Daily Draw: Marco Polo Tarot ~ 8 of Wands

With speed and economy of action. I know this as a petard, as in 'hoist by your own'; it is a machine marvel of the day and required skill to operate. I enjoy observing people doing something they do well, be it work or play. With speed and economy of action they make even the hardest task look easy.

I'm reminded by this card that I have skills that millions of other people might wish for and visa versa. I'm not useless or hopeless, I'm accomplished and smart. Next time the black dog of depression comes calling I'll set it to the curb and think about what I do well, rather than what I do poorly.

"To understand one thing well is better than understanding many things by halves." ~ Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe 1749-1832

Daily Draw: Marco Polo Tarot ~ King of Swords

I've said before I'm surrounded by King of Swords men and that is just the way I like it, but there are things to watch for. Because they can be so clear minded themselves sometimes they can go overboard into manipulation. Purposeful or unintentional, pulling peoples strings is not a pretty personality trait because it takes away free will.

I'm reminded by this card to consider my own intentions and motives when I try to talk someone into something. If I have to 'talk them into it'...who does the behavior benefit and is it in the best interests of all parties?

“Love comes when manipulation stops; when you think more about the other person than about his or her reactions to you. When you dare to reveal yourself fully." ~ Dr. Joyce Brothers 1928-

Daily Draw: Marco Polo Tarot ~ 6 of Chalices

A change of scenery...can be just what the doctor ordered for anything from boredom to stagnation to stress. I have a client who is off work now for stress. They have a super quiet home, incredibly peaceful, but to counteract her stress levels she went to Seattle and brought home her two grandsons, 2 and 5. She has spent two weeks going like a bat out of hell non-stop and she feels like a million bucks again. Not the change of scenery I'd choose but it worked great for her. Got her outside her own concerns and problems long enough to put them in perspective.

I'm reminded by this card that if my wheels are spinning, don't blame the wheels; stop focusing on the condition and switch focus to the source or the solution.

"For the sake of getting a living we forget to live." ~ Margaret Fuller 1810-1850

Daily Draw: Marco Polo Tarot ~ Star

Peace and tranquility after the storm of the tower. I hope so, grief takes so many different forms and takes its own sweet time getting out of our systems. A few days ago I was walking down the stairs and suddenly just sat down and wept. No trigger...I hate it when my life isn't mine to control.

I'm reminded by this card that in truth we are never in control, our lives can turn inside out in an instant. All we can do is try to steer the ship to the best of our abilities.

“You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude toward what happens to you, and in that, you will be mastering change rather than allowing it to master you." ~ Brian Tracy 1944-

Daily Draw: Marco Polo Tarot ~ Queen of Chalices

This Queen often symbolizes vision and creativity, but with discipline and drive. Vision and creativity are nothing by themselves, we can have brilliant ideas and fists full of plans but they go nowhere without the will to see things through to the finish. Drawers and cupboards, closets and garages full of uncompleted projects is the output of a dreamer. Finished projects are the output of the Queen of Chalices.

I'm reminded by this card that the Queen isn't sitting here daydreaming, she is marshaling her forces, making a plan, listing the materials needed, working out a schedule, reviewing her budget. Think time is critical to creativity, but there comes a time when the doers are separated from the wanna-bes...when the derrière leaves the chair.

"No great deed is done by falterers who ask for certainty." ~ George Eliot 1819-1880

Front and center this week is a 2002 Lo Scarabeo deck with art work by Severino Baraldi. Known as both Tarot of the Journey to the Orient, and Marco Polo Tarot. The Venetian explorer (1254-1324) spent 24 years traveling Asia. This deck not only represents the tales told in his book 'Il milione", but on the Majors the artist painted two views, one representing the East, one the West.

Daily Draw: Soprafino Tarot ~ 7 of Coins

Satisfaction on a job well done. I looked back yesterday on this week's draws and was surprised at the negativity shown. But I am a great believer that reversals are not necessary in tarot, the cards will show their points as needed. Never the less I was happy to feel a positive card today. This is a beautiful deck and I'd not like to be put off it. The scans do not show the cards to advantage.

