TAROT DIVINATION ABOUT COVID-19, REOPENING, WEARING MASKS

DIVINATION USING TAROT  CARDS AND INTUITION TO ANSWER A PERSONAL QUESTION REGARDING  THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND THE STATE’S REOPENING

 

Tarot Question and Card Answers

Ace in the last pile (viewer’s right to left) is the YES indicator to the question that I asked.

The other two cards add confirmation to the question or additional information.

QUESTION: asked about continuing to wear a mask and continue precautions.

GUIDANCE:  I think the Ace of Swords here (in addition to being the YES indicator based on the rules of this spread) also brings a message of fortitude and persistence; being responsible and using one’s intellect.

The 10 of Swords speaks (to me) of being at a point of no turning back even though many people are going to try to do that. This is a card, too, that traditionally carries a message of keeping one’s self safe. I can only do what is right and responsible for myself and others despite what else happens.

And then The Hermit. How much clearer could this advice be? This card agrees with the Yes answer and adds to the reply to continue to be hermit-like, keeping to myself and this, of course, relates to the social distancing. The Hermit card traditionally carries a meaning of solitude, seclusion, and withdrawing from the world.

It seems to me that The Hermit and the Ten of Swords validate the question asked and, speaking for myself, I will remain very cautious.

Even if they do open the gym or library, I will continue to stay away. (Well, okay maybe to dash in to pick up a book on hold from the library but while wearing a mask.)

And on not going back to the gym, I will continue to do my outdoor running, yoga and working with my weights.

I will continue to be socially responsible and take precautions to avoid spreading the virus.

What will you do?

Guilt, Withdrawal, The Hermit, The Leopard and the 12th House with Moon and Pluto

Its probably a good day to stay home and write.  The Moon is transiting my 12th house and sitting atop of my natal Pluto with Mars nearby.  Could get intense in the outer world today–best to keep that intensity within the 4-walls here.  Or so says the intuition.  The 12th house is about seclusion and withdrawal — or at least that’s one of the archetypes.  Or that’s one astrologically accepted classic model of the House 12 pattern anyway–withdrawal.

I think that its good for the soul:  withdrawal, going within, terminating connections with the outer world.

Sometimes we withdraw from life or from certain situations for self-protection but what do we really want to protect ourselves from?  The same thing that motivates all of us–we either seek pleasure or avoid pain.

Let’s face it. We don’t have to be martyrs in life.  I don’t think it’s wrong to disengage from persons, places or things that are unpleasant if we have a choice.  Sometimes we don’t but with the blessing of the universe, sometimes we do.  Why not exercise the choice and not feel guilty about it?

That’s how my 12th house Moon conjunct Pluto feels about it today.  I think that choice is a gift, why not use it and do so so without guilt?

I don’t know about you but sometimes my feelings of guilt, when present, seem to come from worries about what other people will think about me–people that I care about or who are important to me.  Sometimes we see ourselves through other people’s eyes and that triggers those old patterns of guilt that we’ve probably carried over a number of lifetimes.

Guilt serves no purpose and is un-necessary self-criticism.  Its like allowing those voices of the old Catholic nuns or critical parents or other authority figures to take over our psyche.

It serves one thing that is purposeful however; it let’s us know that we are still working on resolving something within our own relationship to our self.    We always think these things are about us versus them.  We think it’s about our connection to the ‘other person’ or ‘the job’, etc.  When really its about our own relationship to our own self.

In other words, in my own case, honoring my own tendencies and feelings without concern of being misunderstood or judged as being uncaring or cruel.  So in that way we can see that the concern really is self-judgment.

Give self permission to embrace one’s own natural tendencies which are there for a reason and there as much for other people’s benefit as well as our own.  And honor that.

One thing we learn when we withdraw is how to experience our feelings fully and to release them in full too because we are giving ourselves the space by withdrawing in order to do so.

To carry guilt is to sabotage ourselves.  Withdrawal gives us the space to know ourselves, and to understand our feelings and to release them.

One way to resolve any guilt is to rebuild faith in one’s self and withdrawal creates the space for faith and self-trust to become strengthened.

I always relate the TAROT card of THE HERMIT to 12th house withdrawal energy.  I think of an “old soul” (if you will) and someone more comfortable alone than with others and not because of a lack of social skills or anything of the sort.  Just someone who values alone time higher than surface or shallow time with others.

The Hermit card relates to the 12th house in another way –or so I think.  I liken this energy to someone who has created their own religion or their own rules to live by following the inner guidance or personal conscience.  Here is someone with personal dogma and may be seen as eccentric because this is quite different than the consensus rules of society and is seeking spiritual happiness in ways that the consensus cannot understand or does not follow.

Sometimes I feel a lot like THE HERMIT and its animal counterpart THE LEOPARD. Today that feels more intense than usual — it’s one of those times.

But then again, the Moon is setting off my 12th house now highly activating Pluto so I accept that as normal for today.  Once a month my inner Hermit and Leopard get kicked up to higher levels as the Moon passes through this area of my psyche.

Thus, I stay home and even write about it!  😉 wink!

