Horseshoe

Daily Draw: Tea Leaf Fortune Cards ~ Horseshoe

Blessed. Bliss. Gratitude. Lucky. Serendipitous.

I know I am  and I never forget, life is good.

 "You are what you feel." ~ Tim Rice 1944

Out Of The Pan

Daily Draw: Tea Leaf Fortune Cards ~ Frying Pan

Lying to my parents? Can't think of anything more recent than my teens.

I don't know if they believed me, but their acceptance of the lie I was stringing out, and the resulting sticky web, did make me better person, because I wanted to earn that measure of faith.

"Children today are tyrants. They contradict their parents, gobble their food, and tyrannize their teachers." ~ Socrates  470 BC-399 BC

Friends In High Places

Daily Draw: Tea Leaf Fortune Cards ~ Dog

We've seen a lot of this in the last few months in the political arena. America has also been introduced to 'fake news'. Don't believe me, look it up.

Gladiator shows are just that, shows to distract from the bigger thing we should be watching...Dogs are smarter than us, they never lose sight of the basics.

"Is there something wrong with society that's making us so pressurized, that we cannot live without guarding ourselves against it?" ~ John Lennon  1940-1980

Tumbleweeding

Daily Draw: Tea Leaf Fortune Cards ~ Wheel

Allowing life to ramble on, I love it. As I blush...
Our estate isn't complicated, but I need to make a list of things my nephew will deal with. The beginning of the list has been sitting here beside me since spring. Lazy bum.

I told myself I'd finish it while Rob is in Australia..three weeks worth of time. Have I gotten to it?  Might take only an hour to finish?  Nah, I'm just rambling on, oblivious. I'd feel really bad if we got hit by a bus and no one knew where our bits were.  Will I do it today? I doubt it. The real only problem with being retired (LOVE IT) is being able to put stuff off.

"The legendary tumbleweed is really a nurse crop that protects the growth of prairie grasses under its shade, and then it sacrifices itself and blows away." ~ Antoine Predock 1936-

Buttinski

Daily Draw: Victorian Fairy Tarot ~ High Priestess/Seeress

Prescience. Knowing something before it takes place.

I'm not buying it. And Seeress is a weird word.

"Make someone happy today, mind your own business." ~ Ann Landers 1918-2002

Pinned In Opinion

Daily Draw: Victorian Fairy Tarot ~ 8 of Swords/Winter

The author says this portrays a maid beset by rambunctious children. And is unable to chastise them for fear of losing her employment. Pinned in by circumstances.

I'm reminded by this card perhaps my opinion is pinned in. By forty years of books and movies. As I understand it, victorians of wealth basically saw their children to say goodnight. Nanny had control of their behavior and the children were expected to behave like mini-adults. What to believe, what to believe...

"If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales." ~ Albert Einstein 1879-1955

Light Of Knowledge

Daily Draw: Victorian Fairy Tarot ~ Magician/Conjuror

Computers. Always magic to  me. How long have we had Windows 10 now? A year? More?

I'm reminded by this Conjuror, I have disliked the Windows provided daily wallpaper from the beginning. Today instead of my first mad of the day I actually did a search of how to get rid of their wallpaper and sign in.  Start. Settings. Personalization. Lockscreen. Turn off. What magic!

"Don't think he knows about second breakfast, Pip."
"What about elevenses? Luncheon? Afternoon tea? Dinner? Supper? He knows about them, doesn't he?"
"I wouldn't count on it." ~ Merry and Pippin

Brown Brain Stew

Daily Draw: Victorian Fairy Tarot ~ King of Cups/Summer

There are acres of things to write about this King. But what I see in this card is the simple and complete knowledge that 'today is a perfect day'.

I'm reminded by this card when I have one of those jewels I try to specifically imprint it on my mind so I can pull it up at will. Particular days are so easily lost in the maw of the mind + time and become inevitable brain brown stew.


"A memory is what is left when something happens and does not completely unhappen." ~ Edward de Bono 1933-2009

Rebirth

Daily Draw: Victorian Fairy Tarot ~ Judgement/Awakening

Self Judgement.

The cruelest judge of all.

"Human beings are not born once and for all on the day their mothers give birth to them, but ... life obliges them over and over again to give birth to themselves." ~ Gabriel García Márquez 1927-2014

Absinthe vs Water

Daily Draw: Victorian Fairy Tarot ~ Temperance

Absinthe. I actually did the bulk volume of my drinking before I achieved legal drinking age. Crazy. What a mess I was. No temperance at all. But long ago I decided if I was taking in calories I wanted to chew them not knock 'em back.