I'm reminded by this card that tools that work are the only ones we will use. Think about your utensil drawer, tool box, hobby supplies. I went through my utensil drawer a couple of years ago and found over 8 pounds of tools I either no longer required or had never used. I'm doing the same with my tarot decks. There are a few that seemed a good idea which will never stand the test of time. Keeping an eye on the bloated parts of our life is simple good stewardship of time, energy, and income.

"Satisfaction lies in the effort." ~ Mahatma Gandhi 1869-1948

Daily Draw: Soprafino Tarot ~ Hermit

I look at this L' Eremita and I look at his lamp which symbolizes a search for knowledge and truth...and I see a lamp so small it might not last the journey upstairs to bed. Which must then symbolize the closed mind, the mind that retreats from the truth. Cults do this, make a new truth and close off the disciples to anything that differs. My grandpa was a 'straight party ticket' democrat, regardless of the fools and horses running for office. The only truth he needed to know was their party affiliation; prophet or pariah, policy in one word.

I'm reminded by this card the older we get the more often we think we already know enough. There is no such state.

“There’s none so blind as they that won’t see.” ~ Jonathan Swift 1667-1745

Daily Draw: Soprafino Tarot ~ King of Cups

Our King looks like all is well in the counting house...until you look at his hands. They are clenched so tight I'll bet his fingernails are leaving bloody imprints. I suppose a King in 1835 could go Berserker and get it out of his system. Today the paparazzi would infarct as one should a head of state show emotion that wasn't fully controlled. I wonder what sort of people aspire to office or fame that can live this way.

I'm reminded by this card how glad I am to have chosen a relatively simple and obscure lifestyle. You couldn't give what the famous have to me on a plate because the public life wouldn't begin to be worth it.

"The trappings of lifestyle are often that; traps." ~ Thomas Leonard 1955-2003

Daily Draw: Soprafino Tarot ~ 2 of Wands

Pink ribbons. Ugly options. I drew this same card for a dear friend last night who is facing a double mastectomy or a shortened lifespan. She is truly horrified by the idea of the surgery; at her age and frailty reconstruction isn't an option. Yet she is a tough fighter...not a choice anyone can make for her, but the cards recognized she has two equally difficult views to consider.

I'm reminded by this card to treat friends and strangers tenderly. We can't know what burdens they bear behind the facade of a composed countance.

experimenting
I hung the moon
on different branches of the pine
~ Tachibana Hokushi 1665-1718

Daily Draw: Soprafino Tarot ~ 10 of Cups

I started this post nearly 1-1/2 hours ago. Can we say pffpft on Vista? 10 of Cups can sometimes mean too much of a good thing. I'm not anti-Microsoft, but a Jeff Goldblum movie line comes to mind. "They were so busy knowing they could, they didn't stop to think if they should." The same thing could apply to Ebay. They have messed with the search function so much it is more likely that you won't find what you need rather than you will. It is too bad $$$ blind companies to common sense.

I'm reminded by this card that change for the sake of change and fixes that aren't needed require some thoughtful rumination about the consequences. Have you looked at chewing gum lately? They are all candy coated blobs whose horrid taste will only last about 5 minutes anyway. What happened to the familiar oblong packs in yellow, white, green, and red? You could chew them until they turned to shredded paper in your mouth and there was still a hint of mint or cinnamon flavor. Oh well, change is progress in many cases...but much of the current world financial crisis could have been prevented if some common sense had been applied at the top.

"Common Sense is that which judges the things given to it by other senses." ~ Leonardo da Vinci 1452-1519

Daily Draw: Soprafino Tarot ~ Page of Cups

Interesting cup...difficult to drink from. Several sayings pop to mind; all for show, none for blow or, all hat no horse. Most of us are like that in some way or another I suppose. Drive the latest auto but behind on the mortgage. $200.00 shoes and raggedy underwear. Who knows why people set their priorities the way they do.

I'm reminded by this card of opinions and impressions. My friend Cindy recently said something that has stuck in my brain. It is none of our business what other people think of us, therefore it matters not. Whether they admire or despise, all that really counts at the end of the day is what we think of ourselves.

