When It Is And When It Ain't

Daily Draw: Santa Fe Tarot ~ 2 of Cups/Water

Opposites attract. Mirror images, so different but so same. Harmony in partnership in any form.

We know when it is and we know when it ain't.

"It is not our purpose to become each other; it is to recognize each other, and honor him for what he is: each the other's opposite and complement." ~ Hermann Hesse 1877-1962  Narcissus and Goldmund

Sacred Coat

Daily Draw: Santa Fe Tarot ~ 6 of Buffalo/Coins

This Yei is traveling the mountains wearing a sacred white deerskin coat embellished with sacred plants, under the protection of the curved rainbow.  He is enjoying what he has earned.

I'm reminded by this card of being 18 or 20-ish and thinking some old white haired geezer driving a new Mercedes convertible was way to old to appreciate such a thing, it should be the the right of people young, like me, who had the access to such things.  Now I'm the geezer with the gorgeous vehicle I worked hard to earn. And when I drive by kids I do remember being their age, but I think "grow up, pull your pants up, turn your hat around, get a job, and quit spending your money on tattoos."  And so the world continues to turn at cross purposes, as it always does, 'tween ages.

"If the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, you can bet the water bill is higher too." ~ Debbie Macomber 1948-  Mrs. Miracle 

See The World

Daily Draw: Santa Fe Tarot ~ Page of Coins/Buffalo

His people knew he was born to explore the knowledge and secrets of the universe and presented him with tools for his journeys.

I'm reminded by this card of all the people to whom travel is part of their every day job. Including my husband who has over four million accident free driving miles behind him. Boggles my mind. Mention a town this side of the Mississippi and he can tell you where it is and how to get there. He has seen jumpers commit suicide via the grill of a speeding truck. He has worked with drivers who neither speak nor read english, some who couldn't find their way out of a paper sack, and those who have been a credit to their company every single mile. He is going to fly fish when he retires next year. He can stand in one spot and the highway of water will do the moving.

"The journey itself was my home."~ Matsuo Basho 1644-1694

The Santa Fe Tarot, by Holly Huber and Tracy LeCocq, published by US Games Systems 1993. The art expresses the story of the five stages of the emergence of the native Peoples. Card images are presented as sand paintings with figures face on and considered to be facing east. Suits are Rainbow/Wands, Water/Cups, Lightening/Swords, and buffalo/Coins, the kit includes a 175 page softcover companion book.

New And Improved

Daily Draw: Legend the Arthurian Tarot ~ Tower

From the companion book: Vortigern's fortress falls...built as a futile attempt to insulate himself from the consequences of his own actions.

It is a  fascinating story and one that gave me a shuddery sort of laugh this morning. The fortress in this case, time and again, is trying to outpace mother's dementia. Can't be done. Soon as I build her a wall here one falls there. Today I'll hunt for some bricks and design a new and improved one.

"Memory is not a record of the past but an evolving myth spinning from its engagement with the world.~ John Daniel  Looking After: A Son's Memoir

The Dreaded Double Standard

Daily Draw: Legend the Arthurian Tarot ~ Empress

Muddy myths surround Guenevere, daughter of Leodegan, wife of Arthur, lover of Lancelot, prisoner of Melwas. Was she a true Celtic queen with all the rights and responsibilities due the king? Or was she a treasonous harlot?

I'm reminded by this card double standards seem to still rule. It is the nature and curse of people to either judge harshly or emulate fawningly with very little discernment either way.

"There have been many more beautiful women, and thousands who were better, but since the world was weaned I doubt there have been many so unforgettable as Guinevere, eldest daughter of Leodegan, the exiled King of Henis Wyren. And it would have been better, Merlin always said, had she been drowned at birth." ~ Bernard Cornwell 1944-   The Winter King

My Mind Goes On Without Me

Daily Draw: Legend the Arthurian Tarot ~ 10 of Wands/Spears

The Green Knight. Not of the Round Table but of the fae, offering the knights a game of head head who's got the head. Gawain won the game, beheading the Green Knight. What it earned him was a year of constant harassment by the fae.

I'm reminded by this card, of what people will believe. You could march them by me one by one until the end of time and I wouldn't believe fairies exist. But a white horse? Can't see one without immediately making a wish. I tried to break myself of it, but my mind just goes on making wishes without me.

