Knights Archives < Arwen, Professional Joy Seeker

Tarot Recipe: The Sloppy Knight

It may come across as harsh, but I find the Knight of Cups to be a bit sloppy. They are a dreamer who often appears to not really care about what direction they are headed as long as they are following their heart. While I am all for following one’s heart, I can’t help but think “if only they had a destination in mind.”

Have you ever been loved by a Knight of Cups? Been in a Knight of Cups-style relationship? Been the Knight of Cups? They are the original knight-errant ever in search of romance. This is that person who is in love with being in love.

Because of their sloppiness, I am dedicating this recipe to them.

The Knight of Cups Sloppy Joes (low-sodium version)

Ingredients

1.5 lb turkey
4 tbsp low sodium tomato paste
1/2 large onion diced
1/2 large green bell pepper diced
2 C cherry tomatoes
3 cloves garlic minced
2 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tbsp Brown Mustard
1 1/2 tsp ground mustard
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
5 tbsp ketchup
1/3 cup water

Instructions

Saute onions BRIEFLY then add turkey and brown it up.
Add cherry tomatoes (we had some that we needed to use up…you can skip if you like.) Smash them up as they cook. Watch for the squirters!
Add onion, green pepper and garlic. Continue to cook 3-5 minutes until vegetables are slightly softened.
Add tomato paste. Mix in well.
Add remaining ingredients. Mix well. Cover and cook 10-15 minutes.

If you want to do this in a crockpot:

Cook meat,onions, bell pepper and tomatoes. Drain. Put in crockpot. Add seasonings et al. Cook on low for 3-4 hours. Taste. Adjust seasoning if necessary.

TarotCopes for December 7-13, 2014

Welcome to this week’s TarotCopes! I hope you enjoy them and share them. 😀 I am still looking for your opinions please. Take my survey about my new business model for 2015. 1 winner wins a full year’s subscription. Tarotscopes after the survey, darlings!

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Ready to rev up your 2015? I have two ways! One is to take a Joy Road Trip with me. The other is to grab your copy of Leonie Dawson’s 2015 Creating Your Shining Year. HINT! If you take the Joy Road Trip, I’ll be buying you a copy of Leonie’s workbook. 😀

CARD OF THE WEEK: NINE OF EARTH Time to make a list. Not at to-do, but a “ta-done”! Review your accomplishments. Pat yourself on the back. It all counts!

AQUARIUS LIGHTNING Expect something to get toppled but don’t worry. Making room for better things sometimes requires knocking walls down.

PISCES THREE OF FIRE Anticipation. Waiting. To heck with that! Make your own music. Write your own song. Create the energy you crave right now.

ARIES FIVE OF EARTH Sheltering yourself may feel like the safest choice but don’t deny yourself the comfort of family/friends. Reach out.

TAURUS BINDWEED If you are feeling trapped, check who said yes when they should’ve said no. Time to cut the ties that bind. Money isn’t king.

GEMINI EXPLORER OF WATER Get moving. Boat trips are favored. Cruise time? Let your heart lead this week. Follow deepest desires into joy. Go for it.

CANCER SEVEN OF WATER Dreams are great but isn’t it time you dove into one wholeheartedly? You waste time dithering about which one to choose.

LEO PAGE OF WATER Don’t be surprised if love shows up. Check the mirror first. Love for self must shine back at you. Then love from others!

VIRGO THREE OF CUPS Time to let your hair down, honey. No party to go to? Throw one! Let joy be your guiding call. Bake a plateful of joy!

LIBRA TWO OF FIRE Sometimes the one who winds you up the most, inspires you the most. Don’t let energy go to waste. Get passionate now!

SCORPIO TWO OF AIR Who are you listening to the most? What is their track record? Choose a better coach, darling. Information from left field!

SAGITTARIUS STRENGTH Something causes you to have to dig down deep but don’t worry. You’ve got this. Your strength comes from knowing right from wrong.

CAPRICORN SUN Celebrate you. Reaching out to family counts. You must let yourself shine so they can see how to follow your awesomeness.

The Explorer of Water is from the Gaian Tarot by Joanna P. Colbert.

Cuckoos, Peacocks + NaNoWriMo

When is a cuckoo better than a peacock? Check out this great deck for using w/ #NaNoWriMo.

#affirmation Today’s card is from a deck that is making a bit of a stir due to the unorthodox suits and courts and Majors. I happen to really like this deck. Not sure about reading with it in public just yet but I do like the inspiration I get from it.

