Roll on, you magician you!

Hurray! I got the magician today.
It 's a beautiful card. The flowers symbolizing passion and transformation grow all around him. The infinity sign of, well, infinite possibilities, sits like a halo over his head. He's holding aloft what looks like a candle burning at both ends. Hmmm. The transitory nature of life? Don't know, really, but that sounds good. He looks like he's ready to start getting things done.
His posture is a heaven and earth mudra, (as above, so below) and, on the table, at the ready, are the 4 powers of the 4 directions.
The West gives us the chalice: water, the symbol of emotions, which are our guidance system.
The North is the pentacle, earth, wisdom, and the ability to create in form what you dream will occur.
The East gives us the sword: symbol of air, diviner of the truth and the home of inspiration.
The wand is a gift from the south, symbol of fire, creativity, and the dreams that help us move forward.
So the magician's power is to use it all.
Here is the magic circle: Our dreams (the south) pass through the emotional nature (the west) to see if they "fit" us at this moment in time. If they do, we'll feel great and the north will actualize them. Then the east presents us with a new truth based that dream's fruition which in turn inspires the creation of a new and better dream (the south again).
The circle rolls on.
That stuck feeling occurs when you want something but don't think you can have it. The south dreams, but the emotional west says nope, not for us. I feel uncomfortable with that thought. The north, literal-minded as it is, says "you're right, so here's the same old dream you've been dreaming again. The Sword has a chance to break the cycle by saying "hey, I've got an fresh idea about this spot we're in!" The south dreams the new thought, but if you're not in line with it you'll reject it and, whoops, stuck again!
It's up to you to take the new inspirations you have in and make these your new idea for your fresh basis for reality. You have to let go of your old ways, and let the new you emerge! When you do, the dream of the south will be so much more powerful. The west will believe it can happen, and the north will make it happen.
The faster you're able to ride this circle, the faster you're life will change.
And, since as above, so below, the more the world you see will change in response to the changes you create in YOU!
You see what I mean? This is a great card!
Live your dreams!
Love,
Kristine


Be the magician in your own life.

Oh, lord, can this really be the end . . .

. . .to be stuck inside a blog post with the nine of wands again.

Again.

I keep picking this card. What does this mean? I see this little guy with a bandage on his head using the staff (excuse me, WAND) to lean on. He's clearly exhausted. The hills in the distance are deserted, so no immediate threats are in view. It looks like he's really wary about making any new choices right now, like he'd rather cling to what he has than try for something different.

Well, that sounds a lot like me.

That sounds a lot like all of us, lately. The news goes from bad to worse.

I think we're all pulling in a bit, conserving our energy and our finances, trying to be optomistic about the future but with not much to go on, just our feeling that we've been here before, we've gotten through it, and we can do it again. We don't know how, but We've GOT HOPE.

We elected him, so YES WE CAN!

How, I guess, really doesn't matter. As Carolyn Casey once said, "We don't need reality, we need vision." She's right.

Sure, we need to turn around and really look at the problem, but then we need to look past the problem and dream of the potential solution.

As always, it lies in our hearts, not in our minds. Out hearts tell us the truth about ourselves, about how valuable we our, how much potential we have, and how much we have to give.

Our minds let us know how fucked up we are. Don't believe them. They're too influenced by our egos.

Let your heart be your guide. It can navigate you past tiredness and irritation, past fear and pessimism, past all the problems that seem like boulders in your way.

Make a choice, any choice. It really doesn't matter which one. Just choose, but choose with your heart. It may not be the "right" choice, but it will feel the best and deliver the most.

Love is truly the magic that lies within all wands.

With Love,

Kristine

Too Many Choices

The 9 of wands is the card I've been contemplating today. A man holds a staff, eight others form a fence behind him, and he looks like he's eying them warily. There's a bandage on his head indicating an injury. The green world spreads out far behind him. For me, this is a card about choosing one's path.



I'm lucky to have an abundance of choice. I can do, think, feel, be what I want.



This is both an advantage and a disadvantage. The plus side is obvious, but on the other hand, I often question my choices, or feel like I'm stuck in an old choice made long ago that no longer seems to fit the new me. The implications around choosing rightly or wrongly seem very weighty indeed, especially in an uncertain time. I could get hurt, or hurt my loved ones, if I make the wrong choice.



If I take my life less seriously, then my choices don't seem so impactful. I can then choose with a lighter heart. Looking closely at the card, I notice that there are no paths in the hills beyond the fence of wands. Perhaps I could keep all my options open and wander around my life more freely. I can make a choice, and if that doesn't fit, choose again. I can also choose not to choose.