"Firstly, there is no such person as Death. Second, Death is this tall guy with a bone face and a scythe and an hourglass and a big white horse and a penchant for playing chess with Scandinavians. Third, he doesn't exist either." ~ Neil Gaiman 1960-

Kitchen Table

Daily Draw~ Legend the Arthurian Tarot ~ Wheel of Fortune

This wheel is depicted as Arthur's Round Table, the water as holding our deep rooted fears.

This community table drifting just above our fears is a brilliant example of the Wheel. Because what happens to us affects the other people at our life's table, and many if not most of our largest fears are not for ourselves but for the people we love.

"When I was a child, people sat around kitchen tables and told their stories. Sitting around a table telling stories is not just a way of passing time. It is the way the wisdom gets passed along. The stuff that helps us to live a life worth remembering." ~ Rachel Naomi Remen 1938-

Mean Girl

Daily Draw: Legend the Arthurian Tarot ~ 5 of Swords

Ever do something to someone and then wish you could make time reverse five seconds?

I'd like to take back what I said to Vicki when we were 11 or 12. It was the meanest mean girl thing I ever said, maybe my only mean girl moment. It was cruel as cruel could be, probably why I've never forgotten saying it and always wish for a do-over five seconds.

"You're walking into the garden little girl with your belly just rumblin' for an apple." ~ Linda Robertson Vicious Circle

Quest

Daily Draw: Legend the Arthurian Tarot ~ 7 of Swords

Dawn of a new quest. Most of the round table knights wouldn't even try to pull the sword set in stone by Merlin. A few tried and failed. When Galahad was presented to the group and accepted as a knight, he then was able to pull the sword and the real quest for the grail began.

My mother is bored out of her gourd. It breaks my heart to see her sitting in her favorite chair, watching expectantly, for... Not much happens here. I've gotten her health stabilized, she now performs basic care tasks on her own, I've got a clock on her table with a framed 'time' menu to refer to. It has all helped, but she does need to be somewhere where there is room to roam and people to talk to. There is no adult daycare here so I'm scouring the hills and dales of home to find a suitable option. That accepts Medicaid. Good luck, senior care is big business...for those who can pay for it. So I seek my own version of a red boulder in swift water with a sword sticking out of it.

"You'll sit forever, gluing things together,
Cooking up a stew from other's scraps,
Blowing on a miserable fire,
Made from your heap of dying ash." ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1749-1832  Faust

Eventful Lives

Daily Draw: Legend the Arthurian Tarot ~ Queen of Staves/Wands

The myth is interesting reading but to be honest, it sounds like a fourth sequel movie.

I'm reminded by this card, some people's lives really are adventurous, amazing things really do happen, and travel does broaden life's horizons. Judging the world by my small life would be a disrespectful injustice, laughable ignorance in fact, but... laugh with me not at me and we'll see where we go tomorrow.

"The cost of education is trivial compared to the cost of ignorance." ~ Carl Sagan 1934-1996

One of my favorite decks this week, Legend the Arthurian Tarot, art and 256 page Keeper of words book by Anna-Marie Ferguson. Published by Llewellyn Worldwide 1995, my second edition was published 1998. Suits are Swords, Cups Spears Shields.

Foibles

Daily Draw: Sacred World Oracle ~ Fox

The First Americans called this beautiful creature or it's cousin the coyote, Trickster. Is a trickster someone who takes pleasure pointing out our failings? Or someone who makes us laugh at our own foibles?

I'm reminded by this card, before or after, both types are hard to love in someone else and incredibly difficult habits to break in ourselves. Like this fox, our tracks are soon covered up by the snow but the imprint we leave on others is there forever.

"Humor is not a rubber sword allowing you to make a point without drawing blood." ~ Mary Hirsch

Wot? No Pockets?

Daily Draw: Sacred World Oracle ~ Centaur

A composite creature with enough brains plus brawn to work through the biggest challenge. I don't see a quiver, and I wonder where his pockets are, where does he keep his tissues? Minion centauri running along side?

I'm reminded by this card if my long term hopes work out I'll be called upon to use brains and brawn, and that would be a wonderful thing. I think. Like pockets, I'm trying to think what I might be missing of importance.

"When pockets were first added to women's clothing in 1913 a paris reporter wrote, "It's all over with men's superiority over women." Pockets are indeed indispensable, and they come in two types, patch and set-in." ~ Claire B Shaeffer Sew Any Set-In Pocket 

Broken Woman Broken Dogs

Daily Draw: Sacred World Oracle ~ Dog

Hey, no doom and gloom here for a change. We have had wonderful dogs over the years, each special in their own right. Our current dogs are Xavier and Xing-Xing, dumped dachshunds from a puppy mill. Anything that could have been wrong with breeding or bad about behavior, these dogs were at the head of the class.

