Stemware

Which will be the best pattern choice for stemware?  This gal looks somewhat disenchanted with the process of picking out what cups will go best with the china pattern, that this soon to be married couple will use in their new home.

I never got married.  Never registered for marital gifts.  Never started a hope chest as a teenager.  Plates and glasses, cups and bowls are just something to serve up my meals on.  More often than not I use paper plates to save doing lots of dishes.  I notice in lots of home that their cabinets are full of mismatched cups and glasses like my cabinets. 
When things go awry as they often do, I just need to ask myself, "will this be important in five years?" 



The Green Witch Tarot - Ann Moura

One is the loneliest number

"One is the loneliest number that you'll ever do, two can be as bad as one, it's the loneliest number since the number one." ~ Harry Nilsson and song performed by Three Dog Night

Most practitioners of magics usually do so alone. Mostly do to persecutions from people who live in fear of what they do not understand.  I wonder if this gal learned from her mother who learned from her mother and so on back.  Does her craft bring her joy or something she feels bound to do, given it is a generational legacy?

Are we what we do or do what we are?






The Green Witch Tarot - Ann Moura

See Me

I find this an interesting draw one week out from the Summer Solstice.  The Wheel has turned and though we have long hot and humid days ahead, the days are already shortening in length.

I guess I am thinking about what might be ahead of me in the days to come and this card suggests that I do not have to travel my path alone.  











The Green Witch Tarot - Ann Moura

Move along

Sometimes we just have to turn our backs on a situation that no longer serves us. 

Time to see what is on the other side of the river.

No judgement here

Another card of bounty, celebration, harvest.  Yesterday's card celebrated the success of day to day work.  Doing a job and doing it well and reaping the benefits with a bit of luck.
Today's card of Harvest/Judgement takes it to a much higher level.

It is curious to me to draw two very similar cards so closely together.  In this card of Harvest there is no judgement.  Just appreciation of work well done.  Maybe a delightful change is in the air for me. 

"Everything smooths out when you just relax and trust in the Universe. It's difficult to believe, but you don't actually have the last word on how things turn out-this time. That ought to be welcomed news, since it means you can actually live your life instead of trying to steer it.  That should release a pile of stress, but also improve your willingness to try new things." - Unknown




The Green Witch Tarot - Ann Moura

What you bring to the table

It takes more than luck to bring things to fruition.  This lovely couple are celebrating the harvest that they have brought in.  It took skill and lots of work to bring them to this place.

There is a big difference between luck and chance.  Chance happens and is mostly a random occurrence.  Luck is a sequence of happenings that either opens up opportunities or denies them to us.
By chance I was driving down the road and saw this local fruit stand and I was lucky they had these lovely apples and pears.
Lucky that.

I think I will run by the supermarket and get some apples and pears and make a tasty cobbler today.  Yum.




The Green Witch Tarot - Ann Moura

Green witch

I am thinking this is Ollivander's niece.   She has selected the wood for the wands and has carved them, bringing out the best feature in the tree branches.  Now she is preparing the magics to reside within the wand.  There are obviously lots of nature fairies surrounding her to assist.

There is beauty living and making a living in the forests.  There is magic in the mists.    Life is simpler.  I might even find a stone circle or a fairy hill hidden amongst the trees
Life and can be as hard or easy as I make it.  Maybe a trip to the local park and sit a spell in the woods is called for today.







The Green Witch Tarot - Ann Moura

Question mark

Is it really better to give than receive?  We all can or need assistance from time to time.  Allowing others to do for us gives them the opportunity to be a benefactor.

I am a bit at odds with this scene. I am going to spend some more time with it today and try to figure out what is giving me a 'tic' about the portrayal.


"If the only prayer you said in your whole life was 'thank you' that would suffice."  -Meister Eckhart







The Green Witch Tarot - Ann Moura

Self education

'We teach most what we need to learn.'

The Hierophant or in this interpretation The High Priest is the holder of the old ways.  Knowledge passed down from one to others.  Is the information from Sages and the Ancients still relative to our lives these days?  Makes me think of another old axiom, 'the more things change, the more they stay the same.' Are the things we truly need to learn and embody the very things we teach? 
Makes me think of another old saying, 'when we talk we are only repeating what we know, but if we listen we just might learn something new.'  Are the the two schools of thought contradictory or complimentary?


The Green Witch Tarot - Ann Moura

Victory lap

Knights come and they go.  This young lad seems to be returning, victorious in where ever  his exploration took him.

