Dare to Be Happy

Dare to Be Happy.  Easier said than done.  Sure we all have moments of happiness, joy, luck, and or pleasure, but it cannot be sustained for long before the sting on some unpleasant this or that comes along.  The dictionary describes Happy as feeling  pleasure and enjoyment because of your life, situation, ect. -well yeah, but how do you keep it going?  I wonder some days why the day begins with 'Yay' and then the next day I wake up and think 'yuck'. 
In order to enjoy and appreciate happy days to I have to have unhappy days?  Is that why some days are yucky? 
blah blah blah

The Answer is Simple Oracle Cards - Sonia Choquette

Turn Back

Yesterday I had been invited to a back yard get together.  I had an afternoon appointment so I went later in the day.  I used to spend lots of time with some of these people, then life, family, and career put me on another path.  I had not seen some of them in many years, and it was kind of sad really that most were in exactly the same place and space as they were 15 years ago?  After awhile with all the "remember this and that" - it dawned on me it wasn't just reminsicing with me of days gone by but that they were still in the same place and that's all they had, 'the good ole days.'
I am so grateful I am not stuck in that labyrinth, and found my way through.

Oracle Cards -THE ANSWER IS SIMPLE Sonia Choquette

Giddy up

Horses, horses, horses.  Here they are, they rode right off the Marco Polo Tarot deck and stationed themselves on this Merry Go Around.  I am definitely getting a strong hint that something is about to shift, a move from here to there.  This card indicates to have fun with the change that is heading my way.  And who doesn't like to have fun.  Hey maybe it is time to buy a new car, though the energy of all these horses doesn't feel like Chariot energy. So I will continue on my merry go around way and enjoy the ride.


THE ANSWER IS SIMPLE Oracle Cards by Sonia Choquette

  

Game of Chess

Last night I took this Marco Polo Deck and went through each card and gave it a look see.  I wasn't sure I would finish the week with the deck; as at the first of the week on Sunday I chose a placard from my laptop collection.  This morning I picked the deck up and it felt like I needed to finish the week out with the deck.  Shuffle, shuffle, shuffle, and yet another Knight has presented himself.  The Knight of Wands.  More movement with action, although this rider and his horse is all about 'the show.'

Definitely change is on its way.  Three knights in 6 days.  This much movement should have me jumping this way and that with all the energy swirling in these cards. This week has been like most other weeks, yet...  There are times that you feel something is about to change; you go outside and stick your nose in the wind to see if you can catch a scent of it. These cards are that indication of change. 
My next thought is the Knight of Pentacles is the missing action card, and building on that, that might be a good thing cause then I might think of the four horsemen of  the apocalypse, and wouldn't that be a big change, like a huge Tower moment. Yikes.  Maybe nothing so dramatic, with the fourth knight it could be like the four knights on a chess board, strategy and action. 

Going and Coming

Ah its Friday.  Its the end of the work week as most know it, not me since I am self-employed.  It is also the last day for classes at most of the schools and its Memorial Day Weekend, the beginning of the summer activities.  People and things on the move. And this Knight is raising his cup acknowledging to everyone successes.

Monday I started the week with the Knight of Swords and now this Knight of Chalices.  It has been a bit of challenging work week and maybe this knight is about expressing good cheer for a job well done.  Yet when I look at both cards together it kind of feels like meeting myself coming and going.
That's the way of it sometimes.

  MARCO POLO TAROT

Banrighinn

Sometimes you just have to put on your crown and remind yourself who you are. 

Today I have a full and busy day.  I have to be in class at 9am and I will probably finish up at 9pm this evening.  As the years roll by these longer days can test my endurance.  The Queen reminds me that I have the resources to do what I need to do.  It is just a day at Court and anyone can do a day, Right?

"We build castles with our fears and sleep in them like Kings and Queens."
- Christopher Poindexter


MARCO POLO TAROT  ~ LoScarabeo art work by Severino Baraldi

One foot in front of the other

Wouldn't it be grand if we could keep our youthful enthusiasm for adventure, with us throughout our lives.  Most of us start out in Life with some wide eyed wonder of the world. There, out there somewhere, maybe the second start to the right, is all the wonderful things that are promised.  Then as we move on we adjust, change, conform to what society, family, and friends mold us to be.  This Fool has had to deal with some of those challenges, but caught a glimpse of  his younger self and packed his experiences up, grabbed a rose for his long years of efforts, and the blackbird is now his companion for his journey and left the rest behind.