I'm reminded by this beautiful wolfhound in the snow, they are perfectly behaved little gentleman now. With one exception. Socialization. Before we moved here to take care of mother, I sat them down and asked them to be especially tender with mother. They have been, since the very first minute; this broken woman who never cared for dogs and particularly dogs in the house calls them adorable.
Bless their own little broken dog hearts.

"You hold substance in my psyche". ~ Sarahbeth Purcell 1977-

Place A Skep On My Grave

Daily Draw: Sacred World Oracle ~ Bee

A cooperative, everyone working for the common good. A creature of the sacred world that actually got it right, and they are dying off in massive numbers, another checkmark against our time. According to Whole Foods, of the 453 fresh produce products available over the course of a year, only 237 will remain if we can't reverse the bee colony collapse disorder.

I'm reminded by this beautiful image how often I see the dark side of my cards. Am I just overwhelmingly cynical, am I still being herded by Winston Churchill's black dog, do I need to deliberately seek out the brighter side of humanity? I wouldn't know where to begin to look.

"Place a beehive on my grave
and let the honey soak through.
The streets of heaven may be gold and sunny
but I'll stick with my plot and a pot of honey." ~ Sue Monk Kidd 1948-  The Secret Life of Bees

Arise Again, As A Banana

Daily Draw: Sacred World Oracle ~ Phoenix

This bird made me immediately think of my passion for making quilts; big fabric, turned into little fabric, returned to big fabric. Mother (88) remembers old women coming to her mothers house (1920's or 30's), all with patties (her current word for fabric). When she is cross with me she and her walker tear past the sewing machine mumbling 'endless patties'.

Where this card really brings us is bananas, and each day's rebirth and what we do with it. Yesterday I allowed myself to be pushed to the shouting stage. Over a damn green banana for pete's sake. I can barely bend my back because anger sets off small nerve neuropathy, serves me right. And there she sets happy as a clam waiting for daylight and a bright new day. Which thankfully it is. Bananas. Cripanitly. I hope I arose a better person than I was yesterday. I've been up an hour, so far so good...but it's early days yet isn't it? Today there aren't any bananas to argue over, they are in the compost bin. Ain't I a grown up though?

"Be thou a new star, that to us portends
Ends of much wonder; and be thou those ends." ~ John Donne 1572-1631

Zoo Keepers

Daily Draw: Sacred World Oracle ~ Dolphin

Delphi is the ancient Greek word for dolphin and it is one of the first words I remember being connected with the web. I think it was forums or groups with specific associations where you could go for assistance or share knowledge.

This card reminds me these creatures of the deep are probably already smarter than humans. Someday we will be the zoo and they will be the keepers. I wish them well and haste for the journey.

"If I could get any animal it would be a dolphin. I want one so bad. Me and my mom went swimming with dolphins and I was like, "how do we get one of those?" and she was like, "You can't get a dolphin. What are you gonna do, like, put it in your pool?" ~ Miley Cyrus 1992-

Form Over Function

Daily Draw: Sacred World Oracle ~ Peacock

A male peafowl with covert feathers on display is a good definition of sacred world, words fail to adequately describe that naturally occurring feature of the bird. The tail feathers can reach six foot long, and you might think they couldn't possibly fly, but for short distances they fly very well. So form and function are satisfied.

I'm reminded by this card we humans can appreciate form without function (art glass, Beanie Babies,) and function without form (software download, sleep) but what about things sold in infomercials? One size fits all clothes. Somewhere along the line silly has taken the place of sacred. Just proves we are human, but a little bit of silly goes a long way.

"If I had thought about it, I wouldn't have done the experiment. The literature was full of examples that said you can't do this." ~ Spencer Silver 1941- on the work that led to the 3-M post-its

Sacred World Oracle, published by US Games Systems Inc, 2013. 44 card deck art and 48 page companion booklet by Kris Waldherr

How Old Is Ancient How New Is New?

Daily Draw: Minchiate Tarot ~ Air

Air, it if went, as with the other elements, so would we. In a billion years a space probe from a far galaxy would turn over a rock and find an Iphone or a plastic grocery bag and make up designer stories about our civilization. A horseshoe would no doubt be treasured as an elegant sample of a ceremonial torque... A timeline based on how ancient is ancient and how new is new.