All that said to say, I was in a licensed liquor store a few years ago with a friend and was gobstopped at the selections that probably weren't even invented when I was drinking. All the old suspects, Rum, Whiskey, Vodka, now come in a myriad of flavors and they all sounded good.  I could have been tempted...if I could chew them...

"Anti-alcoholics are unfortunates in the grip of water, that terrible poison, so corrosive that out of all substances it has been chosen for washing and scouring." ~ Alfred Jarry 1873-1907

Seasonal Beverages

Daily Draw: Victorian Fairy Tarot ~ Seven of Coins/Autumn

Who knew fairy folk have seasonal beverages? Primrose cordial, honey mead, currant wine, and icy distillations of berries. The small creatures who populate the Redwall series also create and lay aside a cellar full of liquid gifts from nature.

I'm reminded by this card of laying up provisions for later, one of my favorite things is having something specific to look forward to. Today? A lady is coming to buy some of my quilt room tools I can no longer use. She is buying them outright, but I told her I'd much rather barter for cotton scraps.  Maybe she will bringing some!

"This is a work of fiction. All the characters in it, human and otherwise, are imaginary, excepting only certain of the fairy folk, whom it might be unwise to offend by casting doubts on their existence. Or lack thereof."  ~ Neil Gaiman 1960-

Snoozing

Daily Draw: Victorian Fairy Tarot ~ Page/Herald of Swords/Winter

This Herald announces the seasonal divide of autumn and winter, coins and swords, flush and skint. Can we begin to appreciate the difference?

I'm reminded by this Herald At least 46% of US debt is held by foreign governments, China and Japan each hold about 8% of our trillions of debt. Does it mean our social security checks, medicare and medicaid payments, federal employee paychecks, every swipe of low income EBT cards, the billions spent on wars, is not paid from our taxes and withholdings? Oops. Winter is upon us and we snooze on.

"Ignorance is not bliss, it is oblivion." ~  Philip Wylie 1902-1971

Survivor

Daily Draw: Victorian Fairy Tarot ~ Knight of Coins/Autumn

Practical advice. The first thing I heard about Rob's uncle Elmer was that he had his money in three different banks. Having no money at all I thought he must be fantastically rich.

This Knight reminds me it didn't cross my mind to question the concept until some years later when I recognized they were children of the 1930's depression, when banks failed and Americans were starving. Edie and Elmer lived their whole lives with that event shadowing every single thing they did, just as my own grandparents did. Wild game in the freezer, pantry and root cellar full of the results of their work in their garden. They were rich. I wish I'd listened harder.

"I’m of flesh and blood hearing distant melodies
somewhere way back behind the leafless tree,
the chicken coop, or root cellar,
where survival is stored for cold and wintered summers,
when breath’s rejection remains constant.

I’ll smell yesterdays forever,
for death’s rancid decay never settles,
under-tarp dankness forever stays in my hair,
and once fragrant flowers are but memory.

I’ve tasted it all,
the Red Cross coffee,
the trashcan discards,
the airdrop packets,
and even the occasional meal, but most of the time,
the longing bile of my emptiness."

Survivor Hope Chests ~ Odin Roark, Poemhunter

Degrees Of Shelter

Daily Draw: Victorian Fairy Tarot ~ 4 of Swords/Winter

Caught in a storm, he has tucked in tight among the roots and pulled his wings around him. Small comfort but better than in the open on a sheet of ice.

Maybe family are staying over and all the kids get blankets on the floor. Or he has flounced out of the house and cut his nose off to spite his face. Or he is lost. Or addictions have put him on the road. Or he is alone and homeless, there is a lot of that going around. Everywhere. I can barely imagine how bad it must be at home, for someone to leave it. I'm grateful for all my shelters over the years. And I say "hello house" coming in and "thank you house" when I leave. On the other hand, Rob left home for good at thirteen...

"As day is to a sword, night is to a shield." ~  Anthony Liccione

Degree Of Wealth

Daily Draw: Victorian Fairy Tarot ~ 5 of Coins/Autumn

No matter what we have or need, someone else will have more or a greater need.

I'm reminded by this card it may be hard to be rich; there is a whole world of having and need we can't even contemplate.

"A dark little tale about a man who found a magic cup and learned that if he wept into the cup, his tears turned into pearls. But even though he had always been poor, he was a happy man and rarely shed a tear. So he found ways to make himself sad so that his tears could make him rich." ~ Khaled Hosseini  1964-  The Kite Runner

Second Nature

Daily Draw: Victorian Fairy Tarot ~ 9 of Wands/Spring

Here he is, ensconced in his personal pleasure palace. A lifetime of the study of nature has become his own second nature.

