Give Me Strength

Daily Draw: Art of Life Tarot ~ Strength

Way back in the good old days before we realized cigarettes were dangerous Virginia Slims had adverts based on "You've Come A Long Way Baby". The focus of one was the fact that in latter days a fully dressed woman was carrying forty+ pounds of clothing. This looks to be even more.

I'm guessing it was women who had servants and nothing to do but sit around who dressed like that. No countryside woman with dirt floors in an agricultural eat or be eaten society would be so foolish.  I'm reminded by this card being a slave to fashion is a fool's game. So was smoking...but we have, comparatively speaking, come a long way baby.

"It would be mortifying to the feelings of many ladies, could they be made to understand how little the heart of a man is affected by what is costly or new in their attire." ~  Jane Austen 1775-1817    Northanger Abbey

Art of Life Tarot, by Charlene Livingstone, published 2012 U.S. Games Systems

The Stress Test

Daily Draw: Art of Life Tarot ~ 5 of Coins

Is misery a state of mind? Is it a place of retreat?
Have you ever taken this Stress Test?  My mother was given to saying "crying? I'll give you something to cry about." 'Cause usually if we have time to cry over something the reason/event is already over.

I'm reminded by this card of where I now am on the misery meter. For some people this place would be the height of misery, for me, by comparison to the last few years, it is nirvana. Where we are is who we are, that day, that time. Today my score is 415, a great improvement over the last few years.

"Misery pulls away the brackets of life leaving you to free fall." ~ Jeanette Winterson 1959-    Written on the Body

Real Reality

Daily Draw: Art of Life Tarot ~ 9 of Wands

How do we each decide when enough is enough? Of anything? We tame one tiger and it seems to give the next one more strength. Odd that.

Does this card suggest we transcend by sheer will power? It is far easier to throw down our toys and quit. After all our tigers aren't too life threatening. Or are they?

"There are many ways to be free. One of them is to transcend reality by imagination, as I try to do." ~ Anais Nin 1903-1977

Mental Vandalism

Daily Draw: Art of Life Tarot ~ 10 of Swords

Our septic system up north at the farm has been vandalized. That is a Coins problem, but the act has ruined our relationship with the buyer who has bid to purchase.

The shock loosened the mad monkey mind and resulted in a sleepless night of what ifs.  I'm reminded by this card, when I did get up and start my day I realize it is no big deal really. I'll get the power turned back on so we can verify that they haven't also damaged the pump, and get cracking on repairing the damage. How simple is that?  It is so easy to make a 7 of Swords situation into a 10 of Swords it is ridiculous.

"We live immersed in narrative, recounting and reassessing actions, anticipating the outcome, situating ourselves at the intersection of several stories not yet completed." ~ Peter Brooks 1938-

It's A Mental Thing

Daily Draw: Art of Life Tarot ~ Queen of Swords

I died when I was thirteen, only here because I was in Emergency Room at the time. I think from that time forward I've always considered acquisitions and purchases with the idea of who will it burden when I'm gone.

I'm reminded by this thinking Queen it is a mental thing isn't it? Controlling or feeding our avarice or distaste for 'stuff'. The Queen of Coins just runs off falala and fills her cart, our Queen of Swords deals with the recriminations. Mine reacts like Kevin McNally's character in Pirates of the Caribbean when the Kraken is first mentioned.

"There is no allurement or enticement, actual or imaginary, which a well-disciplined mind may not surmount. The wish to resist more than half accomplishes the object." ~Charlotte Dacre 1771-1825   The Passions, 1811

***114,992***

Daily Draw: Art of Life Tarot ~ 6 of Wands

My friend Pam did 114,992 steps last week according to our weekly FitBit stats this morning, twice the last highest amount any of us have ever done. This week my stats are 33.753 steps, 13.5 miles. That is me in the back right corner, checking the pocket for the Sacred Kleenex before I start out.

I'm reminded by this card our FitBits help all of us to most importantly, set our intention, when we get dressed each day. Same as getting dressed to the shoes. For me, those two things are what kick starts my enthusiasm for any plans for the day. Can't get started if we don't get started can we?

