Stalked by the Emperor

I've drawn the Emperor again today, so it looks like a good time to try a 'stalker card' spread. I've used Angelorum's before, so I've chosen the one at Over the Moon Oracle Cards.

To get the six cards for this reading, I decided to shuffle the Emperor back into the deck, then find him again and use the six following cards to fill in the blanks (another recent stalker, Temperance, turns up in a key position, and 9 of Pentacles make a comeback as well!):

Dear Carla, 

When I show up in your daily draw, I'm giving you a message about the way you see the world, the way you are searching for 'completion'. You've got your face turned away from the real story. You're using me to try to create the world you think you want. 

I'm here to show you what's happening. You are seeking a 'happily ever after' outcome, searching for whatever it is 'other' people have that makes them appear contented. I want you to find your own balance in this life. I want you to take the good with the bad, because no amount of preparation is going to keep the bad from happening. But you can cope. Life is a mix of both, that's the formula, that's how it is meant to be. It doesn't work otherwise. Keep letting them mix together, shake them up good, that's how to find what you seek. 

When I appear, I am asking you to release your desire to feel competent and secure all the time. You have been using some of my qualities to get those feelings, but you have lost the balance. There is more to me than power to control. 

I want you to acknowledge all that you have accomplished in your life, and to revel in what you have now. I want you to be content in this present moment. I want you to realise that you already have as much security as you will ever have, and it is enough. It is no less than anyone else has in this life. 

When you see me, it's time to practice unconditional acceptance of everything. Find your connection to this life, and to other people! Be guided by your heart, trust your inner sense of what is true, not your fears of what might be unless you make lots of rules. When you see me, it is time to practice the opposite of the me you think you know. It is time to release, and to connect. 

Sincerely,

The Emperor  

Hey ho, he's telling me the same thing he told me yesterday. Tarot is so patient that way. It just keeps pointing you in the direction you need to be looking.

Today I can let go of trying to control the outcome of a certain thing by staying off certain websites and not dwelling on a certain event that happening next week. Instead, I can focus on enjoying my current situation, the freedom of the day, the luxury of a Sunday, and I can phone my mother (I just remembered it's mother's day in the US.)

Do you have a stalker card? What do you think it's trying to tell you? It will send you a letter of explanation if you ask!

We three kings

I won't say anything more than this: there's a house that appeared today that ticks a lot of boxes. The vendor isn't showing it until Tuesday, and we have made an appointment for the afternoon.

I asked a friend about it, (a very skilled and knowledgeable friend) and she drew the above cards, with this note:

"I drew Paths, Tree, Fish, Lily and House. This is a healthy location, an older house (Lily House). Fish in the middle -- if you have the finance the house is yours. You have three sequential kings in that! = Plans work out. Good luck!"

 Needless to say, this thrilled me. A candle has been lit, an intention set. Roll on, Tuesday!

The Emperor's new pants

I hardly ever draw the Emperor. He is a bit maligned, but I rather like him. To me, he represents order, structure, and civilization. He's that aspect of the Father, whereas the Magician and the Hierophant represent other aspects of the Father...

But why is he here today? He looks rather formidable.

James Ricklef to the rescue again:

'When we release our need for control and allow the Divine to be the Emperor in our lives instead, we find our way toward peace. This does not mean we should never make plans; it just means we should not worry about them. It doesn't mean we should not work toward or goals; it just means that we should do what we can and then realise that the results will unfold as they are meant to...In other words, when we try to control life here in the material world, it can be like trying to control shadows without realising where they come from' (The Soul's Journey: Finding Spiritual Messages in the Tarot, 26). 

How have my preparations and arrangements been controlling my life? How has this been a self-made trap? How can I become more flexible? How can I allow uncertainty and ambiguity enter my understanding of things? How can I allow 'maybe' and 'I'm not sure' into my vocabulary?

First I must allow that things that my arrangements and preparations had defined as impossible might actually be possible. This entails letting go of particular beliefs. It requires a completely new way of looking at the same issues. It involves risk -- or rather, what feels like risk, because it is outside of the boundaries of a self-imposed 'safe' area.

The Emperor doesn't like that, look at his face. But he'll just have to get glad in the same pants he got mad in.

4 of Pentacles: Filling the Void

Questions from Mary K Greer's 'Tarot for Yourself':

What is keeping you centred? What are your greatest strengths? How are you powerful? What gives you a sense of security? What do you want to hold on to or possess? Who or what do you need to protect? 

I last drew this card nearly a month ago, so I linked to it in the 'Featured Post' to the right.

I do draw this card rather frequently, and it is quite true that stability and security are very important to me. You could perhaps say they are an obsession to me. Material possessions are not that important, but security is. Stability is. Spending makes me feel that I'm putting myself in danger, always has. I've always looked upon everything in terms of how many hours it took me to earn the money that paid for it. I drop a teapot and say, 'It took me half a day to earn the money that bought that and now I've broken it.' Or I might justify a purchase by saying to myself, 'That is only fifteen minutes of work.' I'm a scrimper and saver and my little hoard makes me feel safe, in the same way I feel satisfied knowing there are several tins of baked beans and plenty of rice and pasta in the pantry -- we won't starve. Not that I ever have starved (though when I was in uni I remember living for a week on a box of Cheerios, so I guess your definition of starving may vary.)

