A Stimulating Life

This week I'll be using the Legacy of the Divine Tarot, created and self-published by Ciro Marchetti (now published by Llewellyn). I'll pair with it the Tea Leaf Reading Cards, created and self-published by Karin Dalton-Smith. Today's draws are the Nine of Coins and Ship:

In a lovely patio garden, complete with a reflecting pool, a woman lets a bird of paradise rest on her hand. Her gown and surroundings suggest affluence, and the bird represents a stimulating life rather than one of dullness. Yet her hairnet symbolizes a certain reserve and self-discipline - she did not get to this place of abundance without hard work and moderation. The reflecting pool implies that she also takes time for introspection and contemplation, otherwise arrogance and entitlement could be her undoing. The Ship in the Tea Leaf Cards signifies movement or commerce. In the world of business, the sea never stays calm but ebbs and flows with both losses and profits. This woman would likely follow the advice of Bertha Calloway: "We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails."

Noise Begat Rhythm

From the Gaian Tarot, the Magician; from the Goddess Oracle, Rhiannon:

In the beginning was noise, and noise begat rhythm, and rhythm begat everything else. 

—Mickey Hart

Years ago I went to a seminar at an Episcopal church that was about connecting to Spirit through sound. It included a drum circle, with about 60 people of all ages, races and lifestyles. We had all types of percussive instruments, from claves and shakers to djembes and bodhrans. When the leader began the beat, it sounded like cacophony, but gradually a wave formed of amazing music that was conscious-altering and transforming. I think we all had moved from "Do I sound good?" to "Let's make something wonderful together." What motivates us determines what we create. Rhiannon, a figure in Welsh mythology, was duped when her infant son disappeared and she woke with blood smeared on her face. Others convinced her of her guilt and she was made to be a beast of burden; later her son would be returned, proving her innocence. The companion book suggests we replace our self doubt with self questioning, preventing doubt from disconnecting us to our sacred self (as opposed to the ego led self).

Our Salvation

From the Gaian Tarot, the Guardian of Air (Queen of Swords); from the Goddess Oracle, Changing Woman:

Those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.

~George Bernard Shaw

This Queen uses a crystal singing bowl to focus her thoughts and calm her mind. She tries to explain to others how just a tiny shift - in our perspective, opinions, beliefs or wishes - can radically change our world. All those concepts, expectations and assumptions we rigidly cling to don't affect outer things, but they sure can make us miserable. But those small shifts are like the clouds that suddenly move and uncover the sun; we suddenly see with clarity and understanding. Estsanatlehi (Changing Woman), a figure in Native mythology, is associated with cycles and teaches that natural shifts make things different, but they can also make them healthy. As Barbara Kingsolver wrote, "The changes we dread most may contain our salvation." 

Think Fun

From the Gaian Tarot, the Ace of Air (Swords); from the Goddess Oracle, Kuan Yin:

In filling the well, think magic. Think delight. Think fun. Do not think duty. Do not do what you should do—spiritual sit-ups like reading a dull but recommended critical text. Do what intrigues you, explore what interests you; think mystery, not mastery.

― Julia Cameron

There are reasonable ideas and solutions, and then there are great ones (which cannot be forced). This butterfly spent many days in the chrysalis before emerging - it had no choice but to go through the necessary process. In the same way, the information or answers that we seek must also go through a course of development. But instead of grasping at strategies and knowledge, we let our curiosity and imagination out to play. These will fill the well that what we seek can be drawn from. Kuan Yin's arrival encourages a focus on self-compassion rather than the goal of perfection, which will only stymie our quest. 

Don't Hide

From the Gaian Tarot, Strength; from the Goddess Oracle, Baba Yaga:

We must reject not only the stereotypes that others hold of us, but also the stereotypes that we hold of ourselves. —Shirley Chisholm

If you're a young girl in the Deep South, it's likely you've heard all your life: "Be a good girl. Act like a lady." And from the church: "Be submissive to men." The inner beast that provides us with courage and strength is starved and abandoned if we act on such directives from others. Yet this woman has embraced her passion, her instincts and her wildness - not loosing them indiscriminately, but making friends with them. These are the things that will make her whole and help her to thrive. The Slavic goddess Baba Yaga reiterates this in her quote from the oracle companion book  :

I freely express my vitality

my sheer exuberant joyfulness

to please myself because it is natural

Trying to please others rather than being who we are is self-destructive. It is time to change the things we cannot accept. In the words of Michelle Obama, “Am I good enough? Yes, I am.”

Abundance and Fallow Fields

From the Gaian Tarot, the Gardener (Empress); from the Goddess Oracle, Kali:

Even beneath the lively bloomed flowers of spring, always lie the dead fallen leaves of autumn.

― Lakshya Chouhan

The Empress represents Nature's abundance - is there anything more sensual and creative than Nature herself? She tells us that we all are fertile with seeds of vision and innovation just waiting to be planted and promises to help us cultivate them, empowering us with nurturing and love. Unlike her husband, the Empress has no boundaries - her motto might be "More!" Yet Kali, the fierce form of the Hindu Mother Goddess, reminds us of impermanence and death. Both terrifying and tender, she teaches us to be free from fear, accepting that there is a time to plant and a time to plow under. Fallow fields encourage the development of fertile, rich soil, and allow us to sow and grow new seeds. 

Resistance is Futile

From the Gaian Tarot, the Priestess; from the Goddess Oracle, Vila:

The ego is a circular pattern of thinking.

—Adyashanti

Those who come to the Priestess for answers are told - as she splits open a pomegranate - that truth is not found in scholarly books and revered teachers but within. She points to the goddess of Malta figurine and explains that what is sought can only be discovered in stillness and quiet when we sink below our chattering mind. But before we descend into that calm spaciousness, we must heed the words of Adyashanti: "We must want the actual truth more than we want the truth that we imagine." Vila is the eastern European name for energy that moves through the earth in different forms of nature. Her shape-shifting ability calls on us to flexible with an expanded awareness rather than holding tightly to our illusions. Truth and wisdom do us no good if we resist rather than accept them.