"It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop." ~ Confucius

Divergent

Daily Draw: Art of Life Tarot ~ 5 of Wands

Conflict. Conflicting ideas, plans, viewpoints, backgrounds.
Couples planning to marry or produce a child should be required to write a thesis on what they view their conflicts to be, and then memorize each others. Would it help? Maybe. If they wanted help.

I'm reminded by this card, other than race, Rob and I were polar opposites when we married. We should have had conflicts about anything and everything. In many cases we just learned to pick our battles. After 45 years we are far more alike than divergent. Rob has softened and I have hardened. And neither one of us seeks conflict, not our idea of excitement.

"We must not ignore the small daily differences we have which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee." ~ Marian Wright Edelman 1939-

Rose Colored Glasses

Daily Draw: Art of Life Tarot ~ 7 of Cups

Fantasy and illusion by choice.

Today's card points out one more time, I'm viewing some area of my life through rose colored glasses. Dinged if I can figure out which area...won't I be surprised if it turns out to be all of them?

"Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone you may still exist, but you have ceased to live." ~ Mark Twain 1835-1910

Art of Life Tarot, by Charlene Livingstone, published 2012 U.S. Games Systems

Practical Honesty

Daily Draw: Ananda Tarot ~ 8 of Wands/Flames

We create our own reality. And are so surprised and bewildered when learn something isn't the way we think/remember it. Economical (coins) and relationships (cups), we can do a class one gloss job on, and in hate and discontent (swords) inserting the balanced truth into a shattered reality can be almost insurmountable.

I'm reminded by this card Wands nudge us to be practical and honest. Good advice that.

"If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail." ~  Abraham Maslow

Doan One Devil Zero

Daily Draw: Ananda Tarot ~ Devil

Most of us know what our personal devil is, drink, drugs, sex, money, yadayada. All enjoyable and even healthy in moderation. At some point some spider gets in our brain though and begins making a sticky web that pulls at us until we are ruled by something rather than us being the ruler.

I'm reminded by this card of this family, this story, this town. How they have taken the very devil of an economy, in a devil of an area, combined with bad financial habits as the start, and turned themselves into a  world destination. Where will they be tomorrow? Doan one, Devil zero.

"In the realm of ideas everything depends on enthusiasm, in the real world all rests on perseverance." ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1749-1832

Jumping Ship

Daily Draw: Ananda Tarot ~ 10 of Wands/Flames

Our Monday spark has become the real thing. All our energy and effort has been building up to this, the grande finale.

I'm reminded by this card, that oddly enough, this is where many projects fail. We jump ship. Fear of success?  Fear of having to do it again. Fear of full responsibility. Fear of expecting more of ourselves than our lazy bum side is willing to give. And probably why the 10's in Tarot are more about too much rather than the enough the 9's signify. But if it is worth starting, it is worth finishing.

"Nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an uncompleted task." ~ William James 1842-1910

Bookmarks

Daily Draw: Ananda Tarot ~ Hierophant

When do you effect change? When you are happy or when unhappy?

I'm reminded by this card, for me, when unhappy. I've been cross with Google, I'm in their beta testing program which currently is Bookmarks. Instead of clicking on the star in the search bar, and choosing the folder the bookmark title goes in, you now get a big page with an image from the site you are bookmarking. Every time that comes up I get crosser. I put my inner Hierophant to work and found this.
Google OptOut. Don't get why every app needs to look like Facebook or Pinterest. I much prefer the K.I.S.S. mode.

"Simplicity means the achievement of maximum effect with minimum means." ~ Dr. Koichi Kawana 1930-1990

Potential Of Holding

Daily Draw: Ananda Tarot ~ 5 of Cups

Are these cups empty?Are the feelings dead? A few days ago petty was how I was feeling. Rob's favorite aunt died and no one bothered to tell him. Prickly creature that I am, I was appalled, then mad, then the following day, full of mean and petty thoughts. Early in the afternoon I finally talked about it and poof, all the negative was gone.