"If you cannot have a whale's good opinion except at some sacrifice of principle or personal dignity, it is better to try to live without it. That is my idea about whales." ~ Mark Twain 1835-1910

Daily Draw: Soprafino ~ 6 of Cups

The process of giving and receiving, from one cup to the next. If the giving is poured gently, with care and respect the cups never empty, because the givers get as much or more than the giftee. If the gift is poured in a sloppy, random, or stingy manner pretty soon all the cups are empty, The giftor hasn't truly given anything at all.

I'm reminded by this card of a gift we received last year, out of the blue, which will continue to give and give for many years to come. I think the giftor is still surprised by his action, he'd never done such a thing before even on a tiny scale. He reminds me now of the moment when the Grinch's heart begins to swell because he is realizing the the gift isn't the point, it is the feeling behind the gift which enriches.

“Love is not only something you feel. It's something you do.” ~ David Wilkerson 1931-

The deck this week is #300 of 2000, a limited edition faithful reproduction deck by il Meneghello, based on a circa 1835 Italian Torocco by di F. Gumppenberg.

Daily Draw: Inner Child Cards ~ Guardian of Wands

Small gripe...why do people think reinventing the court cards is cool? This is King of Wands, wands being represented by butterflies. Please, lets call a spade a spade she said in a big grumpy voice. The book that goes with this set is good, but now that I've used these cards for the week I realize I find them hard to take seriously.

Wands are the suit of action and I'm thinking about the adult men I know and what suit they are. My Rob, Dad, and Father-in-law are all Wands guys. There is no grass growing under their feet, they see something that needs doing and they get it done. The last people in the world you'd see beached like a whale watching Saturday sports. They aren't watchers, they are doers.

I'm reminded that while I favor the "let's roll" guys they aren't perfect. They can be brusque and insensitive when things get in the way of getting the job done, but oh the benefits...

"By the choices and acts of our lives, we create the person that we are and the faces that we wear." ~ Kenneth Patton 1911-1994

Daily Draw: Inner Child Cards ~ 9 of Crystals

We near completion. What a lovely card to get today, in this week of sorrow. It reminds me that one of the last two cogs in a big project should fall in place tomorrow; the biggest visible one. One that is a hard promise to everyone involved. As I think of it now there were two other pieces to the puzzle completed this week, with speed. courtesy, common sense, and dollars saved.

I'm reminded by this card, as I have been by so many others that if we don't see and note our blessings they pass us by as if they never happened, leaving us wondering why our life is so empty rather than complete. I have had great blessings this week, I was just blinded by the sad for a little while.

"Memory is a crazy woman that hoards colored rags and throws away food." ~ Austin O'Malley 1858-1932

Daily Draw: Inner Child Cards ~ 3 of Swords

Two more friends died yesterday. Hard news but again a blessed relief from the pain that held them bound. This card expresses mind and heart must be united, something we often forget when we rush down the treadmill of life. If tomorrow was our last day on earth what action today would change? I don't mean skip work and go to the beach, I mean go to work and choose if we'd curse the traffic, snap at a co-worker, leave the coffee pot empty for the next person, bitch in a big loud voice about everything and everyone...

I'm reminded by this card that many of life's little irritations and much of our own small-minded behaviors would be dropped in a heartbeat if we knew today was our last. So why not drop them anyway? All they do is give us high blood pressure and take the shine off our own day.

"No man is an island,
Entire of itself.
Each is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manner of thine own
Or of thine friend's were.
Each man's death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee." ~ John Doone 1572-1631

Daily Draw: Inner Child Cards ~ Guardian of Crystals

This Guardian in particular urges us to be mindful of the gifts of the nature and the gifts of mankind. To use both to protect and enrich the world as we know it, rather than to exploit and tear down. To be mindful of our friends and family particularly. I lost another friend yesterday, not much older than me. It wasn't a pretty death, she was a long time letting go in spite of her terrible suffering.

I'm reminded by this card that I do not fear death, I know I'm going home. It is the dying I fear, there are so many horrific ways to go.