I'm reminded by this card to look around the room. I'd sure miss the electricity and propane stove, but there isn't anything in this room I couldn't live without. And probably better. My life is full of things I could live without, most of them acquired long before graduating FlyLady and having cancer twice. When I step out my door the aged cedar and fir trees perfume the air, and remind me what's important. I'm alive and there is hope I'm perhaps wiser than I was at 30 and 40 and 50. But not ancient, oh no, never that.

"Can't you see I'm only advising you to beg yourself not to be so dumb?" ~ Titus Petronius Niger 20-66 AD, His Arbiter Elegancie and stand up comedian

Inflamed

Daily Draw: Minchiate ~ Fire

To become inflamed. An all inclusive upright or reversed state of affairs. I spent a year inflamed in a black rage. I've spent a lifetime inflamed by the depth and beauty of nature. This morning I'm inflamed by the 3rd clue of the quilt mystery I'm working on.

I'm reminded by the element of fire, good or bad, I far prefer being inflamed to being indifferent.

"Desire is half of life, indifference is half of death." ~ Kahlil Gibran 1883-1931

Cut Bait Or Fish

Daily Draw: Minchiate Tarot ~ 10 of Swords

This is where we have to decide to cut bait or fish. There is no going back, going forward requires serious effort.

I'm reminded by this card there is an up side because there indeed are choices to be made, we've just ignored, marginalized, or hid from them until we've come clear to the end of the line. Time to put on our thinking cap and running shoes.

"Let's put on our thinking caps and see if we can't have an idea,' said Cricket, 'Passing the caps around" ~ Anna Rose Wright  Whirligig House

New World

Daily Draw: Minchiate Tarot ~ World

Everyone I personally know who has built a new house has had some "I wish I had of" feelings about it after they moved in. That is when we have our bright ideas, once we've used something and we can see where improvements could better the finished product.

I'm reminded by this World card, (number 39 in the Minchiate ordering) of this deck and the life I've built. Standard tarot decks have 78 cards. This deck has 97. The bump in number is the result of adding sun signs, Virtues, and elements. It has been shuffled and shuffled and split and split, and still, all I've drawn this week with the deck fanned out and drawing at random, is the same majors we've always seen. My point is, if we were given the world to change would we better it?

"Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself." ~ Rumi 1207-1273

Thinking Up

Daily Draw: Minchiate Tarot ~ Fool

The Fool. Is this a working man appointed by the king, a court favorite for his many entertaining skills? Or is it a poor unknown, down on his luck, being harassed by a pack of kids?

I'm reminded by this card there is an up and down side to most things in life. I got up thinking down, but I've had my morning cuppa and now I'm thinking up. It is all a simple fool's game isn't it?

"What is your name?" asked Lear.
"Caius," said Kent.
"And whence do you hail?"
"From Bonking, sire."
"Well, yes, lad, as do we all," said Lear, "but from what town?"
Christopher Moore 1957-   Fool

The Horror Of Adapting

Daily Draw: Minchiate Tarot ~ Temperance

The ability to adapt. The older we get the harder it is. Try doing it with no recent memory at all, nada, zip.

I'm reminded by this card of the horror of not being able to adapt at all; when we start each and every day not knowing who we are, where we are, or why. When each trip down the hall is the first trip to we aren't sure where, and when we get there we aren't sure why we came. When we don't know if we've eaten. Or slept. Or who the other people in the room are. Or AM and PM elude us. And still, every day, one more day of adapting arrives.

"The first horror is there's horror. The second is you accommodate it." ~ Glen Duncan 1965-  The Last Werewolf

Boat Load Of Action

Daily Draw: Minchiate ~ Juggler/Magician

Taking action usually results in something happening. If you don't change the object of the action, you change yourself by the effort. Spinspeak?
Maybe, if you rely on someone else to act. Absolutely not if self propelled.

I'm reminded by this card the action seems to be happening between the Juggler and the child on the right. The center child interests me, he looks to be egging the action on, and pointing to his companion. "Yes please, give us a boat load of action, but on him in case he changes into a frog."

"Come come! Come out!
From bogs old frogs command the dark.
And look...the stars" ~Takarai Kikaku 1661-1707

Lo Scarabeo reprint of a 18th century Florence Italy Etruria Minchiate deck. Designed for gaming, there is no particular proscribed way of using them for divination or introspection. A deck of 97 images; 41 majors, 12 zodiac signs, 4 virtues, 4 elements, plus all the usual suspects in the minors and courts.