I cannot tell if his sword is broken or he carries a dagger.  I believe it  more to be a dagger.  He seems to be very happy with himself and there is not a spot of dirt on his clothing so I believe his victory was more academic.
Success comes in many different forms, we don't necessarily have to get all bloodied up or roll around in the muck to "win" the day.
 Maybe it is a ride out and about to announce the Summer Solstice.






The Green Witch Tarot -Ann Moura

Eleven twelve, dig and delve

Life can be as simple or as complicated as we decide to make it.  Today I am going with the prompt that this Page of Cups is recommending. 

Today I think I will paint rocks.  That's the prompt I am getting from today's draw.  Simple.  I could work on the dozen or so things on my to do list, but they will still be waiting for me tomorrow.  I have not been painting my 'Love' rocks to leave around the local areas.  This last couple of evenings I have painted several and I think today I will paint a bunch more and then spend tomorrow - The Summer Solstice placing them here and there.  Recently my dentist posted one on her FB page.  I had left the rock in her rocked flower bed in front of her office last September and she found it a couple of weeks ago and posted. 
Maybe a few rocks placed along the walk-ways down by the river.


The Green Witch Tarot

nine-ten a big fat hen

Today I have drawn the Nine of Wands to quite possibly see what happened just before the ten of wands yesterday.  If I see the cards following a time-line between the Ace and the Ten, then pondering the card before the card of the daily draw or a reading just might help me conclude my interpretation of the Ten of Wands yesterday.

This Magician's apprentice is very protective of the wands in his care.  There are actually ten wands counting the one in the cup, which is still soaking up the magic potion the Magician has made to enchant the wands. It takes courage and strength to watch over these magic wands (and fear that the Magician might turn me into a toad.)
Add to the tense situation are the mole and the fairy.  Helpmates from above and below?  I believe these wands are the ten wands of yesterday that are being carried to the Stone Circle for the Summer Solstice Rites.  Together they are things not yet finished before I celebrate the coming of a new season.  Finish up what has been started so I can continue on the Fool's journey.

The Green Witch Tarot -Ann Moura

Choices

I have been pondering this draw of the Ten of Wands for a good part of the day.  I get a different feel for the scene every time I look at it.  The Fool on her way to the top of cliff and maybe the squirrel will be her trusted companion instead of a little dog.   Maybe a nod to the burdens we carry and the friends that are there to help us on the way.  Another thought was a path less traveled but obviously the path up the mountain side has been well used.  The booklet gives the possibility of one who is a micro-manager, someone who prefers to do all the work because others are not trusted to get the job done.

 My most recent observation is the preparations to be done before the Summer Solstice.  I am drawn to the Stone Circle that appears to be glowing with power, so too is the time of the Summer Solstice.  Maybe those are magic wands carried to the Circle for rites to be held on the Summer Solstice, this coming Wednesday.  Those ten wands might be the things or tasks I did not get completed in the first half of the year and I am still carrying around.  With all these maybes I have some further contemplation before the true meaning reveals itself to me.  I need to finish my climb and stand in the glow for enlightenment or a revelation.




The Green Witch Tarot - Ann Moura

Color me azure

What an interesting take on color.  Colors of the rainbow and the seven major chakras of our bodies.  Color helps us put a light on our focus or perceptions.

Colors have a powerful impact on every aspect of our lives, speaking directly to us at a subconscious level.  There are times when I look at the cards in any or all of my decks and the image(s)  do not resonate with me; those times I try to immerse myself in the colors or contemplate the number of the card if there is one.  Color is always present, even the absence of color there is color. 
Just now looking at these cards, the color of the five elements in Chinese astrology and Feng Shui are present.  Fire, Earth, Wood, Water, and Metal.  Fascinating.  The card meditation gives us: if there are times we are feeling low or lethargic, for example, to meditate on orange or yellow to uplift and energize us. 

Communication

"To effectively communicate, we must realize that we are all different in the way we perceive the world and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with others." -Tony Robbins

I remember these.  I even made some of these communication devices when I was a child.  I wonder if children these days even know what they are.  Most likely not.  I see small children on cell phones and I wonder with what and how their children will communicate in a few decades.  The estimates are about only one-fifth of American households have land-line phones and most belong to the aging segment of the population.
The times they are a changing. 

E=mc2

That equation is based on Einstein's Theory of Relativity.
These mermaid sisters remind of this theory.  My energy is relative to where and who I am with.

