Spiritual Sunday #5

Introduction

Well, this looks a little more promising. (Surprisingly so!) After spending virtually all of last week fulfilling the prophecy of last week's reading, I wasn't expecting much.

I did a lot of re-prioritizing, looking at new ideas, tidying up loose ends and little details, considering that over-arching question, Where to from here? ---> and concocting a new sense of direction. I also released a chunk of hopes and expectations -- and took up a piece of serendipitous advice I found on another blog-post. Que sera, sera.

That alone was liberating. Maybe the more zen I can be, the better -- for everyone. That's just never been me ... so it will be interesting.

Ready for the next one? Here we go.

This week's layout

This week's theme

The World = a sense of completion, successful achievement, closure, accomplishment, finishing up, satisfaction, a goal attained, the end of a cycle, coming full circle

Given the misery of last week's message, this card as the theme is positive, encouraging and unexpectedly upbeat. It suggests the decision to look back on the past and assess what you've accomplished, to give yourself a gold star for what you achieved -- and what you did right.

This card indicates a time when you close out a major cycle of experience, take what you gained from it -- and especially what you learned from it -- and move on to something else, something different, something bigger and more challenging. (Probably with "more profit" or "more fun" as your real motive.)

But there's also a sense of optimism and victory with The World card. You're not in full retreat. You're not leaving a landscape of smoking ruins behind. You don't have your tail tucked -- and you're not half-sick and exhausted. But there's definitely a feeling of been there, done that -- time for something else.

Time to close out unproductive activities, relationships, commitments, ideas, etc., and devote yourself to something with more promise. But deciding -- as I wrote -- Where to from here? is definitely a step up, not a step back or even a lateral move. You've gained what you needed ... and are ready for more.

This week's personal issue

7 of Fire = defending yourself, taking the high ground, acting from a position of advantage, being able to fend off challenges, successfully competing, showing enterprise, taking risks -- even ones that stretch you a little farther than you're sure you can handle

So ... you're ready to start something new, are you? Ok -- realize this takes action. You have to actually do something. This card describes energy in motion, striving, struggling, gaining new ground and protecting your progress, fending off challenges and opposition -- including not just people who are competitors in your new venture, but people and situations that would hold you back -- or worse, bring you down.

Essentially, there's a feeling here of carving out a new niche and defending your space. Depending on just what you've decided to take on, that alone could be a formidable challenge. But the Tarot thinks you're up to it.

Today's teensy, tinsey tarot tip ---> In case, like me, you're an obsessive collector of trivia -- or in case you find the Tarot so intriguing, you might actually think about taking up the study on your own -- or in case anything I might say could be a reminder ---> Even numbered cards in the Minor Arcana (the four suits of the Tarot) show stability, solid ground, stasis, security. Odd numbered cards show instability, being in motion, reaching out, leaving behind something familiar, taking "the next step."

This week's emotional issue

Brother of Water = reaching a new level of excitement, emotional involvement, creativity, artistic inspiration

This card's energy describes essentially being focused and "in love" with something or someone. It certainly bodes well for progress in a new venture -- something you're excited to do or take on. It also suggests a bit of experience and history goes with this project. You may have done something similar but less ambitious in the past. You may have plenty of basic expertise to devote to this interest. You may have done a lot of research or been thinking about it for a while.

This isn't something that "just happened along" -- or something you grabbed out of thin air. You may still be feeling your way on the details, but you're ready to take on a new creative project and commit to it.

This week's intellectual issue

2 of Wind = observing, watching, taking notice, considering options, planning your next move

Remember how I said above that even numbered card show stasis. This may be the most static one in the deck. It shows "information gathering," taking notes, thinking about different choices, considering your position and assets, taking stock of what you know -- and maybe considering what you need to find out -- or learn next before you do anything else. There's a feel of "weighing and balancing" contained in this card -- working with logic and analysis.

This is not a card of action -- so you're basically "thinking about where you are -- and where you may want to go" -- it's playing with ideas, assembling facts, "getting the lay of the land" before you do anything else. I could also say it's an indication you want to look before you leap -- which is always a better route than the alternative.

In context with the previous cards, it seems to say -- "You've got this great new creative venture -- or all this creative energy -- lined up. You're ready for new challenges and new scenery. What do you want to do with this? How do you want to direct it? What do you want to have created at the end of the journey? What's your first step? What's the next one? Is this the best idea you can come up with? (maybe, maybe not ... keep an open mind) Do you have all the facts you need? Do you have the right knowledge? Do you have all your ducks in a row yet? Have you weighed the alternatives?"

This week's practical issue

Mother of Earth Rx = being impractical -- even parasitical, misdirecting / redirecting substantial assets -- or not using them as intended, directing lots of healing, nurturing energy inward

Well, crap. This card showing up here now is kind of awkward. (And once again, my vision of a quick little "Sunday Sermon" tarot reading just went down the drain.)