I'm reminded by these cups just because we think something is over doesn't mean we can't still be caught by surprise emotions. They can't hurt me, I don't think it is possible, but hurt Rob? Worse than a direct hit on me...these cups are double chambered so right side up, upside down, they still have the potential of 'holding'. And spilling.

"I have had more trouble with myself than with any other person I have ever met." Dwight Lyman Moody 1837-1899

Authentic Spark

Daily Draw: Ananda Tarot ~ Ace of Wands/Flames

Motivation, determination, transformation.

I'm reminded by this card the spark has to be in me first. The follow-through comes next. No real spark? No real results. Oh, but when that spark flares...

"You're only given a little spark of madness. You mustn't lose it." ~ Robin Williams 1951-2014

Doubt It

Daily Draw: Ananda Tarot ~ Page of Coins/Princess of Spheres

Wisdom, in the realm of Coins/Spheres can be hard to come by. We chase after education and then choose a different field. We grow our savings/investments only to be Madoffed, or treated to an October 29th. We buy houses with hidden problems, we get sidetracked into 'easy' money via gambling, we get addicted to 'stuff'...

I'm reminded by this card, I'm reading a true story about a quilter who came of age during the Reconstruction of the South during the 1860-1880's. Talk about having nothing. If you personally couldn't make it or grow it you went without, period. No fall back relief programs, no safety nets, no WIC coupons, no homeless shelters, no Pell grants, no loan extensions, no bailouts.  But as the Page of Coins I expect a lot of wisdom gained was ingrained, habits never to be changed even when the South finally began to recover. Maybe we can grow wisdom, if the lesson is long and hard enough...but I honestly doubt it.

"The world is a beautiful place to be born into - if you don't mind some people dying all the time - or maybe only starving - some of the time which isn't half so bad - if it isn't you" ~ Lawrence Ferlinghetti 1919-

Ananda Tarot, Thoth tradition; art and 292 page soft cover book by Kurt Pilz, currently out of print. Published by AGM AGMuller 2003.

BFF

Daily Draw: Da Vinci Tarot ~ Lovers/Twins

The twins Matthews refers to are (Jesus and St. John) friends found any time in life, who feel like twinners, with the strongest bond of friendship and ideals regardless of differing backgrounds.

We see BFF, best friends forever, everywhere these days of computer short-speak, and it surprises me how many go waayyy back to childhood. Because we do change over time, march to different drummers but as long as the basic civilities are maintained, and effort is made, there is no reason to lose those old friends. Waves to Theresa and Katherine, friends of 49 years now; any time we  meet it is as if no time at all has passed.

"Let’s swear each with our pinky
We’ll be the best of friends
Until we are old and wrinkly"

Sour Stain

Daily Draw: Da Vinci Tarot ~ 6 of Wands/Fire

Dimmi: What has been achieved or realized?

The companion book says beware of placing myself on a pedestal or glorying in the defeat of others.

I'm long past whatever age competition for jobs or status might have played a part, but this card reminds me pettiness is unattractive at any age and leaves a sour stain on heart and mind.

"Constant darkness is with us everyday, the darkness of the mind, the pettiness and meanness and hatred, which we have invited into ourselves, and which we pay out with generous interest." ~ Dean Koontz1945-   Brother Odd

Weeding

Daily Draw: Da Vinci Tarot ~ 7 of Coins/Earth

Dimmi: Where must you invest stamina?

People think down around the equator is jungle, that is what we were taught, right?  The real jungle is the land I live on in the pacific northwest USA. Weeds and hay fields grow at inches per day, and there are at least two new weeds beginning their cycles each week.

I'm reminded by this card I've got it all tamed for the moment, except the last fifty feet by six feet of the big front flower bed. I can see them waving at me from the front window, cheeky little sods. Stamina...must have stamina.

"A weed is a plant that has mastered every survival skill except for learning how to grow in rows." ~ Doug Larson

Walk The Walk

Daily Draw: Da Vinci Tarot ~ 3 of Swords/Air

Dimmi: What are you mourning, what is painful?

The figure is St. Sebastian, one of  many murdered/martyred of the early Christian sect by the Romans. Barbaric, but still going on today in some middle east countries when faith is suspect. Interesting what people will willingly do for sport and call it law. Some accounts say he survived a torso full of arrows, was healed by a friend, only to be clubbed to death later for again haranguing Emperor Diocletian.

