Personal Celebration

This week I'll be using the Gaian Tarot, a deck and book set created and self-published by Joanna Powell Colbert. I'll also be using the Goddess Oracle, a deck and book set created by Amy Sophia Marashinsky and illustrated by Hrana Janto. Today's draws are Four of Fire (Wands) and Maat:

Sometimes we need our own personal celebration or ceremony, one without invitations or fanfare. Maybe it is to express a deeply felt sense of gratitude, to mark a challenge met, or to build up our courage for an event soon to come. No matter how simple in appearance, these rites can have a powerful influence on our spirit. Maat, the Egyptian personification of truth and justice, reminds us to go forward with integrity. Having principles is important, but to maintain our wholeness, we need to act from them. When we do, we'll likely find we have a reason to create another sacred circle.

I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will.

― Charlotte Brontë

Chaos to Order

From the Morgan Greer Tarot, the Four of Swords; from the Goddesses and Sirens, Maat:

          The mind likes me to believe that it can do something about everything; that it can find a way to fix what is broken. But the truth is, that isn't always so - not even close. Sometimes I have to rest the mind and follow my heart. It chooses to look at what I'm responsible for and how to clean up any messes I've made rather than telling people how they should live their lives. I want this nation to change and the world to change, but my personal power lies in acting with compassion, having an open heart and a discerning mind. Maat, the Egyptian goddess that brings law to chaos, warns that natural order will be restored. May it be so.

"Respect" is a good word worth handing down to our children.

― Laurence Overmire

Mercy Attached

This week I'll be using the Gaian Tarot, a deck and book set created and self-published by Joanna Powell Colbert. I'll also be using the Goddess Oracle, a deck and book set created by Amy Sophia Marashinsky and illustrated by Hrana Janto. Today's draws are Eight of Fire (Wands) and 'Maat:'

           Meteors fall at great speed through the earth's atmosphere, heated by friction until they glow. The chunks of rock and metal that survive the journey and fall to the ground are called meteorites. These are usually pebble to fist-sized, but a few have been the size of buildings. The Gaian companion book suggests, "Stay open to inspiration, and when it strikes, move quickly before it fades away." Creative ideas and solutions don't usually burn with enthusiasm for too long if no effort is applied. The Egyptian goddess Maat, known for truth and justice, uses her feather to weigh the heart. It may be easy to claim we are honest in word and deed, but she also asks, "Are your standards too rigid? Can you or anyone else ever hope to live up to them?" Justice may be as swift as the meteors, but it does not place an impossible burden on anyone.

I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice.

~ Abraham Lincoln