[Tweet “When is a cuckoo better than a peacock? Check out this great deck for using w/ #NaNoWriMo.”]

I think it would be an excellent deck to work with doing my #NaNoWriMo based workshop that I’ve turned into an eCourse. That’s because it has very evocative images.

Here is the Knight of swords re-imagined as the Visionary, the Knight of Scrolls. The pen may be mightier than the sword here in this Air suit. Our Knight is no young man on a moving animal. Instead, he is a mature man who sits on what looks like a cushion atop a stone pedestal. If I am not mistaken, that’s a cuckoo on his shoulder staring at the peacock feathers.

And it hits me. The cuckoo is not an attractive bird per se. The peacock is admired far and wide for its beauty. Could the cuckoo be longingly dreaming of being a peacock? Or maybe just seen as worthy by the peacock?

The Visionary sits in a position of readiness. You will see this particular pose in many portraits of rulers and leaders. It indicates that he can get up at any time. I think that feeds into the movement part of the Knights that I like.

So we have a man at the ready while he holds a symbol of beauty and a symbol of, what?, less-than?

I think the message that is loudest for me here is that the cuckoo needs to enjoy its own beauty. There is a simplicity to the snow white feathers that the peacock can never achieve. Perhaps we can also point out to the cuckoo that it is alive here while the peacock is only represented by feathers–removed or shed.

When we dream, when we envision our lives, maybe we need to focus on what we have rather than what we lack.

Today’s affirmation:

I have what I need. I am enough. I am beautiful and strong. I desire myself. I dream gorgeous dreams because I am the star of them. I breathe in joy. I exhale gratitude. Loved and loving, I love each of you.

Seek joy, y’all. Pass it on.

Knight of Scrolls, Chrysalis Tarot , U.S. Games Systems, INC

Too Many Foxes

Some days there are just too many foxes in my world. Do you ever have this problem?

[Tweet “#affirmations Some days there are just too many foxes in my world. Do you ever have this problem?”]

#affirmations Some days there are just too many foxes in my world. Do you ever have this problem?

I get an idea of what I want to write about but I’m not sure of the direction. Today’s thought was dissatisfaction.

A rather unusual thought for me since I am a professional joy seeker. But still, that’s the word I had so I went with it.

I’ve had a lot of stress-inducing situations in the past two weeks–nearly all of them out of my hands.

Someone’s health
Foundation of a building
Foundation of a company
A loved one’s very hard battle

Nothing that I could point a finger at to merrily say, “Seek joy, y’all.”

In fact, I think if someone had reminded me of that, I might have just cracked. Yep…stress.

So when I pulled this Knight of Wands from my Shadowscapes Tarot app, I snickered. Then I giggled. Then I guffawed.

Because this, my darlings, this is the perfect expression of what I am feeling.

So much to do…so many foxes to direct. I see each fox as a thing that I might do. A project that needs attention.

And there I am straddling a lionzelle (my word for this gorgeous lionesque creature with gazelle horns.) The beast is ready to go, but I have not yet leaned forward. I have not yet committed to the events underfoot.

I can so see this as the root of my dissatisfaction. No action has been taken but there is a clarion call to action taking place.
The problem, as I see it, is too many foxes. Which one of the five is it to be? Once I figure that out, I think this general ennui will dissipate.

Perhaps this niggling, just out of reach itch of need is my clue that I just need to move. I need to pick one and go with it. Those other foxes?

Well there’s good news and there’s bad news.

They will always be there.

What? That’s the good news AND the bad news.

So how about you? What projects are calling to you? What do you need to move on? Is it a time of action or of rest for you?

Today’s affirmation:

I choose to take action. I am responsible for my own happiness. I make time to create. I open myself up to the infinite possibilities of joy. Seeking joy is my way of life. Loved and loving, I love each of you. Seek joy, y’all. Pass it on!

Knight of Wands, Shadowscapes Tarot, Llewellyn

#affirmations
#dailyaffirmation
#seekjoy
#tarot

Lizards, Snails + Knights

While you may not be a lover of lizards or a skipper of snails, I’ll bet you hold some wild thing dear.

Today’s card was a random draw from my primary reading deck. I had to smile when I saw it since I’d just come in from walking four dogs two times in the rain. I didn’t walk them all at once so I got double the amount of moisture.