Fantastic Listening Walking Meditation and THE HERMIT

In my last blog post there were references to times when we can make a problem where none exists.  A few days later, I heard a Tibetan Lama give a dharma teaching about the need to give the ego mind a job—a part time job—something to do. Otherwise, since the ego-mind needs to stay employed, it gives itself a job.  It creates a problem to solve where there ‘is’ no problem in the first place.

I could really relate to that simple teaching.  This is sometimes why I like listening to the Tibetan monks—they speak broken English many times but that sort of forces them to slow down and speak in very easy to understand simply ways that are really quite profoundly beautiful actually.

Chanting, of course, is giving the mind a job, but this particular monk spoke about using sound.

I wanted to share a really cool meditation that I did with that suggestion while walking, but first I wanted to write a little bit more about how the ego mind will create problems where none exist.  It can also be what is called unnecessary worry and it follows patterns many times.  I recently watched documentary movie “What the Bleep do we Know” again.  I no longer have cable TV, so I had that movie on my Netflix list.  Of course, I saw it back when it first came out which I believe was 2003 or 2004, somewhere along there.  But watching it again on the heels of the recent dharma teaching and last week’s blog about making a problem where none exist really added that piece about neuron and patterns.

These recent messages from the universe from my experience, the movie and the dharma teaching are all fitting together very well for me and it’s been really synchronistic and personally helpful.

Here’s an example of how that kind of thing about the mind making problems where there are none based on old patterned thinking or wounds can out-picture—another example involving someone else.  A person wants an appointment and instead of just asking for a day and time that works for their schedule and nailing down the day and time, they write 4 or 5 emails sheepishly asking about scheduling a session.  They receive a reply to each question and then end up not making an appointment because of some perception that they have that they are being in some way mistreated.  And all of that is in their imagination and coming from an old way of responding based on a wound possibly but it is at the very least making a problem where there is none.   The person they accuse of mistreating them is mystified and astounded because each question was answered directly without any type of mistreatment whatsoever.

The ego-mind needs more to focus upon; otherwise, it gets itself into trouble by finding a problem where none exists.  All the neurons from past wounds start to fire and the person ends up seeing what is not there actually.

Well, I really wanted to write a few lines about this walk that I took yesterday.  It was a beautiful, sunny spring day.  Instead of plugging my mp3 player’s earbuds into my ear, I chose to walk without music or without an astrology lesson blasting in my ear either.

After I got started, I thought to try the sound meditation that I heard in the dharma talk by the monk who said to give the ego-mind a part-time job to listen to sounds!

Okay, I thought, let’s give it a try.  I already knew that my mind would likely wander but with practice over the years, it wanders less than when I first started to officially meditate back in the 80’s.

I loved the way the monk said that each time the mind wanders it is like a drip of water falling into a bucket when you catch it and bring it back –in this case, bringing it back to the object of focus which I decided was going to be sound.  He said you may end up with a full or overflowing bucket or barrel for as many drips as times that you have to bring your mind back.  The idea is not to fight with it or beat your self up about it.

Now, this is not the first time I’ve written about meditation in my blog or newsletters!  If I’ve written about that last paragraph once, I’ve written it hundreds of times… many times associating the object of focus as the breath or an object held in the mind such as the image of a flower or even an object in the meditation room, such as a candle flame or a statue.

But this meditation with sound while walking was a little bit different and very enjoyable yesterday.  I thought if I write about it that others may like to try it too.

There were many sounds in the area where I was walking and my mind was very busy with its part-time job chasing after one sound and then next and no other thought or distraction interfered so that I could relax and be fully present.

There was the sound of someone’s lawn mower off in the distance, bird’s chirping close by, the sound of lug nuts going on and off tires from the garage across the way, children’s voices off  in the distance, a loud muffler from a truck driving by, the sound of the creek rushing over the big rocks… all kinds of sounds!  It was like I was everywhere at once yet also very focused and present at the same time.

Once in a while, I realized my mind began to create a story or have a memory and I called it back to the sounds and realized that there goes another drip in the bucket and smiled about it.

I thought it was a great walking meditation in which I was very aware of awareness.  It was quite like I’d imagine the mind of god to be if the mind of god was there listening to the sounds too.

I just pulled a tarot card remembering how I recently mentioned that I am returning the tarot in my blog writing.  I asked what message from higher mind may come from this topic of walking sound meditation.  I smile now seeing that I’ve drawn the card of THE HERMIT.

On this particular card [image above], we see an older man and younger man—the same person who is older and younger.  The older man IS the younger man who knows himself.

The Hermit is the higher consciousness that waits at the peak of our own spirituality.

It is about making contact with the original staff of life which illuminates our inner purpose and earthly goals.

Intuitively, what I am getting the message of THE HERMIT to be (in answer to the question for guidance about my walking sound meditation) is that the inner and outer world is one and the same.  I was experiencing the sounds of the outer world within me during my walk and being in attunement or at-one with life.

I also think that just being fully present (as I was during most of my walk) is being in communication with that cosmic mind or non-local consciousness and that we are receiving energy and information that maybe our lower mind doesn’t realize.  It is busy doing its part-time job that we gave it, listening for and to the sounds.

Being fully present actually is communing with Life which is the communication with The Divine.  You know you’ve done it because you feel more peaceful and happier than before when it’s happening!