Solid And Fluid

Daily Draw: Rosetta Tarot ~ 4 of Wands

In the 3 of Wands we saw we had everything we needed to go forward, our base of support and plans solid. Sometimes that is as far as we get, a to-do list of life we never get past admiring for it's aim and scope.

I'm reminded by this card a method to our madness must be made. Having worked steadily since I was old enough to babysit and pick berries and peel bark  There was order to the days because there was always the next thing to do. Here, caring for mother, my order is fluid to non-existant because what she needs from minute to minute changes, and it is a 24 hour clock, therefore what ever I am doing changes also.  It is a weird way to live but like mothers with new babies, I've learned to grasp her nap and bedtime as my own, to go forward with my 4.

"Having come to the conclusion that there was so much to do that she didn't know where to start, she decided not to start at all...so she returned to her wicker chair under the lime tree and settled down to waste what precious hours still remained of the day." ~ Richmal Crompton 1890-1969  Family Roundabout

Applied Intelligence

Daily Draw: Rosetta Tarot ~ 8 of Coins

Intelligence lovingly applied to material matters. Crowley
What a great turn of phrase to sum up this card. I think the reasons are in the decans and the tree of life.

I'm reminded by this card of the seeds I plant in January each year, to choose a new subject and apply myself to it. My primary subject for 2013 was an archaeology course through Brown University. My life wasn't my own this year and I drew a zero on that. I'd love to try again someday, the first task was to find a dig somewhere near home. When I realized that course wouldn't work, I chose something simpler, learn to skillfully use a treadle sewing machine, the goal being to use it for the quilt mystery that started last week. I'm no where near home while I care for my mother, so another big fat zero. The third try was much better, I lovingly applied my intelligence to learning the Thoth system of tarot. The Rosetta this week is one of those decks. I'll give myself a B+, it is a deep subject with years of study to go...just the way I like my annual commission. I wonder how I'll do on my ninth year, 2014? I've chosen geometry and ley lines. That aught to keep my brain spinning, and I can do it sitting right here beside mother.

Who knew? There is an Applied Intelligence stock. Current value .05, high this year .06.
There is a Journal of Applied Intelligence. Covering artifical intelligence, neural networks, and complex problem solving.
And of course where would we be if there weren't an Applied Intelligence Marketing company to help us buy widgets by the boatload?

Heart Mind Pinion

Daily Draw: Rosetta Tarot ~ 3 of Wands

The stability that brings and holds the Ace, two and three together. The triad pinion that must stand to support the four though ten.

I'm reminded by this card there is a pinion gear somewhere that drives all we do. Sometimes so small we've never given it a thought. A wedding ring? The water meter? A key? A spool of thread? A spoon? A door knob? Sun and Moon?

"Everything is interconnected. My interest is linked to everyone else's; our survival and future are linked." ~ Dalai Lama

Ennui Reigns

Daily Draw: Rosetta Tarot ~ 10 of Coin

There are still more options when you get to the other three 10's. With the 10 of Coins the total sum is locked in place, be it health or wealth or worldly issues. Outside actions will change nothing. To go forward the self must regenerate.

I'm reminded by this card in many respects none of us ever get to this point. Few even try. Top drawer health? Har Har. True responsible stewards of our income? Hardly. Give 100% at our jobs? Our dependants, our responsibilities? Nope. Because we are humans, flawed. Except for health I'd really rather not be at the 10 of coins. Humans without goals are rudderless ships and ennui reigns.

"Tea leaves thwart those who court catastrophe, designing futures where nothing will occur; cross the gypsy's palm and yawning she will still predict no perils left to conquer.
Jeopardy is jejune now; naive knight finds ogres out of date and dragons unheard of, while blase princesses indict tilts at terror as downright absurd." ~ Sylvia Plath 1932-1963

Mini-Fits Of Madness

Daily Draw: Rosetta Tarot ~ 7 of Cups

From Crowley: This is one of the worst ideas that one can have; its mode is poison, its goal madness.
We seem surrounded by sick madness, we wonder if the wheels are coming off the world...but look back. The holocaust, the Spanish Inquisition, Vlad the Impaler, King Herod, to the beginning of this time and the time before. There have always been people with unconscionable ideas who have always found people to follow them.