Our Explorer of Earth is the Knight of Pentacles in traditional Tarot. In the Gaian, Joanna chose to use two males and two women. I adore that about this deck. Since I read for a wide group of people including the GLBTQI community, it’s nice to have a deck that honors gender this way.

I look at her and think of my own connection with the green world. People tell me that I see more in nature than most. For whatever reason, my poor eyesight sharpens and strengthens when it comes to the fauna of our world.

The other day while walking just my two, I saw a movement on the ground. When I looked, it was a gecko. It was absolutely water-logged and not moving well on the rain-soaked sidewalks.

I helped it up on a large leaf then walked with it for a while. It eyed me with some suspicion as you might imagine. But I found it a high, dry spot where I set the leaf down.

At night, my walks are slower because right now we have snails everywhere. I hate stepping on them. They’ve done nothing to me! So I do the snail two-step as much as possible. And if I do hear that sharp, bright crack under my foot, I offer up an apology.

So, in my own way, I am this Explorer of Earth. What about you? What do you explore? While you may not be a lover of lizards or a skipper of snails, I’ll bet you hold some wild thing dear.

Your journal prompt for today? “What wild things do I hold dear?” remembering that a wild thing may not be an animal. ;D

Explorer of Earth, Gaian Tarot, Joanna Powell Colbert

Seek joy, y’all. Pass it on.

Rumi, Goals + Steps

Will I achieve all my goals this year? Well, most likely not but I will achieve far more of them this time than last year. That’s a definite.

Today’s card is from a deck I just adore. There’s a part of me that yearns to relive my life that I must have lived in the Orient. I am so drawn to all things of this nature. I don’t know what it is.

Do you have a place that does that? A time or area of history that just calls to you? I do. I have two. One is Elizabethan England (and I have a past life memory of that that is hysterical and SOOOO not what I expected!) The other is China. I’m not as sure of the era as I haven’t done work there.

Grin. I know one or two of you rolled your eyes at me just now. Past life? Really?

Yes, really.

But what I want to address in this post is the Knight of Swords energy. The Rumi quote

“May God give you prosperity: then you will have already achieved your aim.”

is a bit of strange one. What does our mental guy have to do with prosperity? Isn’t that the Knight of Coins purview? Well maybe it is, but then again if the Knight of Swords keeps his thoughts on his aim, he will gain more than even the most studious of Coin armored guys.

Why?

Because he can see where he is going. He is focused. He has aims. He has achievable steps to reach his goal. That’s something I’m seeing so much on blogs right now. Everyone is interested in telling you (selling you) their way of achieving goals. Hell, even I’m doing that with my constant mention of this workbook+planner which really is all that…

BUT

What is at the core of any of this–mine, hers, his, theirs, yours?

Your individual dedication to your individual goals. Have you written them down? Have you listed the steps you need to take to get them?

I have (because of that planner) and one is already in the bag. Another from last year was put on the back burner because I didn’t think I could do it. I wasn’t convinced enough in my own aim to write it down with actionable steps. So it kind of floated into nothingness.

I have to put that back on my list. With steps to achieve that goal.

Will I achieve all my goals this year? Well, most likely not but I will achieve far more of them this time than last year. That’s a definite.

So what goals will you write down? How many steps will each take? Dream big, darlings. Dream big. I’ll be telling you soon about my first big goal that has come to be already. Promise.

Knight of Swords, Guide to the Rumi Tarot, Llewellyn, 2009

Seek joy, y’all. Pass it on.

Splashing, Waves & Ellipses

I think I’ll adopt this as today’s theme. I’m going to make some waves. I’m going to go against the flow of negative thought and speech. I’m going to focus on making joy waves today.

Today’s card is from a brand new deck geared towards young beginning Tarot readers. It’s charming. The court cards are renamed Shaman, Mage, Sage and Paige. That’s not my misspelling on that last one but because this is a children’s deck, I don’t know if that is a nod to a Paige in the artist or author’s family. I’ve sent a note off to the publisher to ask…I’ll update when I hear back.

The message of this card (randomly drawn) makes me smile. It’s such an empowering thing to be told you can make waves. Have you ever been in a situation where you were told not to make waves? Maybe literally at a pool where you got fussed at for jumping and playing and splashing?

And someone told you to stop? I have. And it sucks. I mean let’s face it. I’m a water child (Pisces) so splashing and causing water to fly is one of my most fun activities. 😀

This card with its simple purple and green coloring makes me smile. Making waves with her face so intense, our Water Sage looks like she is about to do an interpretive dance…errr…swim. She’s all dolled up including a comb of seaweed. Nothing and no one is going to stop her.

