Where Are We Going?

April 3, 2012: The Guide (Temperance), Tarot Of The Old Path

You know, there are no accidents--

I do these draws online, with a random selection of cards in a digital list, and I hop around with the cursor, eyes closed, before the Spirits guide me to press the button and choose the daily card--So, to my mind, especially since there are six different decks in my listing, all cards being differently named, I think these draws are truly random. Soooo....what would be the odds of two consecutive cards in the same deck being drawn on two consecutive days? Infinitesimal--but that's what we've done today.

"Temperance" follows "Death" in the traditional Tarot, as here "The Guide", drawn today, follows "The Close" drawn yesterday. So--what is the Universe telling us here?

Temperance carries on the theme of change and growth. The lowering of the woman into the water has connotations of being “baptized” or prepared for a different life following the transformation of Death. The Sacred figures in Temperance could be witnessing and welcoming the woman’s transition to this new inner life through a ritual washing with the waters from the Sun. There is a difficult time ahead.

Temperance represents the gift of balance and cleansing before one enters the dark night of the soul – Devil and Tower. The Angel takes on a new significance as a Guide through the forthcoming difficult time and the presence of the Lord and Lady gives hope that the dark night of the soul is a simply a ritual transition to another level of consciousness. Others have traveled before us and there are guides on the journey. We will remember the hope.

In the Tree of Life, Temperance is found on the 25th Path between Tiphareth (Beauty) and Yesod (Foundation) – spiritual reality and the dark unconscious. The spiritual and the material worlds are in balance. All is as it should be although the path may be difficult. Refreshed by the hope of Temperance, we keep our balance, stay on our path and head towards joy and enlightenment.

From this card, I get a sense of the suspension of time itself. Everyone seems to be waiting to see what happens next, except the angel, who steadily pours, and the woman, who looks as if she's beyond it all now. I get the feeling that the man has either just asked the Angel (or is about to) for assistance, to please do something to restore this woman to him, somehow.

I also get the impression that the man on the card has asked the Goddess and God to come to his aid. He knows not what to do with his lifeless companion, or whether there is any hope. And, of course, they have come, although whether or not they will choose to intervene on his behalf is in question. Clearly, this is a man in need of some guidance.

Sometimes, the Gods alone know, and only they can provide the guidance necessary in such a troubled, confusing circumstance. They can intercede if that is what's best, and many times, I believe, that's precisely what they do. But the way it's done is usually a mystery to us, and so we have to go on faith alone. I also think this is a lesson being illustrated here.

I see the angel as indicating the path of the flow of the soul, from one vessel into another, the concept of reincarnation in action. I feel that this card is directly related to the previous one, in the respect that all things must change, here we have a glimpse of what they may change into.

I'm still shaking my head here. You?

Ah, Death....

April 2, 2012: The Close (Death), Tarot Of The Old Path

This card will always make people pause and think if it is drawn. Most of us have something of an atavistic "gut reaction" to the concept of Death, which is instantaneous rejection coupled with the drop in the tummy and the inner "oh NOOOOOEEEESSS!" And so, today, as a daily draw on a day when I have huge things going on, yes, even your TarotWitch went AAAUUGGGHH....

I did immediately pick up the phone and notice we had a voice mail (the phone isn't turned on for the day yet) so I listened to it, and heard my mother's wonderful voice sounding quite healthy and happy, thankewverrymudch...so there was one sigh of relief. However, here's the card, still, in all its gloom and doom--yes, it's pretty--buuuuuttt.....And then, then, I really looked at the card. And I got better--

CHANGE. It means CHANGE. It means "death of the old, rebirth of the new" (see the baby in the corner waving goodbye to the old guy?) The heron standing in the stream is a long-held symbol of death and rebirth, as is the snowy owl floating along behind the Death figure. The primroses in the left-hand corner as well as the borage in the right corner are significant--the early spring emergence of primrose is "new life" while the constantly evolving nature of borage (stems, seeds, flowers and dead husks all on the plant at once) screams "Change Is Coming"....

