2/24/11—Honoring Success

Today's Draw: The Four of Wands from the Necronomicon. What is worthy of celebration in your life today? What can you be satisfied at having completed? How will you honor this moment?

 

I'll be honest. I know nothing about the Necronomicon. I'm not a sci fi or fantasy person. That said, this card shows a beautiful woman in an intimate gaze with a lizard man, while a party goes on around them. They seem to be digging each o...ther.

While customarily picturing a wedding or some other rite, the four of wands isn't a love card, per se. As a wands card, it more specifically speaks to a first stage of success in a creative endeavor.

We often let these moments pass us by as part of the swirl of daily life. But this card is asking you to honor that success in some way. Drink a toast to it. Write about it in a journal. Or just sit in silence and feel it. Don't be too busy or otherwise concerned to let it pass you by unacknowledged.

About six months ago or so, I asked for something to enter my life. And now it seems as though that may be finally happening. It's private and too unformed to mention now, but it's a good thing. One of the standard spreads or card layouts in tarot is called the Celtic Cross and one of the card positions is called "greatest hopes and fears". It never ceases to amaze me how often in my life that my greatest hope is *also* my greatest fear. This is one of those things. But this card asks that we honor these things—and even smaller victories—and not to lose them in the shuffle. So I don't know what I'm going to do, but I do intend to commemorate today's victory in some way. How about you?

2/23/11—Allowing Power to Flow

Today's Draw: The Three of Wands from the Haindl. Are you allowing your natural power to flow? Or do you find yourself forcing things to happen? Do you feel you are manifesting your highest good right now?

 

The Three of Wands is an auspicious card. It speaks of manifestation and power and allowing...allowing the universe to deliver to you. The assumption is that you've already asked and laid the groundwork for some wish or want and now you jus...t need to sit back and allow it to happen.

But there's the rub. Most of us try to control an outcome. Or dictate how and when things will be delivered. Forcing an outcome can seriously affect the fulfillment of our wishes, though. So this card reminds us to "let go and let God". Another way of thinking of it, as Mike Dooley puts it, is "your job is say to what, the universe's job is to figure out how".

So think about all the things brewing in your life right now and see where you might be forcing a conclusion, rather than letting nature take its course. It's a sticky wicket, because you don't want to let go to the point that you're not moving toward your dreams. But you know where you're struggling...you know where you're working too hard.

This is always a good reminder to have. There are a couple of places in my life right now where I'm fighting against the natural outcome of something. And there's at least one place where I'm letting go too much. So just take a few moments to check in today and see where you might be standing in the way of your own fulfillment.

2/22/11—Contemplating Affluence

Today's Draw: Nine of Pentacles from the Spiral Tarot. What are your beliefs around affluence? What does it buy you? Happiness? Freedom? Headaches? What are your aspirations when it comes to money?

 

The Nine of Pentacles usually depicts a well-off person who has no trouble making money or securing things on the material plane. And they usually look quite happy about that. But does the happiness come from the prosperity? Or does the pro...sperity emanate from the passion and happiness of creating something of value?

When I formed the mission statement of my business fifteen years ago, I purposely made sure money wasn't a part of it. It was all about getting a wide variety of work, clients I felt good about and fueling my passion for my work. As a result, I've never made a big decision in my business based on money and have, in fact, moved on from my biggest clients a few times based on the way I felt about working with them.

When it HAD to come down to a choice between money and happiness, I chose happiness every time. Of course, the two aren't mutually exclusive. You can have both. And it's only happened once that I've been desperate for work, but turned it down because of who I'd have to work for. So, to be honest, my choices really haven't been tested on the eat/don't eat scale.

But I think all that reflects my attitudes toward money. I certainly don't want to worry about where my next meal is coming from, but I'm not shooting for Oprah wealth. As far as I'm concerned, money only buys freedom when it truly buys freedom. When having money places responsibilities on you...takes you away from the things you love or requires some sort of management and concern...then what's the point? I'm happy being middle class. And while I wouldn't turn down opportunities to enhance my bank account, I wouldn't do it at the cost of anything I hold dear—my integrity, my time with my babies, my mental health or my happiness. I like buying crap, don't get me wrong. But crap is crap. It's not what really matters to me.

2/21/11—Calling the Professionals

Today's Draw: The Three of Loaves from the Kalevala Tarot. Are you the kind of person that tries to fix broken stuff by yourself? Or do you call a professional the second something breaks? What are your beliefs and/or anxieties around this?

