Have a happy Easter everyone!
Hoppy Easter
On Belief, and the Purple Flame
Shadow work is what we do when we look at the dark side of our Selves, when we work with what needs to be cleared out, healed, sorted, clarified etc.
A very powerful tool for Shadow Work is the Purple Flame, or Spirit Fire. I’ll write more about it in another post at some point, but essentially, Spirit Fire is the hottest substance in the universe, and is capable of burning away not only physical but spirit injuries, darknesses, uglinesses and murkinesses. Where the White Light blasts pure Spirit Energy into a person (spirit, astral body, and physical body alike), the Purple Flame can burn away negativity, sorrow, resentment, as well as (with patience) physical pain and illness. Yes, it is that powerful. Energy healers can wash their hands in it during and after a healing session to remove any impurities.
According to sources, when we leave this life and go through the Gate, some of us choose to have a shower or a bath in the Spirit Fire to rid ourselves of the overbearing sadnesses or baggage we bring with us from the life just past.
Belief, on the other hand:
You need to understand the fabric of Belief.
Belief is an energy. It is an energy that we bestow on others and the Universe bestows on us, to enable us or them to do those extraordinary things, be those extraordinary people.
If we pray, we are asking for the ability to do something. The Infinite answers by sending Belief; which activates the ability in us that we asked for. The courage, the drive, the will – all get activated and energized by Belief. And we can do this for others: By believing in someone, we activate in them the ability to be that amazing person, do those amazing things we can envision. Will they however do them? We don’t know that. That part is up to them.
It is so important to believe in children. A baby believes in herself, when she tries to stand, first only a split second before she sits down suddenly again; then is able to stand longer and longer as her leg muscles strengthen; then eventually without holding onto something as her balance improves; then, the first two tentative steps, and back down onto her bum, but up she gets again…
… do the adults watching in fascination not anticipate her walking? If all of them were to tell her (and babies can understand words and sentiments) “aw forget it, you’ll never get that right”, what would the impact be? Nobody would dream of doing that to a baby! Yet a scant 6 years later, adults start telling kids to stop dreaming, be realistic, forget about growing up to be an astronaut, or a film star, and focus on your math. This chorus of disbelief gets louder and louder until adults have literally discouraged a young person from doing anything special whatsoever that they (the adults) can’t envision themselves doing. Being a ballet dancer? Wait for it, here comes the unlicensed criticism. Are you a young musician, artist or writer? Wait for the ridicule, the disparagement at a flat note, a wobble in the pirouette, or a clumsily expressed paragraph. But, why do we do this?
Why would an adult who would never dream of laming their child on purpose, withhold belief and on the contrary, use unfair criticism to suck the self-belief out of the very marrow of their child, effectively disabling them? Do they even realize what they are doing? Do they realize that by speaking those harsh words, they are injuring the child or young person’s heart in sometimes irreversible ways?
It is only the lack of understanding that leads to this insane sabotage. Lack of understanding what BELIEF actually is.
BELIEF is a force. It is the force by which we can enable or energize someone to be amazing. To bring out the genius in someone.
Wait for the level-up:
FAITH is belief on steroids.
Let’s say someone talks of an ambitious project (“I want to build a house purely on Neolithic principles, using only what I can find in nature and what I can produce myself.”)
Saying “I believe in you, you can do this!” is energizing the *potential* in the person. It is providing energy for the idea, boosting it.
Saying, “I have faith that you’ll do this” is providing both the energy for the idea, plus a rock-solid certainty that the project is in fact already done and only needs to be carried out on the physical plane now.
When the adults watched the baby struggle to her feet and eventually take her first steps, did they ever doubt she would learn to walk? Not at all! They watched in complete FAITH; this toddler will be walking any moment now, she only has to figure it out. It is already done.
Which is why I love closing my rituals and spells with “So mote it be; it is done, it is done, it is DONE!”
… would love your thoughts in the comments below.
I drew the Devil!
A few days back a card jumped jumped out of my pack as the First Card to jump out. Normally to me the First Card is a very important card, but when I glanced what it was, I quickly reassembled it into the deck and asked the deck for the same message in kinder “words”. (Nine of Swords resulted.) The First Card was: The Devil.
There are two cards that many Tarot readers dread drawing. (For me, there are a couple more than only those two but I’ll get into that some other time.) These are:
Death, and the Devil.
Even positioning the card for the photo, my heart is still racing. I take Tarot lightly, playfully; I’m but the conduit, not the message! But somehow this card manages to rattle me.
But today, doing some Shadow Work, it hit me. I’ve been trapped in a lot of old thinking patterns, stuck in the past in a way. Today is a gorgeous day, mottled sunlight, the white flowers are everywhere (Spring in Ireland is like a bridal party, everything is in white “lace” flowers). Today is a new day, a fresh day, wide open, the possibilities are almost endless. And here am I, stuck in yesterday in my head.