I'm reminded by this card we would not be human if we said we don't each have little mini-fits of madness, when we are cruel to those we love, hateful to those we don't, even to strangers. In this enlightened age, in truth, we are still in stone cold darkness.

"Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, one by one." ~ Charles MacKay 1814-1889   Extraordinary Popular Delusions and The Madness of Crowds

Truce, My Love

Daily Draw: Rosetta Tarot ~ 4 of Swords

This is not the truce represented by two ball teams and their annual game, when everyone says good game and better luck next year. This is the suit of Swords, and a truce here is razor edged, backed up by force.

I'm reminded by this card many children grow up in this kind of eggshell atmosphere. And marry some child with starry eyes who thinks love can conquer all. We are slow to learn communication is the only lasting truce.

"Truce, gentle love! A parley now I crave!" ~ Michael Drayton 1563-1631  Sonnet 66

Turn Knob To Open

Daily Draw: Rosetta Tarot ~ 8 of Wands

My poor old radio, I think it is one step removed from the colorful AM radios of the 1950's. It picks up two or three stations, fairly well or poorly, depending on it's location.

I'm reminded by this card about channels being open and receptive, my mind is often like my radio. Being shiny and new in the 1950's it scooped up everything that came down the pike. Today, not so much, thoughts have to bounce off a few times before I even take notice enough to turn the knob to open. I like this card of clear reception.

The deck this week is based on the Thoth system and is the Rosetta Tarot by M.M. Mellen, published 2011 by Atu House.

Mind-made and Heart-made Darkness

Daily Draw: Thoth Tarot ~ Moon

The light which darkness creates. Lon Milo DuQuette
There is a thought. I love the moon. I go out and howl at it when I'm feisty. It is my favorite card in any deck. But DuQuette's phrase makes the hairs on my neck rise.

I'm reminded by this card, not of the literal dark, but the mind-made and heart-made darkness. The things that even surprise us when we tip over internal rocks and something scurries by just outside our mental field of vision.

"What happens to a man is less significant than what happens within him." ~ Louis Mann 1865-1931

Emotional Connections

Daily Draw: Thoth Tarot ~ Knight of Cups

Look at this boyo carrying that golden cup forward with it's prize riding high inside. Today is the first clue to Bonnie Hunter's annual quilt mystery. Where many 1000's of us around the world leap from our beds to print out the first of 7 or 8 weekly Friday morning clues...with no idea what the finished 4-8000 piece quilt will look like.

I'm reminded by this golden cup, why beyond that her mysteries are always well written and well explained, so many of us do them each year. The emotional connections of once again gathering together with all the faceless usernames we've grown to like and respect. We  may not be riding toward our printers on golden horses, but our goal is the same thing. Messing about with our needles and fabrics and visiting while we do it. Welcome to the ride.

"The heart is a strange beast and not ruled by logic." ~ Maria V. Snyder

Houston, We Have A Problem

Daily Draw: Thoth Tarot ~ 5 of Cups

The problem? Holidays, too often combined with unrealistic expectations, resulting in chronic disappointment. Which is then carried forward, with interest, into the next holiday.

I'm reminded by this card we need to like our own company before we can appreciate other people's company. Expecting someone else to make the world bright and fulfilled for us is courting sorrow at best, disaster at worst.

"At the end of the day, let there be no excuses, no explanations, no regrets."  ~ Steve Maraboli 1975-

Fills and Flows

Daily Draw: Thoth Tarot ~ 3 of Cups

Such an exuberant 3 of Cups, filled and filled and filled again by the lotus.

I'm reminded by this card without the lows we wouldn't recognize the highs, and all highs would become, like everything else in over-abundance, too much, too boring, too commonplace. I'll take my high days, not compare them to other high days, and be thankful for my lot.

"Spring passes and one remembers one's innocence.
Summer passes and one remembers one's exuberance.
Autumn passes and one remembers one's reverence.
Winter passes and one remembers one's perseverance."
Yoko Ono 1933-

Buttons

Daily Draw: Thoth Tarot ~ 9 of Swords

Rationalized criticism
Self-inflicted injustice
Devastating doubt.  Ruth Souther, The Heart of Tarot

Ever see any better short-speak for the 9 of Swords? I'm reminded by this card of all the times I've fulfilled the promise of this card. Why do we do this to ourselves? We can talk abusive and dysfunctional environments all we want...doing it to our self is far worse. Who knows our buttons better?