At the beach I feel and act like a totally different woman.  I have more energy, I move around with greater ease, and life is better.  I know a big part of it is being on vacation, when I can just drop the drama of day to day life and relax. 
When I looked at this card it also reminded me of children at play.  Who has not thought 'I wish I could bottle some of the energy those children have, and use it for my own.'  I think some of that youthful energy is the fact that children are not yet bogged down of all the drama of day to day life.  Given that, this meditation card reminds to set sometime aside for play time; to disengage of the drama for a bit and connect with my inner child.
And going to the beach is always a plus.

Turned Away

This card is titled Stillness and like Equanimity the person in the card is turned away from me. Why?  Is this part and parcel of meditation to become separate from others and in that distance find ourselves?

I have noticed on more than several occasions of pictures of people in profile with their backs turned from the camera.  Are they looking for something or making a statement to World through the camera lens?  Someone had to be with them to take such a picture, so they are not totally identified with 'aloneness.'  It is a declaration of their loneliness? invisibility?  disconnect? 

               ISOLATION
Release me Seclusion
Like you've declined to do before
You've confined me to myself
Left me in isolation
Hidden me in plain sight.
      ~Angel Gratix

Right and then left

There are points in our life that we take turns, to the right, to the left; sometimes there are even times when we are at a Stop sign and and stay put.

The back of this card speaks of Love.  Love that takes many forms and specifically this one speaks of  intimate or sexual love.  Curious as I was thinking of a past love in that soft  moment between awake and sleep.  Many years ago in my very early twenties I met a dynamo of a guy that when I first met him I felt this overwhelming warm flush - Love at First Sight.  Things were not to be for us, he was a good ten years older than me and a very bad boy, even more enticing I might add.  Again, curious that this card with the authors note following a remembrance.
It also called to mind an old song sung by Dionne Warwick, "What's it all about Alfie."  I am going to go listen to it online and probably play the damn song in my head all day.

Equanimity

Equanimity, now there's a word we don't hear so much.  Mental calmness, composure, and evenness of temper, especially in a difficult situation.

'The mind and body each affects the well-being of the other.  Regular meditation is an excellent stabilizing influence. Here are some meditative thoughts to help you to achieve a state of equanimity.
* May I be steady in this period of change.
* May I be present in this period of difficulties.
* May I stay centered in the heat of the moment.
*May I be free from obsession with the past or future.'
 ~ this was from the back of the card.

Today if I encounter a challenging moment or situation, I will remind myself of this mantra as I count to ten.

This is card from a little meditation deck that I found at a yard sale last year.  No author is noted on the cards and there was no box or booklet.  So I thank the unknown author(s).

In between

Kuan Yin, the Goddess of mercy and love;  traditional card is the Hanged Man.  Looking at things from a different vantage point.  Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change.

My eyes were drawn to the Moon and the Sun in the upper corners of the card.  That in between place between sleeping and waking.  Neither one thing nor the other. Is my reality in the awaken state or the dream state?  










The GODDESS TAROT - Kris Waldherr

All in

Conflict for the sake of conflict?  Maybe.  Play, could be.  Honing skills, a strong possibility.  All the Sun energy has to be channeled into some outlet of release.

Yesterday I drew the Queen of Wands, and today the Five of Wands, so I believe I am getting a prod to get up and get moving.  Laylah  commented about our wands being left in the back of the draw.  I have a wand that was given me years ago as a gift so I could engage in some much needed play time, and of course it was in the back of a drawer.  So I went and found it. See the gal in the bottom right of the card, that's me, with wand in hand ready to join the fray play.  Thanks for the nudge Laylah.  I think this is just what I need on my desk or altar to get me going again.




The GODDESS TAROT -Kris Waldherr

Personification

Liberation from our own worst fears. I wonder if the Queen of Wands ever really experienced fear or self doubt.

 "You are always a valuable, worthwhile human being-
   not because anybody says so, not because you are successful,
   not because you make a lot of money - but because you
   decide to believe it and for no other reason." ~ Wayne Dyer

This queen has a secretive little smile, I wonder what she is up to?



The GODDESS TAROT - Kris Waldherr

Changing places

I don't hold with Strength as the eleventh Major in the deck and in this windy scene I would think you really couldn't hold on to much.  I think you need to find balance after getting off The Wheel.