I'm reminded by this card true passions seldom wane, the excitement is in turning over a leaf and behold, another angle. Todays new thing. When loading the card image I noticed two new buttons, an emoticon/symbols, and a torn paper. There must be thousands of the first, the second has me stumped, I had to delete my first post in order to get rid of it.  Life, always a new reason to get out of bed.

"Instead of the word 'love' there was an enormous heart, a symbol sometimes used by people who have trouble figuring out the difference between words and shapes." ~ Lemony Snicket   The Carnivorous Carnival

Free From Restraint

Daily Draw: Victorian Fairy Tarot ~ Emperor

The Emperor of Japan is currently the only person holding this title. The title is equal only to the pope and differs from king/queen/president in that the position is free from restraint.

I'm reminded by this card my skin always crawls when I draw it.

"You'll get nothing, and like it!" ~ Judge Smails Caddyshack

Hermitude

Daily Draw: Victorian Fairy Oracle ~ Hermit

I've never seen the Hermit portrayed as a wise man, only as a lone seeker of understanding.

I'm reminded by this card, even the highest mensa member would not flourish in solitude. I guard my quiet time zealously but I know better than to dwell here too long. I stepped outside my hermitude and went to a living with cancer seminar yesterday, and learned or was reminded of many important things. My oncologist was the keynote speaker.  It was quite refreshing to speak with him while not wearing a johnnie, the classic peek-and-shriek one size fits no one gown.

"How else do you learn anything, how else do you take your mind for a walk?" ~ Stephen Fry 1957-

Retired

Daily Draw: Sacred Geometry ~ Sanctuary

Short and sweet. Being retired.

Slow Dance To Dust

Daily Draw: Sacred Geometry ~ Stone Stories

As such things can be dated, the oldest petroglyphs, named Bhimbetka, are at least 290,000 years old.  The oldest continually printed newspaper is the London Gazette dating from 1666.

All that said to say, were the cave drawings meant to muddy the water? Lead enemies astray? Skew and spin yellow journalism? Big fat stories told by old men? Something to amuse the deplorables? That includes every single human, the trainable flea circus, always destined to dance, always making the slow trajectory to dust.

"The doctors huddle up and then call in a flea flicker." ~ Duran Duran  911 Is A Joke

Squirmy Bits

Daily Draw: Sacred Geometry Cards ~ Together We Fly

And together we fall. Together we create and together we tear down.

As I look at this beautiful card I'm reminded each generation thinks they invented teenage sex.  Or drugs. Or music. Or anger. And I remember there is nothing new under the sun. And if dark squirmy bits are wiggling, all the better to see them. On the other hand,

"There is nothing so wretched or foolish as to anticipate misfortune." ~ Seneca 4 BC-65AD

Excavating and Honing

Daily Draw: Sacred Geometry Cards ~ Owl Guardian

Do I need an owl guardian? If I take more than a cursory look in the faceted background will I find the inner me untethered, unformed, uncaring?

 I'm reminded by this card, letting go of all the usual suspects from shaman to pastor to cult to pope I gifted myself clarity to see my fool capering, my hermit turning away, my temperance balancing, the light and dark side of my own moon. Parts of me will no doubt always remain untethered, unformed, uncaring. So each day I begin where I left off, excavating and honing.

"Earth is an insane asylum, to which the other planets deport their lunatics." ~ Voltaire 1694-1778

Delight

Daily Draw: Sacred Geometry Cards ~ Garden of Delights

If we don't like what today offers us we need to make our own Garden of Delights

I'm reminded by this card,  after this post is written, I'm turning off the computer. We don't have a tv nor do we take the paper. I shall see no, speak no, hear no uproar or conflict, lies or dirt. I am making my own peaceful garden.

"Birds sing after a storm; why shouldn't people feel as free to delight in whatever remains to them?" ~ Rose F. Kennedy 1890-1995

Oak Creek Canyon

Daily Draw: Sacred Geometry Cards ~ Faces of Angkor

Is particular space sacred before people come, or does the use of the space make it sacred? Or is all space sacred and we are so jaded we seldom notice or open to its power ?

I'm reminded by this card of Oak Creek Canyon near Sedona Arizona. I was traveling with a medicine woman from the Cherokee blue clan. We were driving around goggling as tourists when she said "Stop!", jumped out of the car and disappeared into the woods. I pulled out my busy bag and sat in the sun working on a quilt block. Then the hair on the back of my neck began to rise followed by the hair on my head. That was sign enough for me so I put my block away and walked the area with respectful intent.  Twenty years later I can still mentally put myself instantly in that place. And that is everything I know about nature's sacred spaces.

