Emerging from heartbreak

Tarot of the Spirit by P Eakins 

'Saturn in Libra
Meat to Bone to Earth to Meat
Evolution, Understanding, and Science
the infant rises, takes a life of its own
grief in rejecting the cradle
and yet
it must be done
Thy Will be done.'
--Tarot of the Spirit companion book, p169

Three of Swords, or Three of Wind as it is known in Tarot of the Spirit, is called 'Recognition'. It has only a touch of the RWS 'heartbreak' meaning. It is more concerned with breaking out of the cocoon of old thought and habits. The companion book points out that the swords on left and right have wings unfolding, like moth wings, wet and fresh from the cocoon, emerging from the darkness and getting ready to fly. I like the fact that the three swords have only one hilt. When they do take off, they will fly in the same direction. Or maybe the hilt will drop away completely -- who's to say? 

What new knowing or fresh direction could this card, as a daily draw, be pointing to today? Or could it be picking up on the general feeling lately -- of chucking out the old (I've culled a lot of old clothes and gone and bought new ones, which may not sound like much, but I never bother with clothes, I just wear whatever.) A sentence jumped out at me from the companion book: 'Old shells must be abandoned. There is no use for that which is too small. Concentrate on the new. Concentrate on the positive.' So yeah, all the clothes I've thrown out are too small. Very literal! :) I've also done something truly uncharacteristic and in the space of a week reorganised my routine a bit in order to travel by myself to Witchfest 2015. I've never been. So this is a new experience, a big adventure for me. I'm looking forward to it. 

I wore one of my new smocks and a pair of boots that I -- can you believe this -- impulsively stopped in Clark's and bought on the walk home -- yesterday. Hubby took a few snaps because someone asked to see the new clothes I've been buying. I'm also letting my hair grow out, thus the clippy. 

I've been in a year-long slump because of some not-at-all-good things that happened  last year, and I have pretty much worn the same 2 pairs of trousers and three shirts all year. Just did not care at all. In the last week, I've been digging out old jewelry, cleaning it up. Buying things with colour and pattern. It's a good sign. 

Have a great Monday! 

Summer Solstice Reading

A reading for Summer Solstice. I found this spread at a blog called Indigo Spirit Tarot. It seemed like a nice spread, so I thought I'd try it out here as my Summer Solstice reading. 

1

2 ............... 3

4 ..... SUN..... 5

6 ............... 7

8

1. Live with passion. Embrace the power of the Sun.

2. Upcoming possibilities. The door to success is opened by...

3. Time to play. Enjoy this gift.

4. Time to be serious.

5. Welcome advice.

6. Beware what lies in the shadows.

7. How to improve, now that you're aware. 

8. A burden lifted. Let it go.

I've chosen to read with Tarot Illuminati (Erik C Dunne, 2013) because -- what's more appropriate on Summer Solstice than a little illumination? 

1. Embrace the Sun - Princess of Swords. 'If the Princess of Swords is anything,' writes Kim Huggens in Complete Guide to Tarot Illuminati, 'she is firstly the power of invention and secondly of revolution.' 

2. Upcoming possibilities - Five of Swords. We often look at this card as indicating defeat, but there's no reason not to sometimes see ourselves as the ones having the upper hand. Kim Huggens supports this, writing, 'If the other cards around it are positive and supportive, it suggests the querent has a unique advantage in the situation and they need to make the most of it.' 

3. Enjoy this gift - Eight of Wands. This card suggests that whatever I start in the coming months will progress swiftly. I have the gift of fast movement and swift progress. 'Often this card indicates that the querent will be involved in a number of events that could be described as synchronicity, carrying them forward in a series of coincidences that they could never have expected,' Huggens writes. 

4. Time to be serious - Ace of Pentacles. Time to be serious about good hard graft, and reminds me to cultivate, process and make use of all my resources to be applied in each situation. I'm seeing it as saying don't get ahead of yourself. Be methodical. First things first. 