The Devil Card
… is not so much about the actual Devil. (Wiccans do not believe in the embodiment of evil in the same way that some other spiritual directions do.) It is more about what traps you, what keeps you chained to something that makes you unhappy. In the card, a couple is depicted chained, and the Devil ruling over them.
When I asked the deck to throw me the same message in a different card, out came Nine of Swords; the poor Noblewoman with all the terrible threats hanging over her head. So trapped in fear and despondency she couldn’t move or think.
A friend of mine has a feisty life attitude: “There is always a way, and where there is a way, there is a better way”. That’s a very effective attitude if you are staring down some problems.
The opposite of that would be the Devil Card, keeping us trapped in our own paradigms. But ask yourself:
“Am I the first person ever to experience this situation?”
With 8.5 billion people on Earth, clearly not – so how have others solved it?
About “Dread” Cards
Typically, the two most “dreaded” cards are Death, and the Devil. (There is a mesmerizing Tarot scene in the opening scene of the third act of Carmen, where the gypsies draw Tarot cards to predict their own futures, and Carmen draws the Death Card – as we know, the opera ends with her jealous ex-lover stabbing her to death. – Oh! How did this morning get so sinister?)
Death is often interpreted as the death of a life phase, project, or similar, rather than literally the death of a person. Also, often the implication is “out with the old, in with the new” – change and rebirth. And, if you have been delving into accounts of near-death experiences, according to many who have had such experiences, this life is the dream and the Awakening is out there.
The Devil usually denotes addiction – an addictive relationship, habit, or pattern. Something that is keeping you trapped. Drawing it indicates that one needs to look more closely at what is stopping one, and then of course the invitation is to change it if you can.
I have two more cards that have dread implications, but will not name them right now.
The Good message in all this is the following: Find what chains you down. Identify it; then find the way to change it.
There is a way. There is Always a Way. Believe it!
And Today’s Inspiration Card:
Temperance.
An angel is blending essences in 2 vessels (she’s pouring from one into another). The instruction per the Mary Hanson-Roberts deck is to reach into the past for continuity that you can carry into the future.
And – fascinating, that this message follows on the heels of the Devil card inviting us to do shadow work to clear out past atttitudes, thought patterns, paradigm traps in order to make space for the New!
Would love to have your thoughts and perspectives, if you feel like commenting!
Love & light.
Fresh Tarot Reading
Hi after a long silence, my friends and readers! I have new decks to play with! 🙂 More about this at the end of the post, but I’ll draw 1 card from each of these decks, to divine a reading for you, about: Work; Home; and Self1. So here we go. (If there are random WordPress ads in the post, please make sure you find the rest of the post below them.)
I started with Work, and the Spellcasting Oracle Deck. And out jumped: Courage. How odd. So I drew another for clarification, and the one that came out was Psychic Abilities.
Druid Craft Tarot Deck, for Home: Wow! Ace of Cups!
And the third one by the Hanson-Roberts deck: For Self. Nine of Swords. Hmm.
How I read this:
Work: This encompasses not only your career but also your calling, or it can even relate to something you are tasked with.
Courage / Psychic Abilities:
Courage depicts a lion coming towards you; is it out of the mirror (you have more courage than you think), or through a space portal to challenge you? Psychic Abilities shows a haloed person with the Third Eye wide open, before a backdrop of what I see as stars, planets and nebulae.
These two cards indicate to me an invitation to strike out on a new path, and let yourself be guided by your intuition. Our subconscious minds are incredibly powerful, and usually completely capable of guiding us in the right direction. We aren’t even aware of the myriads of little pieces of subtle information our subconscious minds gather all the time, but we can in fact learn to listen to the guidance of our inner voice, our intuition, and still be confident that it is strongly evidence-based. That is of course, unless we’re engaging in wishful thinking – but even then, if you wish to strike out in a certain direction, there are underlying reasons; and if you gather the courage and get yourself onto that path, and then keep going, you will learn as you go.
The Psychic Abilities card is possibly also a nudge to explore and try to find your actual purpose in life, if you haven’t already, and find a way to make it your career.
Home: This comprises of you, your partner, your family, your friends, your comfort zone. Also the vibe of your home, and how comfortable (or not) it feels at the moment.
Ace of Cups:
“My cup runneth over.” The card depicts a bronze goblet (embellished with red jewels), from which streams of clear liquid spill over the rim. It sits on a rocky outcropping in a stream by a waterfall, out of which a salmon leaps (the Celtic symbol for wisdom, knowledge and transformation). There is what looks like an oak branch with leaves and acorns in the foreground, the oak being Duir, of course, the door between worlds; a sickle moon hangs over the cup in the twilight and in the background, the last orange of sunset is fading.
This is a beautiful cup. Cups denote love, abundance, and as it is water flowing, also spirituality. The Ace of Cups is the ultimate cup. I’d like to say: Open your eyes to your many blessings at home and in your circle of loved ones and friends, and know that you have been given so much, and that you are loved! Possibly the card is also an invitation to create more love and spirit in your home space, or to set up a sacred space for yourself. A little house blessing will not go astray.