There is a part of me that finds security in making a choice, but a larger part knows that any choice I make is temporary. Change is the only certainty. I can learn to be flexible, and choose depending on circumstance, and only make a choice when it feels "right".



I'm learning that a big part of making choices is being able to let them go if they don't work out. Stubborn consistency doesn't make for enough flexibility. It's like a cement river. It doesn't flow all that well.



I will go with the flow.

The Emperor's True Clothes

Today's card is all about power.

The Emperor hints at how you run your world. Do you seek power over a situation or person, or do you seek to empower others? The emperor tells you how powerfully your ego impacts your life.

The ego is not usually your best friend. The ego is a collection of the habits of behavior you learned as you grew up. What actions might have been appropriate to you as a child may no longer be appropriate as an adult; yet the ego, for its own survival, encourages you to still use many immature weapons of control such as: sulking, the silent treatment, flattery, manipulation, and all the tricks we rely on to get our own way.

Poorly aspected, the emperor in our nature wants to be the "king of the hill", and will use whatever he or she can to achieve that goal. The well-aspected emperor strives to empower others, knowing that, ultimately, what best serves all is what best serves oneself.

There is a high level of trust in this point of view. Remembering this truth helps one relax into one's life, let go of the struggle and negative patterns of behaviour, and know that all is well.

That's true power.

The Fool

I've decided to change the focus of my blog. I'm going to pull a Tarot card each time I post and discuss it's import. Since it's April Fools Day, I'm starting with the Fool.

I love this card. It's a "throw caution to the wind" card that strikes a chord with me. The fool strolls purposely towards the edge of a cliff. Will he fall? Will he notice his direction and change it? Perhaps he'll walk right off the edge and end up airbourne.

Whatever happens, his trust in the universe is evident. His rucksack and his faithful companion are all he needs.

Trust in the moment, companionship, happiness, a beautiful day, contentment with life as it is: these are all any of us really need to be happy. Disaster may strike, but worrying about it won't help. In fact, worry about anything may bring unwanted results about more quickly if it's true that you get what you focus on.

The Fool inspires me to live in the moment and go with the flow. Foolish? Maybe, but life is filled with nothing but moments in time. What are you doing with your moment? Are you enjoying it? When you look for the good in every moment, you are creating your heaven on earth.

Happy April Fool!

The Challage of Even Small Changes

It's a beautiful February morning in California. The rain has cleared the air and the Bay is sparkling.

I got a new camera, and it's so complicated it scares me. I'm frightened by a small machine that takes pictures. Oh brother!

It's always a challenge for me to learn something new, especially something I think I should have learned as an art student in college. It's a source of regret for me that my college years were more devoted to protest marches and finding boyfriends than art.

Water under the bridge, as they say. I notice that a fine source of unhappiness for me is dragging my history into the present moment and thinking that what I did and who I was in my twenties (or even earlier) is my inevitable future. Not helpful in any way. My peace of mind demands that I let go of this debilitating belief.

This moment is a fresh, new opportunity. Nothing I did or didn't do in the past has any power over this moment unless I insist that it does. I have so much more power in this moment to change, grow, and be content than I had previously allowed myself. Change and growth are inevitable, I best flow with them and not resist what life brings me.

Life dropped a camera in my lap. It's a challenge, but it's a pretty exciting one, and I want to see where it leads me. I've always wanted to be a better, more competent photographer. It's another tool that will help me further and improve the artwork I do.

THAT thought feels better. In fact, that thought feels GREAT!

Gung Hay Fat Choy

Happy New Year, and, whew, what a month!

Obama is our President and congratulations to us all!

What happiness throughout my world. So many joyous people are flooding the news, the TV screen, the radio waves, the blogosphere with their happiness and praise for this man. What a lifting of spirits. Hope entered my soul like air enters my lungs. Every cell was refreshed and renewed.

Despite my gushing, I don't see our President as a messiah. He, himself, made it clear that the way to a better world was through personal change. The personal is the political and great strides can be made as we individually plan, dream, and work for a new world.

What strikes me, what really makes me glad, is that I don't feel as alone as I used to do.

I now see that millions of people throughout the world shared my vision of what America can be and how a worthy leader sounds and acts. Because the thoughts and prayers and actions of so many helped Obama into office, it shows that the culture has lifted it's collective consiousness to a whole new level of awareness.

As Abraham says, your thoughts are more powerful than your actions in creating the world you want. So many thoughts, so many "rockets of desire" were launched, that Barak Obama become our president.

I wonder what else will this huge change in attitude will create for us?

I'm guessing a better and happier world.