When I first glanced at this card the song BUTTERFLIES by Norah Jones popped in my head.  "Don't go chasing butterflies, when everything you want is right here by your side. Don't go chasing butterflies, when everything you want is right here by your side." (Chorus)
What feels right for one doesn't make it right for another.   Maybe it is worth the cost to cast off comfort, companionship, and conformity and begin a new journey to find my authentic self.   I think chasing butterflies (transformation) is a excellent choice.  Nothing wrong in finding some of my youthful self and see where the adventure leads.

MARCO POLO TAROT ~Lo Scarabeo and artwork by Severino Baraldi

Surface appearances

What?  I have drawn the Three of Chalices today from the Marco Polo Tarot. Confusing to find four instead of three women in this card and only one holds a cup.  Definitely something is not right.  Appears to me that the one with the cup is reading her tea leaves and is somewhat perplexed by what she sees.  The other gal feigns interest, but her posture indicates not really and the other two women are not even engaging.

This is a Three of Cups reversed, a failure of friendship, but why four women?
So I went back to the deck to see what the Four of Chalices might show.

What?  Here it appears three men and I say three cause the one sitting appears to be a bit gender confused, and still only one cup in the picture.

I guess I better not take anything for granted today. 
In these topsy turvy times, I think I will keep my mouth shut, and watch and wait in silent observation.

Boundary Line

To live authentically with courage and conviction.  This Knight of Swords knows who is he.  Erect and at the ready and willing to defend his position if necessary.  No one would question who he is, what he stands for, or what is intention is.  Do people challenge me/us on our beliefs because they can sense a weakness in our beliefs and truths?

I can try to convince myself that Life would be easier to just go along.  Yet, that kind of living chips away at my authentic self and nature.  Fear of being alone and ostracized is the weapon used to beat me into submission, but can I really live from that place of fear?  Isn't that where depression and despair comes in?  Am I really that different from the rest of my family?  Approaching 60 you think they would realize who I am.  Yet maybe part of the fault lies in me because I have allowed them to run rough shod over me from time to time, just to get along.
No more.
Boundaries - putting your foot down and knowing where you stand.

MARCO POLO TAROT cards ~ Lo Scarabeo  Artwork -Severino Baraldi

To the Beach

I had a quiet day yesterday, it was pretty much as the draw of the Five of Earth indicated, shelter in place.  I did a little of this and a little of that.  I did leave the house to go Kohls as I had a expiring discount coupon.  I spotted all the beachy themed items in housewares, and came home and started painting a few rocks with those beach ditties.  I found this placard on Pintrest and it suits me.  This week I am all about manifesting a trip, vacation, and better yet, an extended stay at the BEACH. 
Maybe I will do a Vision Board and paint more rocks and place them all over.  Salted air, sand just about everywhere, endless vistas of stars over the darken water, the continuous ebb and flow of waves of water caressing the sand, can there be anything better.
She Who Loves the Beach is me. 

Wait a minute, didn't I just do that?

While on my walk about that I started yesterday in my Seven of Air, I have got caught up in a storm.  The only thing to do was to build or find myself a refuge and ride out the storm.  This card has so much brown.  To be enveloped in this brown shroud could weaken anyone's resolve to keep moving along that path. 

Isn't that the way of things.  Determined to try something new, begin a new regimen, make those New Years resolutions, and then something blows in and knocks us off our path.  I have been reading Dr. Joe Dipenza's book, YOU ARE THE PLACEBO.   We have 60,000 - 70,000  thoughts a day and most are the same thoughts as yesterday. I thought, no wonder I have such a challenge making a change (challenge and change) when only a small portion of my waking day is making any progress.
So now I have to give this card a different look see and think, it may not represent riding out the storm, but giving myself some meditation time, to quiet the mind from all my turbulent thoughts and think some new thoughts.
 
