Sit Back and Relax

This week I'll be using the Dark Goddess Tarot, created by Ellen Lorenzi-Prince and published by Arnell's Art (now available from  Schiffer Publishing). The oracle I'll be using is the Tattwa Cards, based on the teachings of John Mumford. Today's draws are the Ten of Water (Ixchel) and Earth: Seed of Air:

Learn to sit back and observe. Not everything needs a reaction. –Unknown

The holidays are an ongoing emotional litmus test; one day we are energized and excited, the next day we are drained and depressed. Ixchel, Mayan goddess of the Moon, arrives with her water jug to wash away our old patterns so that healthier emotional habits can develop. She would tell us there is no need to be constantly triggered by things that send our happy moods down into a crater of darkness. We just need to become aware of these vexations and mindfully choose not to react to them. Earth: Seed of Air represents aspiration, the initiative to achieve a goal. Yet the stability of Earth and the mutability of Air is an unusual mix, suggesting we mix fact and reason with intuition and insight. We don't need to protect ourselves from emotions but find a more creative way to let them flow through us rather than stagnate our mood.

Compacted Clay

From the Dark Goddess Tarot, the Witch of Fire (Queen of Wands):

Craft anew with the bones of the old.

Often portrayed as a white sow (a symbol of fecundity and fertility), Cerridwen was associated with rebirth, transformation, and inspiration. She possessed the cauldron of Poetic Inspiration (Awen) in which she brewed a potion to make her not-so-handsome son wise. Unfortunately, the servant boy who was stirring the pot got burned by the boiling brew, and without thinking, stuck his finger into his mouth. The magic entered him, angering the goddess who chased and ate him. She later "rebirthed" him as the famous Welsh poet Taliesin. Cerridwen reminds me that inspiration may take shape in unexpected places and through unexpected people. Though it doesn't look like the original plan I had in mind, it's still useful and beneficial.

From the Tattwa Cards comes "Earth: Seed of Air:"

Aspirations

Having lost most of our topsoil in two floods, it is extremely difficult to grow anything in the compacted clay that was left behind. It is like trying to dig in concrete, so I usually resort to raised beds or pots if I want to plant herbs or flowers. I can see myself in this compacted earth - practical and hard-working but stubborn and resistant to change. I need to occasionally be "aerated," allowing new ideas to reshape my goals when I become stuck. Progress demands that I keep my soil loose enough to plant in so that my aspirations can take root.