Where Rubber Hits The Road

Daily Draw: Tibetan Oracle ~ Analyzing The Four Natal Cards

This is where the rubber hits the road, or what am I to do with these four natal cards now that I have them? The first thing I learn I should have realized, the cards are laid out left to right. In this position they become my Four Pillars of Destiny. The first thing I learn after doing the worksheet on page 94 is I'm way out of balance. Not surprising by this age; we have a tendency to become more of whatever we are as time goes by. Of the five elements (Earth/Water/Wood/Metal/Fire) I have:

• Earth = 4 = 36.36%
• Water = 0 = 0%
• Wood = 3 = 27.27%
• Metal = 3 = 27.27%
• Fire = 1 = 9.9% (percentages courtesy of my math whiz friend Judy H.)

The first thing I need to do is balance the predominance of Earth/Wood/Metal with more Fire and a Lot more Water. According to the book this is important to know and do, the results being beneficial changes in work, home, and personal feng shui.

• To bring the water up I need to introduce Metal and Water. Metal in the form of gold/silver/metallic; wind chimes/coins/striking clocks/metal objects/sculpture; spherical/domed shapes. Water in the form of black or dark blue/indoor fountains/fish tank/humidifiers; wavy/sinuous shapes.

I love wind chimes, have four sets of them outside, and one right here to the left of my office desk. I have two striking clocks, one working one not...I'll get the second one working. I can lay my hands on a small humidifier and I see those shaped little bamboo trees that sit in water all the time, I'll pick on one of those. Might even be a plant that will live in this house!

• To bring Fire up I need to introduce Wood and Fire. Wood is green/indoor plants/bamboo, tall/rectangular shapes. Fire is Red/candles/lamps/fire, triangular/pointed shapes.

I'm actually pretty balanced in these things, I'm going to get the bamboo, and I will do better at remembering to actually light the candles I have around the house.

Much to think on today, and I also should apply it to my 5th Wheel at our farm. In looking over the changes needed I find I have most of that in place there with the exception of plants. Could that be why things go better up there than here at home? And what more will I discover tomorrow? I'm all agog...I also need to search my blog and see what the Feng Shui deck had to tell me the week I used it, see if there are any echos of my Pillars of Destiny.

"There is no such thing as chance; and what seem to us merest accident springs from the deepest source of destiny." ~ Johann Friedrich Von Schiller 1759-1805

Fire Monkey

Today is the Birth Hour Card, and I'm hunting for my baby book or birth certificate...
MANY hours later...can't get the safe open with my birth certificate in it, I'm thinking the baby book is in there too...but bless the web! I had our astrology charts done a few years ago. I wrote the astrologer, asked if he still had my time of birth info, Bingo! Thanks Dave!

Back to today's task: Did you know Chinese hours are 120 minutes long so there are only 12 hours in a day? I can't believe I'm 50-something and didn't know that before.

• I take my Birth Day card from yesterday and get the top right-hand number, 8. That is also the Stem of my day, knowledge to follow :)


• Using the chart I find where my Stem number intersects with time born which is card number 33, Fire Monkey or Mountain Monkey

"Never believe that body is permanent. Body is like a water bubble. Mind is like a mad monkey." ~ Sathyanarayana Raju 1926-

Metal Ox

Daily Draw: Tibetan Oracle ~ Metal Ox

This morning I'm figuring out the Day of my Birth card. I start with:

• The card number for Jan 1 in the year of my birth, 37.
• Add the card number for October, 33.
• Add the day of my birth, 28.
• Skip the Leap Year business as N/A.
• The total is 98. Subtract 60 because of the 60 year cycle
• Birth Card is number 38, Metal Ox or Ox On The Road

"A human being has so many skins inside, covering the depths of the heart. We know so many things, but we don't know ourselves! Why, thirty or forty skins or hides, as thick and hard as an ox's or bear's, cover the soul. Go into your own ground and learn to know yourself there." ~ Meister Eckhart 1260-1328

Earth Dog

Daily Draw: Tibetan Oracle ~ Earth Dog

To find the Birth Month card I take the upper right hand number from yesterday's Natal or Year card which is 8. This is also the Year Stem number which I will use later. Using the chart in the book I find the card number which intersects Stem number and Birth month and come up with card number 35 Earth-Dog or common name, Mountain Dog.

"The greatest pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself with him, and not only will he not scold you, but he will make a fool of himself, too." ~ Samuel Butler 1835-1902

Year of the Rabbit

Daily Draw: Tibetan Oracle ~ Metal Rabbit


Everything I currently know about this type of Asian Oracle I garnered from the place mats at Chinese Resturants... so this week I'll work through the deck and book plotting my own cards beginning with birth year or natal card.