I'm reminded by this card, to be in the minority can be painful, and more so if we live our differences or cause or opinion, because it can result in isolation. Sometimes, yes I mourn all the still living family I've lost.

"We're all islands shouting lies to each other across seas of misunderstanding." ~ Rudyard Kipling  1865-1936  The Light That Failed

Tucked In

Daily Draw: Da Vinci Tarot ~ Hermit

I look at this card and think, it is pouring rain, it is quiet, I have some delicious projects going, a new stack of books, you couldn't blast me out of this house with dynamite.

Life is good.

"And if they thought her aimless, if they thought her a bit mad, let them. It meant they left her alone." ~  Catherynne M. Valente 1979 Deathless

Unfinishing

Daily Draw: Da Vinci Tarot ~ 5 of Cups/Water

Dimmi: What old patterns cause present loss?

When I was in the midst of cancers and deep depression it was hard for me to even shop for groceries; why bother came to mind. This winter and  spring my mind has moved on from that point. I have my next three or four projects lined out, I'm happy to have my oncology appointments further apart, I'm planning towards a big retreat more than eighteen months away.

I'm reminded by this Unwinding 5 of Cups, it is also easy to fall into an old habit I hoped never to see again. Unfinishing to be specific. As if I have all the time in the world. I don't. None  of us do. Finish need not equal dead but proof of a well lived life.

"Engage your effort to be faithful to your finish." ~ LaShaun Middlebrooks Collier

Kindle

Daily Draw: Da Vinci Enigma Tarot ~ Page of Wands/Fire

Dimmi: What kindles your enthusiasm or passion?

New scenery.
A clear blue sky day, both the frosty ones and hot ones.
A long walk.
A tidy work space.
Dreams.
Immersion in something totally different.

But then what? From that trigger the answer is always, at root, our own brains. That initial kindle requires effort and energy to build up the fire, bring it to life. Some are abandoned, some aborted, a few see the light of day; our best work, worthy of scrutiny. I'm reminded by this Page, life is short, daylight is burning...

Da Vinci Enigma Tarot, St. Martin's Press 2005. Softcover 144 page book Caitlin Matthews. All illustrations from Leonardo Da Vinci's work, credited to dozens of universities and museums.  Many of the majors have been renamed and each card has a Dimmi or 'tell me'.

Noughts And Crosses

Daily Draw: Native American Tarot ~ 2 of Wands

Taking stock, and self talk. Honest to Pete, we can tell ourselves anything and we'll believe it. We can be our own worst critics, and the biggest blowhards that ever walked.

I'm reminded by this card and the masks, much of the wisdom we accrue via life is pointless, while the real stuff lays in the back room of our minds spitting on the floor and playing endless tic-tack-toe games. Humans. Amazing aren't we?

"Wisdom doesn't necessarily come with age. Sometimes age just shows up all by itself." ~ Tom Wilson 1931-1978

Sun As Ball

Daily Draw: Native American Tarot ~ World

The sun, as the ball we chase, in the endless game of life.
Often the big poobah in  pantheons of gods.

In today's hip script:
The sun rolls across the sky like a round and fat cheese
The sun rolls across the tip of the nail and blots it from view
The sun rolls across the sky emitting light and heat and with them life
The orange sun rolls across the skies like a lopped-off head
The winged sun rolls across the sky
The sun rolls across the sky, shadows play off the dirt and trees

"Now when the sun rolls across the sky
And the autumn leaves fall before my eyes
I can see the reason why
I remember how to forget." ` Adrian Belew 1949-

Cedar

Daily Draw: Native American Tarot ~ 5 of Coins

The suit of Coins is signified by nature, in the case of this 5 of Coins, cedar. I first took issue with this card because I've never seen a cedar like this. A google search shows it is possible for a cedar to look more leafy than frondy, and old growth does turn brown and fall off so maybe in the artist's eye this looks and smells and carves and burns like cedar anywhere.

