethical behavior and privacy, sometimes to the point of paranoia.  The Republican candidate is a xenophobic, misogynistic, bigoted loudmouth who is empty of ethics and unable to filter the words that come out of his mouth.  And yes, the Republican won the election.  I am actually frightened.  I am a woman who demands control over her own health care and who chooses to manifest her sexuality in her own way without tolerating patriarchy or glorifying sexual assault.  My son and stepson are gay, and a good friend of mine is trans.  I practice a non-Abrahamic, non-monotheistic religion.  And I feel fear.  I can’t imagine how Muslim Americans feel today.  Unequal power exchange?  Ya think?

I do have hope, though.  Our democracy has lasted for over 240 years, through revolution, civil war, two world wars, and multiple armed conflicts.  It has survived scandals and upheavals.  In fact, our democracy has grown and evolved through these tests, and become even better.  It can survive this, too.  I just don’t know how well I will do.



I need to remember that while my Two of Fire is reversed, it is there.  That means the cooperation and power sharing represented by the upright card can be manifested.  I will shield myself, and I will do my best to manifest good things around me.

$>

Tuesday, January 3, 2017

November 5, 2016: Back from vacation

November 5, 2016:

I am home from vacation and still struggling with the mornings; but no worries because my favorite holiday of the entire year is this weekend: Fall Back Sunday!  Tomorrow morning the clocks move toward a schedule that works so wonderfully with my personal body clock.  Oh how I wish the clocks could stay this way!  I also will hopefully feel recovered from California.  That three hour difference does matter when moving back East.

I went for bread this morning, for the first time in several weeks.  It was good to be there, to see Elisabeth and Wesley.  And yum, fresh bread and salad greens.

I also went for a massage.  Yep, I’m officially hooked!  This time the massage was a bit more gentle, but just as effective.  I think I will try different therapists and get to know them all.  I have been working with my chakras, together with some of my Sacred Mists friends.  I also did a full yoga practice.  I think I’m back to normal, which happened faster than I thought it would.

Today I am doing a heavy cleaning inside the Blue Moon house.  Tomorrow I will finish what I don’t complete today, and then move out into my beloved garden.  Which in a way is very fitting, as I can feel Cernunos a lot, as all Nature prepares for its Winter sleep.  Fermentation, anyone?

My Dreams of Gaia Minor Arcana card for today is the Ten of Fire.  Talk about synchronicity.  The image on this one shows a man surrounded by flames, with each of his chakras glowing brilliantly!  The keywords for this one are doing, self-mastery, mastery, evolution, enlightenment, lightwork, lightbeing, and discipline.  This card tells not only of having mastered a craft, but also having mastered the Self.  This one is about true integration, because that is really the only way to master a craft.  Awareness and an ability to wield personal power comes with responsibility, because we can’t unlearn or unsee what we learn or see as we evolve; we need to integrate everything and make it our own in a good way.  Being the master is not about being the best, it is about continuing to do your best and to evolve.  No resting on my laurels today.

$>

Monday, January 2, 2017

October 31, 2016: Samhain

October 31, 2016:

The day before yesterday, I went to a local spa and had an hour reflexology massage.  Yesterday, we decided to go back to the massage salon and this time we had a 90 minute full body massage.  Oh I am getting addicted to this!!


Today is the Sabbat of Samhain, the Third Harvest that focuses on the clearing of the fields for Winter, and also focuses on honoring the achievements and experiences of the past year and the ancestors who built the foundation upon which I exist.  This can be considered the Pagan New Year, and for some reason this year Samhain feels like the closing of one door with the other door not opened yet.  I seem to be in a kind o limbo, waiting for some shift or life-changing movement. All I can do is keep my awareness level as peak as possible.


My Dreams of Gaia Samhain Major Arcana card is the number XV card, Abundance, in a reversed position.  The keywords for this card are abundance, consciousness, giving, receiving, energy, love and appreciation.  The concept presented for this card that I really like is the achievement of abundance consciousness.  I think I am well on the way to getting and maintaining this, because I do try to be aware of the beauty around me, aware of my family, friends and loved ones, and aware of the bounty of my life.  The LWB for the Dreams of Gaia Tarot describes an abundance consciousness like this: “A person with an abundance consciousness is one who is always hopeful, seeks a fair and equal exchange of energy, and sees potential and opportunity in all experiences.”  Abundance is one of the seven reasons for being presented by the Dreams of Gaia Tarot, so this card is an important one, especially because it is reversed.  The word that seems to jump out at me when I read the meanings for the card is “trust.”  This is something I work with occasionally, and Samhain is certainly a great time to not only acknowledge the gifts and opportunities that have come to me over the past Turn, but to trust that gifts and opportunities will continue to present themselves as I move forward.


I guess the best thing to do right now, as I finish up my California vacation, is to continue to believe that opportunities will present themselves.  I can do that.  


$>

Sunday, January 1, 2017

October 27, 2016: Vallejo and Brugmansia

October 27, 2016:

My Dreams of Gaia card is the Eleven of Water, one of the balancing and realignment cards of this deck.  This one is titled “Emotion/Intellect” and these are the two opposites focused upon.  The keywords for this card are emotion/intellect, love, fear, expression, suppression, head, heart, ease, and dis-ease.  This card asks us to determine what motivates us, fear or love.  In the end, the answer is usually that both motivate us.  Live is never all pleasant or easily predicted, and this card asks us to remember that if we balance as much as we can, and suppress the least, we will be able to express all emotions in a healthy and beneficial way.

Today we walked around Ellen’s neighborhood so I could look at all the great plants growing in front yards.  There are houses with jade plants as shrubs, and all kinds of cactus and succulents of all shapes and sizes growing all over the place.  Then I had a huge moment of “yay!!” because I saw brughmansias growing in yards!  I saw several that were the size of small trees with lovely yellow flowers.  Gorgeous!!  Ellen then said that if I enjoyed walking the neighborhood that much, we needed to go to the University of California botanical gardens.  OMG, I was in heaven!   Then I relocated to Vallejo.

$>