This or That

 How uncanny the Tarot can be. This morning I will be oft to a funeral. My Sister's FIL passed Monday and today it is the final goodbye for the family. 

On a personal note, I may have an appointment late in the day. Someone I have worked with before and it will be the last home I sell for them. Partly because they have a sister that has her license now, and this sell was promised to me, unless of course they sold themselves, which happens and still could before I get to them later today and the other part is a personal decision. I really must 'step' back or away from direct sales. My legs are not working very well. The nerve damage and age are finally to the point that I may have to start using a walker and of course there are stairs and stares. So Death's visitation has a dual meaning for me today.

The Enchanted Forest Tarot

Here to there and back again

 

As a child I believed in all sorts of Wonderment.  My favorites in reading were tales of myth and magic. School and responsibilities encroached on my time and magic was set aside. Fear and anxiety replaced anticipation and wonder, my transformation from childhood to adult became complete. As I still teeter on the edge of fear most days I wonder, would the return of magic help me transform back to those wonder days of childhood marvel.

The Good Tarot

Letting go

 

One of my sister's four-legged family members is coming to the end of her days. What a lovely and wonderful girl she is and has been.  When I lived with my sister for the better part of a year during my recovery nine years ago, she was a steadfast companion during those days. When I drew this card I thought there was no doubt about the imagery. Death is at hand.  The draw of Death mostly signals endings and changes that are upon us, and sometimes an actual death may occur.  I love that beagle girl, and Cassie will always be a part of my heart. Will today be that day?  When she is ready I hope she moves along and does not linger in pain and fear.

The Tarot of Durer

Leave-taking

 

Change comes in many disguises. Today marks the Autumnal Equinox on the calendar and saying goodbye to Summer is not something I look forward to. Fall can be a lovely diversion but nothing stops the reality that Winter is coming. As I prepare to say farewell to Summer I need to think of that which no longer serves me and let it also have its Leave-taking.  Anxiety is something I need to let go of and maybe a good place to start is not getting myself twisted up with Winter musings and instead think of the lovely days of Fall. The colorful dance of leaves as they take their 'leave-taking' from the trees. Newly picked apples from a nearby orchard. The crisp freshness of a Fall breeze.  Change is at hand, and a bit of change is something that can be a good thing.

Scorpio Sea Tarot

Restriction

 

Recently I read a passage in a book that challenges us to ask, If I did not have this condition, this restriction, what would I be doing? What could I do? In asking, we just may discover why we have the curtailing ailment. 

Majestic Earth Tarot

Continuum

 

"Omni fine initium novum" ~ In every ending there is a new beginning.  

The skull at the bottom of card, left after the receding flood, reminds me that though things may end, we still carry memories along with us. Our Soul, Our Spirit, is imprinted with all that has gone before. A tree that has fallen in the forest decays and feeds a sprouting seedling.  So to with us. I am part and parcel of my parents, and their parents. 

The Majestic Earth Tarot

Endings and beginnings

 

Endings and beginnings. There will be much of that over the next month or so. Traditional card Death, the end of one thing the beginning of another. Soon 2020 will pass and replaced with a new year. Time to consider what needs to be released as I move forward.  Letting go can be a challenge, difficult, or even painful. I think sometimes why New Year's Resolutions do not hold up is we start planning on something new, without letting go of the very thing we want to change.  We need cleared space, sacred space for something new. Lose weight, get rid of the junky food.  New job, commit to quitting the old so there is room for the new. New clothes, clear the closet and donate. I am going to look at what I want to change and then let go of the old and make way for the new.

The Goddess Tarot

Really?

Talk about a one - two punch.  The Devil yesterday and Death stops by today.  Both seemingly ominous cards.  Worry, Doubt, Fear.  Ouch.  Already in the midst of change, Death solidifies the Change.  No going back.  See the rising Sun? Onward is the path that must be taken.  The Devil can entice me but Death reminds me, change is upon me and I cannot stay with the known and comfortable. 
I have an outbreak on my lower legs.  Zoom meeting with Doctor a little bit ago and she said looks like bug bites.  My Louise Hay book says rashes and hives are notification of irritants in my life.
So detective work.  Death could be a good detective, search out and end the irritations for whatever reason.

Anniversary

The Rider, Death has made an appearance today.  Coincidental that I have drawn Death today on my anniversary date of March 2.  Eight years ago on a warm, sunny Friday afternoon my life as I knew it ended and change was thrust upon me.  I nearly died that day, and for a bit of time was held between stepping across the veil or returning back to continue my journey as Carolyn.  The Gatekeeper did not appear to me like this caricature of Death, though we all relate to this depiction.  Transformation, you betcha, but then again, everyday brings change.  There are events that we barely even notice and those that stay with always.  Large or small, we change and continue on our way.
Bright Blessings to all as we continue our journey.