Maybe it is a good thing to mix things up every so often, otherwise we can become complacent in our day to day lives. Maybe also after spinning the wheel of chance we need strength to carry us forward from the direction the wheel landed us on.
So for today I will see about doing something a little different in my day to day events. 








The GODDESS TAROT- Kris Waldherr

Hanky-Panky

Why are there things we do to our own detriment? We can create problems for ourselves because we are bored, dissatisfied, or just up to no good.

I was always been a bit perplexed with the individuals on the Seven of Swords as to why their arms are not covered in blood.  I mean come on, carrying swords by the blades is bound to be problematic.  I could see sneaking off with two of them by the hilt and leaving the other five in ground.  It's our nature I guess to want more.  More, more, more, me, me, me, now, now, now.

Reminds me of the fable about the turtle and the scorpion.  The scorpion hitches a ride and then stings the turtle midstream and they are both going to drown. ' Why' cries the turtle?  'It's my nature' says the scorpion.
No sneaking around or over indulgent tendencies for me today.


The GODDESS TAROT - Kris Waldherr

Razzle Dazzle

Knowing and not doing something is worse than not knowing at all.  I'm not sure that is a direct quote from someone, but we hear the principle in business all the time.  Training and not implementing the new information is wasted time and potential. 

I have never quite agreed with the images of the Two and Three of Wands.  Fire is energy, movement, creativity.  After the immense burst of energy in the Ace we are just going to stand around and wait for something to happen; I think not.  Most Wands numbered cards are in movement, except the two and three. The character in the nine gives us the result of too much or the wrong kind of movement.  This gal should be running, dancing, pole-vaulting with her wands; at the very least her hair should be standing on end with the infusing of the Ace's energy. 
I will take my own advice and go forth and do something with my day.  Get out and about.  I have a new client to meet in a few hours and I am going to make the most of our meeting.

The GODDESS TAROT - Kris Waldherr

Sonnet Sunday

"Time is very slow for those who wait
  Very fast for those who succeed
  Very long for those who lament
  Very short for those who celebrate
   But for those who love, time is eternal."
   ~ William Shakespeare








The GODDESS TAROT - Kris Waldherr
 

Viewpoint

Traditional card would be The Emperor: leadership, wisdom, and power.  This card conveys more of mastery of movement, more in line with the Chariot.  Still I guess she would need strength and power to control those big cats.

I like this interpretation of the 'Emperor' who usually sits on his throne, stodgy and immobile; my way or the highway type of guy.  Here we have leadership that is fluid and graceful.  A much better way to conduct business.
Tonight I think I will spend a bit of time out doors and do some stargazing.  Maybe, just maybe I will catch a glimpse of Freyja as she streaks across the sky.








The GODDESS TAROT - Kris Waldherr

Any which way

Except for the six cups this card does not follow the traditional interpretations I have found in most decks, especially all that follow the RWS depiction.  Kris Waldherr gives us: memories, nostalgia, children which I don't find in the card at all.  I see six cups filled with wisteria and the emblem of Venus on several of the cups.  Harmony above and below would be a better description which is a general interpretation of the number six in numerology.

In all the sixes at least in the Rider Waite-Smith deck we see responsibility or service to others.  I have noticed that there are three people in each of the RWS sixes; which is a curiosity.  So then in this card the designer harkens to two sets of three, accident or design? 
Maybe I am overthinking all the imagery and just need to fill my house with cups or vases of flowers and enjoy their sweet fragrance.  That would serve me.

"A Rose by any other name would smell as sweet." ~ William Shakespeare




The GODDESS TAROT - Kris Waldherr

Moon Goddess

From the booklet ~  Traditional card: The Hermit, keywords - meditation, withdrawal, introspection.

I have had this deck for a number of years and never questioned or asked who Chang O is or was.  So I spent the last half hour or so reading a few excepts.   The best I can tell you is Chang O's withdrawal was not intentional. And that is the way of the Hermit sometimes.  Whether by design or not some times we find ourselves alone and what we do with that time is up to us.  Find spiritual fulfillment, self-awareness, loneliness, or just pick fuzz out of our belly button (Sharyn) is up to us.
I also wondered about that rabbit and in my research I found that Chang O is often represented with a hare, and the Hare of the Moon can still be traced on the surface of the Full Moon.  Something else newly learned, Idk that a rabbit impression was on the Full Moon?  Come on June 9th so I can get a glimpse.

The GODDESS TAROT - Kris Waldherr