Tarot Spread – Sanity in an Insane World – We Can’t Breathe – What Else is Going On?

A Coping Question:  What Else is Going On? 

The ending is coming up to the beginning of this post.  I was about to end with this but decided it may be better to ‘go here’ first.  I often use this question in order to bring myself into a state of wholeness and balance, if not harmony.  People are chanting, police are watching, emotions are intense but what else is going on?  The breeze is moving through the trees and they sway as if wanting to march too.  Its a distraction but a good one to use when I need to remember that this or that moment of intensity, perhaps fear or overwhelming anger threatens to overcome and drown me — I ask, yes this is so, this is what’s happening but what else is going on?  Am I breathing? Go there. What is the weather right now?  See about it, looking up. What kind of clouds are in the sky?  What else is going on?  There’s always so much more.  It helps.  And it has helped me a lot lately.

We can’t Breathe

This first paragraph may be intense but I’d like to end this with some insight or guidance that may be helpful.  We’ll see.  But first, it takes courage to march, to chant “We Can’t Breathe!”  and “Hands up; Don’t Shoot!” In a mask on a hot day in a pandemic and in the midst crying and feeling like so many have felt; how can one pretend to know how it must feel.  But we try; we heard his cry along with so many others and we demonstrate and call out his name while on one knee… mask wet with tears.

Insane World

POTIS is out of his mind yet people still think to vote Republican will keep them in the $dough$ somehow — greed over basic humanity? Military in the streets?  Global Warming and Environmental Protections deleted by the Trump machine ( and did he really say it’s a great day for George Floyd on the day of his funeral? What?)  Hey, if I just arrived here from another world, and observed The Donald and his military minions while knowing what America stands for, I’d say this guy is trying NOT to be re-elected.  (Inject Bleach… what?)  Looks like he’s doing something more outrageous every day; is it some great experiment to test people’s loyalty to inhumane craziness for the love of their money? their stocks? their 401K?  Really? What?

If you were trying to NOT be re-elected and your ego was too big to say you don’t want the job anymore, all that Trump and his machines are doing is one way to achieve that.   But then I can’t really try to figure out a crazy mind or I risk craziness myself. 

One thing though. Maybe Trump could see that people all over the world were protesting what happened here in America… can he now see how we are all one humanity?  Did some of the sleep fall from his eyes?

Tarot Question about the Pandemic

And then there’s the Pandemic.  What do my cards say about that?  Let’s just go there for a moment.  Back in early May, there was a moment when I grabbed my cards and asked a question about having to go back into shut down due to the coronavirus, COVID-19.  I used a timeframe in the question, August.  If memory serves me, August 1st was how it was worded.  The answer that I received was ‘yes’.

I would like to turn to divination again and ask if we will be closing things down again anytime in August or September.  I am focused on my area (North Carolina)  in what is usually referred to as ‘the south’ so generally this is the area that I have in mind as I pose the question.  Circumstances have changed since I first asked this question in early May; many people think that the pandemic is over and have stopped wearing masks and thumb-their-noses, to turn a phrase, at COVID.  How much does group-mind create our group experience?  If at all?  

But for now, the question is will COVID resurge and require shutdowns in August or September?  Ace Wands, The High Priestess, Ace of Cups.  The YES indicator is the Ace of Cups in the last pile.

Yes spread

The High Priestess is adding some further information.  It may actually be validating the question itself, thus validating the answer.  What I mean is that The High Priestess often indicates retreat and being passive; going inward which is what we do when we stay home or our city goes into some level of shut down.  Note the eyes being covered in the image of the High Priestess in this deck (Herbal Tarot).  The card meaning relates to being non-active, being calm, waiting patiently — that certainly sounds like a lockdown or shut down.  This card also alludes to something previously unknown being revealed; something that has been hidden.  Secrets being revealed and the unknown future are key focused intuitions that spark when I look at this card.  Maybe the group-mind will have some major part to play yet; and let us hope in a positive way.  The world is uniting in ways that we might not choose but the world has been uniting through the pandemic, police brutality and economic inequality. Meanwhile, don’t let it depress you, anger you, or make you fearful.

I say this to myself and to anyone who reads this too:  Remember, there is always something else going on. When all else fails, remember the big sky consciousness and always look up.  Find the moon or stars or even the dark clouds if that’s all you can see for the moment but know that they will pass and the Sun, Moon, and Stars will shine for you again.