Using the worksheet from the book I find I was born in the Chinese year of the Rabbit, or Rabbit in the Burrow.

• To find the year number I subtracted 1900 from the year of birth (1951).
• Then I added 37 to that number because the year number for 1900 is 37. So I now have number 88.
• The cycle worked from is a 60 year circle. I take the number 88 and subtract 60.
• The resulting number is 28 and I find I was born in the year of the Rabbit.
• With me so far? Stay tuned.

The deck this week is The Tibetan Oracle, published in 2005 by Carroll & Brown which includes a beautiful presentation box, 144 page full color book, and 60 large (nearly 6" X 3.5") cards. Written and illustrated by Steven Skinner.

Busted or Empowered?

Daily Draw: Transparent Tarot Queen of Swords + 5 of Coins

Cards newly reflective of many homes in today's economy, and also mirrors the on-going plight of many single parent families.

I'm reminded by this card the enormous chasm that exists in society, which has always existed and cannot be ignored today. Our working poor and unemployed are being crushed by events they did not set into motion, events deliberately created by the rich to get richer. Our Queen of Swords is looking backward, to the past for help from history and simpler times while financial obligations and needs are trying to break her back.

"When the Japanese mend broken objects, they aggrandize the damage by filling the cracks with gold. They believe that when something's suffered damage and has a history it becomes more beautiful." ~ Barbara Bloom 1951

Learn and Teach

Daily Draw: Transparent Tarot ~ High Priestess + Hierophant

Hidden Knowledge and Higher Knowledge...do you suppose I'm being told to go back to school? To return to the root basics? To seek out a male and female mentor? To impart what I know to a younger woman? To already be thinking about what my 'Learn in 2010' project will be? To go deeper on my spiritual path?

I'm reminded by these cards of just why I love using tarot and oracles, they always make me think, they always bring new knowledge.

"Imagination is more important than knowledge. For while knowledge defines all we currently know and understand, imagination points to all we might yet discover and create." ~ Albert Einstein 1879-1955

Reading for ZM42309

Health/Wellness Reading for ZM42309

Deck used: Osho Zen

Spread used: Self/Situation/Solution

Self: The Master

You appear to be in the process of 'becoming', of growing into your true potential. You've possibly had some problems in the past with trying to become something for someone else's reasons. You have given yourself one of the greatest gifts by respecting and acknowledging the real you. Worldly rewards are nothing compared to the rewards of good health as Osho himself found out to his great regret. Great job!

Situation: Letting Go. There are a few residual ghost voices trying to tell you what to do. They will always be there in some form, it seems to be human nature to belittle ourselves by comparing our journey with that of others. Just turn off the volume...let them go their own way. Your path will cross theirs again and you'll be surprised you ever bothered to listen.

Solution: Possibilities. The world is truly your oyster if you continue forward on the health and wellness path you are currently on. By restoring and keeping your body and mind in good condition you will be able to weather whatever comes at you and always see the positive possibilities in each situation. Again, Good Job!

These are such positive and forward thinking cards this was a reading it has been a pleasure to provide. Thank you for allowing me to read for you today.

Judging and Pre-Judging

Daily Draw: Transparent Tarot ~ Judgement + Devil

I need to think on this combination for a few hours. I had nasty ongoing nightmares last night about wills and final wishes and family members who were beating each other with cudgels...I need to get those awful ideas and images out of my brain. Or understand how these cards apply to those thoughts.

Later: I have come to the conclusion that I am represented by the Devil in this draw. I consciously and subconsciously have been pre-judging and passing judgment about what might happen based on what I have seen happen to families in the past. I have no business doing that, I personally have no estate coming to me anywhere in the future and some things are none of my business to speculate about. Coming to this understanding has made those terrible dreams roll off my shoulders. Tarot is such a great tool for forcing us to look within...

"In judging others a man laboreth in vain; he often erreth, and easily falleth into sin; but in judging and examining himself he always laboreth to good purpose." ~ Thomas Kempis 1380-1471

Short Term Memory

Daily Draw: Transparent Tarot ~ Star + Ace of Wands

The Star is a bodes well card and the Ace of Wands is new action. I have some new plans to put in place today to help my father-in-law's ailing short term memory.

I'm reminded by this card that even the best laid plans don't always work out, and all the more reason to try something different. After all we don't know until we try, right?

