Reversed Queen

Missed placed trust.

All is not what it seems with this Queen of Cups.  She has risen from the depths of the lake and the question is how did she keep her herself from being completely soaked and drenched or has she been waiting so long for someone to come along, that which is above the water line, clothes, skin, and hair, has dried?  The Queen also does not offer her cup freely and the cup itself appears empty.
I have a feeling I may meet up with her today.  Someone playing some passive aggressive game. Seemingly offering something and yet with holding. 

Lavender, caress my soul, mind, body.
Let me breathe intoxicate me.
Let me drift into the swirling seas of sleep.
Immerse me in the sensual scent of ultra-violet dreams.
- Paula Puddephatt



The Sacred Circle Tarot - Anna Franklin & Paul Mason

Confusion

Restriction

The fives usually relay conflict and loss.  I also see them as the middle point, the fulcrum of change as we progress through the story line of the suit in the minors.  The Five of Pentacles has always given me a pause for thought and a bit of confusion.  How can we go from the stinginess of the Miser in the four of pentacles to the open generosity portrayed in the six of pents?  Those views  of pentacles come from the Rider Waite Smith Tarot.  I am not sure what the author is suggesting to us here in this version, except the name sake of the card-Restriction. Yet they don't look restricted, rather the pentacles have broken the bonds that held them. 

I wonder what happens in the between time from one day to the next?  When one day is good and you wake up the next day and the feelings are not so good, just to be rebounded by another pretty good day.   My pentacles are all over the place, maybe I need to put tethers on my thoughts?

The Sacred Circle Tarot  - Anna Franklin & Paul Mason

Earthing

Direct connectivity to Earth.

I recently read a article on Earthing.  Walking barefoot and connecting with the Earth, which purportedly will ground us and makes us healthier.   On the health front we hear more and more about the free radicals floating around in our bodies.  These free radicals are molecules or atoms that have a missing electron.  Of course if you are missing something you go looking for it and finding a electron on another atom, snatch it and then the chain reaction of dis-ease sets up.  Earthing can help solve the dis-ease; we can pick up all the electrons we need from Earth's electromatic field if we just connect.
It seems this King is relaying that message.  True or not, I do feel better being outside.  Bare feet therapy might be just what is called for. 


"Have you seen Carolyn?"
 "I think she was outside walking bare foot across the hillside..."


The Sacred Circle Tarot - Anna Franklin & Paul Mason

Untherered

Sacrifice

"I have passed the test, I will diminish and go into the West and remain Galadriel."

-The Lord of the Ring.  The Fellowship of the Ring.  J.R.R. Tolkien

Wider perspective

Not your traditional garden of good fortune.

These nine pentacles reminds me of the at least nine people demanding my attention.  Everybody in this last day or so is clamoring for attention.  Me, me, me..pick me next.  Line 'em up and then work on each one at a time.  If I try to work on all issues at once something is going to get lost or mixed up.  Best start with one at the top, so the whole bunch doesn't collapse on top of me.  
Makes me wonder what shifts in our energy fields that in short notice everybody(subjective) has to be fixed.  An all or nothing occurrence, that regularly happens.

Better get to it; there are storm clouds on the horizon.







The Sacred Circle Tarot - Anna Franklin & Paul Mason

Starting point

Well damn.

My two day Chariot ride brought me right back where I started.  A field of disillusion and discomfort.  The imagery of this Ten of Swords is much easier to deal with than the RWS ten of swords. This one helps me see mind over matter.  The owl and that one dominant sword, the sword of reason, truth, and action that we see in the Ace and the Queen of Swords will help me sort through and deal with all those rising thoughts and fears, that evidently I was trying to run away from in my Chariot rides. 
Wherever you go - there you are.









The Sacred Circle Tarot -  Anna Franklin & Paul Mason

Weighted

And the Chariot rides again!

Well my chariot ride is not over it seems.  Something about those clean horses.  Today they speak to me of balance.  I see the dark and light and the light and dark star on the forehead of each.  Calls to mind the yin/yang symbol.  Here the horses are dark and light in their arrangement and the traditional Chinese symbolism is white and dark.  That could be a whole different post on the symbolism and how it is arranged, not today. 

Proceed with measured balance.