"I wanted a perfect ending. Now I've learned, the hard way, that some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end." ~ Gilda Radner 1946-1989

Daily Draw: Inner Child Cards ~ 2 of Crystals

Personality on a teeter-totter is a good indicator of a persons adult personality. Do they stop gently so both parties get off easily? Do they stop at the bottom and laugh because the higher lighter person can't get off safely? Or do they spy something else to do, jump off, and leave their partner cracking their spine and driving their teeth through their brain as their end comes down? Odd things, personalities, and assuredly something to think long and hard over before forming a partnership.

I'm reminded by this card of my cousin Margie. We must have spent a 1000 hours on teeter-totters all over British Columbia and Alberta, and I don't remember her ever leaving me on the lurch. She turned into such a wonderful woman~

In the teeter-totter principle, we lift others up by lowering our own ego...

Daily Draw: Inner Child Cards ~ Wheel of Fortune

I reread Looking Glass and Wonderland this past summer; it was amazing what I picked up as an adult vs. what I noticed as a 10 year old. As an adult I was surprised how practical and unruffled Alice was through her experiences even though they were far removed from her normal sheltered life. As a child, like Alice, I concentrated on events, not personalities.

I'm reminded by this card that the Wheel of Life can be viewed from different viewpoints. If I see the downside as only disasters, I miss the point that my character builds from these experiences. I'd be a one dimensional book character without the full circle of events which go into living a rich life.

"Character, not circumstance, makes the person." ~ Booker T. Washington 1856-1915

Daily Draw: Inner Child Cards ~ 8 of Crystals

Skills. Inherent or learned, we all have special ones, different from our siblings and friends. Do you recognize what your special skill is? I didn't until a friend pointed it out to me a few years ago, even though it was something I did often. I just didn't recognize it as a special skill because it comes naturally to me. What we see as natural others see as unique or extraordinary.

I'm reminded by this card of my special purpose. To acknowledge it, protect and hone it, and never let it lie idle.

"If you have a talent, use it in every which way possible. Don't hoard it. Don't dole it out like a miser. Spend it lavishly like a millionaire intent on going broke." ~ Brendan Francis 1923-1964

The deck this week is by Isha & Mark Lerner, art by Christopher Guifoil. The Inner Child Cards (1992) are the largest tarot cards I know of, nearly 4" X 6". The major arcana is based on fairy tales, and the whole deck is a good exercise in building self esteem.

Daily Draw: Green Man Tree Oracle ~ Rowan

In ancient times the Rowan was often planted near houses and churches as a form of protection against negativity. Allowing negativity to rule us is giving full rein to a mental cancer that will eat our life away and then look to our companions for seconds. Negativity is a stench that permeates everything yet many of the most negative people I know haven't a clue they carry this disease of the heart and emotion. They probably wouldn't believe me if I told them they would have a much better life this time next year if they began to actively form positive thoughts and actions.

I'm thankful this day for all the blessings that have entered my life since I changed my outlook to a positive view. I'm grateful that my blessing journal showed me the way.

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more." ~ Melody Beattie

Daily Draw: Green Man Tree Oracle ~ Apple

Knowledge, and the vision to see beyond the obvious; to read between the lines. We all have that vision, mostly we don't use it because knowing what is below the surface can upset us, make us uncomfortable, worry us. How many times have we heard a parent say, "but she was always such a good girl"; a neighbor say, "but he was always so polite and helpful". Or, "I've lived next to him for 20 years and didn't know he'd won the Medal of Honor", or "I had no idea she invented that". Why don't we know these things? Because we don't ask in a way that encourages communication, we are too busy talking about ourselves.

I'm reminded by this card that everyone has a story to tell, everyone needs to unburden once in a while. Stop and ask, stop and listen.

"If what I say resonates with you, it is merely because we are both branches on the same tree." ~ W.B. Yeats 1865-1939

Daily Draw: Green Man Tree Oracle ~ Yew

Quite a miracle tree really, all parts are poisonous to human and animal except the berry to birds, yet for some time it was the source of a new cancer treatment. Al Gore vigorously opposed its harvest and the product is now made synthetically; he was not the first to be concerned about its untimely extinction (see below). This tree has an unfriendly face yet its age, size, and features offer a sheltered haven to anyone needing it.

