#blogboost Archives < Arwen, Professional Joy Seeker

Tarotscopes 10/14 – 10/20

Today’s deck? from US Games. t I love this deck, y’all!

Feel free to share these. And I love hearing from you so let me know what you think of them. How is your week looking for you? How was last week?

AQ PgPent Study harder. Learn more. Work on written projects. Don’t wander too far. Stick to the subject for best results.
PIC 10P Successful outcome. Others approve. Ask U to share yr wealth/knowledge. Business grows. Expect success. Listen to advice.
ARI PW Sometimes U have to wander to learn. Write a letter to your self for 10 yrs later about where U expect to be. Get in the game.
TAU World Knowledge is power. Use that knowledge to move to the next thing. Understanding yr success leads to more. Accomplishment.
CAN 5C U have plenty left. Yr joy is in yr hands not theirs. Focus on what U have. Yr hula hoop, darling. Not theirs. Let them go.
GEM 6Cp Emotional responses w/o thought are for children. Revisit old friends. Learn from their success. Value what they offer.
LEO KnS Where are U rushing off to? Stop. Time to get a plan of action BEFORE charging in. Is it really yr battle to fight? Really?
VIR 4S Rest is recommended. More mental projects coming soon. Take this much needed respite. Allow yr mind space to rejuvenate.
LIB 4Wnds Partnerships need boundaries. Commitment requires stability. Celebrate yr hearthstone by focusing on others this wk.
SCO 1Wnd Growth starts at the bottom. Passion fuels it. Seed energy for starting something fun & new. Make it happen now. Fast wk.
SAG QSw Speak w/ authority. May have to be sharper than U like but they must listen this wk. U will need to take charge of your life.
CAP 5Wnd Don’t let others control U. Play by rules U know & understand. When U are pawn 4 others, it’s wrong. Games are likely.

Three of Cups, , US Games, 2012

Today’s card is from an oracle deck. It reminds me that I must stand my ground if I am to guard what is important to me. There are times when I will have to call on others for help as well. The horn in this angel’s hand isn’t in use, but there is potential.

Sentinel. The one who watches. This guardian’s job isn’t to attack. It is to stand and keep watch. And that is what I must do for my own happiness and emotional health. I have to guard my joy.

There is a type of person who looks for the good in everything and everyone. There is a type of person who looks for the worst and expects bad to happen. There is a type of person who walks a middle ground.

I’m not the last although I do try to be. I know bad shit happens. I took a pretty nasty fall yesterday that I am still suffering from today. But I’d rather focus on my good knee than on the bad if I can. Oh, I can wallow with the best of them. I just can’t allow myself to stay in the wallowing. If I do, I become unhappy. Worse, I get mean. And I don’t like mean people–myself especially.

So what I’m trying to get at is that we all have sharp, critical inner voices. When it’s a habit to be that way, it can color our world with unhappiness because nothing is ever good enough. How awful it must be to live like that. I mean, think about it. If nothing you do will ever meet standards (set by you or someone else), then what does it matter? Why keep on keeping on?

That depressed attitude…that “I just won’t keep trying” isn’t how I want to live my life. I’ll choose to be around people who see the good. People who seek joy. People who understand that unhappy things are just blips that go away. People who show me that they get what it means to chase their bliss.

Those are the sentinels I’ll gather up. Here’s to being a part of an army of joy seekers. Sentinels who will guard my back as I guard theirs. People who will remind when I’ve lost my joy and point the way to get it back.

Seek joy, y’all. It’s an urgent thing. Pass it on.

Sentinel, Graven Images Oracle, Galde Press, 2007

Masks, Authenticity & Strength

Today’s card is one that reminds me it’s hard to be authentic. Being authentic. It’s one of those terms we kick around a lot. I know I do. And then today, I saw this quote.

“Belonging starts with self-acceptance … Believing that you’re enough is what gives you the courage to be authentic.”
— Brené Brown

This is perfect for this 7 of Masks from the Fradella Adventure Tarot. It’s a perennial favorite of mine. He offers up masks as his Cups suit. When I first saw that, I was thrown for a bit. I couldn’t wrap my head around it until I realized the beauty of it. Our emotions can be masks.

Here a figure is choosing which face to wear. The decision to be someone else is something many of us face. How often have you talked about “Today I must be the man in charge” or “I have to go be a soccer mom” or any variation?

Take a moment to ask yourself what masks (or roles) you have in your life. How often are you all of them at once? What would happen if you took corporate legal eagle to the T-ball game?

I think Brene` Brown is right. If this character would choose to just go out as themselves, this matter of choosing who to be that day would melt away. He, and I, must learn to believe that he is enough.

Where do you feel like you are not enough? Where do you feel like you are inadequate to the point of needing to pretend to be someone else?

For today, practice being the most important person in the world–yourself. Allow the world to be blessed with the presence of you–real, authentic, honest. You with your nose that’s too big. You with your stomach that pokes out. You with your child who doesn’t behave beautifully at all times. You with all your insecurities…let them go.

And then tomorrow? Practice this concept again. Yes, some people won’t like you. But you know what?

