Cyclical Insignificance

Daily Draw: Ancestral Path Tarot ~ Prince of Wands/Staves ~ Wheel of Fortune

Horus, son of Isis, conceived after the death and rebirth of his father Osiris, stands ready to face his preordained destiny. The Wheel inextricably cycles through its larger impersonal course.

I'm reminded by these cards what I tell myself when I start getting wound up about the small stuff. In one hundred years no one will remember
or care if I forgot a payment or birthday, didn't get the carpet vacuumed or wore mismatched socks. People will continue to live and die and their genes reborn into those who follow the same insignificant route around the Wheel. We are all but grains of sand, of little consequence to the eternity of time.

"Whenever I attempt to frame a simple idea of time, abstracted from the succession of ideas in my mind, I am lost and embrangled in inextricable difficulties." ~ George Berkeley 1685-1753

Single-Minded

Daily Draw: Ancestral Path Tarot ~ Queen of Wands

This is one of those cards I pulled in the early AM, thought about all day, and at 4 PM still have come to no earth-shaking conclusions. Isis left no stone unturned in her mission. I've been that way at times, but currently feel untethered, unfocused, just un.

I'm reminded by this card that every thing we do doesn't have to rock the world. Sometimes just being is all we can manage. And that is enough.

"Be." ~ Kanye West 1977-

Secrets And Shame

Daily Draw: Ancestral Path Tarot ~ Tower

This is a beautifully rendered Tower showing ancient standing stones to steel skyscrapers, each layer sinking the one below it. I see those cathedral windows and all I can think of is the shame that lies directly on the shoulders of the Catholic church hierarchy.

I'm reminded by this card of the Nixonism, "Who knew and when". They've all known, from the beginning. Their guilt permeates the whole, top to bottom.

"If all the bones of all the victims of the Catholic Church could be gathered together, a monument higher than all the pyramids would rise." ~ Robert Green Ingersoll 1833-1899

It's A Man's World

Daily Draw: Ancestral Path Tarot ~ 8 of Swords

I know...even writing it gripes my (Y). But it is true in spite of the progress we've made. Yes, women have been leaders of their country, yes there are women in all the top level of huge and successful businesses. But down here where the hoi polloi live we still have a hard row to hoe.

I'm reminded by this card that every time I think some equality has been reached I'm slapped in the face with 'less than' status elsewhere. I don't have an answer except to keep looking for the breaks in the path and dart through.

"To be equal does not mean you have to be the same." ~ Eva Burrows 1929-

Foresight And A Rear View Mirror

Daily Draw: Ancestral path Tarot ~ King of Cups

This King, represented by Arthur shows both the power and pain contained in being a leader. He has responsibility for his people and kingdom today, in addition must continually plan for the future and still honor his ancestral linage.

I'm reminded by this card, in a smaller manner we each work for our personal kingdom. Influenced by our cultural roots, thoughtful to and for the immediate concerns of family, and continuously keep our responsibility to future needs in mind. Welcome to the palace, will you require a food tester today?

"The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant." ~ Max DePree 1927-1996

This week's deck is the Ancestral Path Tarot, art by Julie Cuccia-Watts, 240 page book by Tracey Hoover. Published by US Games Systems 1996. The four Ancestral Suits are represented by: Swords Japanese Feudal Yellow; Staves Egyptian 19th dynasty Black; Cups British Arthurian White; Sacred Circles Native American Red.

Let's Roll

Daily Draw: Vision Quest Tarot ~ Ace of Wands

Quit thinking, start moving. Hard to do when other people are involved or deliberately blocking. Enough is enough though, like yesterday's World, too long in one spot turns us into a pot of dried weeds. Not good for much but catching dust.

I'm reminded by this card there is always a way around a block, if we are willing to look for it and then actually see it.

"Let's Roll" ~ Todd Beamer 1968-2001, Flight 93, September 11, 2001

Phoenix

Daily Draw: Vision Quest Tarot ~ Medicine Wheel/World

I wonder what the average number of times is for physical and/or spiritual rebirth as we go through life. I've certainly said "I feel like a new woman" a number of times.

I'm reminded by this card that contentment can be the borderline of stagnation; reassessing and shaking things up occasionally is often just what the doctor ordered.


"Change is the constant, the signal for rebirth, the egg of the phoenix." ~ Christina Baldwin, PeerSpirit

Outer Input

Daily Draw: Vision Quest Tarot ~ Medicine Man

Who is your go-to person for insight, ideas, advice?