"Knowing your own darkness is the best method for dealing with the darknesses of other people." ~ Carl Jung 1875-1961

Peanutbutter Thothpaste

Daily Draw: Thoth Tarot ~ Prince of Wands

From Ruth Southers book: cultivate bursts of genuine ingenuity.
Setting aside what nongenuine bursts might be...(peanutbutter thothpaste? Windows 8?) I'd think we've all had ingenious right past the ah-ha ideas, in fact strokes of genius.

I'm reminded by this card those two words might well mean the same thing. Or be a noun and adjective. What do I know, I'm mostly the doorknob type. What I do know is when we take what we are passionate about, and apply our minds to creative solutions, there they are. Two of mine here and here. Not rocket science but we aren't building rockets.

Question whether there is a better way rather than the only way. Break from the usual and new ideas flow in like water." ~ Nathaniel J. Wyeth 1802-1856

Probably...

Daily Draw: Thoth Tarot ~ 3 of Wands

The 2 of Wands asked us to meld our innie with our outtie person. This 3 of Wands asks that our heart body and mind be aligned and whole.

I'm reminded by this card that is an admirable goal, one to build everything else on, but when we live in the real world, not so easy to carry through. My hip is freezing up this morning, what does that say? That my heart and mind are aligned but my body betrays my love for my mother because she was up and dressed and ready for coffee and breakfast at midnight? Or did I sleep funny? Probably...

"Seek a sanctuary
Walk into it with a bare mind, bare feet, and plain clothing.
Nurture your body, mind, and spirit through a healing ritual.
Leave it with a pure heart until you find your way to it again."
Master Jin Kwon ~ 1957-

Obfuscation

Daily Draw: Thoth Tarot ~ 6 of Swords

The Thoth defines this card as the clear and systematic thinking of an analytical mind. Which I can do in the daytime. But part of a sleepless night? Oh brother, whir whir whir with no respite at all. Want to know the silly subject? My AT&T bill.

I'm reminded by this card we had US Cellular for 12 years and never had a problem with the billing, not once. We switched to AT&T because they are the only provider that gives good reception at home which is where I am when using the computer. If I could take back my decision I would. Their billing is a convoluted mess, every month and I am just giving up and paying it. But my mind heart and gut are furious. Does their whole subscriber base feel this hornswoggled? Or am I dumber than a doorknob?

"The truest way to be deceived is to think oneself more knowing than others." ~ Francois de La Rochefoucauld 1613-1680

Zealot + Weasel

Daily Draw: Thoth Tarot ~ 2 of Wands

This card calls for the innie me and the outtie me to be combined in outward personal truth. I wonder if it has ever been politically correct to let innie out.

I'm reminded by this card, for me it's far more peaceful to let sleeping dogs lie. It doesn't matter to me what anyone else's innie is, and I'm old enough to know I don't need to defend my own personal truth from zealots on any subject. Is that true adulthood or weaseling out?

"There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered." ~ Nelson Mandela

The Ledge Is There

Daily Draw: Thoth Tarot ~ Princess of Wands

The Thoth Princesses connect to the aces of their suit, in this case the grounding of personal efforts and their active expression. Here she tears along, tiger by the tail exuberance, with the Ma'at cap of true heart.

I'm reminded by this card of the many times I've taken what appears to be the Fool's first step right off the ledge, taken on more than I can chew, surrounded by people shaking their heads in disapproval. Try something new and different? Good Gad woman, why? Because the ledge is there and I'm alive, Princess and Ace. The world is not a safe, why stand in place and prove it.

"That's exactly it-I am crazy and somewhere deep inside, all I want is to fly." ~ Jandy Nelson 1985-  The Sky Is Everywhere

I Will Not Go

Daily Draw: Thoth Tarot ~ Hermit

I've had mother home with me for a month today.
Why had she lost so much weight so fast?
I'm convinced she was slowly starving to death.
She can no long reline her own dentures and no one noticed.
She no longer understands the concept of AM and PM.
This morning she got up and got dressed at 1 AM, ready for her day.
She no longer eats any 'dinner' meats, just soft luncheon type meats.
She is wild about fresh fruit, particularly bananas.
It is always news to her that we shave her chin whiskers,
that I am her daughter, that the picture window she gazes through is not a picture but real life.

I'm reminded by this card and how much I love my mom, that this is not the route I will be taking. I understand why others saddled with dementia have chosen an earlier way out, perhaps because I was in the grip of black depression for so long. I will not go to this place. The Hermit told me.