The Sacred Circle Tarot - Anna Franklin & Paul Mason

What you see

First Impressions

This card draws to mind all those car commercials we see on television.  Those cars are driving all over the place; through snow, rain, sleet, across muddy roads and fields and yet they don't have a speck of dirt on them.  Amazing.  This Charioteer and her team of horses are the same.  Not one thing out of place.  No dirt or mud on any of them.  Amazing.
First impressions are quick to form. Speculated at less than a second, first impression will influence how others treat us.  I am very aware of this.  Since my trauma my gait is slow and measured, yes older age has contributed to this, but not as nearly as much as some nerve damage.  More often than not, I am gauged on my slowed and some what unbalanced stride.  Aged and broken is what some see and then judge my ability on that first glance.  Can't change it so I try to do the best with what I have. 
I think this morning I will go get my car washed, get my chariot cleaned and spiffy for my afternoon appointment.  That will help make a good first impression.

The Sacred Circle Tarot

Fire - power

Channeled Enthusiasm

This King brings to bear his ability to control.  It took a lot of passion and zeal to build Stonehenge.  A thought is just a thought without action to bring it into reality.
I often see young children running about with unbounded eagerness and think to myself...ah to have some of that energy.  So maybe today this King brings me some of that channeled enthusiasm and I can use it to my best advantage.


May the road rise to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face.
And rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the hollow of His hand.
~Irish Blessing


The Sacred Circle Tarot  - Anna Franklin & Paul Mason

Recovery

The best offense is a good defense.

For the most part I think this is a good frame of mind.  Being proactive in one's life is much better than just passively letting life happen.  It is also a great mindset after a happenstance; how we recover from a situation is also all about one's mindset.  Not that we should always be on the defensive, which is extremely exhausting; still, preparedness can go a long way.

Saving for a rainy day.
Going to do what? when?
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
It wasn't raining when Noah built the Ark.
People don't plan to fail, they fail to plan.
The One Thing.






The Sacred Circle Tarot - Anna Franklin & Paul Mason

Stewardship

Please give me my clothes back.

Take care of the things you have or you or going to lose them.  This was a punishment that was inflicted when I was a child.  If you left things laying around, then you were deemed irresponsible and the the toy or privilege was taken away.  I learned really early in life to take care of what I have. 

'Use it up, wear it out. Make it do, or do without.'











The Rider Waite Smith Tarot

Look Up

Tonight's Night Sky

The last couple of evenings I have returned home after sunset.  We are experiencing clear skies and moderate temperatures in the area.  The night sky is stunning.  Venus is exceptionally bright and hanging out to the southwest of her is Mars.  The Earth is beginning her tilt as the season progresses towards Spring and I got a great glimpse of Sirius, the three stars on Orion's belt, the Little Dipper, and with a pair of binoculars a view of the Pleiades.  The Moon is in her waning stage so with the deeper darkness, the night sky is a wonder to behold.  Normally in February it is bone chilling out there and because I cannot tilt my head back anymore I miss the night sky's production.  I have caught some glimpses the last couple of evenings.  Tonight it will be fairly comfortable temperature wise and I plan on making a pallet on the driveway and stretch out and enjoy. 
Forget the ordinary day to day things and get out there and experience the extraordinary.



The Rider Waite Smith Tarot

Stepping out

Right of passage.

This morning I am going to look at a couple of apartments with my niece.  She is ready to move out of her parents home and find her own place. This card is kind of appropriate .  Leaving the city behind and finding our way out in the big world.  Hold on tight because it gets bumpy from here on out.

Little bit later.  The couple of places we looked at I don't think will work, she agreed with me on one.  The other looks new and a bit upscale, but the space is not functional.  I advised her to view a few more.  I must remind myself it is her decision; not be too much of a negative nelly or she will quit asking for my input and then I will be left holding my opinions, for all they are worth.






Rider Waite Smith Tarot

Eeeh

Success without satisfaction.

Why a crown with laurel leaves and not a crown of laurel leaves?  Some days are like that.  Everything on the list got a check besides it and still you just don't feel all that successful. 

"Do or do not, there is no try."  - Master Yoda













Rider Waite-Smith Tarot

To moderate

Temperance-economy, moderation, frugality, management, accommodation. Reversed: things connected to churches, religions, sects, the priesthood, also unfortunate combinations, disunion, competing interests. (lwb)

I read somewhere along the line that Arthur Edward Waite directed everything and every part of the design of each of the Major Cards as Pamela Colman Smith drew and painted them and then he instructed her to envision and draw the Minors according to her interpretations.  And in those interpretations of the Major card, every nuance, line, and color had some meaning.   Where would one begin, say with this card when there are so many lines and bits of this and that to look at.  Can there really be any meaning to all the lines in Temperance's robe beside the the written name of God beneath the collar.  Why only two irises when irises almost always grow out of control?  The path to Sun up the hillside is fairly prominent as is the path in the Moon card towards the Moon shouldn't there be some creature emerging from the water here as well? 
I guess my message today is moderation with my thoughts and everything may not be as it appears.