I've never considered myself materialistic because I don't feel the need to keep stuff and frequently have clear-outs where I give away or donate loads of accumulated things, and I am not bothered about flash cars or prime real estate. Still, even though my security blanket may be less flash than some, I suppose my grasping need for feeling safe is a type of materialism. There are more ways to feel secure and stable than a certain amount of cash in the bank or number of cans in the pantry, but these are two of the coping mechanisms I've developed.

Wanting to take a closer look at this today, I have turned to James Ricklef's 'The Soul's Journey: Finding Spiritual Messages in the Tarot'.

The question becomes, 'How much do we have to have in order to find peace and happiness?' and the problem is that for many of us, the answer is generally, 'More!' But if you have your basic needs met so that you do not have to worry about them, then you do not need more money to become happy; you need more stability within. 

This I quite agree with. If I were interested in acquiring a lot of money, I would have pursued a more lucrative career, I would be more of a go-getter in that way. I don't really crave money so much as stability, so let's see what more he has to say:

Through practices like meditation, mindful living, and spiritual devotion, you can create inner stability and find a place of refuge within where you will find peace and security in times of turbulence and anxiety. So a spiritual practice is like putting money into a savings account when times are good so that it will be there to carry you through when times get tough. 

I agree with this statement and have lived firsthand this experience of a meditation practice serving me well in times of trouble. And it is true that money in the bank was not my biggest concern at that time -- though of course that could have been because there was some money in the bank!

Here's the sentence that stands out strongest to me today:

We each have our own dysfunctional ways of filling the void that is not really there... 

'...when the real solution is to work on rediscovering our true divine nature, which does make us whole.'

It's not wrong to want security or even to be materialistic. It's not wrong to be rich. It's not virtuous to be poor. The 4 of Pentacles reminds us to examine our deepest needs for security and stability. Where do they come from? How are they affecting our decision making? Our anxiety level? Our overall enjoyment of our lives? Do we need to inspect and challenge the behaviours we have developed in order to feel secure and stable?

I think maybe we do.

Is this the house for us?

Can you believe it, there's a house we like!

Hubby's questions:

Is it structurally sound? 
What are the neighbours like? 
What will parking be like? 
Will we be peaceful and comfortable there? 

My questions:

What do we need to know that the seller may not be telling us?
How much work will we have to do to it after we move in? 
What is day to day life in the neighborhood really like? 
Is this the right house for us? 


And I drew:

Now I'd trust a survey over a tarot card reading, but 8 of Swords for "Is it structurally sound?" does bring you up a bit short. At the very least, it reminds me that an intellectual assessment of the situation is going to be better than an emotional one. I drew another card to clarify and got Ace of Swords! So yes, I believe the card is telling me to be sure to get a good survey done, because my own assessment will not be worth much.

Looks like the neighbours are good folk who also want to be happy, so that's good.

For parking we've got a guy looking at wide open spaces, so perhaps this means parking will be available, though maybe not three steps from the door!

9 of Wands for "Will we be peaceful and comfortable there?" Well, home ownership has challenges, and it will be a learning curve for us for sure. So I drew a clarifier and got 9 of Cups -- two nines! and this one shows it will be an emotionally fulfilling situation, even though it has challenges.

The seller may not be telling us something about a struggle they've overcome, and they might even be moving to get away from it, but as long as they've sorted it out before they left, that shouldn't be too bad. We can but hope that the survey will pick up whatever it is.

After we move in, it looks like the house will mainly need routine maintenance and responsible home ownership. It is after all, over 100 years old.

Day to day life in the neighbourhood is represented by 3 of Cups, so while it is generally happy, it may be a bit boisterous perhaps? I suppose living in a house may entail more interactions with our neighbours than we're used to? I'm hoping it doesn't mean drunken carousers up and down the street all night!

Is this the right house for us? 6 of Pentacles. It is the right house for us as far as balancing our finances, for sure. Being recently updated, all things up to code, and more or less completely redone on the inside, it sits comfortably in our budget.

If we make an offer on this house, will it be accepted? - 9 of Pentacles

ETA:

The house opens straight onto the street, what if any problems is this going to present?  - Knight of Pentacles - 8 of Pentacles - Chariot -- Cars getting in and out for work? Though it may also suggest planning to build a little vestibule in the front room (but I don't know how the Chariot works into that one!)

How easy will it be to resell if we decide to move? -- 8 of Pentacles - Hanged Man - Wheel of Fortune -- Maybe not that easy, but it's a crap shoot. 8 of Pentacles turns up again, I see.

Should we buy this house? Or should we wait and keep looking? 9 of Wands for buying, 5 of Wands for wait and keep looking. Neither one seems much better than the other, does it? If we buy we may wonder if we've done the right thing, if we keep looking we're in a competitive market...

It's a good thing I don't make big life decisions based on a tarot card reading -- and I don't recommend that anyone should!