And that couldn't be more apt for my day. Huge changes coming tonight in my Path, as well as some lesser changes in more mundane things. The card is a reminder to "ride the river" and know that whatever comes, it is supposed to be there, and that one cannot evolve without change. So--what are you supposed to willingly let "die" today, and how will you be "reborn"?

Do it. Quit the job, file for the divorce, sign the lease, enroll in the class, make the apology, take the chance, learn the lesson. You will always be reborn--but the past must be laid to rest first.

Fire In The Head...WyrdByrd....

April 1: Ace Of Swords, Utah Maninni One Tarot

Well, I had my consciousness raised yesterday, and this card is one more proof to me that there are, indeed, no accidents. I am getting personal insight from the Universe on some of my longest-held perceptions, and it's turning my head around. Let me 'splain....

I am a die-hard (I thought) Air-Wands, Fire-Swords girl. It made sense to me on every level--after all, trees breathe out oxygen, don't they? and of course tree-branches will always be my chosen wand-stuff--and you can't make a sword without fire, and the blade looks like, and is made with, the flame--and of course wooden twigs are flexible (like thoughts) and swords are pointed, direct, and double-edged (like the will)....So, I thought, TarotWitch has this one down, but good. Right?.......Well, maybe.....

I had a class yesterday on British Traditional Witchcraft, to learn some background and ethos from a master of the Arte. And he said that he himself was creating a tarot deck, and he had the exact same views--and the deck didn't work. Until, he said, he got a cosmic ass-kick that it was, of course, exactly the other way around. Fire. he discovered, wasn't the forge-fire at all--not a man-made fire. It was the dawn-fire, the rising Sun, not the fire in the hearth, all safe and controlled, but the cosmic Fire of Awakening, the Fire of Inspiration, the Fire-In-The-Head of the Bard. And North, for a BTW (and for this American Shamanic 1734 Witch) is Air, the Polar Star, the Iron of the North, that draws all things, that creates thought and idea from cosmic harmony---the Lode-Stone, the MotherLode, the source of Ideas/Ideals...

And it all rang true. And it all made sense to me, as well as it had to him. I began to re-think it--and then, today's draw, in affirmation, is this particular Ace of Swords, the White Owl (my own personal totem beast) with the sword going right through hir head, opening brain-paths to new ideas... No, there are no accidents....

So--how are you having your mind changed today? How is the Lodestone bringing your thoughts into harmony whilst letting them fly free? Where is the place where you have to discard a long-held theory and think Anew? Works for me...

Teacher, Teacher....

March 31, 2012: The Hierophant, Haindl Tarot

The "hierophant", literally, means "the one who shows the sacred objects." Religious tradition, one of the major themes of the card, involves wisdom, but even more so, the sharing of veneration. And veneration is the recognition of the sacred. So today's card message is about teaching and learning sacred things, in a sacred manner, from a sacred person...

I also notice the card is made up of exclusively male figures, an old man, a man, and a youth. So it is in many religious organizations, where "clergy" are primarily, or exclusively, male. But this card has a deeper resonance than that...the Hierophant is the "father-as-teacher" and each and every one of us has one of those, whether we have a relationship with our earthly father or not. We all have male characteristics, whether we are men or women. And we all have a need for "fathering", whether we know it or not.

This card is about the "father-as-teacher", and you may be the recipient, or the giver, of such teaching today. Think, whether or not you actually have a father, of the things that to you make up a "good daddy". Think of the characteristics, whatever they are to you, that in a positive way make you think of someone as "manly". Think of what a good man might be, and think of what power there may be in the Male Mysteries, no matter how these intersect with you personally. And now--think what the "father of mystery" is trying to teach you today, or trying to help you teach someone else today. And go forth and do/be/become that thing.

What In The World....