"If you always do what you have always done, you are always going to get what you already got."  -Henry Ford

Artwork - Journey through the Gaian Tarot ~ Joanna Powell Colbert

Two steps forward, one back

Yesterday I drew the Ten of Air in which I was dealing with an issue and then leaving it behind.  Now I need to make a plan and map out my course.  This way or That?  The booklet says it is time to strategize, plan, and prepare to move in a new direction, and being a gal of lists and details that just what I will do.  There could be trials and tribulations ahead, roadblocks and detours, but I can no longer resist the call to move along.

I do a Celtic Cross spread at the first of the year and this Seven of Air was in the reading in the most recent past position and the year before this same card was in the near future position.  Come on Carolyn you really need to see these as prompts from the Universe to get going.  I had a dream last night of walking.  I couldn't remember where I parked my car and so I was walking and walking, to and fro.  I met a few people along the path that were sympathetic to my dilemma but of no real help, so I had to just keep moving along finding my way.  And that's the way of it isn't it?  You can get all kinds of advice but it is me that has to lace up and get going. 
Also I have been doing a little reading on numerology and today is a seven day.  May 20, is  5/20 reducing to seven.  Time to get the map out.

Rearview mirror

This Ten of Air(Swords) is so much easier for me to deal with than the rendition of the Ten of Swords in RWS deck.  The picture with all the swords in my back fills me with pain and agony.  In this Ten of Air I see what I do with those memories, leave them behind.  How much pain and agony is buried in the recesses of my mind? 

When new painful events arise and in my life, small fissures occur within the minefield of buried memories.  What is so painful now reminds me of past traumas and then not only do I have to deal with what is happening here and now, I also have to face something that surges from the past.  It can be overwhelming and those are the times I want to pack a bag and walk away from it all or succumb to despair and depression.  Can I leave the past in the past?  Not I think, because some of it is who I am today.   To paraphrase a quote of someone "when the past calls don't answer it, it has nothing new to say."  There are moments though I just have to look it in the eye, hopefully with Compassion, yank the swords out of my back and let some healing begin.

"Second star to the right"

I wonder how many of us become what are parents wanted and expected us to become?  Do we do what they did and wanted us to do because we wanted to please them?  Do we follow in their footsteps because it was the path of least resistance instead of finding our own way?  Here we find a dad sharing drumming time.  Is drumming something this young gal wanted to do or did she go along to spend time with dad?

I am in a transitional time of my life.  Things have been changing and I want and need to find the more authentic me.  The Carolyn that I was meant to be.  There are huge parts of me that have been shaped from childhood that just don't work anymore.  So how to strip away the layers of the years to get back to the me of me? 
I think about a scene in the movie HOOK, where Robin Williams as an adult Peter goes back to Neverland to search for his children.  He is the midst of the Lost Boys and Tinkerbell is trying to convince them that he really is Peter Pan, when one of the boys walks up to Peter looking him over and straight in the eye and says "why - there you are Peter."  I sometimes too look in the mirror trying to find the lost me.   "And straight on till morning."

Journey through the Gaian Tarot - Joanna Powell Colbert

Airborne and Grounded

Yesterday I tuned into the Hay House World Summit and listened to an interview with Dr. Joe Dispenza.  He was discussing the healing and the transformational awareness that one can achieve during meditation.  He tells us in deep meditation that we can become Pure Consciousness -"at your absolute best when you get beyond yourself."  I have heard this before but I can get distracted in my meditation and have not yet reached this pinnacle.

Here I see true awareness of oneself in body and thought.  A walking meditation in a lavender field, with my body completely rooted in the earth, yet part of me is airborne.  I think at this moment pure awareness and healing can be achieved.
Recently there was a meditation class that I stopped in and joined for the evening and the instructor mentioned that while on vacation we are more conscious and aware.  All the sights, sounds, flavors, and colors, everything is more vivid, we are more Present.  We disengage from our lives and immerse ourselves in vacation mode, a definite form of meditation.
Maybe a vacation to this rich and luscious lavender field is something to consider.