I'm reminded by this card that like good medicine from poison plants, good can and does come from bad. I know adults who've come from horrific childhoods who say they wouldn't be nearly the fine people they are today without having suffered what they did. Yet others use any slight as an excuse to promulgate their horrors on others. Odd old world isn't it?

"To prevent a too great consumption of yew, bowyers were directed to make four bows of witch-hazel, ash or elm, to one of yew, and no person under seventeen years of age, unless possessed of moveables worth forty marks, of the son of parents having an estate of ten pounds per annum might shoot in an yew bow, under a penalty of 6s. 8d.” Francis Grose, A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons 1786.

Daily Draw: Green Man Tree Oracle ~ Oak

Quercus robur. Oak in latin, isn't that pretty? They had quit teaching latin when I was in school, too bad, I think it is a beautiful language. Many of the words we use each day have their roots in latin...and here we are back to Oak and roots. Know anyone like that, who talk in loops? I've had a number of clients like that over the years, particularly when I still had my beauty salon. Every time I'd see them they would tell the same story or beat the same event to death. These aren't people with a form of dementia, they are people with their needle stuck in a groove.

I'm reminded by this card getting stuck in a groove is the easiest thing in the world to do, which is why people get that way. It takes effort to jump to a new groove and another and another. I never want my needle stuck. Maybe this is the year I'll take up the study of latin.

Nunc hoc in marmore non est incisum ...

Daily Draw: Green Man Tree Oracle ~ Ash

Strength in roots. Personal roots were a puzzle to me until late in my 40's. I never understood why people wanted to stay where they were even if it wasn't beneficial for them to do so. Why anyone would want to stay in the same house their whole life. Why they would continue to attend a church that no longer served their needs, or a doctor or dentist who wasn't keeping up with the times. Or stay where their adult children make their lives a daily misery.

We've lived in this house and town since 1989. No ties, we just moved here because it was a good distance from where we needed to be in all directions. But with the current economy it is becoming clear that we might not be able to stay here once we retire. I'm thankful we have other options, but I've come to love this little town and the people who live here. My roots may be tendrils, having started their growth so late in the day, but never the less, they give me a better understanding of why people do cling to what they have and know, and why it is a wrench to pull up those roots and leave.

I'm remind by this card that we can form roots where ever we are, if we choose to. If we make the choice to grieve over broken roots behind us rather than nurturing strong roots before us, we have no one to blame but ourselves if we break and fall in the windstorms of life.

"Man is a bundle of relations, a knot of roots, whose flower and fruitage is the world." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson 1803-1882

Daily Draw: Green Man Tree Oracle ~ Ivy

Can you find both faces in this image? We can think of Ivy as an invasive clinger, or in the case of this tree, as the support that keeps it standing. In life we often have trouble finding the middle ground, giving and accepting just the support needed, not giving or taking enough, and giving and taking way too much at which point it becomes a crutch rather than support.

I'm reminded by this card that today I am the support Ivy in a critical situation. Lord, please let me be and do the right amount.

"False friendship, like the ivy, decays and ruins the walls it embraces; but true friendship gives new life and animation to the object it supports." ~ Richard Burton 1925-1984

Daily Draw: Green Man Tree Oracle ~ Willow

From harmony comes creativity; discord fractures our life and breaks the focus needed to be effective at our tasks. If you hate your job, seek a better one. In the meantime find something you do like about your job and focus on that. Positive actions are like tossing a stone in a lake. The radiating ripples will eventually cover the surface. The discord can start within or outside us, but the healing can only come from within. If what we are doing isn't working why do it some more, the outcome won't change. If your friends are pulling you down or holding you back why grouse about your life? Each choice we make reflects back on us, make better choices.

I'm reminded by this card of jobs I hated, of friends who brought nothing but negativity to my life. And that the changes did have to come from me. I'm so thankful that I finally found the light of day and followed it.