The authentic you probably doesn’t like them either. And that’s okay. We are not here to hang out with the world. Love the world certainly, but populate your hula hoop neighbors with other authentic people. Leave the masks for those who aren’t strong enough to believe in themselves.

I believe in you.

Seek joy, y’all. Pass it on. Want to show off your own willingness to chase your own bliss? Get yourself a mousepad to remind you. And schedule a reading with me today. I’ll help you examine how to be your most authentic self.

7 of Masks, Fradella Adventure Tarot, U.S. Games, 2003

Breasts, Cauldrons & Swords

Today’s card is one of the cards that I tend to look at when I am first reviewing a deck. I need to feel some connection to this particular regent in this suit. And this one is a great reminder of guarding my precious emotions.

Here lounges the Queen of Cups from Luis Royo’s Labyrinth Tarot (Fournier 2005, Lo Scarebo/Lwellelyn 2012). She has her hand on a cauldron while the other holds a sword. She is richly dressed but also bare-breasted. I see the bare breasts as her nurturing self but she’s definitely not going to make it easy–not this particular Queen of Cups.

Her message to me today is to not say things just to be kind. She would rather be cautious and reserved in matters of the heart for now. It serves her best to seem a bit daunting.

So I will allow real relationships that understand the need to have come guarded pieces of ourselves. That understands Queens (and Kings) don’t divulge all in the first two hours. Better to be the Queen of Cups of the Labryinth Tarot who doesn’t deny emotional relationships as long as they understand why she has to carry a sword to protect her nurturing heart.

Queen of Cups, Labyrinth Tarot,Fournier 2005 OOP. Re-released Lo Scarebo/Lwelleyn 2012

Tarotscopes 7/29 – 8/4/2012

Tarotscopes for 7/29 – 8/4/2012 I read with the Gaian Tarot.

AQ 9Air Does fear of unknown keep U at the gate? Let go of the known. Trust fall into the scary “what if”. U are protected by Spirit.
PIC ExWtr Emotions can overwhelm or move forward. Are U on top of them or controlled by them? It’s all in yr hands, darlings.
ARI Seeker What horizon needs exploring? What out-of-the-way shop calls to U? Pack an overnight bag. Take the chance. Risk it. GO.
TAU 7Cps Choices are always available. Commit to 1. Don’t worry about greener grass. Emotionally open up if U would be sated. CHOOSE!
GEM 9Wtr Heart’s desire available aisle 5. Cleanup on aisle 9. Yr choice as to which is more important. I know where I’d be heading.
CAN Emp Focus on home. Declutter for best results. Let go of the unnecessary (& some of the necessary isn’t). Protect yr surroundings.
Leo 6Earth Generosity of spirit/self necessary. Give to yr group not to get back–to renew yr spirit. Allow an open channel, please.
VIR Star Reached some goals? Set more. Focus on what’s next. Focus on what U have to stretch for mentally. Dream as U set new goals.
LIB HPS U are called to go deeper. U are called to investigate yr own inner landscape. What secrets need to revealed? kept? Let go?
SCO 1Air Unfurl yr wings. Stop being a caterpillar. We all KNOW Ur a butterfly. Spread yr wings. Fly. Float. Preen. It’s all good.
SAG Lovers Enjoy this time as U explore yrslf reflected in others. Share beauty. Allow hope. Embrace the moment. Even bees get busy.
CAP Death Something must change. Fight it. Allow it. Doesn’t matter. It will be different. Try embracing it. Live through the pain.

The secret to being a pro joy seeker? It piles up. It accumulates.

Past, Future & Perfect

Today’s card is from a deck I doubt many of you have ever heard about much less seen. It was created by a woman from Denver. Her name is Manea von Griffyn. This hand-drawn pen and ink deck is very interesting. It has a wide variety of phrases combined with images. I count myself fortunate to have bought a copy when she had them available.

Here we have a great reminder about what to focus on. Not the past, but the future.

THE PAST IS BEHIND YOU.

And it’s a one way ticket forward (or, if you insist, backwards.)

If you had a great childhood, and I did, there could be a tendency to dwell on how things used to be. You might tempted to compare everything today to the glossy still life of what used to be.

Or you might be someone who had a crappy growing up experience. Then you might dwell on how awful things were and angst over how the here and now is sooooo like such-and-such.

Either way, we are denying the reality that right now is simply that. Right now. It will be the past tomorrow. Today, we need to focus on accepting it for what it is.

Be nice if we could do that without struggling, but, grin, we are humans. So when you get out of sync with today, this moment, the present…remember!

THE PAST IS BEHIND YOU.

Art deck by Manea von Griffyn, Self-Published, 2003 maybe?

And don’t forget to visit my shop so you can let people know that you do, indeed:

Seek Joy, Y’all! Pass it on.

Sharp, Skinny & Fat

Today’s card is from a deck I’m not sure that I like. It’s a new-to-me deck. Generally I am fond of brightly colored images. This deck leaves me a bit cold for some reason. I’m still exploring why that is. The card itself I can gain insight from.

Have you ever had an idea that seemed so new and so shiny that you wanted to follow it wherever it led you? Ever wanted to cross your own boundaries simply because you realized there was something more to be known?