I'm reminded by this card we are not islands and we are not self-fulfilled. Input from others is a important part of our path.

"I know what I have given you. I do not know what you have received." ~ Antonio Porchia 1886-1968

Smudge

Daily Draw: Vision Quest Tarot ~ Page of Wands

I smudge, you smudge, they smudge, we all smudge. Most just don't know they are smudging.

I'm reminded by this card changing the vibes, clearing the air, making a fresh start, saying our prayers, is common human behavior regardless of creed or culture. When something is wrong we want to make it right. Taking action on that intent is the first step no matter what we call it or how we accomplish it.

"Smudging is an age-old tribal tradition which has been used for centuries to create harmony and peace." ~ Stephanie Yeh

Thar She Flows

Daily Draw: Vision Quest Tarot ~ Star

From the moment of birth onward we flow. Perpetual energy, giving, taking, loving, hating.

I'm reminded by this card that I grieve each time I learn of a life cut short in youth. Each day of life, even the most mundane is a treasured gift I sorrow that someone will never know.

"A human act once set in motion flows on forever to the great account. Our deathlessness is in what we do, not in what we are." ~ George Meridith 1828-1909

Windfall

Daily Draw: Vision Quest Tarot ~ 9 of Coins

The author indicates this card is a windfall, prize, inheritance, something gifted or found, not earned.

This card makes we wonder just how many people winning thousands, sometimes hundreds of thousands dollars on game shows or scratch tickets realized they would be liable to the taxman, because winnings fall in the same category as regular income. I'll bet most of the autos won were sold to cover the taxes. Some windfall...

That money talks
I'll not deny,
I heard it once:
It said, "Goodbye."~ Richard Armour 1906-1999

The current deck in use is Vision Quest Tarot, subtitled The Native American Wisdom Tarot, 112 page booklet by Gayan Silvie Winter, art by Jo Dose. Published 1998 AGM AGMuller, Switzerland, currently in stock at US Games Systems. The deck suits are Arrows Jars Feathers Earth. Which I shall ignore for Wands Cups Swords Coins.

Thinker

Daily Draw: Rider Waite Jubilee Tarot ~ Knight of Cups

Our thoughtful Knight. He is past the 'I'll just guess' Page stage, the wings on his shoes and hat indicate he is a quick thinker, but can jump to conclusions without anyone's help, thank you very much.

I'm reminded by this card no matter how far along the path we get, education/experience/age not withstanding, we can both make mistakes and have ideas so brilliant they shake our world.

"Freethinkers are those who are willing to use their minds without prejudice and without fearing to understand things that clash with their own customs, privileges, or beliefs." ~ Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy 1828-1910

Tools

Daily Draw: Rider Waite Jubilee Tarot ~ 8 of Coins

As long as the inclination to do so is there, you can do good work when you have good tools. As I work around my FIL's farm this comes home to me every day. I believe in use it up wear it out, but here it's carried it to extremes: All his hammers have mended handles, foreshortened claws, welded heads; all the shovels are 1-4" shorter than they should be they've been sharpened so many times; there isn't an ax still worth swinging; in the six hours it took me to harrow nine acres Saturday the harrow broke 4 times; I've gathered up eight tape measures while organizing his workshop, there isn't one that works correctly. In the house it is much the same, I've rewired four lamps this year, they all had exposed wire, taped plugs, taped or wired together inner parts; the pancake turner is in the same state as the shovels and an example of rust in motion; I could open a can faster with my fingernail than with the can opener...you get the idea.

I'm reminded by this card, once again, good tools = good work.

"We shall neither fail nor falter; we shall not weaken or tire...give us the tools and we will finish the job." ~ Winston Churchill 1874-1965
Or put another way: "One only needs two tools in life: WD-40 to make things go, and duct tape to make them stop."

It Cares Not

Daily Draw: Rider Waite Jubilee Tarot ~ Death

Rather than compressing as I usually do I've left this card at it's full size so readers who wish to examine it can click on it and see an enlarged version. I always see something new in this card, if I were home I'd pull out my other RW versions and compare them. Before, I felt the arrow coming off the dead riders foot was pointing to the little cave in the hills, today it feels like a spur. But did armored soldiers have spurs? My research this morning hasn't turned up any definitive answers, but the Knight of Swords, Coins, and Cups show evil looking spurs.