"He turns not back who is bound to a star." ~ Leonardo da Vinci 1452-1519

Chains That Bind, Knowledge That Frees

Daily Draw: Transparent Tarot ~ 2 of Wands + The Devil

The Two shows equal partners working in unison, fully communicating to accomplish their goals. Overlaid is the Devil showing us chains that can bind unequally to partners whose goals are far afield from ours or blind us to truths we need to know to form intelligent opinions and decisions.

These cards remind me of some bosses I've had, of teachers, government, CEO's, parents and spouses...all the people who give us half-truths and biased facts. Who hide knowledge under the banner of 'it's more than they need to know'. Hogwash. Playing the tyrant or omniscient rather than partner and screwing up the machine all along the way.

"The two words information and communication are often used interchangeably, but they signify quite different things. Information is giving out; communication is getting through." ~ Sydney J. Harris 1917-1986

Indeed, The Sky Is Falling

Daily Draw: Transparent Tarot ~ 4 Coins + Temperance

According to recent reports American's are finally saving a little money. We've actually been in the minus territory for the last few years but in the last six months the average savings rate of the nation went up to 4%. On the other hand I know a lot of people that have enormous savings and retirement accounts so I'm guessing the recent economy has only inspired the rich to put more aside. I don't know anyone who is just getting by that has suddenly started a savings or retirement account. I look around at my generation, those born in the 1950's and I picture most of them at food banks and bread lines in what they now blithely assume will be their golden retirement.

I'm reminded by these cards that we need to wake up from our rainbow dreams and recognize the only cup we will be drawing from is our own. Nothing in, nothing out.

"The individual serves the industrial system not by supplying it with savings and the resulting capital; he serves it by consuming its products." ~ John Kenneth Galbraith 1908-2006

Fish or Cut Bait

Daily Draw: Transparent Tarot ~ Chariot

Note to self: Stop waffling, get going.

I'm reminded by this card that the Chariot is driven by us...not luck or chance or happenstance or maybe it will all work out if we hide our head. All those options are choices too, only we give our choices over to someone or something else. I don't care to have that happen in my life.

"In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility." ~ Eleanor Roosevelt 1884-1962

Consequences of Actions

Daily Draw: Transparent Tarot ~ Knight of Swords

This character likes to think outside the box, and that thinking often appears to make him a loner. It is just an illusion though, he could be surrounded by friends if he took the time to do so. He just usually can't be bothered because he thinks of them as sheeplike. This is also the character inside that rises up when we are scared stiff and helps us battle on.

I'm reminded by this card that life is full of choices and if we deliberately make a choice we sure as heck shouldn't grouse about the consequences. Accepting the consequences of our actions is the true mark of maturity.

"I live in that solitude which is painful in youth, but delicious in the years of maturity." ~ Albert Einstein 1879-1955

I'll be away from the computer for 4-5 days...

Give Life Your Best Shot

Daily Draw: Transparent Tarot ~ Ace of Coins

There are so many things in life that we start all over again each day. Mostly exercises in trying to be a better person. Stopping smoking or drinking or drugs, losing weight, quit nagging, snapping, shouting, whacking, beating, hitting, saying uh, like, ya know, I mean, ummm.

I'm reminded by this card that humans are complicated with many many layers. And I truly do believe the majority of us have the best intentions for ourselves and those we love and meet each day. And with each morning providing a clean slate how can we but help to give it our best shot to be a better person than the day before?

"Your best shot at happiness, self-worth and personal satisfaction - the things that constitute real success - is not in earning as much as you can but in performing as well as you can something that you consider worthwhile." ~ William Raspberry 1935-

Since this is the Transparent Tarot I drew a second card to use as advice when the going gets tough. I drew the 2 of cups...ask a friend to help. I love tarot!

Phoenix

Daily Draw: Transparent Tarot ~ Judgment/Aeon

Well represented with this card, a process of leaving behind and rising again, clean and renewed.

I'm reminded by this card how difficult it is for human nature to clear the past...we chew those old slights and wounds as if there were nourishment to be had rather than the soul shriveling it actually accomplishes. On this Holy Day I will work at being the Phoenix rather than the buzzard hoarding carrion of the past.

The Transparent Tarot by Emily Carding, published by Shiffer Publishing 2008. It isn't the only deck of cards that has ever been made this way but it is certainly the only, lone, unique tarot deck to be designed and produced with clear cards and meant to be stacked up and read rather than placed in spread formation. On her website, if you click on tarot and then on Transparent you can see a beautiful slide show of what happens when cards are are layered on each other. Here you can see a beautiful Ripples of Consequence spread designed by Rodney Carter just for the uniqueness of this deck.

Be Mindful Of Death

Daily Draw: Graven Images Oracle ~ Memento Mori

Did you know that in many or most places your final wishes on what you want done with your body have no enforceability?