 

This card equates to the Three of Pentacles, which is traditionally a card indicating work toward the mastery of some craft or another. But the lwb for this deck provided a nice little twist in saying it was time to call in the professional...s.

This is a very interesting topic for me. My father was an engineer and was both mechanically and electronically adept. I can't remember once ever taking anything in to a shop for repair or having a professional come by the house to fix anything. Basically my dad lived for the day something would break so he could fix it. So with that modeling in my life, I follow suit. Except that I don't have the education he had in electrical engineering and I don't have the hours under car hoods that he had.

So when something breaks, I'll go and buy the parts to fix it, but won't ever get around to fixing it. I have a dripping sink and a toilet that needs a new flapper right now. I'm perfectly capable of fixing these things...I'm often shocked at the stuff I can figure out. But when I needed a new shed—something I couldn't do myself—it took me YEARS to take care of the situation. Any time I have to call a professional, I freak a little. Unless it's a situation where I have no water or electricity, I'm willing to live quite some time with the inconvenience. I hand washed dishes for a while just to avoid getting a new dishwasher installed. I have serious issues around this kind of thing...haha. And, though sometimes finances have to do with it, it's mostly the anxiety of choosing someone and trusting they'll do the job. And I blame it all on growing up without ever having seen a repairman. :D

So what's your story? Do you mostly fix things yourself? Or do you call in the professionals? And if you call in the professionals, would you do that even for something as simple as a drippy faucet?

2/19/11—Feeling Abundant

Weekend Reading: Ace of Disks/Prosper from the White Light Tarot. Prosperity and abundance are as much a state of mind as they are a state of being. Feel abundant, think abundant and you will be filled with abundance. So carry that feeling with you this weekend. Focus on the wealth and abundance you have in your life and not what you're lacking. See how that can create more abundance in your life.

2/18/11—Leaving Things Behind

Today's Draw: Death from the Mystical Dreamer. Second time this week, folks. It's time to leave something behind. It could be a belief, ideal, baggage, a job, whatever. Change is knocking at your door!

I did a reading today because, hey…there are 78 cards in a deck. The odds of getting the same one twice in a week are low. Especially when I use a different deck of cards every day. So the ether has something it wants you to know. Death is ...a cycle that runs from release to resurrection. In order to move forward, you have to let go of something. This card has significance to me, so take a good look and see how it might have significance for you. The cards are emphatic about this. Death could change your life.

And just in case you didn't read the other day, Death is not meant to imply physical death. Like it's not telling you you're going to die. It's about change, leaving things behind and moving into a new place.

2/17/11—Inspiring Self and Others

Today's Draw: Two of Wands from the Cosmic Tribe. What creative force is burning inside of you? And how did it ignite? What is your inspiration for the things you create in your life? How does your creativity move others?

 

Traditionally the Two of Wands speaks of surveying the landscape and taking stock before taking action. But Stevee Postman presents a very different take. I wish I could reprint his entire entry for this card, because it was very evocative ...and insightful. But basically what he was saying is that the two wands are like magnets—at once opposing forces and complementary. And at the point they meet, they cause a creative reaction, producing a third thing, that in this suit is passion, fire, and creativity. This is the point where our bodies (action) and our psyche (inspiration) align...a point of power...a point of creating something new. And it requires a delicate balance to keep us in that place.

I'm privileged with the way I live my life. My career requires me to create daily. I'm self employed, which makes it even more "artsy"...haha. And although I have good days and bad days with that, I've never failed to cross those wands in the right place. Which means I can create without the fire consuming me. I can create and walk away from my creation. The creating fuels my life, but doesn't dictate it. I'm not owned by it. Instead I own it. At least in my current writing career. I know this all sounds braggy, but it's not. I'm not saying that makes me good at what I do, rather it makes it possible for me to do it day after day for 25 years without it killing me or exhausting me unduly.

I think I've always had a need within me to move others. In high school I was in every play and musical. I minored in Theater and also studied voice in college. The drive toward expression through performance was to move an audience. And for my career, that's exactly what I do in the most literal sense of the word. Advertising is all about moving an audience. And as I move forward with my writing, it will also be about moving an audience. I don't know why or where this need to inspire and incite came from, but it reaches every cell of my body.

And that's really what any sort of aesthetic creativity is about...moving others. Having an effect. Advertising is nice because it covers the whole range. Some ads simply want to incite action, yes, but how? Through emotion. Through inspiration. Whatever. Advertising, at one time or another, has provided me with every type of opportunity. I've written poetry, gotten philosophical, used humor, brought others to tears. It's a playground for creation and that's why I imagine I'll always have a love for it. So what's your story?