I'm reminded by looking at the characters in this card that death doesn't mind rank and station and age, it just comes. Here we see the child from the 6 of cups, the Pope, Strength, Lord only knows who Mr. Red Shoes flat on his back is; the towers of the Moon card, that looks like a tattered feather from the Fool's hat on the helmet...Pixie Colman probably had a lot of fun painting these images 100 years ago.

Because I could not stop for Death,
He kindly stopped for me... Emily Dickinson 1830-1886

Control

Daily Draw: Rider Waite Jubilee Tarot ~ 4 of Coins

Does your money control you or do you control your money. We all know people that seem to have every material thing known to man with no visible means of affording it which generally means they are in hock to their eyebrows, or people to whom having their dollars means way more than any kind of comfort at all. These are the millionaires you read about in the paper after they die from freezing to death or starvation...rather than spend a dime of what they have.

I'm reminded by this card that money can make us crazy in a lot of different ways. We live in a consumer oriented society and to find a middle ground requires conscious continual effort.

"The hardest thing is to take less when you can get more." ~ Kin Hubbard 1868-1930

Erk...

Daily Draw: Rider Waite Jubilee Tarot ~ Devil, World, JudgementIt's been a rather unpleasant week here, after two years of smooth sailing and no cross words. Everyone is wound up, except of course the person who stirred the pot.
When I drew my card this morning and the Devil came up I just groaned and thought I'd draw another...and then another. Erk, three majors. When a reader reads for themselves it's easy to skew the cards the way you want or need them to be. And I don't believe in predictive 'fortune telling' tarot, but use the cards in a reflective manner and usually they do light the corners where I've forgotten to look.

What do I see here? What I want: The pot stirrer to get hers in spades, the perfect little world we had to return, and on judgement day we will all be together again.
What I need to see? There are always two sides to a story, or in this case five. Consider what I see as devilment in the light of she did it in what she saw as everyone's best interests, not to bedevil us. That the four people in the corners need to do what the central person wants. And that in 100 years no one will remember or care.

"The heart is the best reflective thinker." ~ Wendell Phillips 1811-1884

Mother?

Daily Draw: Rider Waite Jubilee Tarot ~ Empress

One of the root descriptors for this card is Mother. There is a book by Stephan B. Poulter that posits there are just five mother types, and all mothers fall in that range. Clearly, he sees what he wants to see to fit his theory. Nor does it take in all the ramifications of earth based Mother Nature which covers all the rest of living things.

I'm reminded by this card, in spite of the fact that I'm not a mother, I can recognize that pigeon-holing someone is to be blind. We are all so much more...

A factoid about March 15, in addition to being the Ides of March, it is also a holy day of Rhea, Greek goddess of the earth, mother of Zeus, and an aspect of the Great Mother.

"My mother loved children - she would have given anything if I had been one." ~ Groucho Marx 1890-1977

Success

Daily Draw: Rider Waite Jubilee 10 of Coins

How to measure success in the worldly realm? At 20? At 30? At 40? At 50? At 60? At 70? At 80? At 90?

I'm reminded by this card of how differently success is determined according to age. In my 20's finally having a dinette set of my own was quite a personal feather in my cap. 30's..our first house, so wonderful not to worry about smudging someone else's wall, and not getting up every day to an eggshell white world. Color! I painted it everywhere. But the scales will always tip, lost my father, had numerous surgeries. 40's...We really were coming in proper financial success; we both had management jobs, a good start on savings and retirement, the American dream home on 2.5 acres. Then the economy tanked, Rob had 13 jobs in 15 years (all 13 of those companies went out of business, Big companies!) and it turned out we'd bought the house from hell.

I'm reminded by this card our 50's have been in recovery mode. We've come to terms with knowing at this moment we have everything we need...but we are surrounded by couples our age who believed the same thing and are going into their future dead broke or deep in debt. The world is a funny old place, and I don't think anyone truthful will say they have a 10 of Coins life. You don't get to this age without some deep pain and loss which will always temper the good times. But 10 of Coins days? Absolutely.

"If I have been of service, if I have glimpsed more of the nature and essence of ultimate good, if I am inspired to reach wider horizons of thought and action, if I am at peace with myself, it has been a successful day." ~ Alex Noble

Potential Chaos

Daily Draw: Rider Waite Jubilee Tarot Ace of Wands

Aces are potential, nothing is actually happening yet but there is a seed. I've been off on one of my tangents the last couple of weeks, the pure potential is a truly shining thing...and I'm trying hard not to be a pie in the sky silly woman.