How can you propel yourself past that big sharp pointy thing to get to the shiny new one? What steps would you take to motivate yourself?

Thought patterns are hard to change for a reason. The very fact that they are patterns is because we’ve woven them into our own psyche for many years. Often we’ve had help from other areas–family, media, friends. An example would be the feminine figure. A woman is not healthy (much less pretty) if she is not svelte. And don’t be too skinny either because that’s not okay.

Says who? Challenge that thought. Challenge the one that says you can’t be successful without a college degree. Challenge the one that says you can’t be a feminist if you are a stay-at-home mom. Challenge the one that says you have to believe the way your religious leaders tell you.

Ace of Swords traditionally means new ideas. Here though, I see the woman leaning down for the child as being challenged to let go of her currently thought patterns so she can adopt new ones.

By the way, are you a fiction writer? Join me for a one hour webinar Sunday August 5th, 2012. You’ll learn some new ways to create characters who will leap off the page to impress your readers (and those editor and agents as well!) Brought to you by Attune Learning Center

1PM PST/2PM MST/3PM CST/4PM EST/9PM GST ($19.99)

Ace of Swords, Gendron Tarot, U.S. Games, 1997

Walls, Changes & Journeys

Today’s card is from a new-to-me deck. It’s a really interesting interpretation of this card that is traditionally about regret. I see this one as tackling this from a different side.

Instead of someone looking at cups they’ve lost, this pretty red phoenix (which seems to resemble the Chinese Golden Pheasant) looks up and out. There’s this huge wall way out in front of him. Can he make it over? What if he does make it over? Can he make it back?

That’s a question I ask myself sometimes. If I make these changes, will it change me so much that I can never return?

Probably.

In any good story (and all of us are living the stories of our lives), the hero changes irrevocably. S/he can’t return to their Ordinary World as the person they were when they left. Harry Potter is a wizard now. He’ll never comfortably be that abused boy living under the stairs slaving away for his uncaring relatives.

What are your walls? What are your far horizons? What are the changes you are working on? How will they change you? Focus on the fact that the changes will make you stronger. You are working towards building yourself up–tearing down habits that no longer work for you.

Time to test your wings, darlings. Time to show the world the bright, shiny, new you.

And remember, all that gets to change tomorrow because once you get to the new world/new you, it becomes the Ordinary World for your next hero’s journey. And that’s all very very good.

I’m here to support you on your journey. Thanks for being here to support me on mine.

Four of Red Phoenix (Cups), Feng Shui Tarot, U.S. Games 2001 (Available)

Bats, Comfort Zones & Friendship

Today’s card reminds me to enfold myself in my own wings. The knowledge that I must be my own best friend (even though I am blessed with truly the best ever best friend) keeps me whole. When I don’t depend on others to uplift me, I am able to be truly grateful to those who do. Those who don’t? I allow them to fall away gently.

You see, I used to spend far too much time trying to be a friend first to others and last to me. By putting myself last, I actually put my friends last.

What?

It’s true. I brought to them a person searching for others to make me whole. I brought to them an incomplete me as if their love might shore me up–build me up–somehow make me more.

Isn’t that an awful burden to have put on them? I’m lucky that so many remain in my life from those years past. I don’t hate those who aren’t still here. I feel sorry for myself sometimes but I also know they made decisions that were best for them at that time.

Clingy? Check.
Whiny? Check.
Needy? Check.
Desperate for approval? Check.
Angry if they didn’t have time for me? Check.
Fearful if I didn’t hear from them immediately? Check.

Reality check. Do I still have those feelings? Absolutely. At times I still do. Then I do a hula hoop check to see what are my feelings to own and what aren’t.

I also pick up the phone to just say hello.

When we become our own comfort zone like this bat encircling these two lovers, then we become whole. And when we become whole, we are the best friends to have–both for ourselves and for others.

Doing the work is hard. I’m told that my positive pounding of Seek Joy, Y’all can be off-putting. Some may find it daunting when they are facing life’s harshest moments. Just know that by choosing joy, you defeat sorrow.

Seek joy, y’all. Pass it on.

Lovers, Stolen Child Tarot, Monica Knighton, Limited Edition, 2012. Decks still available.

Psst, everyone on my newsletter is in the running to win a seat at my upcoming webinar with Attune Magazine.

Skeins, Momentum & Projects

Today’s card isn’t a card but there is a card I think about. This is a project I’m working on. I have a lot of projects. I do my weekly Tarotscopes, my monthly Tarotscopes podcast and even a monthly magazine column for a gay magazine that is local to the southern California area. You can see Rage Monthly here if you like.

I stay so busy that I forget to make time for MiMi. I talked about that on Saturday. And I did what I said I was going to do. I did only for me that day for the most part.

The 7 of Coins is the card I drew. This is a card about completions and projects. It’s often seen as the gardener’s card with a man reviewing his harvest. In fact, I just got this as the card of the day last week. But this image is of my crochet project. It takes 4 skeins. This is one skein complete so it is 25% done.

More to go, just like the 7 of Coins. I’m admiring what I’ve completed, but I’m not stopping. What have you started that you need to complete? What momentum do you need to keep going today?