 

 

 

Calling out to Kwan Yin and Goodbye Facebook!

Prayer to Kuan Yin

 

Calling out to Kwan Yin and Goodbye Facebook! 

Don’t look for me on Facebook anymore.  I deleted my accounts.  While Twitter won’t allow Trump to profess lies, apparently Zuckerberg made some sort of deal with him that appears highly questionable.  I cannot do much about Trump except cast a vote. But maybe I can do more?   I can refuse to be part of Facebook.  This is just me being in integrity with myself.

So I deleted my accounts.

Aside from that, yes don’t we all know it!  This year, so far, has challenged us to remain present in each moment.  This is difficult for me as I’m sure it is for many at this time.

My heart breaks for those who feel fearful and oppressed – my soul remembers these feelings.

Does this recent police killing take our mind off the health concerns with the pandemic? Or does it add to the turmoil in the mind?

We should all be walking with protesters like some police officers are . . . oh how the protests and rioting take me back to the 60’s!

There are many questionable, highly suspicious, happenings these days.  But that’s always the case in one way or another.  The least we can do is follow our conscious and stay in integrity with ourselves and at least in spirit walk alongside the peaceful protesters.

I wonder how all of this appears from the view of the International Space Station?

I think to my self:  be peaceful as you can be within our own mind and heart at all times.  This, I feel challenged to do – to be present in this chaos especially when you feel it overwhelmingly encompass you, mind/body and soul, and it makes your heart begin to cry for the confusion, fear, and suffering that are such a part of our nation and our world right now.

I think of the Blessed Mother of my Catholic heritage at this time and to Kuan Yin.

May we turn to hearts and minds Kuan Yin, the embodiment of compassion at this time, and remain in integrity with our greater, wiser selves.  May the prayer above from the Sravasti Abbey be helpful to you at this time ( as it was for me).

Light is the Mother of Life, Different Pandemic Rhythms, and Tarot Wisdom

Okay.  I just like that thought!  Light is the Mother of Life.  This thought arrived on Mother’s Day while engaged in the “Art of Just Being”.  Here I am reflecting on different rhythms.  And I’m going to do a little reading with my cards here today too.   Anyway, it seems I’m doing a lot of that ‘just being’ lately and as usual lots of self-analysis along with it.

I’m working on a painting of a shooting star while thinking about following my own star.  I may have lost track of it but it’s okay, its never far away– just a bit of attention and intention is needed and I’ll find it again.  We are all, I’m sure, with this pandemic energy living our lives in a different rhythm.

Here’s a crazy fact that I recently came upon.  We breathe 23,040 times a day.  I don’t know who figured that out or if it’s true.  I read it in some book.  If we accept this number is about right, how many breaths are we actually aware of?  We can’t be fully mindful of all of them but how about just 10 at a time now and then?  That’s do-able.  We bring inside of our body, mind, and soul (our life) what we focus upon — breath is chi (life force energy) or also written as Qi as in Qigong.  I’ve been doing some QiGong exercises since the pandemic.  Good stuff.  If you haven’t tried it, my recommendation is to give it a go.

I’ve also been cutting my own hair (just the bangs, like 3 times now–or is it 4?–since the lockdown).  Our hair salons may open on the 22nd of May but our COVID-19 escalated dramatically since the Phase 1 re-opening.  The governor in our state says people are not distancing and masking and thus cases are going up and this next phase may not happen on the 22nd.

I’ve been jogging too since the gyms closed since i have to get my cardio somehow — things are progressing with that as my knees cooperate.  The happiest moments since the pandemic is that I’ve been Zoom–ing with my 4-year-old granddaughter, reading her library books.  Yes, our library lets you put books on hold, and then they call you about when to pick them up in the storage area at a designated time.  She was asking about volcanoes and so I read some library books about that on video conferencing.

I brought out my drum and tried connecting to the heartbeat of the earth — doing a drumming meditation is special.  Haven’t used my drum in ages!