I'm reminded by this card potential lies within us. If we don't do the leg work of the two and three cards it never amounts to anything beyond the Ace. Dead ideas are like fall leaves, so deep on the ground you have to kick them aside to get through, the world is full of them.

"It is important to do what you don't know how to do.
If your tendency is to make sense out of chaos, start chaos." ~ Carlos Casteneda 1925-1998

The Joke Is On Us

Daily Draw: Rider Waite Jubilee Tarot ~ 5 of Coins

Know why these two shivering injured people are huddling outside? Because the very people pledged to help them are living it up inside on the money people like you and me donated, either by choice or in enormous amounts via our taxes. And it's a nice big trough, apparently roomy enough any family member can dip into with impunity. Have a little thumb though the Charity Navigator PDF files for 2009. In addition to some mind boggling salaries and benefits, many spend as much as 95% on 'expenses' with the parsimonious little daub left going to the cause.

I'm reminded by this card that grafters and con artists love to cloak themselves in sanctity and sheeple love to follow.

"I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents."

Wish I May, Wish I Might

Daily Draw: Rider Waite Jubilee Tarot ~ Sun

If I could have one wish? Ah...how to phrase it? In sit-coms the grantees always use up their opportunity with inopportune phrasing. What jumps out of my mouth is to be assured I won't be poor and sick and unsheltered in my old age. That has been my prime concern for a long time. But by using that phrasing I might be wishing for a early death, right?

I'm reminded by this card of all the options we have for achieving what we most need. And how often the immediate need crowds out what we really should to be addressing. May I be granted the ability to disregard immediate gratification for the longer view. Two wishes...hey, they were cheap. Take a few for yourself.

"What makes the difference between wishing and realizing our wishes? Lots of things, and it may take months or years for wish to come true, but it's far more likely to happen when you care so much about a wish that you'll do all you can to make it happen." ~ Mr. Rogers 1928-2003

Which Side

Daily Draw: Rider-Waite Jubilee Edition ~ 7 of Swords

This is a much discussed card, depending on what the reader thinks the face is saying.

I'm reminded by this card that clever and sneaky are sometimes the same side of a coin, along with enemy and friend, depending on which side you are fighting for.

"Quarrels would not last long if the fault were only on one side." ~ François de la Rochefoucauld 1613-1680

Ending Duex

Outta here. Finito. Gonner.

Not to be confused with gomer, a whole 'nother thing in farmer-talk. I've put three things in the Ended box today and slang it from me, never to mar my brow again.

This deck for one.

What works for everyone for two.

What to do with this farm for three. Stay tuned, be prepared to have yer sox knocked off. Ah...four things. I also closed my Facebook account. I still don't get it. So I got out.

"Nature is a labyrinth in which the very haste you move with will make you lose your way." ~ Francis Bacon, Sr. 1561-1626

Disguises

Daily Draw: Answer Deck ~ Endings

This deck bores me stiff. I'll be surprised if I can make a whole week with it. I persevere because like this image, there is something unexpected to be found if you dig for it. That isn't a moon shadow on the card it's my camera. Or is it?

I'm reminded by the effect that just under the skin there is always something lurking to be avoided, to be afraid of, to gloat over...and all require endings to be healthy.

Edited to add much later in the day: this deck is history. I'm too old and too tired to feel obligated to use a deck I don't like. Sometimes I eat dessert first too.

"One's own self is well hidden from one's own self; of all mines of treasure, one's own is the last to be dug up." ~ Friedrich Nietzsche 1844-1900

Real or Memorex?

Daily Draw: Answer Deck ~ Fame

Fame? Not for me; waiting to check out at the grocery, looking at the gossip rags, I'm thankful I'm not any one of those people, not for all the money on earth.

I'm reminded by this card though, of blog counters. There are a lot of ways to set them up, including ways to inflate the visitor count by as many thousands as desired, according to whether the blogger wants an ego counter or an accurate counter. No harm, no foul, no one cares, it's just another internet personality facet.

"I'm never going to be famous. My name will never be writ large on the roster of Those Who Do Things. I don't do any thing. Not one single thing. I used to bite my nails, but I don't even do that any more." ~ Dorothy Parker 1893-1967

Unhappy Secrets

Daily Draw: Answer Deck ~ Happiness/Secrets

The accompanying book says these are easy to read cards, we'll see...Two were stuck together when I made my pull, Happiness and Secrets.