I'm reminded by this card looks aren't everything. Fake blueberries are rampant in food products and few give it a thought. If it tastes and looks like blueberries are you satisfied with that? I'm sure there are many others, but I'm busy avoiding anything marked blueberry... Anyway, cedar is one of the four major medicine plants used in ritual and ceremony, along with sage, sweet grass, and tobacco, whose roots go deep and whose smoke reaches the sky.
I'll give a few of my cedars a hug, for being so beautiful, and useful. What right do I have to ask more of nature?

"Only when the last tree has been cut down
Only when the last river has been poisoned
Only when the last fish has been caught
Only then will you find that money cannot be eaten." ~ Cree Indian Prophecy

Worth The Bother

Daily Draw: Native American Tarot ~ King of Cups

He recognizes emotions are part of the problem, part of the solution.
Not everyone has the wisdom to work that out.

I'm reminded by this card the world would probably be a cleaner clearer place without emotion. But it would also be cold and sterile. Emotions are what make everything else worth the bother.

"When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but creatures of emotion." ~ Dale Carnegie 1888-1955

Delayed Action

Daily Draw: Native American Tarot ~ Knight of Wands

Tomahawk. If we have mentally raised our ax in anger or loss of patience, it is likely it will come down. Like digging our heels into the sides of a horse, it isn't a change your mind mid-stride action.

I'm reminded by this card to wonder why we let something get to this point. We can shrug and lay it off to a busy world, and yes indeed it is, but honestly? As individuals, we aren't that busy. Our computers and phones are proof. A good day to look at our real world and defuse a problem.

"The future isn't what it used to be." ~ Eva Burrows 1921-2015

Shake It Off

Daily Draw: Native American Tarot ~ Queen of Cups

Questing for knowledge, growth, love can turn into a type of hibernation and can move us further rather than closer to our goals.

Often a side chapter in my life. I'm reminded though, when I shake myself awake and get back in the groove I've refilled my well somehow.

"In winter, I plot and plan. In spring, I move." ~ Henry Rollins 1961

Post It Notes

Daily Draw: Native American Tarot ~ Page/Knave of Cups

Practical creativity.

I'm reminded by this card inventing something only three people can use isn't practical. Post It Notes? Practical creativity for all...even if they were an accidental side effect.

"Thinking doesn't seem to help very much. The human brain is too high-powered to have many practical uses in this particular universe." ~ Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. 1922-2007

Native American Tarot, Lo Scarabeo 2004. Deck booklet, Laura Tuan; art by Sergio Tisselli. Suits are Wands, Swords, Chalices, Pentacles. Father Sky and Mother Earth are two extra cards in this deck, 'The utmost favor' is granted when one is drawn.

The Dream and The Reality

Daily Draw: Chinese Tarot ~ 7 of Cups

Go to college, get a degree, successfully support self.
A widespread dream and with intent and effort, achievable.
Ignoring people like me whose crybaby refrain has always been, but we couldn't afford it (didn't even look into it until my 40's) and, I never had a mentor to encourage me, send for the Waaambulance...

I'm reminded by this card of my niece, the first person in our family to actually get a degree, from Heald College in 2012. Which was owned by Corinthian Colleges. The whole works are closed now, leaving current students with the option to pay off exorbitant student loans to keep their college credits, or walk away and have no credits they've worked for count, even those with just a few weeks until graduation. Like everything else those with determination and tenacity will get it worked out. For the dreamers, it will just be one more in a line of disappointments.

"Illusions commend themselves to us because they save us pain and allow us to enjoy pleasure instead. We must therefore accept it without complaint when they sometimes collide with a bit of reality against which they are dashed to pieces." ~ Sigmund Freud 1856-1939

Appreciation

Daily Draw: Chinese Tarot ~ Empress

Abundance. She certainly has an abundance of sleeves. Doubt she has ever washed a car or scrubbed a floor in this get-up. Never mind, there have and will always be people 'above it all'.

I'm reminded by this card, to appreciate abundance at some point we had to recognize and understand lack. One without the other is meaningless.

"Not what we have but what we enjoy, constitutes our abundance." ~ Epicurus  BC 341-270