Journey through the Gaian Tarot - Joanna Powell Colbert

Shadow

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate; our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.  It is our Light not our Darkness that most frightens us.  We ask ourselves who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous?  But actually who you not to be?  You are a child of God.  You playing small doesn't serve the World.  There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.  We are all meant to shine.  As children do.  We were born to manifest the glory of God that is within us.  It's not just in some of us.  It's in everyone.  And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.  As we are liberated from our own fear, Our Presence automatically liberates others."
        -Marianne Williamsom  A RETURN TO LOVE

Sacred Space

"Today I give myself permission to do absolutely nothing but sit and be open to Divine Wisdom."  -  Today's affirmation from my desk top calendar from Hay House. 

Something shifted in my life over the weekend and so this card and today's affirmation is very appropriate.  I chose. I will not go quietly into the night.  I will not wither and die on the vine.  I am going to give myself a day of contemplation.  I have read about the practice of Automatic Writing and may give that a try today.

"All endings are also beginnings.  We just don't know it at the time."               - Mitch Albom


Journey through the Gaian Tarot

Three of

Up and at it early today.  Gathering things and getting ready for the big graduation ceremony this morning.

Work, success, life is better shared.
Community.
Family.
Friends.
Musketeers.

Count to 3 and make a wish.


Journey through the Gaian Tarot - Joanna Powell Colbert

An Apple a Day

This kid is checking out his apple.  He used to get his apple in slices and now here is the whole thing. The Child of Earth is fascinated with the apple he has just picked up from under the apple tree, whereas part of his young mind thought you picked apples up at the neighborhood grocery store.  This card today is all about perceptions and it reminds me of a quote by Wayne Dyer, "change the way you look at things and the things you look at change."

My niece graduates from University this weekend after 6 long and dedicated years of study and I am as proud as an aunt can be.  I look at her and can see all the opportunities and choices ahead for her and my sister can only see the empty nest.  Different perspectives. 
I never had children and feel absolutely blessed to have been apart of my nieces and nephews lives.  I look at them all grown up and sometimes think about how aged I have become. Yet, as long as there is the promise of tomorrow I need to remember I have choices and opportunities still ahead for me too.  Maybe the rabbit will help me find my next adventure. Where is a mirror, Ha

Journey through the Gaian Tarot - Joanna Powell Colbert

Sugar bound

Here I am bound to my addiction - SUGAR.  My legs are loosely wrapped so my bondage is self inflicted.  I can free myself at any time and walk away from those indulgent delights that I succumb to daily.  Those chirping birds are telling me again and again about all the damage and negative effects that sugar has on my body, but I cover my ears and in my distress reach for some sweet treat that will make me swoon and forget those warnings.

Sugar is the devil in my life, I am bound by my physical cravings for it.  Sugar is addictive for me and I cannot have just a little without it triggering an exaggerated need for more.  I thought I had it under control, again, but alas Carolyn has deluded herself.  It is crazy, cause you know the world could end tomorrow so why not stop at the bakery and indulge in a decadent cupcake?  Recently I have picked up my M&M's again.  They were the tools that I used to give up smoking years ago and recently I have be tossing them in my mouth by the handfuls.
"Sweets for the Sweets?'  Ahh sugar by any other name: fructose, sucrose, maltose, glucose, lactose, dextrose - you are still just as sweet and not good for me.  Someone yesterday was telling me I just had to try a deep fried batter twinkee, that is was the best treat that could be had.  Even I know that ain't good.

Journey through the Gaian Tarot -Joanna Powell Colbert

Conflict

This card is definitely one of conflict.  This card makes me think of who, is the top bird of the top bird?  Eagles are majestic and the National Emblem.  Who cannot say they have not experience a moment of awe when one is seen.  For years most only got to see them on a local PBS program, now they can be seen throughout the USA.  In some areas they are over abundant and there can be territorial fighting.

It can be the same with my thoughts.  Sometimes my mind can be filled with such conflicts and several things fighting for my attention at same time.  With so much going on how do I chose which one to take care of first?  Some call it the 'monkey mind' so much chatter one can hardly hear herself think.  The most demanding one will get the bulk of my attention, and I always remember my Father saying, "the squeaky wheel gets the oil." 
It is what it is, deal with it.


Journey through the Gaian Tarot - Joanna Powell Colbert

What lies beneath

I woke from a curious little dream this morning.  There were all these cars that had been submerged not necessarily a lake but something similar.  The water had been drained to exposed these vehicles. I was part of this parliamentary group trying to decide why they were hidden beneath the water and what to do with them?  Some of the cars seem to just not be there and then there were eight left, two rows of four.  There was more dissension amongst the group and some left.  I was aware that I was within a dream and that these other people were facets of myself and the cars were directions my life could have taken but didn't.