I'm reminded by this card that at one time I had strong specific wishes on what I wanted done, but as the years have gone by I find I couldn't care less. I'm an organ donor but as I age even those won't have much use. Shove me off a pier in a cardboard box for all I care. Graveyards are for the living and what percentage of people visit them?

You can shed tears that she is gone,
or you can smile because she has lived.
You can close your eyes and pray that she'll come back,
or you can open your eyes and see all she's left.
Your heart can be empty because you can't see her,
or you can be full of the love you shared.
You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday,
or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday.
You can remember her only that she is gone,
or you can cherish her memory and let it live on.
You can cry and close your mind,
be empty and turn your back.
Or you can do what she'd want,
smile, open your eyes, love and go on." ~ David Harkins 1958-

Talk To The Hand

Daily Draw: Graven Images Oracle ~ Patience

Have someone you love, but you just wish they'd zip up once in a while? I do. They don't give you a synopsis of a movie or book, they tell you the whole story. They don't relate an incident from childhood, they give you the whole year.

I'm reminded by this card that I do love this person for many other reasons that don't involve words of any kind. And that I love him because of who and what he is, not in spite of it. Rock on Les, I have all the time in the world.

"Patience with others is Love, Patience with self is Hope, Patience with God is Faith." ~ Adel Bestavros 1925-2005

Running On Empty

Daily Draw: Graven Images Oracle ~ Empty

One of my many faces is caregiver. Right now everyone in my care is in great shape comparatively speaking and life is good. I have time to do my own projects and income producing work and still fill my role.

I'm reminded by this card of the times in my life I have been sucked dry of just about everything but the will to live, could barely put one foot in front of the other and wondered if one more shoe dropped would I be able to respond. We can and do...all we have to do is look around and see others responding under great pressure to know we can do it too. But empty is no place to be for any extended period of time.

"If nature has made you a giver, your hands are born open, and so is your heart. And though there may be times when your hands are empty, your heart is always full, and you can give things out of that." ~ Frances Burnett 1849-1924

Cling Clang Clung

Daily Draw: Graven Images Oracle ~ Ivy

Clingers are a double sided coin, the edge of which is engraved seek moderation. If you've pulled established ivy off the side of a building or fence you know the damage it can do. But it sometimes is all that was holding the structure up.

I'm reminded of two of my gentleman customers when I was still cutting hair. One's wife would call at least three times during the haircut, checking up on him. The other traveled the world 6 months of the year with just the occasional postcard to say where she was. Is one wrong and one right? Or either or neither? When does holding turn to clinging and when does all support stop?

"What is the appropriate behavior for a man or a woman in the midst of this world, where each person is clinging to his piece of debris? What's the proper salutation between people as they pass each other in this flood?" ~ Prince Gautama Siddharta 563-483 B.C.

Lurkie-Lou

Daily Draw: Graven Images Oracle ~ Watcher

In the cyberworld a Watcher is known as a Lurker. Someone who doesn't take part. We all know which side of the fence we fall on.

I'm reminded by this card that watching is a great tool for learning...for awhile. Participation in on-line conversations and activities has many bonuses never realized by the Watcher. The two greatest are the real friends we make and learning more, faster, because the verbal participation ups our interest in the subject. I'm thinking of quilting and cards because they are two high interest subjects for me. Lets just say I'll never be a Watcher or Lurker...life is too short and the bonuses of participation are too great to miss.

"Life is not a spectator sport." ~ Jackie Robinson 1919-1972

Body At Rest, Spirit Free

Daily Draw: Graven Images Oracle ~ Joy

I saw the above epitath on a grave stone years ago when we were burying one of my dear friends. At the time I thought it was appropriate to her because her life had been full of illness and pain.

I'm reminded by this card, as the years have gone by and my own mortality is closer to the forefront of my brain, that body at rest, spirit free doesn't need to be about death. Real joy comes from being able to still the busy busy body and let the mind and spirit come forward. Out to play if you will, or out to grasp a deeper understanding of how much life can be...once we get off the hamster wheel of busy work.

" Joy and sorrow are inseparable. . . together they come and when one sits alone with you . . . remember that the other is asleep upon your bed." ~ Khalil Gibran 1883-1931

Gone Too Soon

Daily Draw: Graven Images Oracle ~ Oaks

The oak has been a positive symbol of strength, longevity, perseverance, and divinity for ages. Long an icon of England, in 2004 it was also adopted as the national tree of USA. This card shows a pair of oak trunks cut and limbed in the prime of life.