"Notice that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the willow survives by bending with the wind." ~ Bruce Lee 1940-1973

Daily cards this week are from the beautiful Green Man Tree Oracle, John Matthews & Will Worthington 2003, based on works from the Ancient Druids.

Daily Draw: Victorian Flower Oracle ~ Pansy

Wishful thinking. I'm a pragmatic practical person and I do a lot of wishful thinking, so I can just imagine how much a day-dreamer does. There is the negative impractical side of it, wishing doesn't get it done. But...without those sparks and glimmers that come from wishes and dreams we'd never get started.

I'm reminded by this card that dreams + actions equals results. I need to have all three. I googled the phrase "you have to have a dream to make a dream come true" and got 3 pages of leadership sites, must be true! I'll use one of my own quotes today...Wish in one hand and spit in the other and see which one gets full first.

Daily Draw: Victorian Flower Oracle ~ Honeysuckle

I have three goats and they are an absolute delight. A common misconception about goats is that they will eat anything. No they won't, they are quite selective about what they will eat, but they will try anything. Including your hair, belt buckles, scarf, belt loops, cell phone, shoe...but if the item isn't satisfactory to their taste buds they spit it right out. We get them each a Christmas tree of their own, from the leftovers at a tree lot. They start with the tender tips, then the inside limbs, then the bigger limbs, and eventually all the bark off the trunk. The trunks go to the burn pile, and then they have another game. They love to lie in the ash pit, so after we have a yard debris burn pile they are anxious to get in the ash. We have seen them laying in the ash when it still has burning embers in it! No kidding. When they say goat-skin gloves are tough they mean it.

We do the same thing with humans don't we, make assumptions based on myth, rumor, color of hair, size of shoes, the way they walk. Assumptions that seldom have anything to do with who that person really is.

I'm reminded by this card I never really know anyone until I take the time to make their acquaintance. Knowledge based on assumption is faulty at best and dangerous at its worst.

Begin challenging your own assumptions. Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in while, or the light won't come in. ~ Alan Alda 1936-

Daily Draw: Victorian Flower Oracle ~ Wild Rose

Thorny Question. A valued client has broken a promise, then lied to cover up her embarrassment. Where does that leave me? I don't know, but it will certainly affect our relations from this day forth. Thorny question indeed.

I'm reminded by this card of the old cynical me who never believed what anyone said, never trusted anyone...and I don't want to be that person again.

For it is mutual trust, even more than mutual interest that holds human associations together. ~ H. L. Mencken 1880 - 1956

Daily Draw: Victorian Flower Oracle ~ Grapevine

Intoxication. Another beautifully gowned lass; too bad no one is beautiful when they are drunk except to another drunk. That was news I learned after I quit partying. Being the only one sober at a drinking party is an education. Too bad my education came after rather than before my drinking days.

I'm reminded by this card that a lot of my misspent youth seems horrifying from this distance. A microcosm of the adage that humans never learn from history, as each generation thinks they are the first to invent sex, drugs, and rock and roll. I'm fortunate to be here to think about it, a lot of my cohorts didn't make it out alive, either literally or figuratively speaking.

"Time misspent in youth is sometimes all the freedom one ever has." ~ Anita Brookner 1928-

Daily Draw: Victorian Flower Oracle ~ Marvel of Peru

Party time. Marvel and her companions are dressed with such care. Here we call this plant Morning Glory, it is an invasive choking weed but on Marvel it look marvelous. I could care less about clothes, if mine are clean and pressed I'm happy. Most of what is hanging in my closet was 2nd hand to begin with and still serves me well. But I do admire how a well turned out person looks. It is a talent like being able to paint perhaps, one I don't have. I also don't have the patience to shop...that could be part of the reason I never look like I 'just stepped out of a band box' as my mother used to say.

I'm reminded by this card that natural talent covers a lot of territory and it doesn't have to mean just something a famous prodigy would do. Many talents are not public at all, nor noticed by anyone but ourselves but they are no less of a talent.

"We are always more anxious to be distinguished for a talent which we do not possess, than to be praised for the fifteen which we do possess." ~ Mark Twain 1835-1910