What an appropriate card to draw today.  Typically this Eight is portrayed as an individual walking away from eight cups; as we move through our life there are times and things we walk away from.  In this Eight I seemed to be moving along at some brisk pace by something submerged beneath me.  I am cutting through the water fast enough to cause a bit of wave action but it is not by me, at least not on the surface.  What moves me along today are the choices I made in the past, some remembered and some not. I am not sure what all that green water is about, but in the water I can see a double reflection of me, Maiden, Mother, and Crone - Past, Present, and Future, all converging and moving me along my way. 

The Journey through the Gaian Tarot - Joanna Powell Colbert

Courage - Cougar

Who doesn't love a sunny day?  I think the Sun in this Strength card hints at radiant joy.  When we are comfortable with who we are, Life flows like the continuing loop of the Infinity symbol.
The cougar seems to be content listening to the rhythm of Strength's heartbeat, maybe it reminds the cougar of purring.  Strength is courage frosted with humanity.

The other day when I slowed myself down and took some time to meditate, I heard " I AM HERE."  I have been pondering that for these last few days.  I always remember the Me, Myself, and I, but it has been a long while since I heard this from within.  So this is how this rendition of Strength speaks to me.  Listen and I just may hear myself.
I also noticed that I chose cougar instead of lion, mountain or otherwise.   I realize that cougar and courage are so very close to being the same.  Something else for me to ponder on today.

Journey through the Gaian Tarot - Joanna Powell Colbert

One Potato Two Potato

My Mother and Father had all these little ditties, that were sometimes obscure words of wisdom. One of them was "the squeaky wheel is the one that gets the oil."  The people and things in my life that make the most noise is what catches my attention and I end up focusing on the 'screaming child' just to shut it-them-me up.  So for today if something or someone carries on too much, I think I will let them just 'cry it out' and I stay focused on the task at hand.

"What you think, say and do are your fulcrums for life's magic, the pivot points upon which the universe and life's magic are leveraged."  - Mike Dooley


JOURNEY through the GAIAN TAROT - Joanna Powell Colbert

Happy Mothers Day to all Mothers.  My Mother left the planet many many years ago and there are times it feels just like last year.  I miss her all the time and from time to time she still stops in and visits, with a whisper, a scent, or a flush of love, I know she is near.

Hobby Horse

Today I chose the Horse card for the card of day.  I live across the river from Louisville KY and today is all about horses in the area with the running of the Kentucky Derby.  I will not be attending, just way to many people in town for the event and so many locals going, the crowds are overwhelming.
I don't get into horse racing like so many in the area; one reason is I grew up in Indianapolis where car racing was king of sports.  Both are media and gaming events, that when I was younger I enjoyed all of the hullabaloo.  For all intents and purposes today is a regional day off, so I am not working and my phone most likely will not ring.  The day promises to be bright and sunny so I am going to play outdoors and get my dose of Vitamin D, my hands a bit dirty planting a couple of pots of flowers, and maybe have a adult beverage and a stretch out in my lounger and take a nap. My knight card or explorer is just going to hang out in the paddock.

THE DRUID ANIMAL ORACLE

Letting Go

I caught a glimpse of someone yesterday that was of some importance in days long past.  My niece had come by and we went out for a late lunch and then stopped at Kohls for a bit of light window shopping.  And as we turned a corner there he was.  Years ago I declared no more, but as I walked by I wondered if he would sense that I was near and turn. Thankfully no.  He appeared aged and diminished and I moved by without incident or awareness.  From a distance I studied him a bit and then shook my head and moved on.

Sometimes I realize that something still lingers within me that I need to release.  Then the Universe sends a sign or reminder,
"say good-bye to the old and hello to the new".  I have always had trouble with trust issues and this one individual contributed to some of those insecurities.  And just like that I realize, what it was then is not what it is now and I can let go.  I processed some of that lingering yuckiness last night and now in the light of day I know I truly can let that go.
The Fairy has her feet planted in a flower and I think today calls for a pedicure. If I am starting in a new direction might as well have a new foot do.