Rider Waite Smith Tarot
Arthur Edward Waite/Pamela Colman Smith

Haste makes waste

Hurry up and wait.

This knight makes me think of all of those that are in too big of a hurry.  I notice it a lot out driving with all the aggressive drivers.  People that get behind you and ride your bumper trying to push you to go faster.  Finally they will swing out in the passing lane and rush by just to sit at the traffic light ahead.  What's the big hurry?  How much is really accomplished by saving a minute or two in such a big rush?
I can be a bit guilty of getting in a bit of a rush from time to time.  Not so much anymore.  The days and years speed by fast enough.










Rider Waite-Smith Tarot

Staring contest

The King and I have a staring contest going on.

Usually this King irritates me with his bossiness.  Not today.  Today he is trying some kind of mental telepathy conversation and I am not receiving his message.  Maybe I am blocked cause he usually is just a know-it-all, so I tune him out.  I think he has showed up to help me with my looping thoughts that were revealed with those reoccurring eights last week; thoughts going one way then the other depending on which day it was.               Mind mastery. Can one ever really have control over ones thoughts?  Thoughts are like the wind, always moving.  Sometimes a soft breeze, or maybe just like a 'whisper on the wind' and other times... Well we all know those other times when our thoughts race out of control.
This King may have more control over his thoughts, but...that is all he has to do, think kingly thoughts.  He doesn't have to dress himself, cook his food, go out and make his living, drive a chariot, battle off the beasts; he has someone(s) doing all that for him.  I wonder if he got off his throne and got his hands dirty if he would be so smug to say "I know better than you."  Oh well I guess he still bugs me.

Rider Waite-Smith Tarot

Crazy Eights

Spurred into action.

This is the third eight card I have drawn this week   Curious that this card's action is opposite of the Eight of Cups yesterday.  With this eight something has spurred me into action.  Actually the same thing that had me walking away yesterday...that same pivotal point.  Like the lemniscate, looping back and forth from the same point of origin.  If I look back a few more days, when I drew the Eight of Pentacles, maybe that is where the causality loop began.  Work. 
Something for me to really think about today.  If I get stuck, I can call on Strength, another Eight to courageously confront my dilemma.









The LINESTRIDER'S Journey - Siolo Thompson

Pack it up and move on.

This card speaks to me on several levels today.  First that moon and the walk through the snow.  Later today there is a full moon, around 5:33 est and this moon has a tag of a Full Snow Moon, mostly cause February is the snowiest month; though not here this year.  There will be an eclipse tonight and to top it all up, there in the sky so high, is a comet passing through.  So with all this motion and commotion I am guessing we best pay attention to what we think, say, and do.
I am working with a client and the only way to say it is, he is not the sharpest stick in the pile.  A year now I have been working with him and I am ready to be done with it.  Thing is he went through several agents the year before me, because he is a challenge.  If  I release him I don't think he will ever find a home of his own and I think everyone should have that opportunity.  I have to remind myself, it may in part be influenced by apathy to my career.  idk.
Now to tie the two together; how all that movement above influences my actions below.  "As above, so below"  maybe.


The LINESTRIDER'S Journey - Siolo Thompson

Curious

The keywords the author uses for the Page of Pentacles are new beginnings, prosperity, good luck...

Those may be all good descriptions or indicators of the Page of Pentacles, yet the author/artist gives us this depiction of the page.  From my viewpoint they don't match.  I mean I don't get it.
Yesterday I spoke of a difference in opinion between me and another and here I have a different take on this page than the author.  I don't see the correlation between depiction and description?

There are times that someone comes up with something so off the wall that it leaves me dumbstruck, this is one of those moments.  I am just going to leave it be and if something equally peculiar happens today I am going to do the same thing, leave it be.







The LINESTRIDER'S Journey - Siolo Thompson

Skill Set

Lead, follow, or get out of the way.