March 30, 2012: The World, Utah Maninni Three Tarot

When all is said and done, the Great Salt Lake IS the Goddess Utah, for the entire state, not just the Valley. She is an amazing paradox, a lake more saturated with life-killing salt than the Dead Sea, which is non-supportive of life, so it should be a wasteland, right? WRONG!!. The brine shrimp which teem in its waters are a commercial harvest of over 2 million dollars a year in fish food, and the associated brine flies feed birds which have a centuries-old flypath over the GSL and through the extensive wetlands which surround it. The lake is a natural wonder of the world, and it is the reason why Salt Lake City has become a commercial and recreational center for not just the USA but the entire world. Yes, the World. Hail the Goddess Utah!!

Card meaning: You can't reverse a sphere, so if you draw this card, just take the basic meaning: The World is influenced by, and influences, everything you are doing here. Pay attention.

Look At That Girl Van Gogh!

March 29, 2012: Queen Of Cups, Daniel's Bootstrap Tarot

Exuberantly dancing on the edge of mystery, holding the "stars" in her hands, the Queen of Cups as envisioned by my friend Daniel Webster Christiansen cavorts gaily in front of Van Gogh's brilliant "Starry Night", fusing in her exuberance the ideas of water and fire.

Briefly put, the Queen of Cups is the avatar who represents the pure force of Water, intuitive, reflective, and emotionally secure in her Self--but here she also reminds us that Water dances and plays, sparkles and shines, flows and splashes, and gives us back the full range of emotions including the passion for life.

Fire of Water seems almost a contradiction to us when we think about the two elements--they do seem incongruous. But fire is to water as Will is to Want...and the Queen of Cups is cavorting through our cards today to remind us that fire and water do, indeed, have a symbiotic relationship. One "puts out" a fire with water, yes. But one may also heat water with fire. And one takes what one "wants", ideally (the manifestation of fire as desire or passion) and one subjects it to the concept of the True Will, the deep Self as manifested by intuition and insight, the underlying elemental correspondences of water. So the Queen of Cups dances in the starlight, joyous exuberance fully manifesting--but she's not really "holding" those stars, and she's in no danger whatsoever of stumbling into a face-plant no matter how intricate the steps of the dance.

So, for today, here's a novel thought. How about trying, in our own small ways, to manifest the exuberant equilibrium of the Queen of Cups? How about--thinking about how we feel, and feeling our deepest thoughts? How might that change your dance, today? Let's find out!

Bee Well....

March 28, 2012: Bee, Druid Animal Oracle

Our daily draw today disdained the Tarot, and gives us instead the Druid Animal Oracle, selecting the BEE--which means Community, Celebration, Organization. Bees invite us to celebrate. You may have a special reason for celebration, or you may simply need to celebrate the wonder and mystery of being alive.

In the Druid tradition, there are occasions to celebrate every six weeks or so. As human beings we need to have times when we can come together to enjoy each other's company. The bee tells us that we can live together in harmony, however impossible this may sometimes seem. By being at one with the natural world, by paying homage to the sun, by centering our lives around Spirit or the Goddess, we can work together in community.

A beehive functions harmoniously because each bee knows its role and the work it must do - consequently it is highly productive and plays an important role in the local ecology. The bee knows the value of organization, of paying homage to the Goddess and the sun, and of working hard. She calls us to an inner recognition of our membership of the community of all Nature.

In the Druid tradition, bees come from the paradisaical world of the Sun and of the Spirit. Finely attuned to the position of the sun in the sky, it is the bee who brings the sacred solar drink of mead as a gift to humanity. The bee, with its highly defined social structure and extraordinarily productive and efficient community, all centered around the Queen Bee, was seen as symbolic of the ideal society - centered on the Goddess, paying homage in sacred dance to the sun, and producing an amber substance from the flowers of the fields and woods that could both feed and divinely intoxicate.

So, today, think of your "hive", think of your "honey", think of the ways bee-dom might inform your life-walk today--and buzz along, now, and get "bizzy", eh?