MAGICAL MESSAGES from the fairies

Be Yourself

"This situation calls for you to be your authentic self, which is the basis for your personal power. " Todays card goes hand in hand with the card of yesterday - Assertiveness, both are part of our daily work.  Be who you are and who you were born to be.  

These cards from the MAGICAL MESSAGES from the fairies, are really simple - sugary sweet oracle cards.  I definitely prefer cards with no printing and captions that sway my mind to think what the author has imprinted on them.  I can see if I was to do readings and someone had a quick question this deck would be a good choice.  EZPZ.  Other than that I love unicorns, mythical and magical they can transport me to fairyland.  I wonder if I can find some fairy dust?  Where is Tinkerbell when you need her?

Simple Times, Simple Things, Simple Really. ~ Me

Assertiveness

Assertiveness honors everyone's right including our own, which is different than aggression, which denies the rights of others. With assertiveness you stay true to yourself and your values.  The question begs how do we really know ourselves.  That is what a lot of  life is about, self discovery.  I can get lost trying to figure this and that out.

The local Public Library offers different classes from time to time and last night they had an instructor that offered a class: A Mindfulness Meditation Workshop.  I don't meditate as often as I could and when workshops are offered and I get the chance I go because when more than one person is gathered the energy can lift much higher.  The mindful meditation was to help us be more in the moment, being awake and fully aware.  If I am more centered I can be more confident of who I am and where my path will lead. Assertiveness can be expressed as confidence in oneself.

"Stand up for your beliefs, and only say yes if you really want to."

MAGICAL MESSAGES from the fairies - Doreen Virtue

Read

Do Some Research.  This has become much easier with the Internet at hand.  Now when something catches my interest I can do my research with a click.  I used to love going to the library and doing research and finding out all those things that needed to be known and I still do that from time to time, but really it is so much easier to open a new window and click and immediately limitless information is available.

The Internet does make life easier.  A lot of my work in sales is done with the assistance of the Internet.  Spending time on this blog - Internet.  The Internet is so woven into the fabric of our lives we take it for granted.  I still like to go to the Library and check out books.  There is something about holding a book, listening to the almost silent whisper of the page as I turn it, and the mesmerizing effect found within the covers of a book.

"I am learning all the time.  The tombstone will be my diploma." -Eartha Kitt


MAGICAL MESSAGES from the fairies -Doreen Virtue

Wings

I read over the accompanying booklet and the only line that might apply to me was 'Your inner child needs to play.'  I look at this card and think, I would love a pair of butterfly wings.  They would let me fly all over the place, swishing here and there. What joy - what fun, especially since I am so Earth bound.  I don't have children, not pregnant, I don't teach, and there are no young children in my family, so I guess it's my inner child.

I wonder if they make Fairy wings in adult size?  Guess I could go to the local novelty store.  If it was around Halloween I could get a costume.  If nothing else I could wear them around the house, maybe I could fly through my housework.  Anyway I think today I will get some play time in. 
I grabbed a picture of when I was younger and I think I will keep it out on my altar and see if the younger version of me comes out to play.

MAGICAL MESSAGE from the fairies

Below is a picture of me at 2 years of age in 1959 

Fairies

Spring is in her full glory and no sense wishing for Summer to hurry along even with the promise of  getting everything I am asking for.  Yesterday I was in a class and one of the exercises the instructor asked us to do was to close our eyes and remember a smell related to childhood.  Several in class thought of  fresh cut grass and the easy days of Summertime.  As we get older Summer is just another season on The Wheel, but for children being out of school is filled with the promise of vacations, playtime, sleeping in, and for most, no classes.

I love fairies and the whimsical nature that surrounds them.  I have been working on removing an existing flower bed and replacing it with what will be a fairy garden.  I won't have to do all the weeding and to visit my fairy garden will make me happy.  This card is pretty and easy to read and I like that with all the challenging cards recently.  So it's all about the Fairies this week.  Summer will bring what it will bring and I hope is all that I am asking for but I still need to remember to live for today and not wait for tomorrow.



MAGICAL MESSAGES from the fairies ~ Oracle Cards -Doreen Virtue

                 
A fairy garden in my home.