"Grow quiet and observe the details."~ Ruth A. Souther

Bald Statements

Daily Draw: Thoth Tarot ~ Sun

Early cultures believed the sun died at night and was replaced in the morning, or circled under the land to rerise each dawn. As bald statements go it comes to the same thing...but not one bit the same if they worshiped the sun.

My personal bald statement in short speak, all religions are the same. Yet we could converse all the long days of life on the details and differences. We know today where the sun is when it isn't. Would that we knew the one truth of gods. No doubt we'd immediately begin adding nuances to individualize worship all over again. The sun and religion are at least both perpetuals, something we can count on to be there when we get up each day.

"We cannot seek or attain health, wealth, learning, justice, or kindness in general. Action is always specific, concrete, individualized, unique." ~John Dewey 1859-1952

The Best We Can Hope For

Daily Draw: Thoth Tarot ~ Adjustment

All hats are not created equal. Here Justice wears an ostrich feather crown that bears similarity to that of Ma'at, the ancient Egyptian weigher of souls. I once bought a tall showgirl hat for a party, I have no idea how they keep them on, mine kept listing to port.

I'm reminded by this card all justice is not equal, never was, never will be. You know it and I know it. We see it each day in the courts. Sad that. For everyday people the best we can hope for is acknowledgement. Cold comfort from this card of equilibrium.

"But sometimes pain has to be acknowledged and even touched so that one could move into it and through it and past it. Or else be destroyed by it." ~ Mary Balogh 1944-  Simply Love

Sundowning

Daily Draw: Thoth Tarot ~ 5 of Wands

Sundowning is fairly common in dementia, which is increased confusion and restlessness beginning in the afternoon. As strife, it would be easy to fall into the trap of "I just told you" rather than calmly repeating "the light is on mom, see?". AM and PM become a huge struggle; "I've slept in this chair all night?", "are you sure it is morning?", "One PM, then it is time to go to bed?".

I'm reminded by this card, if she isn't mad (anger can be instantaneous with no known trigger) my mom is an absolute kick in the mornings. She can crack clever jokes, recognize foods, and pat my hands. In the afternoon everything goes dim. I sat beside her for 45 minutes yesterday talking about her memories focusing on the 50's, and about every 10 minutes she would sigh, look out the window, and say "they all have jobs and are busy". I would say "I'm here mom" and she'd ask who I was.

"It is better to live in peace than in bitterness and strife." ~ Confucius 551-479 BC

Journey

Daily Draw: Alone's Vision Lenormand ~ Clover + Ship + Stars











Just my luck, wanting a tall ship journey is akin to wishing on stars.
A sky journey is planned for 2015, may good luck ride with us.
It costs a fortune to travel, there are cruises today that would feed a star colony.

"All I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by." ~ John Masefield 1878-1967  Sea Fever

Enough lenormand, back to tarot tomorrow

Life Lived

Daily Draw: Alone's Vision Lenormand ~ Stork + Rider + Woman

Anticipation + Hurry Up + Wait. Isn't that just the story of life lived.

"...that sanguine expectation of happiness which is happiness itself."~ Jane Austen 1775-1817  Sense and Sensibility

Realistic Bounty

Daily Draw: Alone's Vision Lenormand ~ Mice + Clover + Bouquet

The sunflowers found a mousehole in my mind, to let in the light.
Mice as pets come up roses, but the luck is in the eye of the beholder.
Got a wild hair about the lottery, bought my mom flowers instead.

"I would I could not think it
That thought is bounty's foe.
Being free itself, it thinks all others so." ~ William Shakespeare 1564-1616

529 Plan

Daily Draw: Alone's Vision Lenormand ~ Lily + Stork + Tower

Back to the inserts, I'm not getting much from this deck
King of Swords + Queen of Cups + 6 of Swords

Insight combined with a big heart makes any place a home.
Forward thinking dad plus thoughtful mom equals $$ saved for baby's college education.

"The best laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft agley." ~ Robert Burns 1759-1796 The Works of Robert Burns

Jumper

Daily Draw: Alone's Vision Lenormand ~ Girl + Rider + Key

Little girls of yore dreamed a knight on a horse was the key to their dreams.
Hooping and jumping are both opportunities for exercise.
Demonstrating his abilities to a young girl, any opportunity to show off is a good opportunity.

"The wildest colts make the best horses." ~ Plutarch 46-119