I'm reminded by this card that none know when their time is up, no one is guaranteed a rich long life. I hope to live to at least 90, strong and in good health. I kissed death hello at 13 and again at 45. If my time comes early I'm ready and willing to go home, I've had a good life. In the mean time this Palm Sunday Morn I'll say a prayer of remembrance for those gone too young too soon. And one of gratitude for my own blessings.

"No one can confidently say that he will still be living tomorrow." ~ Euripides 480-406 B.C.

The deck in use this week is Graven Images Oracle by Natalie Zaman and Kathrine Clark, published by Glade Press, 2008. 71 cards and 110 page book. Cards are broken into five suits or points, those suits broken into light and shadow cards.

Fight or Flight

Daily Draw: Revelations Tarot ~ 9 of Swords Upright

Pinned in a rotten situation, one figure hides its face from the facts, the other grasps the enormity and actively seeks a way through.

I'm reminded by this card that hiding my head in the sand is such a waste of time and life. Good brains are made to be used, wake up!

"The best defense is a good offense". ~ Carl von Clausewitz 1780-1831

Zack Wong has created such a great deck with Revelations, I would recommend it particularly to anyone just starting out because both sides of the situation can immediately be grasped. Colorful and modern, just what the doctor ordered.

My Cup Is Empty

Daily Draw: Revelations Tarot ~ 10 of Cups Reversed

This card is a great example of the 1/2 full or 1/2 empty viewpoint. Great relationships don't come from luck. They come from hard work and a positive outlook. Too bad we don't learn that in high school. The divorce courts would go out of business because we'd quit harnessing ourselves to the worlds most beautiful or handsome grumpy negative jerk.

I'm reminded by this card that our own cup contents are what we make them. Period. If our cup is empty of love and joy it is to ourself we must look first. Expecting fulfillment from anyone else is a fools game.

"As long as anyone believes that his ideal and purpose is outside him, that it is above the clouds, in the past or in the future, he will go outside himself and seek fulfillment where it cannot be found. He will look for solutions and answers at every point except where they can be found--in himself." ~ Erich Fromm 1900-1980

Body Image Project using Tarot Cards

My second go at Jeannette's Tarot project this week, using Tarot cards to focus on body image. As I sorted through my decks for subjects I realized why these are some of my top favorite decks. Real bodies...rather than the improbable T&A we see in so many decks and the media. (click on images to see larger version)

Set #1

1. From the Haindl, Dangerously overweight with all the attendant health problems as a bonus. Diabetes, high blood pressure, breathing problems, inability to move normally, no clothes fit and the ones worn chafe like mad because the legs never separate.
2. The Paulina 9 of Swords shows our most common attitude. Woe is me, I'll die this way, lots of drama queen behavior which props up self sabotage.
3. Back to the Haindl, showing compulsions on the other side of the coin. Getting active with a vengeance which our personality type will never keep up. Thinking model thin with dangerously low BMI's is the only answer.

Set #2

1. The Dürer's Queen of Cups shows her tendency to overindulge in private, a common dirty little secret...no one is looking and we can all be surprised and puzzled at the results.
2. The Universal Fantasy. I bought this deck based on this Strength card and had to laugh because it mimics the images I put together yesterday. Can anyone say Tall envy? At 5' I should just be thankful me feet touch the ground when I walk.
3. The Durer's Star card is one of the most beautiful I've seen. At peace with her own self-image, voluptuous without being portly. I can live with that.
Set #3
From the Llewellyn, possibly my favorite deck, are two scenes that both place me in my natural surroundings, nature and quilting, radiating health, with a good lifestyle mix of activities and passions.

Pssssst...

Daily Draw: Revelations Tarot ~ 7 of Wands Reversed

Can you keep a secret? Will you keep a secret? Should you keep a secret? I wonder if it really is human nature to not be able to keep a secret, or if it just seems like secrets get told a lot because the original secret keeper is so outraged that the secret is out. Yet they told it first....

I'm reminded by this card if we want a secret kept, don't tell it. If we can't keep our own secret why in the world should we expect someone else to who has a lot less invested?

"The man who can keep a secret may be wise, but he is not half as wise as the man with no secrets to keep." ~ Edgar Watson Howe 1853-1937

Appreciate Life

Daily Draw: Revelations Tarot ~ Chariot upright

Ever had one of those days when everything goes right? Yesterday was just one of those days.

I'm reminded by this beautiful card to properly notice and appreciate those days, it is all to easy to be oblivious of the good things in life as we tear about busy busy busy.


"As we become curators of our own contentment we learn to savor the small with a grateful heart." ~ Sarah Ban Breathnach, who taught me how to be grateful. Thank you.