5. Welcome advice - The Empress. The Empress advises me to nurture myself, my life, my surroundings, my projects, and other people. She advises me to indulge my creative impulses, which, like childbirth, require sometimes painful effort to reap the rewards. 

6. Beware what lies in the shadows - 3 of Swords. Huggens makes an interesting point about this card. It is not the card of personal heartbreak, which is better reflected in 5 of Cups. Rather, this card represents the suffering of existence, 'the profound sadness felt when seeing the state of the world and the suffering of mankind,' as Huggens puts it. It represents existential angst, a feeling with which I am quite familiar. 

7. How to improve, now that you're aware - Death. I suppose few cards confront and dispel existential angst as effectively as the Death card. Acceptance. 

8. Let it go - Five of Pentacles.  'Worry is a self-destructive behaviour that perpetuates the cycle of lack and loss,' writes Huggens. 'It keeps us firmly in the past or in the future, and never in the present: we rarely worry about this moment, right now; we only ever worry about something that has happened in the past or what may or may not happen in the future. As such, worry does not allow us to take proper action in the present.' So clearly I need to let go of worry about lack, loss, deprivation, hardship, instability, etc. 

Interesting.

Very apt

It's the Three of Orbs (3 of Swords) today from Sirian Starseed. It's also Day 3 since my trauma. I woke up this morning feeling sick and crying. Thankfully, yesterday I went to the GP and was given beta blockers and valium and that controls the anxiety enough that I can actually think rationally.

'Through the dark hour of the soul, when all appears to be dim, and the mind's eye is clouded to the vision of the higher purpose of difficult or painful experiences in life, the light of understanding is within your grasp. The card invites us to conquer the mind's focus on pain and loss, and look to the light, where we can transform our thoughts to acceptance and forward motion.' ~Patricia Cori, LWB

And some really penetrating questions:

What core beliefs or convictions have to be let go of?
How can you accept the pain of your loss and learn from it? 
What fear of separation or infidelity is causing you to suffer? 

I can't share with you the answer to those questions, but I can say that this card strikes deeply where I am at this moment. These are good questions for journaling, I think. Or just for sitting and pondering.

The Indigo Angel card for today:

Another lightning card, interesting. The LWB advises: You're extremely sensitive and can unknowingly absorb a lot of negative energy. This limits your understanding. Step away temporarily and connect with this beautiful planet. 

A walk would probably do me good at that. I may do that. But first I have to coax myself out of my bathrobe and bleary valium-induced haze (and don't think I'm not grateful for that haze right now). 

Musings on the Celtic Tarot: Swords

Suit of Swords--Celtic Tarot, Davis  

The first thing I notice about this suit is the arcing of lightning or electricity and its various manifestations throughout. You can see the first stirrings of it on the tip of the sword in the Ace, then the big spark jumping between sword tips in the Two. It's gone in the Three, but beginning to whirl up again behind the swords in the Four, goes a little crazy in the Five, shoots a clear steady beam in the Six, becomes a full on power storm in the Seven, then is pretty much gone in Eight, Nine and Ten. The background of those cards also appears a deeper red. Why? Looking closer, you can see that there is a ball of energy in Eight, a few glimmering pinpoints in Nine, and a few even smaller ones in Ten. Curious...what could it mean?

Mercury is in retrograde

What will that mean for the rest of this week?

Okay, looks like some disappointment, then, and possibly rainy weather. Well, that's appropriate, as it's been raining and is in the forecast. :)

In this card, Apollo grieves for the loss of his mortal friend, Hyacinth. Apparently, Apollo and Hyacinth enjoyed playing sport together, and Zephyr got jealous, so when Apollo threw a discus, Zephyr blew it off course, striking Hyacinth in the head, killing him. Nice!

The 3 of Swords usually does indicate heartbreak, grieving or disappointment of some kind. I won't be surprised if when I get to work I find that the entire network server is down. Typical mercury retrograde type stuff!

Today's card was drawn from the Sol Invictus Tarot, by Kim Huggens and Nic Phillips. Now watch me get rained on on my walk to work! ;)