I think I’ll adopt this as today’s theme. I’m going to make some waves. I’m going to go against the flow of negative thought and speech. I’m going to focus on making joy waves today.

One thing I’m personally doing is focusing on sharing good things on my Facebook as much as possible. There’s just so much unhappiness in this world. I saw the funniest picture today and was going to share it, but the group name it was originally from was “I hate fucking cats.”

Ouch.

Maybe they meant to make it funny but it’s harsh and it’s mean-spirited. Like that awful site People of Wal-Mart. I loathe that site. It mocks others who are seen as “less than” by those who post and comment. I have looked at it one time and that five minutes was more than enough. Is the sight of a large woman in tight pants funny? I guess it is to some, but I’m going to choose to find other things to laugh at.

I know…how judgmental of me. I’ll have to live with that, but I will not worry about it…too much.

I’d rather worry about my rather…unnatural…love of the…ellipse.

HA!

Y’all make some waves today. Keep it positive. Keep it upbeat. Work on you. I’ll just hold on to this thought from Rob Brezny’s “Pronoia Is the Antidote for Paranoia: How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings.” Another favorite book of mine…and don’t miss yesterday’s contest! You have a few more days to comment to win.

“The revolution begins at home. If you overthrow yourself again and again, you might earn the right to help overthrow the rest of us.”

Water Sage, Elemental Tarot For Kids, Schiffer 2012

“Pronoia Is the Antidote for Paranoia: How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with BlessingsTHOSE books. Recommended.

Sticks, Guns & Knives

Today’s card is from a very unique deck. I heard about it when the creator said that one of my favorite television shows had requested to use it for an episode. So I hurried off to look at it. The art work is primitive, raw and passionate. I bought it.

I went through the cards today and three called to me but I could only choose one. I chose the Warrior (Knight) of Sticks because I liked the message I got from the card. Caveat: I didn’t read the book. I usually don’t read the book of a new deck until I’ve worked with the deck a bit. I know, right? Crazy!

So here we have a dude holding a stick. But look at his weapon. It’s got flowers, y’all. FLOWERS. Who’s he going to injure with that?

Then it hit me. He’s not the warrior who wants to kill. He’s the protector who wants to transform those who come against him. He wants to show them the beauty he sees.

I like that. I think he is seeking joy in a new and different way. I don’t doubt that he will cosh anyone on the head who doesn’t see the beauty way, but I’m sure he will give them at least two chances to get it.

How do you go into a fight? When you know an argument is brewing. When you know you are going to be a loggerheads with someone.

Do you take a gun to a knife fight (yes, I know that’s not the saying.) Or, like our Warrior of Sticks from Hazelmoon’s Hawaiian Tarot, do you go in hoping to change hearts and minds without blows (physical or verbal).

What do you take into a fight?

Seek joy, y’all. Pass it on.

Warrior of Sticks, Hazelmoon’s Hawaiian Tarot, 2010

Tarot&Food:Knight of Wands Enchiladas

Food. I love food. I like food I cook. I like food other people cook. I like uncooked food. I just love food. I have an ongoing series of matching recipes to Tarot cards. I wanted this recipe to go in the Air/Swords category because it was a quick no-brainer kind of meal. The kind you throw together with whatever you have on hand. Since it went together in a hurry and was ready in a hurry, it made me think of the Knights of the Tarot. Always on the move, that suit is generally the age of the single man or woman in my eyes. So this could be a late night meal–what I used to call bar’thirty.

I thought about making it a Wands recipe since it is definitely spicy, but kept coming back to Continue reading “Tarot&Food:Knight of Wands Enchiladas”

Musings On The Explorer of Fire (Gaian Tarot)

I’ve been holding back a bit. I’ve been listening to the wrong tapes in my head. I need to burn out some negative thought patterns and start dancing with fire again.

So it’s been a while since I did a daily musing. Sorry ’bout that. I won a trip to the Final Four last week so my time was split between “OMG OMG OMG” and planning. Then the weekend itself was off the hook!

My Romeo and I flew to Indy on Friday morning to check into the Hilton. Then we spent the weekend going to games and parties and concerts. Of all the bands I saw, my favorite was Continue reading “Musings On The Explorer of Fire (Gaian Tarot)”