Now for the third part: Self.
Self includes any work that needs to be done on one’s self; also, caring for yourself, making space for some “me-time”. Health, self-image, spiritual development and how you relate to the world are all included.
Nine of Swords:
Nine swords hang over a noble maiden with white hair. Her posture is despair; she is crying into herself, while her hair flows like tears across her red velvety dress. Everything in this card is vividly symbolic of someone having a very heavy, stressful time and feeling overwhelmed and helpless about it.
Swords have also always represented clear decisions, and sharp intellect, to me. Is this young person faced with too many decisions at the same time? Or are they too hard?
So I would ask a few questions.
What is causing you a lot of stress in your life, at this time? Do you feel helpless about it, and why? Are the swords genuine threats, or could they be perceived but not real? (Was it Mark Twain who said, “I’ve had a lot of worries in my life, most of which never happened”?)
You may be facing genuine troubles about something you can do nothing to avert. Life is full of that. The message of this card would in that case be, to recognize this; possibly to ask for help, or maybe even only find a way to “soften the blow” or, if even this is impossible, to prepare emotionally for it so that you are better equipped once the sword comes down. However:
The card may also simply indicate someone immobilized by fear. Whether the threats are real or not, fear is a powerful force that can freeze us, sometimes for months or even years. The antidote to fear is, ironically, action; so no matter what it is, me, I like creating plans. Small plans, big plans; even if they seem ludicrous, every plan contains a seed for something that might free you up a little bit, a seed for a better plan. And no matter how small the plan, if it is at all doable, I like starting on the first little step of it. Sometimes even just writing it down makes one feel better, breaks the paralysis and puts one on the path forward.
About the three decks:
My current 3 favourite decks are: Firstly still the mini Tarot To Go! deck by Mary Hanson‑Roberts; but it is now joined by the Druid Craft Tarot Deck (Philip Carr‑Gomm and Stephanie Carr‑Gomm, artwork by Will Worthington) and the Spellcasting Oracle Cards (Flavia Kate Peters and Barbara Meiklejohn‑Free, artwork by Lisbeth Cheever‑Gessaman). These are the 3 decks from which I drew tonight.
I hope that you got something out of tonight’s reading. If you did, and you feel like it, drop me a comment 🙂 would love to hear back from you!
Footnote:
I was considering doing a standard past-present-future, but (1) you already know your past, (2) you’re *in* your present, and (3) who wants to know about the future these days anyway?
Introduction to a new adventure
It has been a mad ride! So busy just surviving; but as I learn to master an utterly human device, a schedule, time miraculously gets freed up for me again, and for my blog. Returning to it; I am stunned by the stats – my gorgeous peeps, I have subscribers! That’s more than I ever expected. Thank you! (*takes a bow, pointy shoes touching forehead and wing tips touching ground.*)
So I have decided to write about something that in one form or another touches everybody: Money – and the confusing riddle of why its magic is so unlike any other magic.
Let’s start by looking at money attitude.
Trade is as old as humankind. But currency was invented, to our best knowledge, by the Phoenicians (who might well have been the Atlanteans – shhhh…)
But, money has long stopped being merely coins or notes, or flashy pretty cards or a tap with your Smart Watch… money has started having qualities that remind downright of a living thing: Money can do good or bad, it can work, it can enslave, it can waste away or grow, it can even corrupt. All these are action words we use for people. We wouldn’t use them on another object – how can a house, a car or a piece of clothing corrupt a person? But, money can.
That is because money is not an object.
Repeat that out loud: Money is not an object.
(Haven’t you heard that somewhere… ?)
Money is not an object; it is an idea, a force and a form of energy.
Oh, you get some over-pious people saying “money is the root of all evil”. But they are wrong, they don’t know their own scripture (and it’s embarrassing that a wild fairy from the woodlands should be quoting it at them). The text actually reads, “the love of money is the root of all evil”. (And I hear it as “the lust for money”- a.k.a, greed and avarice.) Sure enough, greed and avarice cause a tidal wave of crime, from pick-pocketing to bank-robbery to grand scams.
But, let’s look at it the other way round. The lack of money is equally capable of causing crime. The desperation for money can drive people to do things they wouldn’t. And why? Because, money is a life energy. It buys your kids food and a roof over their heads. It keeps you off the street. In today’s day and age, surviving without money is an art form that only very few can practice (I’m talking about the self-sustaining off-the-gridders), and that only because at some point, they did have enough money to buy themselves into a situation where they can now live without the authorities coming after them.
Am I cynical? I don’t think so. Only a bit realistic. You need money to live; how can wanting more money to live better, be evil?
But:
Money is not the only game in town.
(I’ll explain what I mean in the next money-luck post.)
Through the Time Portal 