I'm reminded by these cards that we've had little enough of one and too much of the other around here and it is time to set that situation straight. I'm not sure what Batboy and Catwoman are up to but it can't be for the common good and it certainly wouldn't be happy secrets~

"Where secrecy or mystery begins, vice or roguery is not far off." ~ Samuel Johnson 1709-1784

This week I'm using a small deck from Running Press Publishing, The Answer Deck. Seventy-Three tiny cards that seem in modern Lenormand deck style, a big fold-out twelve card spread sheet, and a thirty-two page fairly useless companion book. The cards are about the size of an open match-book. Book, deck, art, all by Nicky Zann.

Fruitful Flute

Daily Draw: Sacred Path Cards ~ Kokopelli

I'm part Choctaw, the first Indian nation to be removed from their land and forced to walk the Trail Of Tears. I wonder if that gene memory is why things mean so little to me and places mean so much? And why my mind rather than my womb is my fertile ground?

I'm reminded by this card of many things I will never know, do, or be, but to take what I'm given and grow it.

"Crooked is the back of fate." Rex Holman 1928-

When I Grow Up

Daily Draw: Sacred Path Cards ~ Vision Quest

"What do you want to be when you grow up, little girl?" How many of us are in occupations we dislike or are bored with because we had to choose at 18 which courses to take when we were 19?

I'm reminded by this card we are as happy in life as we choose to be regardless of our occupations. And sometimes we can seem on an eternal vision quest, missing the entire point of today.

"Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are.
Let me learn from you, love you, bless you before you depart.
Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow.
Let me hold you while I may, for it may not always be so." ~ Mary Jean Iron

Sleeptime Dreamtime

Daily Draw: Sacred Path Cards ~ Dreamtime

Several cultures hold Dreamtime as a period of sacred visions offering truths we need to know or foretelling of the future. I have vivid dreams, most gone by the time my feet hit the floor. A few, and one in particular have stayed with me over many years.

I'm reminded by this card of the curve in the highway and the farm and barn on the south side. Why has that particular dreamtime image stuck with me so long? What does it mean? Where is it really? Is driving west significant? It was afternoon, should that be considered? Does any of it matter? I doubt it...but I think one of my SIL's has done a lot of research about dreaming, perhaps I'll ask her next time she is here. I'm guessing it was just more sleeptime images and I'll never know if it means something I need to know.

This is a rather painful deck to use, it asks as opposed to tells, requiring the reader to dig deep and turn over musty half-formed mutie thoughts, rise them to the surface and untether them or allow them a real shape.

"I never saw anybody fall apart so fast
Living in dreamtime you know it ain’t gonna last
Never saw anybody think she’s so right and be so wrong
Living in dreamtime
It’s hard to carry on" ~ Daryl Hall 1946-

Sip 'O Bile Anyone?

Daily Draw: Sacred Path Cards ~ Shaman's Death

This death refers to outing our dark parts, no glossing over the truth here. To be a Shaman is to recognize the difference between pure white and a dusty shade of pale.

I'm reminded by this teaching judging others is so far off the path of Right as to be an alien concept. We have our own proclivities to glean or grow.

"Everything is made of light,' he said, 'and the space between isn't empty.'" ~ Don Miguel Ruiz 1952-

Sacred Space

Daily Draw: Sacred Path Cards ~ Sacred Space

From the book: Every inch of our Earth Mother is the home of one life form or another. We are guests in another's space when we leave our own.

I have several sacred spaces here at the farm and I've used them this week to cope. Any place can be a source of peace and renewal but when we enter one that feels like slipping on a favorite glove we know we've found a personal place of power...it sings a song only we can hear.

"Your sacred space is where you can find yourself again and again." ~ Joseph Campbell 1904-1989

The Big Laugh

Daily Draw: Sacred Path Cards ~ Heyokah

Coyote Medicine, the Trickster, Heyokah, and the Clown/Fool are innerbound. The idea being the bigger something important to you is that blows up in your face, all the better to learn life lessons. And to laugh while learning.

I'm in no laughing mood, in fact I'm furious beyond belief. We seem a few clown short of a circus here but I'm all agog waiting for the big laugh that is coming with this lesson.