Intervene

Endings, beginnings, change - Keywords for the card of Transformation, traditionally Death. 
Intervene is a word I heard the other day and has stuck with me; dilly dallying across my prefrontal cortex.  Do certain events happen to us, for us?  Does the Goddess, Universe, Spirit, God, occasionally intervene in our lives to force us to change; to end one thing and begin another?
intervene intervene intervene intervene intervene intervene - I guess will continue to scroll until I grow weary of it or answer it. 
"Sometimes the fall is a good thing, leading to better things. Hard to believe at the time." Sharyn Mallow Woerz ~ Quirkeries

After said and done

IDK what the old boy Death has to say to me today.  He is crooked and I didn't rescan.  Again, a downhill ride seems easier to deal with anyway.  Maybe his message will arrive later today and if so I will update my post for my future reference. Maybe Death is just out for some fresh air and evey one gets scared at his passing.
C'est la vie

Speculate

I am 62, my outwardly appearance does not match my internal reflection.  There are days that I am stunned by the mirrored view of the 62 Carolyn, when the vision of me from my mind's eye is more like 42.  I wonder if it so for others?  When Death comes calling who will the after this, persona be? Probably won't matter.  I believe in reincarnation and the Divine Gathering of Spirit when we move from Earth to the Returning Place. There is Heaven for others, and still others the end is the end.  If it is not the end, who or what do we become?  Will I brand identify with Carolyn 62,42, or 22.  Will it be Brad, Carlene, Tomas, Susan, Robert, Mike, Teresa, or Wispy One?  Well I hope I can frolic and run and jump and do cartwheels again.  Something to look forward too, not the normal fear of not knowing.



Celestial Tarot

Endings and Beginnings

The ending of one thing, opens me up for a beginning of something else. 
What a curious card to draw for the beginning of my thirty days of gratitude.  Actually I drew the card at midnight for my card of the month of November and honoring All Hallows Eve.  The ending of one thing means that I had it or them in the first place.  Cannot say so long or goodbye if it wasn't in my life.  So a good place to remember those that have passed through my life, family, friends, and acquaintances.  For those that have enriched my life. To endings that make way for beginnings. 
When one door closes another opens. And thankfully I am still opening doors.




The Fountain Tarot

Transformation

What a soft, unique interpretation of Death.  So many readers try to change the meaning of Death to not scare off others, and we hear death, transformation, change, endings.  I guess they are all true.  But sometimes Death means death.  If we or others become too frightened then the upcoming transformation or change will not be heard or experienced.  Sometimes the transformation is a small thing, barely noticed until farther down the line or years later, we realize its importance.   





The Good Tarot - Colette Baron-Reid

Second look

The Pale Rider

"I looked and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider named Death and Hades was following close behind." Revelation 6:8

Well no wonder so many fear this card.  I don't know if I have really ever paid attention to the fact that Death in this depiction is yellow faced and and the hands too.  Wonder what that is all about, since everything in the card has a meaning?  The Sun is Yellow as is the bishop's robe, the sunny lands that lay beyond, flowers in the girl's hair.  So maybe Death though definitely an end of something also has something good to offer with the transition. 
Maybe every cloud does have a silver lining, except, there are no clouds on the dawning sunny day.
Let's find out what happens today.


The Rider Waite-Smith Tarot

Away with you

The end of one thing a beginning of another.

This open skull on Death harkens to letting things go.  Things that don't much matter. Stuff. Debris. Junk. Old mental files.  I liken my mind some days as a old library card catalog system.  Mentally I file things away and then I just have to flip through the card files to bring to mind that which I went on a seek and find for. Time to filter through this and that and get rid of that or this which no longer is useful.   In a few days i am taking a gett-a-way so I can do some clutter clearing in the old noggin, and Death just reminds me that everyone and everything has an ending which  can lead to a new beginning.




The Linestrider's Tarot - Siolo Thompson

In and Out

Persephone and Demeter

I wonder if Persephone had stayed in the Underworld; would her love eventually have changed Hades and his frightening image transformed to a softer image, a personage of man who loved?   Lots of women fall in love with the bad boy; maybe Persephone ate the pomegranate seeds so she would have to stay with the man she loved.  A true Beauty and Beast story.  But no, Mother Demeter wanted what she wanted, and blackmailed Zeus into getting her daughter''s return.
Spring is in the air.  The Earth turns and the grass begins to green.  The trees are soon to bud and new life begins. The cycles of Life and Death are one of the true constants. Beginnings and endings.



The Celestial Tarot

Release

This is a different perspective on the card of Death.  Gives me pause for consideration.

In a book I recently read, a man described his NDE - near death experience.  He had a massive heart attack and falling to the ground he laid there and actually had the experience of dying. Everything went calm and smooth and he thought to himself "this is what dying is" and in that moment realized he was not afraid of dying, that he really had been afraid of life, that living is the real challenge.  The part of him that was still in his body mustered himself and brought himself back from the brink. This story really resonated with me;  I too was at that place of separation when the EMT's started their revival work on me years ago.  And the telling of his tale makes me wonder when I comment and say I am not afraid of dying, what  I am saying is that I am fearful in living.  Something to think about.



FAIRY Tarot - Doreen Virtue & Radleigh Valentine