Court Cards -- cards which depict people -- are the most complex cards in the Tarot. (Students hate dealing with them!) And reversed Court Cards are even worse to interpret. They carry so damn much information -- and yet they can be the key to understanding the whole reading.

(Sigh.) Ok, if you've followed me this far ... let's get started. You need to feel the message of what this card is saying.

The Mother of Earth is nurturing energy on a very sophisticated level. She deals with physical resources, financial issues, health concerns, material productivity, and above all care-giving. Upright, she is literally the Earth Mother who can provide what is needed to sustain health and life -- without being asked. Her function is literally to take care of people and make sure they survive. Reversed, though, this card means something different.

1 ---> Reversed, this card can mean someone who is impractical, wasteful, extravagant, self-indulgent, parasitical, "sick," a user-and-taker. She depends on others to "take care of her" -- when she ought to take more responsibility for herself. She is basically a drag on everyone's time and resources ... and makes no effort to be more self-sustaining. If she has assets of her own (and she may) she spends them on trivia, luxuries, self-indulgence, "junk food" and "stupid stuff." Her health may, indeed, be precarious because her lifestyle and values are so unbalanced.

But that's not all this card can mean.

2 ---> It can show a desperate need to take better care of yourself. To direct the care-giving, supportive, nurturing energy you spend so freely on others -- to yourself for a change -- because you are on the edge of being sick, overwhelmed, exhausted, "helpless" and in collapse. It's time to rearrange your priorities. Put yourself back in decent condition. Make yourself a priority and be your own best friend for a while -- as long as it takes to get back on your feet so you can meet your commitments and responsibilities to those you care for. You are wrung out and it's time to recharge!!

3 ---> It can show you need to do some substantial inner work to rearrange your commitments, your investments, your assets -- by rearranging your values. What you're supporting now may not be the best use of your energy. You may need to support something or someone else instead -- or you may need to support your current involvements differently. You may be propping someone up in ways that are crippling them -- or you may need to show them how to become more self-reliant ... and insist on this, for both your sakes.

4 ---> It can show you need to stop whining, stop wasting yourself, stop pouring your assets essentially down a rathole and stop feeling victimized. Start creating something you can count on. Stop screwing around (even if you have "the best intentions") -- stop wasting yourself on people who don't deserve or appreciate you ... and who will step over you on their way out the door once you're of no more use to them. Stop spending your time on ventures that have clearly shown they're not going anywhere. Do something constructive for crying out loud. Pick yourself up and stop playing "the victim." (And stop spending time with people who try to guilt you with this tactic!)

5 ---> It can also show that a whole new level of profit, productivity, comfort, lifestyle enhancement, support for you and others, etc., is ready and waiting for you to recognize it -- but you need to do what it takes to bring it into reality and so far, that hasn't happened. It could easily become that, however, if you'll either turn this energy around and use it as it is designed -- or figure out what's blocking it, and fix that.

This is potentially a very happy ending to this reading ... if you're ready to do the work it requires.

Another complication to expect, however, is that Life could throw all of these messages and experiences at you in order to get the point across. In fact, you might pretty much count on that.

1 ---> You may have to deal with someone else who is constantly helpless, "put upon," complaining, unable to take care of herself (or himself) -- always broke, taken advantage of, self-pitying, etc. Someone who either can't -- or more likely refuses to get it together for some reason. You may have to decide how much longer you're going to keep playing the patsy. (And if you're the one doing this to someone else ... stop it!! )

2 ---> You may need to take a step back and seriously assess how you can and should take better care of yourself and your assets, including your health, and stop trying to rescue other people so much. You could be approaching collapse, illness, a breaking point, etc.

3 ---> You may see how to work differently -- and profit more with a refocus instead of more effort. (In other words, work more efficiently ... not just harder.) Aim toward a definite goal ... so you have a solid target. Cut loose anyone who is just sucking you dry, or clinging to you for support all the time when they have two good feet they could stand on -- or stand on better.

4 ---> Stop being a martyr. Stop giving yourself away "for no good reason." Make taking care of Number One your priority for a while. You'd be surprised what a difference that alone could make.

5 ---> Ask yourself, What could you change ... what could you develop ... what could you do differently ... how can you refocus your investments and "wealth" that would produce something more profitable, more tangible, more worthwhile, more valuable, etc." Focus your attention specifically on lifestyle upgrades, more income, better ways to support things (and people) who are honestly important to you, better ways to "do more with less" -- especially with less effort or less loss ... no matter how noble your motive.

It's time to get your physical, financial, economic house in order again -- money, spending, income, health, etc., -- so you can fulfill the role you want to claim for yourself, your family and your community.

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