What to ask the cards today?  I’m looking for wisdom, not necessarily a prediction of any kind.  Going forward what should be the focus?  Or better said What should the focus be right now?  Where should I/we/you put your attention?  I ask this because rambling around in the mind is the thing I wrote above.  Here it is again:  We bring inside of our body, mind, and soul (our life) what we focus upon.  So I will draw 3 cards and see what wisdom can be derived from those.  For myself, I am really thinkin’ of how to find my star again which really means how to connect with my inner creativity and joy.  Yeah, so that’s the focus of these 3 cards.  This is for you, too, reader if you choose to participate and want to connect 9more deeply) with your star too.

Five of Cups; King of Pentacles; Knight of Wands: 

a bit of Divination

Well, right off we can see 5 of cups really represent that feeling of loss and maybe some depression and anxiety — any of us can have a mixture of any or all of those feelings or experiences in any combination or degree during a pandemic.  The 5 of cups is the card that typically represents a setback of some type.  Essentially, to me, this first card represents the situation that is being addressed in this question.  The loss of connection to one’s star is due to a loss or setback of some kind.  There is disappointment about some events which is would be natural but one wonders if the feelings that one experiences are due to making wrong choices of some kind.  What is lost is lost and what is gone is gone and the more we want to go back to what was, the more we suffer.  Maybe you see some of yourself in this description.  In my own situation, I gave up some things and now wonder …well, I wonder what those two cups that are still standing in that card represent for me.  I am looking for that — the new passion and creativity.  How can I find it?  I am going to look now at the other two cards for some insight.  Intuitively, first I have to accept that I did NOT make wrong choices and this will lift my spirit.  Then I can see those other cups.

The King of Pentacles is about mastering life on Earth.  Master of materiality etc. is always my first thought when I see this card. This energy is about seeing opportunity (in this case for passion, creativity, and joy) everywhere.  This card is reminding me that I just need to open my eyes and draw from what is around me and that’s how I can recognize those 2 leftover cups in the 5 of cups.  For me, however, the word opportunity doesn’t feel exactly right.  There is a steadiness and a feeling of grounded routine that comes with this card.  Mastering life on the earth at this time with a steady even temperament.    The King of Pentacles can take most any idea and can make it work.  Maybe this is something that I am denying in myself?  The phrase about the ability of the King of Pentacles to draw from what is around him really sparks in me visions of writing.  I work on a book and then abandon it.  Writers do that, you know?  They use people, places, and experiences around them as characters, settings, and events in a book. This is something that I’ve tried but so far have not really been able to embrace and utilize very well.  I think that this card has re-awakened a part of my star.  It’s about writing!  And the pandemic is giving out more than enough material for the kind of sci-fi fantasy ideas that I’ve been working with already.   I wonder how this card meaning would apply to a reader of this blog.  I hope something that I wrote above about the King of Pentacles has been helpful to you.

What else will help with seeing those other cups and finding my (and/or your) star again?  There is one more card.  The Knight of Wands.  One meaning of this card that always comes to mind relates to awkwardness — this knight is not real polished and maybe rushes into things and then falls off his horse.  Well, that describes my book writing attempts just perfectly really! He goes off half-cocked as the saying goes and either is way too overly confident and then at the first sign of a problem becomes frustrated and even angry when things don’t come together as imagined.  This, too, describes my feelings with the off and on writing that I’ve done over the years.  BALANCE is the keyword that arrives in my intuition right now.  This Knight of Wands has some trouble staying balanced with his efforts.   There needs to be daring and detail both at the same time in order to remain in balance.  If the King of Pentacles energy can combine with and help the Knight of Wands, this could help with the commitment and patience that is needed with writing a book.  I wrote above how the King of Pentacles is steady and even-tempered and that energy is within each of us and we can draw upon it to help our Knight of Wands awkwardness and impatience. We can do that if we can let go of our real or perceived setbacks and get over what hasn’t worked in the past and remember that there are 2 cups that contain joy, creativity, and passion leading to a reconnection to our star.

Well, this post is twice as long as was intended.  However, it is my hope that while I worked out this wisdom and guidance using my intuition and the tarot that it has been helpful to others in some way.

A few parting shots based on the above tarot wisdom:  Are you in a rut with me? Try something new or go back to what you’ve been wanting to do and have maybe given up on.  Are you planning every last detail? Try winging it.  Make an outline but be flexible whatever you do, stay balanced–that last part from someone with firsthand knowledge of the importance of balance . . .  Sun, Neptune, Moon stellium in Libra.