"Your sacred space is where you can find yourself again and again." ~ Joseph Campbell  1904-1987

Boulder vs. Water

Daily Draw: Sacred Geometry Cards ~ Healing Waters

Based on the seven pools of the Flowers of Life Falls in old Hawaii. In my Rorschach inkblot I spy a low footed goblet whose contents are divided then reformed to flow over the woman underneath. Doing what the falls have always been used for, cleanse and heal.

Being the boulder rather than the water was the path I started down a few years ago. I turned into my own personal assailant, every ready to poke, prod, and peel myself. It was a bitter, dangerous, black place, where my own mind was the enemy...until I decided to become the water, let it all go. Again and again and again.

"Letting go may sound so simple, but rarely is it a one-time thing. Just keep letting go, until one day it’s gone for good." ~ Eleanor Brownn  Mile 9

Idea With Shoots

Daily Draw: Moon Oracle ~ Idea

Bright idea/bad idea/recycled idea? Months ago my doctor insisted I try a depression Rx once again.  I gave up on those about four years ago, but she was insistent and I didn't want to see a shrink.  After a couple of weeks I felt better than I had in years, I absolutely couldn't believe how well I felt.

Except for screaming myself awake every night. But I remember those few golden days when I felt so good. I've been working with that Rx for months, different amounts taken different times, result being, anything over 5mg results in waking up screaming. Which is not a listed side effect.
Yesterday I read through three pages of info on the Rx, again, and what did I find buried on page three? St. Johns Wart..with a full paragraph of why it and SSRIs shouldn't be taken together. St.John now demoted to cupboard. This SSRI, another chance.

A lot of words to say if we have a idea with potential, keep nibbling away at it, it might become the good result we envision.

Cosset The Volcano

Daily Draw: Moon Oracle ~ Volcano

I drew this card Wednesday and put it back. Didn't want to know didn't want to think. Doesn't apply to me. And here it is again.

I'm reminded by this card the volcano, the tower, aren't always connected to something falling out of the aether crushing heart mind spirit.  It works the opposite way too...we cosset the volcano, we keep pushing until the tower goes over.  Or deliberate inaction causes it. And our defense is "wasn't nothing to do with me".

 "A politician thinks of the next election; a statesman thinks of the next generation." ~ James Freeman Clarke 1810-1888

The Daily Recipe

Daily Draw: Moon Oracle ~ Hecate

Hecate has been known as Dog of the Moon, the dog was her sacred animal, she was associated with the dog star Sirius, the two dogs shown here represent the pack she always had with her. What caught my eye this morning though was the three stages of the moon headdress.

I'm reminded by this card I try to live in the today, but if we are alive our life is swept by a rolling state of flux, often associated with the stage of the moon. The moment we are in colors the others and the cycles vary through the course of our day. Honestly? I wouldn't have it any other way. My past is who I am, and the future is open to conjecture. Life is a kick, today is another opportunity to move along, hay foot straw foot.

"There seems to be a kind of order in the universe, in the movement of the stars and the turning of the earth and the changing of the seasons, and even in the cycle of human life. But human life itself is almost pure chaos." ~ Katherine Anne Porter 1890-1980

Passion, Withered

Daily Draw: Moon Oracle ~ Passion

The need to reach or see the outcome. We've probably all got one of these buds about something. With quilters it is usually seeing a quilt to its actual finish, bound and covering someone with love.

I'm reminded by this card of love itself, for anyone or anything, and the long term passion required to keep up the care and maintenance required for its survival. Withered love is one of the saddest things I can think of.

"The need for devotion to something outside ourselves is even more profound than the need for companionship. If we are not to go to pieces or wither away, we must have some purpose in life; for no man can live for himself alone." ~ Ross Parmenter 1912-1999  The Awakened Eye 

Get Cracking

Daily Draw: Moon Oracle ~ Impulse

I am ruthlessly divesting quilting tools I can't use anymore, or don't use anymore, from my quilt room.  This is a good thing, I'm even ahead of my plan, nearly finished with the task already. The last most difficult part is the two shelving units over the sewing machine. I took a basket of things to the Goodwill drop off yesterday. Just so I wouldn't put it all back.

I'm reminded by this card of impulsiveness it isn't all pain. I like working in a well ordered space. In an A-frame house even ordered can appear to be cluttered because alternatives to cupboards and drawers need to be created. I want my pink flamingos back. Sigh. I know myself so well. Better gone.

"Be steady and well-ordered in your life so that you can be fierce and original in your work." ~ Gustave Flaubert 1821-1880