Today I have to attend yet another class in real estate.  This one on the upcoming changes to how we list homes on a new web-based platform. Always something new.  This Eight of Pentacles speak to that.  New skill sets, refinement of what and how we do things, and adapt or get left behind. Even though I may have reached a certain level of skill and can call myself a professional in the field if I don't keep up with trends and changes, I am going to slip farther back in the line.
Yesterday I had a bit of a disagreement with a younger agent who has been in the business a little bit over a year. He wanted to quabble a bit and I wouldn't get caught up in the back and forth email dispute.  The ole 'who is the bigger fool' idiom.  Later in day I thought more on it and realized we were both right and both a bit wrong and so that unbalance set us off.  His way newer, mine more traditional.   I need to look to the Nine of Pentacles - just ahead to remind me, that I can be okay with the way I do things.



The LINESTRIDER'S Journey -Siolo Thompson

Brain teaser

Optical Illusion.  Can we really be sure?

At first glance all I could see was the fish.  Wondering about the image embedded in the fish, I found the Knight of Cups.  Makes me think of the debate last year when we were all asked "what color is the dress?"  Or the optical illusion that floats around on FB asking what do you see - "the frog or the horse?" 
Lately my feelings have been all over the place and that is what this Knight calls into question.  What is going on?  Where will my feelings take me if left gallivanting across the countryside; which is more like the knight being in a reversed position. 
Focused or Frenzied emotions?  Maybe the Knight has rode in to help me figure them out and do a catch and release of the turbulence.







The LINESTRIDER'S Journey - Siolo Thompson

With a little help

"A little help from my friends
What would you think if I sang out of tune,
Would you stand up and walk out on me.
Lend me your ears and I'll sing you a song,
And I'll try not to sing out of key.

I get by with a little help from my friends,
I get high with a little help from my friends,
Going to try with a little help from my friends." 

          ----------------------------------

 The Beatles, from their album 

Sgt.Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band

After getting confused and trying to figure out who and where I am  personified in yesterday's Page of Swords,  in swoop some friends to help empower me with their support and encouragement.

The LINESTRIDER'S Journey - Siolo Thompson

Sidetracked

 What was I doing and where was I going?

The accompanying book describes this as a card that often foretells the arrival of a message or messenger.   I wonder what message?  It looks like something got lost on the way.  It happens all the time when having a conversation with someone; you stop and wonder "where did that come from?" when something odd pops up in the middle of the chat.
It also makes me think of dream time.  Last night was one of those nights that the weirdest bits of dreams and bits of this and that played out on the subconscious chalk board.  I often wonder if it is when the subconscious decides to sort through all the hodge podge information and file it away. Bits of memories, commercials, movies and tv shows, sign posts, conversations that have no useful purpose for the conscious mind and so it is lumped together for a file dump.  All those pieces of memories floating around and then stored away.  Chaos. 



The LINESTRIDER'S Journey Tarot - Siolo Thompson

Don't group us together

Blah. I find myself in the doldrums.

Yesterday evening I was having a phone conversation with someone I work with.  His Mother passed and left the planet six weeks ago.  He went and saw a friend earlier in the week who basically told him he is depressed.  Go figure..that was easy to come up with.  Not clinically, still enough issues for concern.  I too have slipped into that murky place in the last week.  I am sleeping way too much, experiencing episodes of anxiety (not new to me in the last 5years), sluggish...blah.
The cold weather and shorten days of sun light add to my dilemma.  I am coming up on the anniversary of my trauma event which has triggered these episodes before.  I have struggled through and now wonder if talking to a therapist might help to work through some of my issues.  Maybe join a group others with PSTD and then maybe not.

Kuan Yin

...

Deception

Appearances can be deceiving.  The lwb states that this Page is or could be a trusted envoy, friend, a stranger with good news or intentions.  I ain't buying it.  What are supposed to be cypresses wrapped in fog, looks like a cloud of gray doom and gloom.   This old Page appears to me to have a smirky look on his face as he walks away from the black cloud; I think he is not all what he appears to be.  And those creepy crawly things appear to be spiders that have more than eight legs, so whatever is in the black fog altered them. Maybe the black fog altered the Page as well.
Today I have several appointments otherwise I would stay home cause something wicked this way comes. 








The CHINESE Tarot - Jui Guloiang

717

Today I drew the Seven of Cups again.  So pondering on that 7,  I shuffled and drew an accompanying card, The Star.  7 17.  I always make a wish when I draw the Star Card. 

Someone over the weekend said they saw a group of migrating Whooping Cranes.  A bit early I think, still the winter has been mild.  So forget the poor groundhog tomorrow and look up to see what you might see.





The CHINESE Tarot